E24 BMW M6 Buyers Guide: What You Need to Know

[@jgonzalesm6]

Most, if not all of them, M cars before 1991 had to have their shims adjusted every 10k to 12k miles. I had a 1988 M6 so that's 24 shims that need adjusting(4 valves per cylinder and 6 cylinders). Basically, you take the valve cover off and expose the twin camshaft. Underneath the lobes of the cams are the shims which need a special tool to "lift" the cam and another tool to extract the shim. Then you needed to "mic" the shim with a micrometer. The shim needed to fall within a plus or minus tolerance. Once you got all 24 shims in their right tolerances,the engine purred like a kitten. These cars were grease monkey cars and needed constant maintenance as opposed their counterparts like Mercedes Benz at the time.

[@alvy1968]

U.S. cars never got the euro M88/3 motor.

[@Bubblun1]

How is this a Buyers Guide? Fails to mention problem areas, things to look for, and pros/cons of ownership. Maybe talk to the owner next time if you don't feel like doing your homework.