1982 - Reworked body and chassi

1982 635 CSi

 The body and chassi developments that started some years ago made it´s debut this year. An average of 60kg/132lbs was reduced from the body, giving a total weight of 1430kg for all models.

The modifications not only made the car lighter, but also a lot stronger. BMW had spent a lot of time (and money) in laboratory simulations and crash tests that finally resulted in the completely reworked and stronger body shell.

Chassi engineering

The most noticeable changes to the chassi was a new front and rear end adopted from the 5-series (that got the same setup a year earlier). The front end got a full double link suspension and the rear end got a new 13° trailing arm layout with an additional top mounted link. All toghether it was a package that improved the road-holding quite significant. Further news on the chassi was that the ABS breaks that had been optional since 1979 now become standard in all models.

1982-89 Front end	1982-89 Rear end 13° trailing arm layout with an additional top mounted link. Notice the non-ventilated rear disc breaks (adopted from the 5-series).

New engine for 635 CSi

The somewhat overbored 3453cc engine for the 635 CSi was found to have some service problems, this was also the reason why BMW developed a new engine for the 635 CSi.

The new engine was developed from the 3210cc unit found in 633 CSi. It had the same 86mm stroke but a new 92mm bore, giving a total of 3430cc.

The power and torque remained the same as it's precursor, thanks to a new version of the DME unit and a higher (10:1) compression ratio. The new DME had a new graph to control the warm-up cold start phase and the idling speed was reduced by 50rpm.

All this, together with a standard overdrive five speed gearbox reduced the fuel consumption about 15%.

1982 3430cc engine in 635 CSi Six cylinder SOHC, 30° slant installation Bore 92mm, stroke 86mm Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection 218bhp @ 5200rpm 290Nm @ 4300rpm 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds Top speed 229 Km/h

Interior changes

The interior was reworked with a new three spoke steering wheel, 1982-dash-layout new dash layout  including a sii-service-interval-indicator Service Interval Indicator (SII) , electronic-fuel-economy-indicator electric fuel economy indicator, new layout of the check-control-system Check Control system.

Standard in 635 CSi but optional in other models was a new 10 function  on-board-computer On-board computer (OBC).

Electronic fuel economy indicator	Check Control system
On-board computer Key English Description TEMP TEMP Check outside temperature ANK ARR Obtain probable arrival time GESCHW SPEED A gong sounds when the specified speed is reached VERBR CONSUMPTION Obtain maximum and average fuel consumption REICHW RANGE Estimated distance with remaining fuel AUSF EXIT Read remaining distance to target ZEIT TIME Time at which the independent heater is switched on (option). If the independent heater is not present an alarm chime will sound at the programmed time DIST DIST Input and display distance to target CODE CODE Activate (or unlock) anti-start device KORR/START CORR/START Two function key, KORR is used to cancel incorrect input and START sets the stopwatch timer in motion STOP STOP Halt the stopwatch timer UHR/LOCK CLOCK/LOCK Two function key, UHR resets the time readout and LOCK hold any of the other display functions	SII - Service Interval Indicator  The coloured indicator lights show the driver how long it is to the next inspection or when the oil has to be changed. The more indicator lights that are lit, the closer it is to a oil change or a service inspection. The electronics behind the SII read and store information from several sensors and also how the car is driven. Hard driving means shorter service intervals, while a restrained style of driving will give longer intervals.

Minor exterior changes

The exterior was left almost unchanged, most noticeable was that the fog lamps where integrated with the front end panelwork, on the 628/633 CSi that is. The 635 CSi still had the fog lamps mounted in front of the front spoiler.

628/633 CSi - Integrated fog lamps	635 CSi front spoiler with fog lamps mounted in front of the spoiler

633 CSi no longer available in Europe

The 633 CSi was still in production, mainly for Japan and USA, but it was not available in Europe.

Production numbers for 1982