Daily thrills from a rising star
I just wanted to tell you how much Malcolm Thorne’s article in October – Let’s do the timewarp again – spoke to me. I was totally thrilled to see the double-page image of the M635CSI because I own a somewhat less tidy version of the same car.
Mine is pretty standard, but debadged at the back and with nonmetric BBS alloys to keep the cost of tyres down. Foolishly, given the rising value, I use mine as a daily driver in Perth, Australia, but I can’t help it given the rush I get every time I use it. In my opinion, the car gives even the mundane chore of driving to work a certain excitement.
Perth is surrounded by great driving roads, and I’ve attached an image of the BMW and my daughter during a road trip we did last year to a nearby town called Bindoon. Maybe taking the gravel road is a travesty, but the car is made to drive so drive it I shall. Much kudos to the Earl of Pembroke for planning to do the same with his low-mileage M635CSI.
I have owned my car since 2010, when I imported it from the UK. My wife has seen the enjoyment I get from the M635CSI and, after years of having to drive the ‘family wagon,’ she recently got a 2009 BMW 125i. I hope she gets the same thrill from her BMW as I get from mine. The 635 has been super-reliable and not hugely expensive to maintain, so I can only recommend it to those considering a youngtimer.
If I may, however, I’d like to be a pedant. Malcolm says: ‘In this eerily preserved machine, the clock still ticks with the same quiet precision as it did in 1985.’ As far as I know, the M635 – or mine at least – came with a digital clock, so if ticking was heard it was probably from the exhaust. Thanks for a great read.
Jeff Belke
Perth, Western Australia