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In Reply to: THE L6 was avail. ONLY in 87! PERIOD. see text posted by Helmut on November 27, 1999 at 13:53:46:
To the best of my knowledge, BMW never produced any L6's with vinyl dash and leather doors; what happened was that BMW would replace a warped leather dash under warranty with another leather dash ONCE. After that, they would only provide a vinyl one. Also, some owners may have opted for the cheaper route to deal with the leather problem. I don't know about the late production, vinyl dash and doors issue.
Regarding the availability of L6's in 88 and 89, BMW has also been known to hold some of one year's production cars and sell them in later years (all 1968 and 1969 US 1800's and/or 2000's were actually built in 1966). This could be true of the L6s as well. The 6 Series Enthusiast's Companion lists 102 L6's sold in the US in 1988, 10 in 1989, and 1 in 1990, in addition to the 1217 sold in 1987. Technically, this makes the L6, of whatever year, rarer than the M6, of which a total of 1615 were sold here.
: Anyone can buy an L6 badge to adorn their 89 635csi. The bottom line is, the 87 L6 is the only TRUE L6 made. The car is "rare," but not as rare as the M6, or the M635csi. I have owned TWO L6's, and both were black on bone interior. The easy way to spot a phony "L6" is to look at the doors/dash. Most L6 came with stitched dashes AND doors. Some L6 only had the leather on the door, not dash. BUT if niether one has leather, it is probably a 635. Another way to spot a pohony is by the bumpers. The 88/89 models had color coordinated bumpers, but the real L6 had the black rubber bumpers/bumper sides/impact sleeves, etc. Regardless, the L and the 635 are both awesome cars, and in terms of collectibilty, the 89, being the last model year, is just as desirable as the L6 in my book, if not more so. A low mile example of either will bring top dollar down the raod a bit.
: 6 collectors: keep in mind that the L interior is a bit harder to keep clean than the standard 635 with recaros. Also keep in mind that the L6 had more headroom as a result of the wider/lower seating(TRUST ME). I have put a set of 87 L6 seats into my 85 M6, and it fits me much better.
: ANYONE looking to buy an L6 should first AVOID the late 87 ellipsoid lights, and next make sure it is a real L6, 1987 model with the rear cooler (functional) and leather EVERYTHING. I found one without the dash cover, and got the guy to knock about a thousand off his "lowest" price.
: ****note, a few L6's made it into the US WITHOUT leather dash/door tops. These are considered to be "late" production, and I would avoid them if I were collecting the car. If driving it daily, the leather is insignif., 6 owners will attest that the 6 series is among the most fun cars to drive on earth!!
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: Helmut Schneel
: 1985 M635csi white on black (right hand drive, very rare austrailian model)
: 1988 M6 black on bone (us model)
: 1989 635csi, black on black, 5500mi! (my baby)
: 1991 BMW 735i
: coming soon, 1999 M coupe! (I hope!)
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: guter tag!
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