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This article was first published in 2001.
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Five years ago, Phil Wait was faced with the dilemma of having up to $200,000 to spend on a brand new car. Tough, eh?! His business partner owned an AMG Merc, but - for some reason - Phil couldn't really get his rocks off over the current offerings from Mercedes and BMW. "I've never liked the look of the current BMWs," he confesses. Arhh, so what was Phil to do?
Well, after much car yard crawling and brochure perusing, Phil decided to go for something completely in another direction. A 1986 BMW 635CSi. Why a 635? Well, there's no denying that a mint 635CSi looks a bit different in the corporate car park, and - above all - Phil knew that these were cars capable covering great distances with maximum comfort. And Phil's job requires a l-o-t of driving - around 40-50,000 kilometres a year!
Over the first two years of ownership, Phil's big BM sports did a great job of transporting him all over the countryside. It proved very liveable, very reliable and it was indeed something different. But it wasn't long before all of that cash left over in Phil's wallet needed to escape. Job number one was to discard the original 4-speed automatic in favour of a 5-speed Getrag manual shifter. The factory LSD was also changed for a shorter 3.45:1 ratio. This conversion gave the car a much sportier feel - all it needed now was a bit more power...
Uh, oh.
As it turns out, Phil was then handed the perfect reasoning to splurge out on hyping up the engine. One fine day, the car developed steering problems so he drove it to Herbert Gattermeier (at Bavariacars) for a check up. Phil was hardy bowled over to find out that the steering box had problems; the revelation, however, was that the engine had to come out in order to fix it! Phil says that made it crunch time - he either sold the car as-is (who'd buy it?), or went whole-hog building up something dreamy. You can guess
which option he chose!
Rather than aim for a specified horsepower level, Phil wanted an engine that was simply "enough to hoon around with". It also had to be well mannered and driveable. Herbert replied with his known all too well turbocharging approach. Take one BMW 3.5 litre M30 block, rebuild it with forged pistons (delivering approximately an 8.0:1 compression ratio) and leave the rest of the motor internals standard. Obviously, Herbert places a lot of faith on the stock BMW internals - but in the past it's always paid off.
The turbo system uses a practical-sized Mitsubishi TD-series turbocharger that's mounted on the end of an in-house cast exhaust manifold. The turbo is fully stainless steel shielded, while heat wrap on the front section of exhaust further reduces under-bonnet temperature. Once the turbine wheel has taken out its necessary energy, spent exhaust gasses then fly out through a 3-inch mandrel bent exhaust system. This sees a high-flow cat converter and two mufflers keeping a lid on noise.
The intake air begins its journey with K&N cone filter located just up-stream of the compressor. This usually blows around 10 psi boost into a custom front-mount air-to-air intercooler that nestles snugly in front of the radiator. An elegantly integrated 'cooler-to-engine pipe then channels chilled induction air to the mouth of a standard throttle body. Swallow that, engine.
BMW's original airflow meter'd Bosch management system had to be discarded to accommodate the demands of force induction. Accordingly, Herbert has wired in a fully programmable MicroTech MT8 ECU, which now takes a load input from an airflow restriction-free MAP sensor. All of the other standard BMW sensors - and the single coil ignition system - were retained. Fuelling the combustion chamber fire is a line of six Bosch high-flow injectors feeding off the standard fuel rail - the injector specs can only be revealed in encrypted form... Interestingly, the standard 635CSi lift and main fuel pumps are still in service. These are reputedly good for quite high power outputs.
Speaking of power outputs, Phil's turbocharged 3.5 is no pussy. Running on straight pump fuel, 10-psi boost sees around 350hp at the flywheel, but - wind it up to 15 psi - and you're talking 390hp! Herbert has back-calculated these flywheel outputs from recent chassis dyno figures.
With 200,000 kilometres already under its belt, it's only reasonable that the CSi was showing some signs of deterioration. So - not interested in farting about - Phil took liberties of giving the body and interior a proper revamp. Outside, the panels were professionally massaged, a new coat of BMW metallic paint was layered on and everything that shines got re-chromed. The body kit that you see is standard CSi. Aggressive looking OZ Racing wheels - 17 x 8 and 17 x 9s - were made as a one-off order and are now clad in top-notch 245/40 Pirelli P-Zero rubber.
The interior also copped a revival with all-new dash plastics (which, incidentally, cost around $2000!), new black carpet and black hoodlining. The now-getting-a-bit-tatty standard seats were then covered in a new paddock of cowhide. Not surprisingly, Phil says his BMW is a really comfortable machine to drive around in, and the mustard-colour leather and black carpets really give a spectacular contrast. The Becker sound system, steering wheel and gearknob are standard Bavarian Motor Works issue - but nobody would complain about them!
The front brakes that you see here have an interesting brand marked on them - Porsche. Phil had these 4-pot Boxster calipers teamed with later model BMW E32 vented discs for a noticeable improvement in stopping power. The rears are stock discs. The same photo may also tip you off that the body has been lowered. Each corner now rides on Eibach coils and gas shock absorbers. Swaybars are standard BMW.
So - after having spent around $60,000-70,000 on his day-to-day "hack" - is Phil happy with the result? You bet. He says it's just like a new car, supremely comfortable and oh-so easy to drive. Oh, and it's oh-so easy to blow off HSVs as well... Unlike many feature car owners, Phil tells us that his marvellous 635 is now 100% complete - there isn't a single thing that remains to be done.
And we can see why. My brief ride in the car really opened my eyes to how useable this high-performance car is. Cruise around the 'burbs short-shifting as low as you like, the engine couldn't care less. But hit the throttle - at any revs - and the instant build in torque presses your back further and further into the soft leather pews. The rear suspension boogies down and you hurtle off with a relentless surge of torque. There's no wait for it, wait for it - then BANG, like in a small capacity turbocar.
You're right Phil, keep your money. Who needs today's BMW M-Power?
Contact:
Bavariacars
+61 2 9879 7557
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