BMW M5

The Complete Story

James Taylor

• Publisher: Crowood
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781785000461
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Transporte e ingeniería automovilísticos

BMW's M5 was a simple concept: a production 5 Series saloon re-developed for high performance by the Motorsport division. The M5 was the car that really initiated the legend of the M-cars from BMW; the letter M had been applied to a high-performance BMW as early as 1978, but that year's M1 was an exotic supercar. It had the right image, but the M1 was never going to bring in major profits. The M5 was much simpler in concept. It was and remains a production 5 Series saloon, redeveloped for ultra-high performance. Manufacturing costs were minimized, allowing BMW to price the car more attractively and still bring in healthy profits. This new book charts the development of the M5 across five generations. For all fans of the BMW M5, this book provides essential background, and is packed with the facts and details that make the M5 legend come alive. The M5 is still in production and remains the benchmark high-performance saloon wherever it is sold. This is essential background reading for all BMW M5 fans and motoring enthusiasts and is superbly illustrated with 211 colour photographs.

CHAPTER ONE

THE M5 IN CONTEXT

So what exactly is a BMW M5? Defining it as an ultra-high-performance medium-sized saloon car made by BMW really tells very little of the story, because the M5 has become something of an automotive legend. Today, the very name of M5 evokes a whole set of responses from motoring enthusiasts, but among them are invariably ideas of luxury, exclusivity, prestige, excitement and fun. That the latter two play a big part in the reasons BMW sells its M5 in such large quantities is encapsulated in a devastatingly accurate if slightly tongue-in-cheek comment made in Evo magazine for October 2011: ‘The main reason the M5 exists is to bait sports car drivers, avoid the law and keep the driver amused.’

Even though the M5 set the precedent for other car makers to follow, it was not in itself the first high-performance saloon car. Long before its introduction in 1984, specialist tuning companies in Germany had been creating saloon cars with sports-car performance and handling by modifying existing production models. The two leading companies in the field were Alpina, who had focused on BMW products from the mid-1960s, and AMG, who worked on Mercedes-Benz models from 1968. Their cars were subtle (unless the customers demanded otherwise), superbly engineered, and formidably expensive.

Yet these largely bespoke and relatively rare creations made clear that high performance need not be limited to an impractical, two-seater sports car. They awakened the interest of many potential buyers who needed a four-door saloon for family and work commitments, but did not want to sacrifice the performance and handling of the sports cars they might have enjoyed in younger days. Most importantly, many of them had reached a stage in life where they could afford to have such a machine built specially for them.

This image dates from the 1980s, when the Motorsport division was becoming established as a builder of high-performance road cars. Below the M logo, it claims that M is ‘the strongest letter in the world’, and at the bottom describes the Motorsport division as a ‘trend-setter in the high-performance league’. BMW

The M cars were not the first high-performance BMW saloons; specialist tuners had got there first, and the most respected of them was Alpina. This is a 1987 Alpina B7 Turbo, which boasted 300PS – more than the E28 M5 of the day. ALPINA UK

Nor was BMW the only marque to benefit from the attentions of high-performance specialists. AMG’s work with Mercedes-Benz went back to the late 1960s, and this is one of their mid-1980s offerings, contemporary with the original M5. MERCEDES-AMG

Even though Alpina was a small-volume operation, it was undeniably successful, and BMW enjoyed a close relationship with the company from the late 1960s, when Alpina began to field BMW cars in motor sport. Less visibly as far as the public was concerned, BMW itself also began in 1974 to make its own high-performance specials for VIP customers, using its Motorsport division to fit engines from its large cars (in those days the E3 saloons and E9 coupés) into the medium-sized E12 5 Series saloons. Brakes, suspension and other elements were uprated to suit, and the swept volume and outputs of those engines gradually rose as new versions were introduced in production. There were more of these ‘Motorsport 5 Series’ cars than is generally realized, and although no incontrovertible records survive, it is widely believed that 895 were built between 1974 and 1980 – an average of about 127 cars a year.

By the end of the 1970s, BMW senior management was beginning to wonder whether this sideline could be turned into a more mainstream profit-earning activity, and plans were put forward to begin regular production of a high-performance 5 Series derivative with a standardized specification. As before, the car would pass through the Motorsport division’s workshops to be fitted with its high-performance components. However, there was a clear element of risk in this plan, because building a standardized car in quantity and trying to sell it was quite a different proposition from responding to VIP customer demand by building bespoke conversions.

Treading gingerly at first, BMW added the letter M to a high-performance version of the E12 saloon that was called the M535i. The deep front air dam gave away that this was a special version of the car, and the upholstery with its tricolour stripes can just be seen through the windscreen. BMW

The first M535i was a success, and was followed by an M535i version of the E28 models. This, though, was largely a cosmetic exercise … the real thing was now ready for release. NICK DIMBLEBY

In South Africa, BMW satisfied the local market for a high-performance E28 with a special version of the M535i. South Africa would go on to play an interesting part in the story of the M5 models. BMW SOUTH AFRICA

So BMW moved cautiously at first, choosing to test the market with a Motorsport-prepared version of the E12 5 Series in that model’s final year of production. It called this new model an M535i, the initial M signifying the involvement of the Motorsport division, and it entered production in April 1980, lasting until May 1981 (although versions built from completely knocked down (CKD) kits in South Africa were available for longer). The M535i boasted the most powerful version then available of the M30 ‘big-block six’ engine, a 3.5-litre size, which was otherwise found only in the big 735i saloons and the 635CSi coupés. The cars were built from partially assembled 5 Series models that were taken from the main assembly lines at Dingolfing and completed by the Motorsport division at Garching. Customer response was very promising, and BMW decided to field an M535i again as part of its new E28 5 Series range that was introduced in 1981.

This second M535i was not introduced until autumn 1984, and it benefited from BMW’s experience with the first version. The E12 M535i had been supplied uniquely in white and sometimes had racing stripes in the BMW Motorsport colours – fashionable for the time, perhaps, but not really what the customers wanted. So the E28 M535i was visually toned down, and was recognizable only by its special body-kit of spoilers and sill extensions, and by its special wheels. Under the bonnet once again was BMW’s largest and most powerful 6-cylinder engine, although in this case that same engine was also available in the mainstream 535i model. Otherwise, the car’s only special features were a more sporty suspension and sports-oriented ...