In the late 1960s racer and businessman Gordon Spice familiarized himself with the Nürburgring using a rented BMW 2002. He went through a couple of sets of tires and three sets of brake pads during the exercise and covered the cost of such consumables by charging folks to ride with him! The rental company was somewhat puzzled by the fact their car was returned with a different tire brand fitted, but the use of a BMW was no surprise, since BMW built good sports sedans.
Formula 1 and CART champ Nigel Mansell once owned an e12 M535i too, but BMW’s road to success quickly took it beyond sports sedans that appealed to professional racingdrivers. As a niche player grows, it edges closer to the business of rivals on either side of the divide. This tenet has proven true as BMW turned its attention outside the realm of the diehard enthusiast. However, in every new activity the Bavarian firm has maintained its dignified sporty character. The 5 series is no exception.
The oldest of BMW’s “series” models, the 5 series dates back to September 1972. As BMW’s middle child the 5 series has featured the company’s power teams and technical devices from its smallest and largest models, with the e12 M535i being the first car after the e26 M1 to wear the “M” badge. There has been more to the 5 series than just BMW Motorsport versions, with the 6 series coupe and X5 SUV (SAV or Sports Activity Vehicle, in BMW parlance) as notable related technical spinoffs.
BMW is a company associated with motoring firsts. The idea of a sports sedan was a novelty at one time; so was the top safety rating bestowed by the Swedish insurance company Folksam upon the e12 5 series. Rewards are rarely given immediately to trendsetters, but eventually people come around. This has been the case with BMW’s various gadgets, usually cryptically denoted using acronyms. The Bavarian concern has introduced a fair number of these technical newbies over the decades, and these items are examined herein. It should be noted that this book doesn’t cover just one car maker ... it covers ten.
Tuners or speed shops, as they pertain to BMW and other prestige marques, are best described as low-volume specialist manufacturers and are regarded as such by the central German TÜV authority. Compared to the operations that catered to U.S. makes up to the early ’70s, the mostly German BMW tuners adopt a more holistic approach to the art of performance improvement.