Finally a BMW the CAR WIZARD will willingly work on! What makes this '83 BMW 633CSi so special? 

I will still work on select 80s cars guys. My last video was a reference to quitting on the 70s and older cars.

Given the propensity of older plastics going bad I think it is time for the car wizard to invest a high quality 3-d printer for some of these bits and pieces.

The 80s BMW models were truly the best looking and most reliable

I restored a 1990 735il to close to showroom condition about 12 years ago....same engine only 3.5L versus 3.3L. When I finished and enjoyed it, I said, I am never selling this car because it is so good. But I did. Famous last words. A collector bought it...flew in and drove it back to Nevada where he got a high speed speeding ticket through Nevada. The big six...what it is referred to is considered one of the best engines BMW ever made...simple and bulletproof. No vanos or variable valve timing. Single timing chain and no belt. 2 valves per cylinder and still pulled like a freight train and would rev like a dentist drill. Around 130-150K mi best to pull the head and change the head gasket. These engines will go 300K miles without touching the bottom end. Yes, repeated heat cycles always exposed a weak radiator design BMW's have been known for. Clutch fans fail once in a while. At 150K, the engine still had all its cross hatchings in its cylinders and always run on dino oil and not synthetic until I owned it. BMW as the Wizard rightly says repeatedly, lost its mind about 20 years ago. A company that exists for profit only. The last BMW I owned was a 2003 330ci coupe which was really the beginning of the collapse of BMW with all the plastic under the hood and overcomplicated designs which were engineered to extract money from people. Design intent. The public who doesn't know better...buying into the marketing myth of Ultimate Driving Machine...until they own one or two and stop wanting to be broke and so stop buying them. I will NEVER buy another BMW and I can fix them. Simple and reliable used to mean something. Not anymore. The public is utterly clueless...in other words BMW's design philosophy is rewarded and why it continues.

This gear can fairly easily be made on a 3D printer. And quite cheap aswell!

This is the era of BMW that driving enthusiasts just absolutely loved. This car has the 3 speed automatic (the 6 and 7 series didn't get the 4 speed O/D option until '84), but it could be had with a 5 speed stick and it was one of the most perfectly balanced, most neutral handling cars in the world at the time. It was stable and rock solid and planted to the ground all the way up to 150 mph at a time most American cars were hardly able to hit 120. You felt every inch of asphalt through the steering wheel but it was light and laser sharp to steer. The brakes were powerful, consistent, easy to modulate. That engine - BMW's glorious inline 6 before they started throwing turbos on to it and computers and plastic intake manifolds and plastic fuel injector rails - silky, silky, silky smooooooooooooooth and consistent power all the way up to redline in every gear. And the entire car felt like it was chiseled out of one solid block of steel. Somewhere between here and the late 1990s BMW started hiring people who did not understand what BMW was about. What that car was to people who enjoy driving - I mean, REALLY enjoyed driving, took it very seriously, and every second behind the wheel of the car was what they lived for. Driving a 6 series to work was not just the commute to and from work, it was for many the absolute highlight of their day. Their life. Guys driving this car weren't wearing Ray Ban sun glasses, leather gloves, and driving shoes just for show - they wore them because they took driving very seriously. The Ultimate Driving Machine. It wasn't just their slogan. It was what BMW strived to build. And then in the late 1990s, they threw that legacy out to chase every suburbanite soccer Mom and image-seeking Dad. BMW cheapened out on the engine parts not to make the cars disposable so much as to make them cheaper. That aluminum intake manifold probably cost 3 times to cast than the plastic one used today. But that was alright - it meant more to pay $60k for a BMW in 1983 than it does to pay $60k for a BMW today. They were cars to aspire to. Cars you'd have to work hard for in school, or work. Today, every schlock with a $399 lease payment can drive a BMW.

Wizard - I’m not working on older cars, AND I’m not working on BMW’s. Also the wizard - I’m excited to work on this old BMW !!!

3d printing a gear is doable. Additive manufacturer is the new way forward on car restoration.

AS a young man I always wanted a 6 series like that one! But the price point was always out of my reach! I opted for an 1984 528 e ..similar but not as sporty and stylish! Those BMWs from the 80s and early 90s had a lot of character!

Thanks to "Moonlighting", I fell for the 635csi back in the 80s. Not a fan of BMWs per se, but this has always been one of my fave cars from that era.🌕

I got a 1990 bmw 535i. It’s got a few things I need to take care of but it’s been super super reliable and somewhat easy to fix!

The first car I ever drove after getting my drivers license. 635CSI , Neighbour of the Chinese restaurant I worked promised it and he did. Great ; starting it up , cockpit with the check lights. Real memories

"BWM," must be a new entry by a Chinese Manufacturer in the US using the old BMW tooling from the 80's

What a car they don’t make BMW’s like this anymore this car is beautiful

That gear is a perfect application for 3d printing. I would think someone here would want a crack at that. Put up a thread at a BMW owner’s blog and next thing you know you’ll have customers.

That was still the era when BMW had really strong NA I6's that were and still are solid engines. I have two BMW's left, the first being a 94 E36 318is pretty much stock with a tune up and basic care done (it's a 4 cylinder, but it's basically a racing pedigree I6 with 2 cylinders lopped off, still has the forged crank and all) that's what I would call "very good" condition I've tried to keep clean and enjoy. The second is a 97 E31 8 Series that I would have kept full factory, but it came to me as a roller with no engine just an automatic transmission. The body was clean dent/rust wise, but I had to do paint and restore the interior. The engine I had at the time on hand was a 1UZ 4L DOHC V8 from Toyota, so that's the engine that went in after tearing it and the factory transmission down for a rebuild. It's around 320hp and more torque, plenty to be a great touring car with some pep. I love the E31, it's one of my all-time dream cars, so having one, even if it's Toyota powered, was a big deal for me and still is. I've had other E36 in the past, both I got as blown rollers that ended up with either a GM 4.2l I6 turbocharged or a Ford 4.6l 32v DOHC V8 procharged. The GM 4.2l went to a Jag XJS, and the Ford V8 went to a 99 Jag XK8 I got bundled both as no engine rollers too. Sold the E36's with factory crossmembers and everything reassembled to friends that wanted to put in more modern turbo'd bmw I6's.

I have the pleasure of being the curator of this same year. Truly a joy to drive. SOO many comments and questions from people all ages. Surely a sign of a vehicle designed to be timeless.

I agree. 3D printing is the way to go. The Car Ninja can order a small batch of 10-12 parts to keep in stock.

How times have changed. Back many years ago I got a $6 fishing reel . Within a month a small gear in it failed. A couple of days later dad came home from work with a new one that one of his buddy's did in the machine shop at work. Worked perfectly. That was 60 years ago!!!!!!!!!

I had two of these, and loved them both. Super reliable, bulletproof, elegant cars, built when BMW's were robust driving machines. The new ones are a punch line, just junk!

Hey Wizard, greetings from N Ireland. Love how you say ‘boot’ and ‘bonnet’ when you’re talking about Euro cars 😂 Kudos to you . Thanks for the videos, always enjoy them 👍🏻

Try taking the plastic gear to a CNC shop, maybe they can make a new one from metal, as long as they have the dimensions of the original part. It may cost a fortune, but it's all for the originality. Or try a 3D printer.

Oh man that thing is a beauty. Someone really cared for that car. You can tell because all the trunk tools are still in the proper place

In 1967, I bought a BMW 1600 for $3200, taxes included. Great car. Lasted a long time and never cost me tons on upkeep. I wouldn't buy a new BMW on a BOGO today.

I’ve seen one of these in St. Louis at the airport. Pretty good condition. Obviously enthusiast. Nice ride… before BMWs got hideous. They were graceful up until about 20 years ago

You could laser scan the old part, and 3-D print one. You can even 3-D print with metal. This is he future of keeping these old cars (and other old mechanical things) going IMO. Also, the car is gorgeous.

BMW color name is "bronzit" - I had an E34 535i with the mearly-same M30 engine which went 400k miles before I sold it to a surfer dude. Bring back the Toyota-like reliability BMW! I LOVED THAT CAR!

I have one of these, an '85 635CSi with the 5 speed manual and limited slip rear. It is a joy to drive on the highway and has been very reliable. It is so beautiful I always turn around to glance at it after I've parked it. Unfortunately, interior and trim parts are becoming scarce. Anyone who has owned an M30-equipped BMW knows that at 3-3500 RPM there is a very slight but deep thrum throughout the cabin, almost as if the car is "excited" to keep moving up the rev range. Very characterful.

@Car Wizard. You can now 3D Print those plastic pieces with an affordable off the shelf 3D printer. You can use a Phone to Laser scan it, then go and print it. Why don’t you give it a shot? Might be useful for other situations.

I had a job at a BMW daelership and I drove one of those cars quite a lot and I can safely say, given enough highway it will hit 145mph, 150 with a good wind behind it. I also owned a 733i back then and that had the same nose on it and a great mile muncher!

I've got a '76 2002. Easiest car in the world to work on. I have owned her since the early '80s. Has a tremendous cult-like following. A lot of parts still available but starting to fade away. I am an old man now, hopefully my grandson will keep her going for a few more yrs.

I'VE always admired this 6. Brings me tears of joy wizard.

Old beemers are better, this 633 is looking great 👍 I know someone who bought a first gen 1 series this year that was imported to the Netherlands in 2016. The first thing great came to mind that it’s gonna break down. And it did eventually. And he eventually sold it after just owning the car for a few months. Already knowing the wizard opinion on modern BMW’s made clear I have to run away from these mechanical nightmares.

probably a hirschmann antenna, like all high end euro cars had back in the day. the plastic gears are available on Amazon.

Wow that thing is nice. I had a W126 Mercedes for a while and it was built with the same philosophy as this car. It was designed to be repaired and kept on the road for as long as possible, not like the newer ones

These cars are the definition of designed to be worked on. A lot of the marketing back then was hammering home quality and they were quality. Some sinister bean counter at BMW realized they were too good in the 80s and the engineers have now made them impossible to work on and lots of planned obsolescence. I have an 86 7series and driving it today in 2022 other BMW owners are puzzled how my old car is still cruising alongside them.

The 633 is awesome, awesome power, pushes you when drive it, they handle like a dream. I rather have this than most any other car

During my restoration of my 1987 635 CSI I had the same issue and I decided to go to an aftermarket antenna which works great!

Growing up, my Uncle had a 1985 635csi. I think that E24 was one of the reasons why I fell in love with cars!

I had a 633 CSI. It was great, but I sold it for a profit to help pay for my new house. The guy I sold it to, in 1985,and he still has it today! These were fairly rare, The 635 was more popular, and more problematic. BTW, I can relate to much of what you say in all your videos. I owned a foreign car repair shop in the late 70s and early 80s and know the old technology very well and enjoy your videos often

You can buy a new antenna for around $125 directly from BMW. Look at Maximillian Importing Company, a BMW Heritage part supplier here in the USA. I Own a 1985 BMW M635CSi ( non federalized ) with the legenderay M88/3 engine ...Parts are relatively easy to find and not that expensive...Great video.

Beautiful cars. That engine oil pan is cast aluminium though - and vulnerable because of it!

Now that's a bimmer! That's another thing I like about those- the built-in tool kit.

I had an 85 635csi..... amazingly reliable and very fun to drive and maintain.

This car is quite beautiful! My favorite BMW ever is the BMW 8-Series, with the E31 chassis code. But, it is not as friendly as this one. Tyler had one, and even he send it away as soon as possible...

Hey Wiz, if you strike out on the "new" antenna gear, I recommend "G-Flex" epoxy glue by West System and glue the old gear together. It's really good stuff. It is probably every bit as durable as the original plastic. Good luck.

Man these 80s and early 90s cars have a lot of class. I remember my 1994 Buick Park avenue, it's just a classy looking car.

I've owned my 635CSI for ~15 years. Been a really good summer only weekend car for all those years. Definitely worth finding one with a manual transmission or doing a manual conversion. The M30 sounds good, but the power isn't anything amazing so if you're stuck with an auto it probably feels a bit slow. Fun if you can rev it out and enjoy the inline 6 properly though. Comfortable cruiser, handles itself fine, one of the best looking BMW's of all time. Doesn't have 'tech' obviously but has the modern conveniences that you actually need like air conditioning, sun roof, cruise control, power windows, power heated seats (highly recommend the 'sport' seats instead of the 'comfort' seats), etc. Just a really solid car even by today's standards.

I think this was the pinnacle of BMW - back in the 1990s we had the taxi account with the local BMW dealership and one BMW 750il owner said when it come to service costs if the bill was below $1500 I would think what they missed off!

Absolutely beautiful. *When BMWs were well made.* Not like the troubling cars they currently are.

I ran my antenna up in my 83 633 i 5 speed and disconnected the power. All of those power units go bad, even the aftermarket ones. My car developed oil leaks and brake issues and ac issues and door lock and window problems. I thought is was the prettiest coup I ever had but I let it go for a Japanese replacement. It also had the infamous BMW "twitch" from the rear in the rain. Nice second car to drive on dry weekends.

My first car was a 1980 320i 5sp manual, crank sunroof and windows, black vinyl seats and no working AC. Oh, and it was fire engine red(damn near orange). Those were the days.

I've always loved that car. I've seen some done really well. I've thought of getting one and building it up to my taste . Maybe.

6:25, I wish it was manual!

I have an '82 633 CSI...nice to see the appreciation for this car!

Love this old Bimmer! Also love the E32 Seven Series!

15:18 Not strictly true. If you pay for heated seats or other add on options, they are yours to use forever. However, to save costs, if you don't specify heated seats or other options, the options are added anyway but disabled (as you haven't paid for them), If at a later date you (or a later owner) decides that the options would be required after all, BMW will enable the "options" for a subscription or one off full payment.

Scanning and 3d printing would be a good solution for that gear.

The older BMWs looks much more unique than today's

When I was a kid and that car came out, it was my favorite BMW. Heck it was my favorite sensible car of the era.

I had a 88 M6 in the 00s. Great car, though even as a M car it drove a bit boaty, being the 70s design that it is. Mechanical parts availability was good, being it was mostly shared with the 5 series, but some of the cosmetics were tough to get, even back then. As for new cars with subscription features, Wizard's favorite TOYOTA is/was considering turning keyless entry/start into a subscription feature. I suspect just building all the cars the same and enabling features via subscription is going to become more of a thing by everyone in the future.

As to the cogwheel: I once heard the trick of pushing it into a piece of plasticine, turn it, so that the missing teeth also will be "imprinted", and then fill the space of the missing teeth with baking soda and superglue. No idea whether this works, but maybe others may have tried it...

CW, sharks do have nostrils....... Sharks have two nostrils (called nares) below their snout that are used for smelling, but they don't join up to the back of the throat like our nose does, so they can't sneeze like we do. If something floats into their nares, they might try to shake it out. Sharks breathe through the gills at the back of the mouth.

Slick six, and in the year of my birth too! My father has a 733i when I was a kid, so I'm partial to "shark nose", new look beemers. Plus a complete tool kit too! Wow, that kit is nearly unattainable. Cool car!

Get someone to take that broken gear and design a new one to 3D print. It wouldn't be overly expensive and it would be much more durable than a salvage yard find

Scan the gear and have it printed with an appropriate plastic composite. I think it is originally nylon, perhaps? Love this series os CS, but the previous E9 interiors were so much of a higher quality.

I am restoring a german-spec 79' 635csi. The e12 based e24s are so prone to rust it will be hard to see many of them collecting if we don't restore them. I'm glad to see one in good shape!

Your worthy competitor Wheeler Dealer had a similar issue with a broken sunroof clip. The took the part down to a company in Orange County, CA that scanned and printed the broken part. Seems with the plane manufacturers in Kansas there must be a company local to you that could reproduce / print the broken gear.

Could you have it 3d scanned and printed? It could even possibly have an aluminum version cast, or have one fabricated using the measurements from that broken part.

Hey Wizard, If you like this 6.33 CSI, you should give a try on a 3.0 CSI from 74’ By far the most beautiful BMW to my taste. A master piece 😍

I had a 1987 (E28) 535is. Loved it. Rust in the back area was the main reason I gave it away (a mistake).

I get the impression that they were designed to be worked on because because old school BMW wanted you to build a relationship with your car. Part of how you build that relationship is working on it and servicing it and learning to love it for what it is. They were also smart enough to know that if you built a relationship with your car and you loved the brand, eventually you would come back for another one and they would have a customer for life

Maybe the dash mat is there to prevent cracking?🤷‍♂️

Bad gear: Piece of cake for a 3D printer. There are commercial shops that replicate parts like that, and enthusiasts who will do it as a hobby project. Plastic is way cheaper than metal, but there are 3D printers that do metal as well.

The BMW E24 is probably the only BMW in which a single model actually straddled two different engineering platforms. The first BMW 6-series from 1976 to 1981 was based on the E12 5-series (first gen 5-series 1975 to 1980). The updated models then switched to the BMW E28 (1981 to 1988) 2nd generation 5-series (1981 to 1988 5-series). Very unique big coupe from BMW. I love these.

I used to work on those when they were new. The 633CSi is the best of their entire line. Sporty, quick, efficient (for their day) and comfortable. However those gears in the antennas were never available from BMWNA. I'm surprised it lasted this long. If I remember correctly, they were made by Blaupunkt and they were junk form the get go. Water would enter through the mast and destroy the innards. We usually installed aftermarket units that were way more reliable after the 2 year warranty expired. The heater controls were also an issue back in the day. Not too hard to remove, but failed gears and cables all the time. Even under warranty. Nice Car! Good luck. (I quit working on cars, professionally, in 1996.) Since then I just make dealers' and service writers' lives a living hell! Lol

I had a 533i from the same year. Same engine, I had a 5-speed manual. Fun, fun,fun. I like a manual. Air flow meter you can change the track of the wiper running down the circuit board of resistors to renew it. Manual adjusting valves, get your feeler guages out. Something under the valve cover needs locktiting or it comes loose, I can't remember what that was. Check front coil spring seats, might need a bit of welding. GL4 in the manual no sulphur, and limited slip diff I can't remember. Changing starter motor remove heater hose so wrench can swing. I forget the rest of relevant stuff. I wish I still had it.

Wait… didn’t we just see a video of Wizard saying he’s done working on old cars?

One of the best looking BMW ever. Lol the f subscription on a parts in the car? wow that is a cheap shot, but guess subscriptions for software on the computer is now spreading outside that world.

Thanks for the Kudos about this model! I own an 89 635csi and also love the style and design.

The 633 and 635 and the 2002 is where my love for BMW cars begins and ends. Period.

That antenna is actually a Hirschmann antenna that was found on most high end german cars of the period including mercedes and porcshe as well. Trouble is like you said these antennas these days are basically non existent since these antennas were extremely expensive to have and most of them today are mostly beyond repair and they're still expensive to rebuild.

Reminds me of BMWs 850i from the early 90s with the pop up headlights.

One of the coolest cars from the 80's.

The only BMW I would consider owning. As somebody from the UK, those bumpers are hideous. A seriously cool car.

Such a gorgeous car. Bit of a shame that in the US, they had to tag on these massive bumpers, but even with them, it is still a very nice car.

My uncle had the 4 door in blue 35 years ago in Abu Dhabi! Such a beautiful car!

Thanks for another excellent vid, Car Wizard! I was particularly interested in this one, because I've owned in the past, an '87 635csi, and an '88 M6. I still think these cars are among the most beautiful ever made, particularly of the BMW designs. And I particularly enjoyed your comments about how the newer BMWs are basically built to fail, i.e. all the plastic parts, bad designs (that stupid tiny o-ring), etc.. Thank you!

Cars today are designed to fail, older cars like this were engineered to last, 60,000 miles means this was babied its whole life, damn shame about those butt ugly bumpers & auto transmission, one of these has always been on my list to own, I've got older BMW's & have almost no problems finding parts for them, Rj in Oz

A guy I knew in New Zealand had a 635 around 1985 vintage.. I've always had a soft spot for them.

The 633 and even more the 635CSI are my most favourite BMWS of the last fifty years beside the early Seveties 3000CSI. Their main weakness was rust issues. Specially in regions were they salted the roads in winter.

Beautiful BMW --i had one once…..it was ALWAYS BROKEN but it was beautiful.

My neighbor owns a 735 sedan of the same year with about 150000 miles ( 273000 km) on the odometer and it looks almost the same! Thats quality. Every service was done and this amazing 6cyl. engine runs like a turbine. BMW at its best. Yours is a true grand tourer.

Very cool how the Hood opens!!! 👍

After you said in another video about using BG MOA 115 my vehicles are running perfect. Thank you Wizard

@CarWizard 15:25 that was for other markets. BMW put out a statement saying this is not for NorthAmerica vehicles

One of the most beautiful grand touring cars from the 80's. I think that era had the switched from the Bosch K-Jetronic to L-Jetronic Fuel injection, cant remember now. But if you open the door and look in the jamb, it will have a production sticker that says "Made In West Germany".

3D printing has helped my son repair and bunch of these plastic bits and bobs on his "89 325I especially plastic gears like the one you need. Great vid again friend

One of my favorite BMW models. Reminds me of Miami/south Florida in that "cocaine cowboy" era in the late 70's to mid 80's. The Miami Vice era. All that new wealth in Miami didn't buy the usual Cadillac or Lincoln, although those were very common among the older set. The new money bought top of the line Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche by the boat loads.

“Hey not fair! That BMW is super easy!” - Car Ninja