Tim road tests two top-selling sporting coupes, and examines the history behind each car and marque.
Words: Tim Nevinson Photos: Jared Clark
Whilst we tend to get caught up in the design attributes and competition pedigree of cars of the past, the real art for motor manufacturers was selling them — any other aspects simply being a means to an end, either helping or hindering the cars’ sales success. For the record, BMW sold 86,219 6 Series cars between November 1975 and April 1989, and Jaguar sold 115,413 XJ-S units between 1975 and 1996.
The basis for the two cars is very different in that Jaguar used the floorpan and basic mechanicals from the larger XJ6/12, which had been in existence since 1968, whereas BMW used the mid-size E12 5 Series sedan floor pan (less than a year old) for the 6 Series, and fully updated it after the new E28 5 Series sedan came out in 1981. BMW only produced the 6 Series as a coupe, and only used the M30 series of engines (apart from the low volume M-power car). Jaguar made cabriolet and convertible versions of the XJ-S in addition to the coupe, and two very different engine installations. The Jaguar and BMW both received major facelifts during their production run, which were more apparent under their skin.
Two sports coupe rivals — one from Great Britain and one from Germany FIGHT OVER KIWI TARMAC
In retrospect, looking at these bare facts you would have to say BMW came out on top, but you’d be forgetting that the XJ-S made such an impression on BMW that it introduced a completely new range to replace the 6 Series (the 8 Series), more akin to the XJ-S in size and using a brand new V12 engine. However, it was a total flop sales-wise, while the XJ-S became Jaguar’s longest-running sports car ever.
It is very interesting to see that both manufacturers looked longingly at their competitor’s products, and each produced something to match. What marked these two manufacturers apart, at the time, was the speed with which they could develop totally new models. Jaguar, originally hamstrung by Leyland’s bureaucracy, chronic lack of foresight and investment in development, had very long cycle times and reacted slavishly to American regulations and trends, which, of course, could have changed by the time any given model hit the streets.
E-type replacement
Code named XJ27, Jaguar’s XJ-S was a slow starter. Jaguar was in no position to tackle the fuel crisis, having recently put most of its eggs into the V12 basket. The XJS was 45kg lighter than the XJ12 sedan, and excellent as a GT in the truest sense; a car made for Grand Touring. Fantastic value, there was nothing to touch it. It was a one or more steps further in the evolution of what the E-type had already evolved into.
The reason behind the E-type’s demise, upcoming American crash legislation, meant solid hard tops and bulbous bumpers simply had to be part of a product aimed primarily at the US market. Taking the styling aside, the press, which influenced the market greatly, wanted the E-type to go back to its roots, but its replacement emphatically took it the other way. Jaguar had a problem on its hands impressing on the market the abilities of its new GT, something it couldn’t address until it had shaken off the shackles of the Leyland empire.
Bob Tullius in the US was making a good job of it by winning TransAm and SCCA races with his privately entered XJ-S, but there was no money in the coffers or inclination on the part of BL to repeat the sorry episode in Europe with Broadspeed’s V12 coupes.
We have got used the old bird now, but there is no denying that in direct contrast to BMW’s sporting product of the time, the XJ-S was striking rather than beautiful. Regardless of their capabilities, cars in this class are not bought from a practical standpoint, but rather as a statement about their drivers. Jaguar made life difficult for itself by using very unconventional styling. Whilst there is no doubt that an early XJ-S would immediately catch the attention, the BMWs of the time were easier on the eye. Interestingly, later versions of both designs have, in retrospect, a timeless quality — particularly for the Jaguar once the roof had been lopped off.
BMW’s big coupe
Where the styling of the XJ-S owed nothing to any of its predecessors, the launch pad for the 6 Series was the undeniably well proportioned BMW CSi , which was a reasonable seller and made BMW a great reputation on the race tracks. The CS series was itself a slow starter, with rather odd frontal styling on the first 2000CS coupe of 1965, which in turn owed its style to the Bertone BMW 503 built on the V8 chassis from the very old fashioned ‘Baroque Angel’.
BMW tasked Karmann (which would much later handle the XJ-S convertible) to create the 2000CS, using totally different Neue Klasse BMW running gear, but with a strong family resemblance to Bertone’s 503. The questionable feature on these cars was the large amount of painted steel at the front flanked by headlights set into a wrap-around, oblong glass housing. It was also hugely expensive for a 2.0-litre four-cylinder car, but once these styling features were deleted for the Giugiaro inspired E9, and the engine uprated to a six-cylinder 2.8, the CS was up and away.
The XJS was 45kg lighter than the XJ12 sedan, and excellent as a GT in the truest sense; a car made for Grand Touring
The ultimate CS, the 3.0CSL Batmobile — king of the tracks in the hands of Hans Stuck and Ronnie Peterson — provided the BMW sporting heritage we see today. BMW’s track reputation was formidable, and it replaced the CSL before it got too old with the new E24 6 Series in 1976. BMW’s pretty E9 CSi coupes had been pillarless, but the Germans’ interpretation of future American regulations meant that the 6 Series E24 could not be built in this manner, so it had a strong B-post and roof section, making it considerably heavier than the outgoing E9. It was so heavy that a weight saving programme was quickly initiated. In contrast to the XJ-S, the 6 Series is considered by many to be the most aesthetically pleasing BMW of all time. Paul Bracq’s aggressive front forward styling and airy glass-house was exactly what the doctor ordered.
The E24 range was initially comprised of 630CS and 633CSi models. The 137kW (184bhp) 2986cc 630CS and 149kW (200bhp) 3210cc 633CSi both used the sweet M30 in-line six from the 7 Series BMW sedan. Standard transmission on both models was a four-speed Getrag 262/9, with an optional three-speed ZF HP-22 auto transmission. The suspension was from the E12 5 Series, and the first cars were built by Karmann, although the project was quickly brought in-house once its sales potential was realised.
Whilst it did not break much new ground in its entirety, the E24 used many features that became BMW’s feted trademarks, such as the dashboard layout and the ‘check control’ test panel.
To the untrained eye the 6 Series always looked much the same, but development was constant. In 1978 the Getrag five-speed came in, and 1979 electronic engine management and ABS braking were a option. In mid-1982 the E-28 5 Series sedan platform was placed under the coupe. The suspension, engine, interior and engine management came in for a refit, the obvious difference from outside being increased wheel arch flares and different spoilers. A four-speed automatic became an option in 1983, the last year of production for the 633CSi version.
On April 6, 1989, the last E-24 coupe rolled off the assembly line. A convertible was never officially offered, although Crayford and Bauer produced a few to special order.
Motorsport
The real collector’s piece was BMW Motorsport’s 213kW (286bhp) M635CSi with a four-valve cylinder head, along with road cars developed by specialists Alpina, Hartge and Schnitzer, which raced alongside the works cars. Not only was the 6 Series a success in the showrooms, it continued where the CSL left off in motor sport. The coupe ranges of Jaguar and BMW would not have been seen as direct competition for each other until they started to knock seven bells out of each other on the world’s race tracks. BMW was an up and coming brand, marketing small and medium class cars which now had a rock solid reputation on the race track, whereas Jaguar was resting on its laurels as a manufacturer of big luxury cars with a slightly distant, old-world racing pedigree.
There are many reasons the two manufacturers butted it out on the track and thence became bitter rivals in the luxury car segment, but there was one central character, a canny Scot, Thomas Walkinshaw, an opportunist if ever there was one. Son of an East Lothian market gardener, Walkinshaw broke both his legs whilst driving a works March, ending any further aspirations to be a single-seater champion.
Hired by Ford to drive a Capri, Tom won his class in the British Touring Car Championship. Building on that, he formed Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) in 1976, and that year scored his first major victory in a BMW E9 CSL at Silverstone. TWR then began preparing BMWs, including all the cars for BMW GB’s one-make BMW County Challenge in 1979 and 1980, whilst ‘Wee Tam’ himself continued to race other machinery. His Mazda RX-7s won the British Touring Car Championship in 1980 and 1981 with Win Percy.
Wee Tam
Top of Wee Tam’s agenda was winning race championships, but he realised that by doing this he could generate income providing value-added cachet to the manufacturers’ brands by building their race cars and reputations. Subsequently he hoped to get into design, development and manufacturing partnerships with them, and this would become a familiar pattern.
Whilst there is no doubt AN early XJ-S would immediately catch the attention, the BMWs of the time were easier on the eye
His racing expertise came from an ability to read regulations and find the right car to exploit them. Walkinshaw recognised that the new ETCC regulations could suit the Jaguar XJ-S (a real long shot considering the perceived failure of the respected Broadspeed Company to make the heavy XJ12C work as a racing car). Whilst failing to twist Jaguar’s arm into an outright works team, for 1982 TWR did gain support to build two cars as a private Team Motul entry, with a view to works support later. The difference in success between Broadspeed and TWR’s Jaguar race programmes was in the regulations, TWR’s willingness to explore their limits, and Walkinshaw tolerating no interference from corporate nobodies. His first season brought a win and a second placing in the Tourist Trophy Race at Silverstone.
At the time Jaguar had just emerged from a very tight spot, production of the XJ-S having stopped completely for a short time in 1980. The whole enterprise was threatened with closure by then new chairman John Egan, who had previously rescued Unipart and Massey Ferguson from oblivion.
Hard times
Jaguar’s customer satisfaction was low, and the fuel crises of the ’70s had bitten hard. Egan badly needed to polish a tarnished image. After TWR’s first season, an arrangement with Walkinshaw made total sense. Egan presided over a strong resurgence of demand, helped in no small way by Walkinshaw’s racing activities. In ’83 the 1400kg Jaguars took five wins to the BMWs’ six, and Walkinshaw won the European title in 1984 with the XJ-S, including victory in the Spa 24 Hours. As with BMW and Mazda, he formed a specialist offshoot, JaguarSport, then made manufacturing arrangements for the XJ220 and later Aston Martin DB7 using XJ-S running gear.
As a postscript, it was decided to bring the TWR V12 XJ-S out of retirement for the prestigious Bathurst 1000 race in Australia in October 1985, as well as the Wellington Street Race and Pukekohe in 1987. The Jaguars finished first and third in Australia’s Great Race, and on February 1, 1987, the works Group A XJ-S finished its career with a second placing at Pukekohe. Private entrants also had a go with the XJ-S down under. In Australia, there were John Goss — with his Group C-turned-Group A car — and Gary Wilmington while, in New Zealand, Mike Hourigan also flew the Jaguar V12 flag.
the BMW 635 coupe won the European Touring Car Championship in 1982, 1985 and 1986
Despite its light alloy construction Jaguar’s AJ6 engine was never used for serious competition, in direct contrast to BMW’s six-cylinder, which dominated for nearly 10 years.
Having won the ETCC five times with the CSL, the BMW 635 coupe won the European Touring Car Championship in 1982, 1985 and 1986. In 1985, Jim Richards’ 635 took the Australian Touring Car Championship. At the Bathurst 1000, the BMW-backed Johnny Cecotto/ Roberto Ravalglia car was second to John Goss and Armin Hahne in their TWR V12 Jaguar, with Richards fourth. Around half a dozen works and quasi-works BMW 635 Group A cars came to New Zealand.
Ogle, May and AJ
Back in 1980 Jaguar chairman Egan had commissioned a facelift on all Jaguar models to an Ogle design, and coinciding with the V12’s High Efficiency, May ‘Fireball’ cylinder heads. With a new wood-look inside and undoubtedly a better-looking exterior, the XJ-S HE was now capable of 250kph. Jaguar could claim the fastest production car in the world fitted with automatic transmission.
Going back to Jaguar’s yawning product development cycles, the ’70s fuel crisis had prompted Jaguar to a policy of eventually only building small engines, and in planning its new XJ40 sedan, Jaguar resolutely fought off Leyland’s bid to fit the Rover V8, obstinately designing the XJ40’s engine bay so it would not accommodate a V-formation engine, whether it be a twelve or an eight. It also made life difficult for itself by opting for an all-alloy construction straight-six, something no one else had produced in volume. Compromising further, the engine had to have the same bore centres for production reasons as the V12, so it was a lengthy unit. However, the new AJ6 was around 30 per cent lighter.
Accepted practice at Jaguar was to test new concepts on the public in relatively low-volume sports cars. The XJ27 spawned the XJ57, a 3.6-litre AJ6 version of the V12 GT. Spurning the excellent two-valve May head, a bulky alloy four-valve arrangement was placed atop the long alloy six. Inclined at 15 degrees from the vertical, the AJ6 still necessitated a large bulge in the XJ-S’s bonnet. With the 24-valve head the output was 168kW (225bhp) compared to 121kW (162bhp) for a 3.4-litre XK, but well short of the V12’s 223kW (299bhp) — this was probably the first time a power bulge had indicated less power.
Shrinking pains
In unit with GM’s 200 four-speed auto the Jaguar’s powertrain was so flimsy that development was halted, but far too late. Rover’s 77mm five-speed manual had been thrown out early on in favour of the Getrag unit used by BMW, but work with the GM auto went on far too long before the ZF’s 4HP22 auto, also used by BMW, was tried. ZF’s unit was much more suitable than the GM transmission, but had to wait until well after XJ57 production started for its introduction.
the six-cylinder version came into its own, an agile, relatively economical, genuine competitor to the BMW 6 Series
The six-cylinder XJ-S was announced as ‘manual only’ at the same time as the cabriolet. Sixty miles per hour could be reached in 7.6 seconds, and a genuine 233kph (145mph) was attainable. But it couldn’t possibly be as smooth as the V12, and, in truth, wasn’t particularly smooth for an in-line six. Jaguar’s fuel injection technology at the time could not deal smoothly with fuel cut-off and reinstatement, and with a compliant, softly set-up drive-line the new six gave an unpleasant jerkiness on trailing throttle. It did not get great press, and first impressions are lasting impressions.
Once the infinitely more suitable ZF auto was phased in, the jerkiness evident in the manual drive-line dissipated, and Jaguar later changed to digital fuel injection which solved the problem at source. After many detail improvements to the engine — and an optional revamp of the suspension, tightening it up to ‘Sports pack’ configuration — the six-cylinder version came into its own, an agile, relatively economical, genuine competitor to the BMW 6 Series, and sufficiently different from the 5.3 V12.
The V12 was a similar price to the 635 BMW, the AJ6 version much cheaper. The Sports-pack became standard on AJ6-engined cars, a 4.0-litre version in 1989 further improved it, and a convertible and a full facelift enhanced the car inside and out. The AJ6 is mechanically unburstable, with the same crank dimensions as the V12. It never became a true classic like the XK or V12 before it and gave way to the AJ26 V8, but two out of three ain’t bad. Because of its shaky start the AJ6 XJ-S was a real sleeper in the new car market, and now in the classic arena. Generally speaking, buying policy is the later the better, but later models equipped with an airbag were compromised in the driving position.
The same applies to the BMW. The later the better, as they were relatively slow initially, the fast 3.5-litre 635 not becoming available until mid 1978. The Getrag-equipped manual BMW never suffered from the shunt associated with the early manual AJ6 Jaguar because its driveline was torsionally much stiffer, and Motronic Digital fuel injection was available to them much earlier.
Rivals on the road
With the auto option on both our featured cars, there was nothing to choose between them. Both cars make sublime tourers, and when fitted with the Sports-pack the Jaguar can stay with the BMW when the windy bits get tough. With a light alloy six and tight suspension the Jaguar confounds its critics — it is as fast as the BMW, turns in and handles just as well. The starter on the Jaguar sounds really crude, spoiling the ambience somewhat, and once on the run the sound of the BMW is definitely sweeter than the XJ-S, but this is only an issue when the throttle is wide open. On the BMW the power unit feels fixed to the car, whereas on the Jaguar you can’t feel it but you can hear it when it’s being worked.
With a light alloy six and tight suspension the Jaguar confounds its critics
The interior of the Jaguar is more gentleman’s club compared to the BMW, but the BMW has easier access, considerably more space, better all-round visibility and ergonomics. Both have acres of leather, with the Jaguar’s seats more comfortable and supportive. It would have been a tough decision at the time. The size of the cheque book should have made the difference in favour of the Jaguar, but in all likelihood the BMW 635 had considerably more cachet at the time — enough even to make it more desirable than a V12 Jaguar.
Today, any rust free XJ-S is exceptional value; early 6 Series cars are reasonably priced too, but a tidy late model 635 like this one is highly prized.
1988 BMW 635CSi Auto
Engine: alloy head, iron block 12-valve sohc in-line six cylinder
Capacity: 3430cc
Power: 162kW (220bhp) at 5700rpm
Torque: 315Nm (232lb/ft) at 6500rpm
Transmission: ZF 4HP24 four-speed auto
Brakes: vented disc/solid disc, ABS
Front suspension: MacPherson struts
Rear suspension: semi-trailing arms, coil springs
Steering: ball and nut, PAS
Tyres: 240/45VR15
Wheels: 15 x 6.5 aluminium alloy
Dimensions
O/all length: 4870 mm
Width: 1725mm
Height: 1365mm
Wheelbase: 2625mm
Weight: 1576kg
Performance
0-100kph: 8.5sec
Top speed: 216km/h
Economy: 81/100km (34.9mpg) at 90kph
1988 Jaguar XJS 3.6 Auto Sports pack
Engine: all-alloy 24-valve dohc in-line six-cylinder
Capacity: 3590cc
Power: 165kW (221bhp) at 5100rpm
Torque: 337Nm (249lb/ft) at 4000rpm
Transmission: ZF 4HP22 four-speed auto
Brakes: vented disc/solid disc, ABS
Front suspension: wishbones, coil springs
Rear suspension: radius arm, lower wishbone, driveshaft top link, four coil springs
Steering: rack and pinion PAS
Tyres: 235/60VR15
Wheels: 15 x 6.5 alloy
Dimensions
O/all length: 4764mm
Width: 1881mm
Height: 1261mm
Wheelbase: 2591mm
Weight: 1680kg
Performance
0-100kph: 8.4sec
Top speed: 220kph
Economy: 7.8l/100km (36mpg) at 90kph
Acknowledgements
Stuart Collingwood is a North Shore business broker now, but in Christchurch he traded an A40 Devon for his first Jaguar (MkVII) at the age of 15. His father nearly belted him when he got home, and insisted he take it straight back to Archibald’s. Fifteen years ago he bought a Mk2 and just continued collecting more Jaguars, up to five at the moment including our featured XJ-S. It was an English car originally, travelling through Singapore before coming to NZ.
The Jaguar was tatty when Stuart bought it in 2000, and it took him three to four months to get it looking as nice as it is now. Stuart is a stalwart of the Auckland Jaguar Club, which we thank for locating the car. Our featured BMW comes from a private collection.
