some help from enthusiast please

[martyanderson10]

I am a long time BMW owner who currently has a 95 E34 525, and a 95 325 convertible. I have always liked the looks of the E24 and I have a chance to buy one from a local person and was wanting some help on the value of the car. It is a 79 633 with manual transmission and has VERY little rust on the rear decklid and a few other SMALL spots on it. The leather interior is clean except a rip in the center section of the rear seat. The front suspension needs some work as it is wearing the tires unevenly. The motor runs good and the clutch feels pretty good. It is all stock and was owned by a local BMW collector until sold recently to the person who is trying to sell it to me. I believe the true miles are unknown but believed to be pretty reasonable since it was in storage for some years. It has been a daily driver for the current owner for about a year now. It is a less than desirable color for my personal taste. It is a light metalic blue with navy leather. I can get it for $1,500 if I want it. What do you guys think?

[euroshark]

Pictures will help us to value this car, but in general if you can find a 6 that isn't very rusty, it's not a bad buy. The mechanical stuff is very cheap and easy to fix if you do it yourself, but restoring the body is labor and money intensive! I'd go for it at $1500.

[martyanderson10]

Yeah I know it is hard to value with little info. I will try to get some pics this weekend and post them. I also forgot to ask about the size of motor in a 1979 633, also how rare is the manual trans. in this model? I believe it mat be a somewhat rare color as I have never seen one this color. It is a very light blue metallic. Thanks for your help. Marty

[Taylor Marshall]

There's almost certainly a lot more rust. Go at it forensically with an ice pick and you'll see. I'd pass on this one and keep looking as there are still lots of nice truly rust free examples albeit mostly in the Southwest.

[sixseries]

a 79 i think has a very very lame 3.3l in it, is the manual a four speed? if it is it should be a g262. the name of the color should be on the shock tower on the engine bay, the passenger side one. the price doesn't seem too bad, but if you really want this specific one i'd say 1k b/c no one else is gonna want it. but honestly there are much better e24's out there, like TM said try to find a truly rust free example, with a 3.5 and a five speed.

[BoldUlysses]

It is a 79 633

Note position of car on E24 desirability list:

From most desirable to least*:

1. Euro M635CSi / Most Alpina E24s
2. US-Spec M6
3. Euro 635CSi (any year)
4. 635CSi ('88-'89)
5. US-spec 635CSi ('85-'87)
6. US-spec 633CSi ('80-'84)
7. US-spec 633CSi ('78-'79)

*Everything else being equal (color, tranny, etc). I omitted really rare models.

Reason? Read:

http://www.europeancarweb.com/tech/0401ec_bmw_e24_6_series/index.html

There are better E24s out there. Pull the trigger if you like, but a couple of months down the road you might find yourself wishing you'd waited for a better one.

-Matt

[euroshark]

That list is basically spot on.

The only reason I disagree with what Matt posted is because all of the mechanical stuff can be replaced with better stuff to make a much better car. The body can be altered with prettier pieces too. Granted, this takes time and skills and money, but it's possible. If that's not your thing or you'd rather get a car to enjoy on the road right off the bat, you might want to hold out for a newer model with the bigger engine.

[86GT635]

If the car is truly rust free and it runs great, I would love to have the car. I would paint it black, and have the navy interior, swap over my m635 stuff and have the right car. Good luck, sounds like a car with potential, talk him down to 1000, and I'll trade you a running 5 series car, maybe.
-DJ

[barry8108]

Thats a e12 based car and if the interior needs any work u will find it hard to find parts. Are u near memphis or are u in east tenn. If near memphis i could look at it for u and give a good opinion on it. If u like the later ones with spoilers i would hold out and buy a later model, it will cost very little more for a 635 compared to trying to find all the parts to convert it over.

[Alex E24 E30]

I echo the rust sentiments. The E12-based cars were more prone to rusting than the E-28 based, and find a rust-free example is pretty important. Pictures are always helpful, and I'm from TN myself, so if you want a hand to go check it out, PM me and we can see if we can work something out. I spend most of my time between middle and east TN. If you don't mind turning a wrench to fix the suspension issues (and spending the money to sort it out), along with the rust, then it might turn out to be a good deal. Matt's list is spot on in terms of desirability, but what the rest of the community thinks shouldn't matter if you find something that you honestly like and could see yourself living with.


Alex