Article Abstract
- The BMW Museum’s new Rotunda exhibition explores 50 years of the “sharknose” 6 Sequence, open via January 2027, that includes a BMW 628CSi and the uncommon M635CSi in opposition to a Nineteen Seventies movie set backdrop.
- The exhibition highlights the 6 Sequence’ display profession in productions like Dallas and Again to the Future II, whereas Artwork Automotive Gallery rotations showcase 635CSi fashions painted by Ernst Fuchs and Robert Rauschenberg.
- A body-only 6 Sequence mannequin seems to drift exterior the museum constructing, impressed by photographer Sylvain Viau’s “Flying Automobiles” sequence — a preview of what is inside.
The BMW Museum in Munich has simply damaged its personal attendance report, welcoming greater than 847,000 guests in 2025 — and it’s not onerous to see why. After a yr filled with standout exhibitions, together with the celebrated “Belle Macchine. Italian Automotive Design at BMW,” the museum is now turning its highlight onto some of the beloved grand tourers in BMW historical past: the 6 Sequence.
The brand new particular exhibition, open now within the museum’s Rotunda via the top of January 2027, marks 50 years for the reason that authentic 6 Sequence first rolled out of BMW’s manufacturing facility. It’s a becoming tribute to a automotive that, relying on who you ask, could be probably the most lovely BMW ever constructed.
The Sharknose That Began It All
When BMW launched the 6 Sequence in spring 1976, the automotive world took discover. Chief designer Paul Bracq — the identical thoughts behind a few of the most elegant European vehicles of the period — penned a form that someway managed to really feel each aggressive and sleek directly. The distinctive “sharknose” entrance finish, lengthy flanks, and generously proportioned greenhouse home windows gave the automotive an unmistakable presence that has aged remarkably nicely.
Constructed on the technical platform of the 5 Sequence and styled as a non secular successor to the luxurious luxurious coupés of the Nineteen Sixties, the E24-generation 6 Sequence was produced completely as a coupé from 1976 to 1989 — a 13-year run that is still the longest of any BMW mannequin sequence up to now. Our bodies have been initially crafted by Karmann earlier than BMW’s Dingolfing plant took over manufacturing in 1982. Over its lifespan, 5 engine variants have been supplied, together with a US-specific mannequin.
Racing Pedigree
The 6 Sequence was greater than a looker. BMW deployed the 635CSi in Group A touring automotive racing starting in 1983, and the outcomes spoke for themselves: back-to-back European Touring Automotive Championship titles in 1984 and 1986, plus the German Manufacturing Automotive Championship in 1984. It was a program that cemented the nameplate’s status as a real efficiency machine — not only a fashionable boulevard cruiser.
A part of the Film World
One of many exhibition’s most compelling angles is its concentrate on the 6 Sequence’ profession on display. The automotive carved out an actual place in popular culture, showing in American productions like Dallas and Again to the Future II, in addition to German TV staples Tatort and Der Bulle von Tölz. Exhibition curators Anna Schleypen and Klaus-Anton Altenbuchner have recreated a Nineteen Seventies movie set in opposition to the Munich skyline to carry this chapter to life — full with fictional film posters lining the Rotunda’s walkways.
Artwork Automobiles and the Automotive Tower
Past the Rotunda, the exhibition extends all through the museum. The Artwork Automotive Gallery is rotating two extraordinary 635CSi fashions from the BMW Artwork Automotive Assortment, which is at present on a world fiftieth anniversary world tour. Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs created the fifth Artwork Automotive in 1982 — the primary within the assortment primarily based on a manufacturing mannequin — remodeling the 635CSi right into a mythological and non secular canvas he titled “Firefox on Harehunt.” 4 years later, pop-art icon Robert Rauschenberg reimagined the identical mannequin as a black-and-white collage drawing from artwork historical past, images, and on a regular basis tradition.
In the meantime, a BMW 633CSi from 1976 occupies the museum’s dramatic “automotive tower” within the everlasting exhibition. One of many first 6 Sequence fashions supplied alongside the 630CS, the 633CSi was notable for its early adoption of the Bosch L-Jetronic gasoline injection system, later upgraded with DME digital engine electronics in September 1979.
After which there’s arguably probably the most eye-catching factor of your entire exhibition: a body-only 6 Sequence mannequin mounted exterior the museum, suspended in mid-air within the model of French photographer Sylvain Viau’s “Flying Automobiles” sequence.
The 6 Sequence exhibition runs within the BMW Museum’s Rotunda till the top of January 2027. The Artwork Automotive Gallery showings are time-limited: the Fuchs 635CSi is on show via July 13, 2026, whereas the Rauschenberg follows from September 7 via the top of the yr.
The museum is open Tuesday via Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to six:00 p.m. (final entry at 5:30 p.m.).
