People nowadays have made a habit out of criticizing new cars. When it comes to BMW, those feelings have somewhat been exaggerated if you ask me. There is not one review out there that doesn’t mention the so-called ‘golden era’ of Bimmers and doesn’t say that ‘they don’t make them as they used to anymore’.
If one’s to believe every such complaint, the normal, logical conclusion would have to be that cars made by BMW 30 years ago were downright perfect. Cue in a review from the 1980s.
Posted below is review done by the guys from MotorWeek back in 1986 and it is focused on two models that are continuously praised by journalists, even all these years later.
To be more precise, we’re looking at a BMW E30 3 Series (or 300 Series as they called them back then) and a BMW 635CSi (or 600 Series). While the 3er is a rather bland model, with the 325e badge on the boot, the 6er is one of those cars that made history, prefacing the M6 actually.
Both of them are regarded as epitomes in driving dynamics but if you pay attention you’ll notice that the reviewers also found a couple of issues with the two that (coincidence or not) can still be found on contemporary models.
For example, the 6 Series was regarded as heavy and showed plenty of body roll that you can even see in the footage if you don’t want to listen to what they are saying. Sure, the engine is praised but the same things happen today with the new models.
The steering was not on par either, even though it was hydraulic and the room in the back is less than satisfying. All things considered, if we’re to compare the old cars to the new ones (keeping proportions of course), we’d have to say that some things never change.
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