How demented would it be to use this as a daily driver?

You may recall that I plan to replace my E36 drop top with something with a bigger back seat. This seems to tick many of the right boxes - stick shift, not a totally boring car to drive, pretty simple to work on... but it is a bit of an older car.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/4882076802.html

Assuming this, or another BMW 635 CSI like it, is in good shape mechanically, how much of a pain would it be to live with?

You could get away with wearing a courdory jacket with suede patches on the elbows, so that is a huge plus. Not many cars help you pull that off.

Those are really starting to appeal to me.

How sure are you that it has a bigger back seat than your E36?

I used Rennie's L6 as a daily driver a million years ago. Cool car. I don't remember it having much of a back seat, though. How about an E28 5 Series?

mazdeuce wrote: You could get away with wearing a courdory jacket with suede patches on the elbows, so that is a huge plus. Not many cars help you pull that off.

When I read that I immediately thought it must be a Volvo.

Pretty diy friendly. Good support on mye28.com. Getting rare on the ground. Some bits getting hard to replace like the trip computer. DMEs getting thin, folks have had luck re soldering to bring them back to life.

Bonus points for coming with a tool kit !

I did exactly that with my e24 for a few months- it wasn't bad, I'd say they're probably on par with an e36 for reliability, provided it's been well maintained.

That's a nice car at a reasonable price.

Woody wrote: Those are really starting to appeal to me.

These have always appealed to me. Brake My Wallet.

Needs the old school wheels back on it.

Mine is knocking on 230K and still going. The HVAC controls are strange but you'll get used to them. I don't daily mine, but it does make some longish trips without any problems.

They are by far my favorite BMW bodystyle.

Edit: They aren't too bad to work on either. I've had to replace the A/C compressor, dryer and expansion valve, brakes, plugs and valve adjustment. None of that is very hard and the parts aren't much more expensive than any other car. Probably my most hated part of working on it is the canister oil filter. It's almost a two man job to get it reinstalled.

I daily drive an e28 5 series (except during the winter) and it's the same thing under the skin as the 6er. As long as they're maintained they'll run just about forever.

The BMW M30 is a totally bomb-proof engine and the manual transmission is obviously what you want. I would swap in a set of sport seats and drive the wheels off that thing!

My current DD is a E28 535is 5spd. with 337000 miles on it. Yes its showing its age but still keeps on going with regular maintenance. Although I don't DILYSI like before...

Yeah you want that car. Especially at that price. I dd (except winter which will change next winter) an e28 M5. parts for the non M cars are cheap and they are easy to work on. Also all their issues have long been solved. mye28.com can be a great help.

Friend just bought a 1985, his dream car from highschool. great car.

My dad had a 635csi with a slushbox, and it was a great car. I've owned a few mid-80's 5-series, and the M30 is one of the smoothest engines I have experienced, and rugged as hell. I don't know if the E24 has the same center bearing problem that the E28's did, but if you hear a THUNK under your butt during acceleration, that's probably the culprit.

I've also noticed that Ireland Engineering has a decent selection of parts for this chassis. Hmmm, time to check CL.

Thanks to all who responded! Looks like this is something that could work out if I don't get a ratty one.

nderwater wrote: How sure are you that it has a bigger back seat than your E36?

Haven't checked yet, but wanted to first hear back on how much trouble one could be before going to look at one.

And I figure most of the comments about reliability should also apply to an E28 5-series or even an E23 7-series if it turns out the 635 isn't able to haul kids in a pinch. (Or rather, with minimal pinching!)

MadScientistMatt wrote: And I figure most of the comments about reliability should also apply to an E28 5-series or even an E23 7-series if it turns out the 635 isn't able to haul kids in a pinch. (Or rather, with minimal pinching!)

They're all pretty much the same mechanically, but I understand the HVAC system on the e23 can be problematic.

I thought that the more letters in a BMW model name the more likely it is to have a really expensive repair bill.

My bucket list car, but if you need a back seat for car seats or toddlers, save your back a lot of trouble and just get a four door something.

Then you buy this one for the wife's birthday! You're such a sell guy!!!