The exterior is tantamount to an artwork. The interior boasts just the one seat. But there is a full roll cage to compensate for that – and a stellar racing record. This BMW coupé has never known the life its standard brethren were designed for - perhaps motoring down to Cannes or up to your Highlands hideway - and instead was stripped back, uprated and sent off to be first to the chequered flag. The 635CSi you see here is just one of ten works cars built for the track, and now it's for sale. Get the race suit ready.
Photo Credit: Federico Vecchio ©2026 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Paintwork is correct BMW Parts livery, reminiscent of the company's art car programme. Deceptively, the 635CSi at first glance resembles the standard boulevard cruiser. The race car emerges in key details: lowered suspension, Irmler Racing wheels, orange bonnet pulls and the key word Schnitzer, the storied motorsport team that BMW trusted with its works cars. Through the windows you can see the full race roll cage that's protected drivers including former Formula One stars Emanuele Piro and Gerhard Berger.
A look inside
A stripped-out interior greets the driver as you clamber over the side protection of that roll cage. Gone is any semblance of luxury – hints remain only on the standard fabric-covered door cards and the air conditioning controls – and in comes a Recaro race seat, ready to strap you in with competition Sabelt harness. Racing instrumentation is clearly labelled. "Rain Light"? That'll be for the Spa-Francorchamps 24-Hour race in a particularly wet part of Belgium, a race this car won in August 1986. For aficionados, there is full Schnitzer documentation of this car's racing career.
Private ownership followed, with – deep breath – £209,000 spent on recent documented rebuilds and other work. The car is fitted with a replacement, albeit correct, engine with the original included in the sale. In case you're wondering, there's not only that back to paintwork interior with no room for anyone but you, but no room for anything in the boot either, taken up as it is with endurance size and quality fuel tanks. It remains eligible for historic motorsport events.
Not cheap
Who wouldn't want a real live racing car in their garage to admire as a motoring artwork, or to load up on a trailer for a few hair-raising laps around Goodwood on a track day? Yes, please. It does come down, however, to cost. You could go the cheap route and source your own sybaritic standard 635CSi, a sleek coupé in which much more than those door cards are covered in 1980s deluxe BMW fabric. Pay around £30,000 and you even get more than one seat. But you'll never match the provenance of this remarkable machine, being auctioned by the good people at RM Sotheby's with an estimate of £420,000 to £590,000. Pricey, but there'll never be another one.
