6-Series

PCH, Upscale BMW Coupe Edition: 1967 2000C or 1984 633CSi?

In another setback to French dreams of displaying the All-Time Eternal Project Car Damnation MegaTrophy (which turns into a pile of red powder within a few weeks) at the top of the Eiffel Tower, the hybridized British Leyland machine obliterated the Peugeot diesel in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. The endless battle between PCH Superpowers Britain, France, and Italy will hold a cease-fire today, as we're so inspired by the beauty and coke-dealer-style original price tag of this morning's PCH car that we have no choice but to fill your garage with the sulfurous fumes of two gorgeous- yet maddeningly complex- Bavarian machines today.
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5:20 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,584 views, 40 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: @TheTooth: '84 for that reason... and because I didn't look at the URL and just saw "Location: Jupiter". more »

down on the street

1983 BMW 633CSi

We've only had one 6-series BMW so far in this series, so when I saw this '83 parked just around the corner from the '74 Porsche 911 Targa, I figured it was worth shooting. This one is a good example of a solid daily-driven car; a few scars, but nothing too serious.
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9:00 AM on Tue May 6 2008
By Murilee Martin
3,157 views, 48 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: Do you take the three 320is, the 928, or the 633CSi? Well, duh - a single 320i, a brand new Caballero, and go-fast goodies for both... more »

junkyard

Junkyard Finds: 80s High-End German Iron

During my last visit to a local self-service junkyard, I noticed far more than the usual number of expensive German cars from the 80s, mostly in non-wrecked condition. Has some threshold been reached, where such cars are no longer worth maintaining? Here's a handful of photos of an '80 633CSi ($32,825 new, $83,232 in 2007 dollars), an '84 633CSi ($40,705 new, $81,855 in 2007 dollars), and an '89 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL ($72,280 new, $121,789 in 2007 dollars). I must admit that I wondered- briefly- if that big Mercedes V8 would fit in a Crown Victoria's engine compartment.

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11:00 AM on Thu Dec 13 2007
By Murilee Martin
2,382 views, 51 comments

Latest by Kelly: Yeah, I can see why the higher-end European machines wind up in junkyards when, in reality, there is little, if anything, wrong with them. They absolutely should not be owned by those either not willing or not knowledgable about wrenching. more »

down on the street

1987 BMW L6

It was bad enough to go a month without a Chrysler A-Body in this series, but two months with no BMWs? That's how long it's been! I've got several 2002s photographed (and I've been stalking a 1502 that roams the island), but all the recent K.I.T.T. talk around these parts has me feeling mighty Eighties. That means we need to don our Members Only jackets, put on our Vuarnet shades, apply some ointment to our suppurating herpes sores (wait, is herpes more of a 70s thing? OK, make that chlamydia!), brush up on our Oliver North quips, and take a look at that beautifully apt symbol of Eighties excess: the 1987 BMW L6.

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9:00 AM on Thu Dec 6 2007
By Murilee Martin
3,628 views, 55 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: I'd settle for the old Volvo 244 in the back... but then, I'm biased. Great seeing REAL BMWs still running. How many of today's 635s do you think will be alive in 21 years? more »

2008 bmw 6 series

2008 BMW 6 Series Coupe, Convertible Revealed, Launched And Now Priced

We kid you not — the press release for the new 2008 BMW 6 Series is 25 pages long. Seriously. We've no idea why on God's green earth you'd need 25 pages to describe the new hardtop and drop-top versions of the 650i when we already all knew the facelift would be "mild." Heck, in the release lede, BMW calls this four-year-old model merely "A fresher look, new standard and optional equipment give the 650i Coupe and Convertible even more appeal for 2008." If you're just looking for the basics on the changes from last year — here they are: It's got a new electronic shifter, a new optional Sport Automatic with flappy paddle shifters and rpm matching on the downshift and umm — wait, there's got to be more. Here we go — LED taillights and the lane departure system. So the big news today is really the pricing — what's the damage? The base 650i coupe starts at $76,375 and the 650i convertible will set you back $83,475. For those of you interested in the "voluptuous curves" and the rest of the Teutonic PR silliness that is this BMWgasm, all 50,000 characters of the full press release are below the jump.

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9:45 AM on Tue Nov 13 2007
By Ray Wert
3,294 views, 21 comments

Latest by Torque: For the love of god, some of us read J'nik in an RSS reader. more »

engine

Workhorse Engine of the Day: BMW M30

First of all, thanks for all the great Workhorse Engine of the Day suggestions, everyone- we'll be working down the list, so keep the ideas coming and don't get upset if your favorite engine hasn't appeared yet. Today we're going over to Europe (thanks to the suggestion of PatrickAustin) to take a look at the venerable BMW M30 engine. Built in various displacements for nearly 30 years, the Bavarian über-six-banger powered a bunch of our favorite BMWs, ranging from our last DOTS BMW to the '94 730i. And while we're at it, we'd like to thank Wikipedia for boasting so many must-read engine pages that, once lured in, you might as well forget about working for the rest of the day. [Wikipedia]

4:30 PM on Mon Oct 8 2007
By Murilee Martin
3,325 views, 24 comments

Latest by Bad Juju: Hell yeah, how did I miss this one til now... I just parted with my '85 535i that had 325k on the original M30 motor - rest of the car was falling apart around the engine, but I understand it's still more »

iphone your ride

BMW Welcomes iPhone, We Think iPhone May Even Welcome Them Back

If you just unpacked your iPhone and you've got yourself a BMW 3 and 5 Series with 03/07 production, the X5 with 04/07 production and the 6 Series with 09/07 production dates equipped with an iPod/USB interface — guess what? You'll be able to drop the iPhone into your ride and faster than you can say "Boom!" in your best German accent — you'll be good to go. Or at least that's what we've learned from the following site that's just been pointed out to us below. What level of integration that means, we've no idea — but since BMW was the first to provide iPod support, one should expect they'd be first out the gate with iPhone support. – Ray Wert More »

8:30 PM on Fri Jun 29 2007
By Ray Wert
1,366 views, 7 comments

Latest by Brian E: Basically what BMW is announcing is that they're first to put something up on their web site that their Bluetooth and iPod-compatible cars also work with the iPhone. That's a really innovative announcement there. more »

21 jump street

BMW 6-Series Goes GAZ-ooks, Becomes A Volga GAZ-21!

Everyone wants to make their pedestrian straight-off-the-line car look unique — that's kinda what customization's all about, right? Well, nothing could look more unique in our eyes than what our boy Paul Tan's hipped us to — apparently the owner of this BMW 6-Series didn't feel so cool with Perestroika, and wanted to make sure everyone knew where his allegiances lay. That's the only reason we can think of for why the owner's re-skinned a 6-series to make it look like a 2-door version of the 50's king car of the Kremlin "czars" — the Volga GAZ-21. We don't know much else about the reason why the owner decided to go retro in this re-skin, but we do know it takes someone with seriously big beets to customize a car with this much borscht. – Ray Wert More »

2:30 PM on Wed May 23 2007
By Ray Wert
1,595 views, 24 comments

Latest by Shapeshifter: That is amazing. I saw some shots of this, totally out of context, some time ago and couldn't figure out what it was. Now i know! more »

spy photos

Spy Photos: BMW 6-Series

According to the place where we someday hope the lovers, the dreamers and me can all find a connection to cars, the next facelift for the 6-Series will be "mild." As evidence, they're pointing to shots they've procured taken in Munich that suggest a new front air dam will be repositioning the fog lamps and it'll be getting a bit more newish nose. That's in addition to some new head- and tail-lights including what's being described as

"the taillights have three gill-like protrusions sculpted into the outer lens, adding a little visual interest."

Visual interest is good, and it appears that it's the best we can hope out of what's traditionally a very cautious automaker when it comes to their mid-cycle refreshes. – Ray Wert More »

9:18 AM on Tue Mar 13 2007
By Ray Wert
317 views, 2 comments

Latest by Turboner: Wish I could afford a sex-series! more »

commentary

Clarkson on the M6 Convertible

Americans have been giving each other what-for since the beginning. After some fits and starts, a dash of Manifest Destiny here and there and some border clashes with unruly people of French descent and Spanish/Native ancestry, we mostly got on with the process of being annoyed with each other and banding together for a war on foreign soil now and then. Yeah, there was that conflict that inspired Across Five Aprils and now and then we shoot our presidents. But Europe's got a different issue. More »

3:15 PM on Tue Jan 23 2007
By Davey G. Johnson
268 views, 22 comments

Latest by Turboner: Where's the torque? Buried under all that mass? more »

custom cars/hot rods: tuners

World's Fastest Fish: AC Schnitzer's BMW Tension Breaks BMW Speed Record

AC Schnitzer's Tension concept hit 206 mph on the Nardo test track in Southern Italy, stopping far short of schooling the Brabus Rocket Mercedes CLS, which peaked at 227 mph during the same AutoBild magazine showdown. But it's enough for the AC boys to call their creation the world's fastest street-legal production BMW. The Tension — like the BMW 6-Series that provides its base — is nonetheless a divisive vehicle in the looks department. And the cartoonishly appointed tuner doesn't do much to bring the poles of taste together. – Mike Spinelli More »

12:30 PM on Tue Nov 28 2006
By Mike Spinelli
2,370 views, 6 comments

Latest by Davey G.: Maybe they used brackets designed by Bruce instead of JC Whitney. Or is that the "Tension" part of it? The nose letting go at 70 was tense enough. I can't imagine what it would be like at 200. more »

custom cars/hot rods

Mod Vid: Alpine's Sinister Six Radical Custom

No, the "Sinister Six" wasn't built by Dr. Octopus to mess with Spiderman's sensibilities. The modded BMW 6-Series convertible is this year's showcase vehicle by car-stereo empire, Alpine. More than 3500 labor-hours (and enough clearcoat to drown the Borax mule team) have given way to a radical-custom rebody and such features as a swiveling banquet in lieu of seats, five monitors built into the dash, 11 amplifiers (for 10,000 watts of power), and taillights created from LCD monitors that show a range of movie clips. Plus, there's no steering wheel, just a chrome knob with which to change direction. The car's builders (real cut-ups, them) offer a video tour of their creation. Don't worry, their day jobs are safe. – Mike Spinelli

[via Carscoop] More »

7:43 AM on Wed Nov 8 2006
By Mike Spinelli
392 views, 13 comments

Latest by FЯeeMan: one word: abomination! more »

news

Next Time Dial Faster: Neiman Marcus M6 Sells Out in 92 Seconds

It took a minute and a half for Neiman Marcus to sell out every single one of its special edition BMW M6s. That's no hyperbole; the upscale retailer and caterer to all folks bougie sold all 50 Bimmers, at $139,000 a pop, in 1:32, mostly by phone. Psychologists say the Ruby Black exterior finish accented with Piano Black trim elements, and power sports seats wrapped in a custom Gold Brown shade of supple BMW Individual Merino leather penetrated the psyches of the idle rich, causing a kind of madness called Bimmentia. Go, scarcity economics, it's your birthday... – Mike Spinelli More »

8:05 AM on Thu Oct 19 2006
By Mike Spinelli
4,762 views, 7 comments

Latest by Mike Spinelli: Swat -- You win. more »

custom cars/hot rods: tuners

Apply Directly to the Forehead: AC Schnitzer's Street Tension

Last year at the Frankfurt show, BMW tuning house AC Schnitzer unveiled a radical take on the 6-Series that seemed spectacularly over-flamboyant to have been created by a bunch of German guys. It was called the Tension, and it divided the Frankfurt into two camps, the delighted and the disgusted. But it was just a concept. Now, just about exactly one year later, the production kit is out. They're only converting 50 6-Series models into Tension Street tuners, so act fast. Or look away. Click through for a spec sheet and more pics. More »

10:00 AM on Tue Sep 19 2006
By Mike Spinelli
4,684 views, 12 comments

Latest by wohho: I really like the new trunk lid, it helps the car lose that "fell down the ugly tree and hit every branch, then got hit in the face with a bag of hammers" look that the 6 usually has. more »

gadgets

BMW Builds 6-Series Convertible for Kids

BMW launched a new version of its 6-Series convertible that's, er, a bit smaller than the current model. The new version offers a reductive take on the 2006 6-Series, including a single forward gear plus reverse, a hand brake and foot brake, and "real" electric horn. Two powerplants are offered, including an electric motor — with indicator light and 90-minute range — with a top speed of two to five miles per hour (faster downhill), or a more economical leg-powered pedal-drive version. An assortment of signs and cones are available, with which which drivers can make and enforce their own traffic laws. The new model carries an MSRP of $425 for the electric-powered version and $250 for pedal-drive. No word on the release of an M version. (Purchase details at www.bmw-online.com.) More »

10:57 AM on Sat Jul 30 2005
By Mike Spinelli
352 views

Jalopnik

2009 BMW 7-Series Thinks It's KITT, Has Human-Detecting Night Vision

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