BMW 6 Series Sharknose Turns 50 And Gets Its Own Museum Show

Few BMWs have aged as gracefully as the 6 Series. Half a century after the original sharknose rolled out of the factory in 1976, the BMW Museum is throwing the car a birthday party worthy of its legacy. A brand-new special exhibition now occupies the Museum’s Rotunda in Munich, charting every chapter of the BMW 6 Series story from its debut as a sleek grand tourer through to its enduring status as one of the most collectable shapes in automotive history. The numbers back up the fanfare too, with the Museum welcoming a record-breaking 847,000 visitors last year, and this latest showcase looks set to keep that momentum firmly in top gear.

The original 6 Series was built exclusively as a coupe from 1976 to 1989, borrowing its mechanical foundations from the 5 Series while wrapping them in a body that still turns heads today. Chief designer Paul Bracq penned a shape defined by its pointed nose, flowing side profile and generous glasshouse, a combination so timeless that the first-generation car enjoyed a 13-year production run, the longest of any BMW model series. Five engine variants powered the lineup, ranging from the refined 628CSi with its 2.8-litre fuel-injected straight-six to the ferocious M635CSi, which packed the M1’s 286-horsepower engine and was widely regarded as the fastest four-seater on the planet during its era. The car also proved itself on track, claiming European Touring Car Championship titles in 1984 and 1986 with the 635CSi in Group A specification.

The exhibition does not stop at mechanical history, though. BMW has leaned heavily into the 6 Series’ cultural footprint, and it turns out the sharknose has lived quite the double life on screen. The car appeared in international productions including Dallas and Back to the Future II, as well as popular German television series. The Museum’s curators have recreated a 1970s film set against the Munich skyline inside the Rotunda, placing a 1982 628CSi and a 1985 M635CSi centre stage as if they had just driven off a movie lot. Fictional film posters line the walls on the way up through the exhibition space, celebrating the cars’ on-screen appearances from multiple angles. Outside the building, visitors are greeted by an apparently floating body-only 6 Series model, inspired by French photographer Sylvain Viau’s “Flying Cars” series, giving the whole experience a cinematic feel before you even step through the door.

Art plays a starring role as well. The Museum’s Art Car Gallery will alternate between two celebrated BMW 635CSi models from the official Art Car Collection. The first, created by Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs in 1982 and titled “Firefox on Harehunt”, layers mythology and symbolism across every panel. The second, painted by pop-art icon Robert Rauschenberg in 1986, transforms the coupe into a striking black-and-white collage that fuses art history with everyday imagery. Alongside these, a 1976 633CSi sits proudly in the Museum’s permanent car tower, representing one of the earliest members of the family and showcasing the cutting-edge Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection technology that defined its generation.

The exhibition runs in the BMW Museum’s Rotunda until the end of January 2027, sitting alongside the ongoing “Belle Macchine: Italian Automotive Design at BMW” display. Whether you are a lifelong 6 Series devotee, a casual admirer of beautiful car design or simply someone who appreciates a good story told well, this is one Munich stopover that petrolheads should not miss. The Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., with last entry at 5.30 p.m.