BMW M635 CSI - long-term review

I fear I’ve broken the first rule of ‘taking-a-punt-on-a-classic’ club. Not the talking about it bit; you’re allowed to do that. But you definitely shouldn’t get cocky about it. Which I have.

Last month saw the M6 pass its MoT test with flying colours. Admittedly those colours were tinged with rust, meaning a decent amount of surgery would be required very soon, but for a 34-year-old car it was nothing particularly terrifying. However, before any driving enjoyment could begin, the engine started coughing.

Actually, it’s more of a tapping sound. That should in theory be terrifying, but there is a positive behind all the rattling – it seems to be coming from the top of the engine rather than the dreaded bottom.

Keen not to completely destroy my working relationship with Ron at RK Tuning, I’ve taken the M6 to a new BMW specialist just down the road from me. Some might argue that this is very handy, but it does seem to be beyond coincidence given my habit of buying German tat. In fact, I’ve already got a direct debit set up.

“We’ve had a good look over the car and noticed the timing is off along with the valve clearances,” explained Richard, which is entirely plausible given how long the car was sat still and its limited history. “It should be relatively straightforward; it doesn’t sound too sinister... yet.” Here’s hoping that it’s not the beginning of a second wave of issues.

There are a few other things being rectified at the same time; the temperature gauge doesn’t work, which at some point is going to be fairly integral to this car’s enjoyment. The central locking doesn’t work and none of the fault lights are displaying any faults either. Which would suggest the fault system is faulty.

Still, once that’s all taken care of the M6 can finally make its way over to AWS Engineering for all the rust removal and Group A goodies. Then, sometime in 2034, it should be ready to take on track.