Grp. A BMW 635 build

[tomroche]

Hi everyone,

I hope this is posted in the right place.

I am after any info, pictures and advice on building a BMW 635 Grp. A replica. I bought the car at auction a few months back because no one else showed any interest, it is not in nice enough condition to make a really nice road car but the chassis and body are perfect, not a spot of rust anywhere, so seeing as race cars are what we do thought it would be a good project to have in the workshop for when the guys are quiet.

I have found a lot of interesting stuff on here about the race series it may be eligible for and history of existing cars and will continue to search through.

If anyone has any pictures that may be usefull or even better a spec list of the group a cars that would be brilliant! After all the advice we can find at the moment so the project can get started...

I will post up pictures of the car as it is now and every step of the build for anyone who may be interested

Thanks. Tom

[Al Weyman]

Hi Tom, welcome to the site. What a great project, if I wasn't tied into yanks one of those would be very high on my list of cars to race. In one of the championships I run in we sometimes have one or two out or did last year so there should be some pictures on the club site. I think one at least (the black one) had raced in period, not sure.

http://www.classictouringcars.com/index.html

[tomroche]

Thanks Al looks a good series and hope to do a couple of events with you next year

[John Turner]

Yes, go for it. I love the old 6 series! Look and sound great! One in Jagermeister colours would be just the job!

[Peter Mallett]

Trouble is the cost. I suspect that restoring it to a road car would be far less costly than trying to build a Group A car.

[tomroche]

Agree that it will not be very cheap but then nor would restoring it to an immaculate road car. Group A regulations make the conversion (at first glance anyway) not too big a task ie. Standard body shell, 280 - 290 bhp and many standard parts kept.
We are also building a 3.5 CSL Group 2 race car and there seems a lot more work in that!

[Peter Mallett]

I think you may find it useful to lok at the homologation cert. The definition of "standard" is quite interesting. But nonetheless good luck.

[andy97]

What about a Group N version, was such a thing raced? Much cheaper, but if you are also building a Gp 2 CSL it sounds like you must have the resources to make a good go of it.

[tomroche]

Hi Andy, I have not heard of a group n spec car??

[andy97]

Just done a quick "google" and found this:

http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1985%20Cars.html

and http://www.flickr.com/photos/29293417@N02/5387246928/

so they definitely existed.

and this article (about half way down) explains more about the origins & spec of the NZ car: http://www.classiccar.co.nz/articles...zer-beamer-251

[Alex E]

You might be surprised at how many special bits you need to make a gp A 635.
Why not build a Gp 2 635 ? It would be a very rare car & therfore get a lot of interest. They were basically a Gp 2 CSL in a 635 body.
And paint it Gossr Beer green......

[John Turner]

That would look impressive!

[Al Weyman]

Or build it to CTCRC Group 1.5 , save a lot of dosh and have fun.

[davyboy]

Tom the 635 is a gorgeous road car and the Group A versions were even nicer. However, please do as much research as possible before you embark on this. These cars cost a large fortune to build in period, among the most expensive Group A cars of their era, and fresh build today is likely to be even more costly. Can I recommend that you read through the thread below... and make contact with user Florent Moulin who has a Group A 635 and knows quite a bit more about them than most of us here.

If you do decide to do it, then I'd like to wish you the best of luck and can't wait to see the finished version.

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84884

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Or build it to CTCRC Group 1.5, save a lot of dosh and have fun.

They only qualified as Group A.

The CTCRC regs are not Group 1 or 1.5.

[Al Weyman]

What ever does it really matter, they are sensible and economic.

[Al Weyman]

The car will be a converted road car so will never be a genuine Gp1, 2 or A so what the heck, its all a bit daft anyhow the whole Historic scene.

[Peter Mallett]

Al, a perfectly acceptable point of view, but the OP was looking at building it into Group A. I surmise, therefore, he is looking to get an exact replica of such a car. Suggesting he builds to a set of regs that a) have no connection with App J; and b) are not even remotely close Group A is a bit pointless.

[Al Weyman]

How are they not close to Group 1 though just because they have allowed plastic windows I am sure you have suggested they were close to Gp1.5 in the past before this single rule change? I only suggested that he build to those rules as everyone was advising how expensive and impractical it was to emmulate a Group A car and they may well be right but I was trying to suggest an alternative incase the OP lost heart because of the comments and decided to give up on the project which IMHO would be a shame when he could build it and still find places to race. William Jenkins races his earlier model 6 series built to these rules with some success so why not.

[brown dog]

Hi Tom,

the Gp.N car being discussed belongs to a friend of mine in NZ, Gerry Hodges, who occasionally posts on here. It actually began life as a Gp.A car, and was one of the original numbered Motorsport bodyshells. After a crash (its first race I think) it was rebuilt into Gp.N spec, and has remained that way until today. Gerry has toyed with the idea of converting it back to Gp.A spec. but the biggest problems is A) sourcing all of the Gp.A parts and B) the cost of these parts.

If you are looking at a 100% correct spec. (and I am assuming you are) then you need all of the suspension/brakes/wheels/drivetrain etc. To buy these parts second hand, refurbish them and build into a car may run you to the same cost (or more) than buying a genuine Gp.A car. I know several people who have built E30 M3 Gp.A replicas that have cost far more than a genuine car would have, and I don't believe the 635 is too different in this regard.

I have a copy of the original BMW Motorsport catalogue for the 635 Gp.A parts, and there is quite a bit in there! Unfortunately no pictures though. As someone suggested earlier, get a copy of the original homologation documents through your national motorsport body, and this will give a good idea of what you will need to source. If you decide to go ahead, I can possibly help with some parts. I am making tooling patterns for the BBS wheel centres which are NLA, and will be casting them soon. I can also source other parts such as the circuit breakers, wheel nuts and a few other parts as well. I also have some original Gp.A 635 BBS wheels in Metric tyre fitment, which would make nice coffee tables, but not good for much else



Conrad

[Paul D]

Without wishing to be the harbinger of doom, from what's been said by others in the know so far, it sounds like this could be an incredibly expensive and time consuming build.

My guess would be, as Brown Dog has already suggested, that some of the parts are going to be nigh-on impossible to source, and those that can be found are likely to be at scary prices!

However, I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from taking on the build - I like BMWs and have raced one myself. And I'm sure the 6-series would make a great racecar, but if doing it to full Grp. A spec proves to be just a bit too daunting, then you could always consider, as Al has suggested, simply building it to a less well-defined spec - there would still be plenty of places you could race it.

I guess it all boils down to your motivation for building it in the first place. If you just fancy racing a 6-series, then decide where you want to race it and build it to suit those regs. If, however, your desire is more for owning something that's as close as possible to the original cars, then only the genuine Grp. A stuff is going to fit the bill and just building it to an undefined spec isn't going to do it for you.

Either way, good luck with the build if you decide to take it on.