BMW E12 5 SERIES

It is now half a century since the BMW 5 Series entered production. Andrew Everett looks back at those first ever Fives, and considers just how good they were in reality.

February 1972 was to be an unusual month. Iran suffered a seven- day snow blizzard, the sort of thing that would drive today’s eco warriors into a righteous frenzy with over 25 feet of drifted snow burying villages. In the UK while the Strawbs sang Part of the Union, Prime Minister Ted Heath declared a state of emergency as coal supplies dwindled and miners continued striking. David Bowie became Ziggy Stardust and the Volkswagen Beetle became the best-selling car of all time no matter what Toyota say, beating the Model T Ford’s record with 15,007,034 cars sold. US President Richard Nixon visited China, and the first ever pilot build BMW 5 Series – a four- cylinder E12 model 520 – left the Munich plant. Joined by the fuel injected 520i, full production would not begin until July as the previous New Class model was run out, building up E12 stocks for a September launch.

The first E12 was in fact a clever reskin of existing BMW parts. Much of the suspension and steering came from the 2500-3.0Si E3 saloon as did the final drive, whilst the engine and gearbox were modified versions of what had gone before. BMW was a small company then and still rebuilding after its 1959 near extinction, and its recovery model – the New Class – had only been launched ten years previously.

The 520 and 520i were to replace the New Class. That 1962 model started life as a 1500, adding an 1800 in 1963, a 1600 replacing the 1500 in 1964 and bolstering the range in 1966 came the 2000 with its oblong headlights and restyled rear end plus the 2-litre version of the superb alloy-headed crossflow M10 four- cylinder unit. As well as the standard single carburettor 100bhp 2000, BMW offered a 2000 Ti with twin carburettors and 120bhp, whilst in 1969 the 2000Tii arrived with Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection and 130bhp.

The Tii might have looked as

gawky as any other New Class saloon (they were never what you’d call a looker), but it had superb performance and in one UK road test it was found to be as fast as a Jaguar 420 with a supposed 245bhp. (In reality this was little more than 180bhp, whereas the DINproven 130bhp of the BMW was very real.) As a car, the New Class was considered to be a German version of the Alfa Romeo Giulia saloons, those boxy twin cam saloons ranging from 1300 to 2000cc with an equally good engine, the 1750 and 2000 versions being restyled if styling is the correct word – pretty they are not.

However, BMW had its eye on the 1968 Mercedes New Generation saloons, the smart and sharp looking replacements for the dated fintail cars that had been launched in the late 1950s. The new Benz came with various engine options in one modern new shell – the four- cylinder 200 was joined by a six- cylinder 230, with other models joining later including a six- cylinder 280E.

Good to drive and superbly built, the Mercedes W114/115 range became the cars to beat. Plus they were the ideal size, which meant bigger than the BMW 2000. At 184.3in long and 69.7in wide, the Mercedes 200 was almost identical in size to the bigger E3 saloon, yet weighed 35kg more than the BMW 2500. With only 94bhp it was hardly a ball of fire.

As launched in 1972, the BMW 520 was three inches shorter than the Mercedes, three inches narrower and a whopping 100kg lighter. With 113bhp from its revised M10 1990cc engine, the 520 was obviously a lot more lively than the Benz. The extra power over the previous 2000 came from both a revised combustion chamber arrangement as well as a new twin Stromberg carburettor set up.

The 520i was the performance model until a six- cylinder version could be launched the following year. The engine was lifted straight from the 1972 model year 2002 Tii complete with the E12 combustion chamber revisions, and the 130bhp it offered gave the 520i sparkling performance. A zero to sixty time of 10.5 seconds was very lively for a 2-litre saloon at this time, as was a top speed of 114mph. To cope with this, the 520’s 175/14 tyres were now HR rated and fitted to steel wheels half an inch wider, whilst the final drive ratio was raised (or numerically lowered) from 4.1 to 3.91 to give taller gearing. A rear anti-roll bar was added to supplement a slightly fatter front bar, and the 520i could be identified by that redoubtable ‘i’ badge on the boot when it really meant something, plus it had a 520i badge on the front grille when the 520 had none.

The E12 was neatly styled inside and out by a team led by Paul Bracq with strong overtones of the existing E3 saloons. If the model was now less of an Alfa competitor, it is worth noting that the new 1972 Alfetta was also a bigger and heavier car with slightly less performance than its Alfa 2000 predecessor – it’s the way cars were going, inspired as they were by both the Mercedes W115/115 as well as neat, wellmade British saloons such as the Rover 2000TC.

Launched in the UK in March 1973, the righthand drive 520 and 520i joined an already very expensive range at £2999 for the 520 and £3499 for the 520i. This is when a 4.2 Jaguar

XJ6 cost £3094, a Rover 3500S £2210 and a Cortina 2000GXL £1300. Road test impressions were favourable though, with the 520’s so-so performance and the wet road grip of both cars being tempered by an excellent ride, very good predictable handling, impressive interior and boot space, powerful brakes and a standard of finish alien to anything made in the UK, Jaguar included. If it wasn’t quite as solidly built as the Mercedes 200, there wasn’t that much in it and the 520 was still faster and cheaper. That BMW badge was more mysterious and prestigious in the UK than it is now – this was the era of the CS Coupé and its CSL offshoot, plus the 2002Tii

If it wasn’t quite as solidly built as the Mercedes, there wasn’t much in it and the BMW was faster and cheaper

that most Escort RS owners secretly lusted after.

After the successful launch of the 520 models, a six- cylinder car came next, not that we would see it until mid-1974. Only a few LHD 525s were built before 27th September 1973, when the employees at the newly rebuilt Glas factory at Dingolfing turned on the lights one morning and started building cars, the first being a 520i. Dingolfing producing E12 saloons would allow E3 and ’02 production in Munich to increase to meet demand. It also meant that BMW could now expand the 5 Series range. The 1973 525 was basically the 520i with its fuel injected 2-litre engine and drivetrain replaced by the 150bhp twin carburettor 2500 engine, gearbox and taller 3.64 final drive. Rear disc brakes were added along with stronger springs and dampers, the result being a much more refined and long-legged car. BMW rated the power at 145bhp for some reason, and whilst the onpaper performance was about the same as a 520i, it was a much nicer if slightly thirstier car. At just over £4000 it was even more expensive too, but still £400 less than a Mercedes 250. Like the 520i, the 525 had a front grille model insignia, plus a new bonnet with raised centre section to clear the big air filter.

1974 saw the one that speed merchants were waiting for – the 528. By fitting the 170bhp 2.8- litre six from the E3 2800 saloon and uprating the car with vented front discs, better dampers and 195/ 70 section tyres, Munich created a pretty brisk car. Badges apart, the only other difference was the addition of matt wood trim strips on the interior door trims. At a shade under £5000, BMW were possibly pushing their luck, but where else could you find a car like the 528? Fast (122mph and 8.9 seconds to 60mph), safe and well made, it was in a class of its own

and was cheaper than the E3 3.0Si – after 1972 there was no manual 3.0S, and the 2800 had been dropped from the UK model range.

If you were not in a hurry, BMW would sell you a newly launched 518. Arriving in January 1975, this 90bhp wonder was basically a response to the recent fuel crisis that saw the end of both the CSL and the 2002 Turbo. A 520 with slightly cheaper trim and an 1800 M10 engine, the early cars were so slow that BMW quickly replaced the single choke carburettor with a twin choke Solex from the 2002 so that it would at least get out of its own way. Tragically undergeared, the 518 was always very busy at speed and no better on fuel than a 520, but it was a cheaper entry point.

From here, the E12 had another six years to go which saw a combination of minor changes, one facelift, a new engine and one big firework at the end. Power steering was standardised in October 1975 on the sixes, and at the same time the 520 lost its twin Stromberg carburettors as the 520i lost Kugelfischer injection – in its place came the revised M10 engine from the new E21 3 Series, a single twin choke Solex carburetted 520 and a 520i with Bosch K Jetronic. September 1976 saw the E12’s facelift with wider tail lights, a taller grille and restyled bonnet, plus the fuel filler flap relocated from the rear panel to the driver’s side (RHD) rear wing. The 525 and 528 lost their double Solex 35- INAT carburettors, replaced by the new Solex 4A1 four-barrel carb, often called the four-headed monster by mechanics trying to get the thing to work properly in later years. This dreadful thing also blighted the 280 Mercedes for a while, but they soon learned.

In line with the E21 320 and 320i models, the two 520s were given a heart transplant in late 1977 with the 2-litre M10 engine being replaced by an all new M60 straight-six. This unit was built as a 2-litre with a Solex 4A1 and a 2.3 with Bosch K Jetronic for the new 323i, but only the carbed 2-litre would find its way into the 5 Series. The new iron block/alloy-headed engine used a typical BMW cam and valve arrangement, but would use a rubber toothed belt for the camshaft drive, a first for BMW. With 122bhp, it sat between the old M10 carb and injection engines and as such saw the end of the 520i for now. The M60 would carry on into the first year of E28 520i production, when it was replaced in September 1982 by the revised E30 variant renamed from M60 to M20 and given Bosch LE Jetronic injection.

At the same time as the 520 went from a four to six, the 528 became a 528i. With L Jetronic replacing the terrible Solex 4A1, power went up to 176bhp and the car became both more reliable and economical as well as faster still – even with a taller final drive ratio, the 528i would shoot to 60mph in 8.2 seconds and was a decent replacement for the late lamented 3.0Si, only just replaced by the bigger and heavier E23 7 Series.

The final hurrah for the E12 came right at the end when in

April 1980 the M535i arrived. Basically a 528i with the engine, close ratio gearbox, limited slip diff and Bilstein suspension from the ‘full fat’ manual version of the 635CSi, the M535i was the first full production M car as opposed to offshoots like the 530MLE and the 530s built for selected customers in the mid-1970s. With front and rear spoilers, Recaro seats, M1 style steering wheel and fatter 14in Mahle alloy wheels, the M535i could be bought on the continent in plain chrome bumper trim for that Q car look, but they were all 140mph ‘seven second’ cars, vividly fast and tricky to handle. The UK would have to wait five months for a righthand drive version, though.

1981 saw the end of the E12, but some of the car and a lot of its character lived on in the replacement E28, a car that took what was good and eliminated what was not so great. There are models we never saw such as the 1979 injection 518i, and nobody saw the 1978 524 turbo diesel because it was a prototype – without a suitable production facility, this ground-breaking engine with six- cylinders and 115bhp would have to wait until 1983.

E12 production would continue in South Africa until 1985 with updates such as the E28 facia being added, but today the E12 is a rare sight in the UK. Not many were sold here, and with rustproofing still in its infancy, not many made it past 15 years old with BMW bogeys of cracked heads and knackered camshafts being a result of neglect. High BMW parts prices added to the eventual demise, though a small shop in London called Euro Car Parts opened in the late 1970s, advertised cheaper spares in Exchange and Mart and would become the BMW owner’s saviour. However, it didn’t help survival rates that the 1981 E28 was regarded as such an improvement that when they started becoming affordable secondhand in the late 1980s, the E12 really fell out of bed. To think I bought a tidy running S-plate 528 Auto for just £250 and an M535i for just £1100 – those were the days!

Not many were sold here, and with rustproofing still in its infancy, not many made it past 15 years