The body was styled by Marcello Gandini, based on the Bertone 1970 BMW Garmisch 2002ti Geneva show car. Gandini also did the Fiat 132 and Alfa Romeo Alfetta, two other cars that have a similar design.
There have been five generations of the 5 Series to date. To differentiate between them, they are referred to by their unique chassis numbers (EXX).
The 5 Series began the BMW tradition of being named with a three-digit number. The first digit (5 in this case) represents the model, and the following two digits (usually) represent the size of the engine in decilitres, which is the main distinguishing difference. Additional letters or words may be added to the end of the three-digit number to define the fuel type (petrol or diesel), engine or transmission details, and the body style. The 'i' originally stood for (fuel) 'injection'.
See also BMW E12 for more information
The BMW E12 was the first 5 Series BMW made. The following models were produced in this series:
- 1974 518 - 1.8L M118 I4
- 1976 518 - 1.8L M42 I4
- 1980 518 - 1.8L M10B18 I4
- 1972 520 - 2.0L M17 I4, 115hp (86kW; 117PS)
- 1972 520i - 2.0L M64 fuel injected I4, 125hp (93kW; 127PS)
- 1973 525i - 2.5L I6
- 1975 528i - 2.8L I6
- 1975 530i - 3.0L I6, 176hp (131kW; 178PS)
- 1976 530 Motorsport Limited Edition - 3.0L I6, 200hp (149kW; 203PS)
- 1979 M535i - 3.5L I6, 218hp (163kW; 221PS)
- 1975-1978 530i - 3.0L I6, 176hp (131kW; 178PS)
- 1979-1981 528i - 2.8L I6, 169hp (126kW; 171PS)
The 1.8 L engines and the 2.0 L fuel injected engines were exclusive to Germany until the 1980s. The South African models were 525i, 528i and 530i.
See also BMW E28 for more information
The BMW E28 was the second BMW 5 Series, a stylistic evolution of the E12.
The following models were sold in Europe:
- 518/518i- 1.8L M10B18
- 520i - 2.0L M20B20 I6
- 524d - 2.4L M21 diesel I6
- 524td - 2.4L M21 turbodiesel I6
- 525i - 2.5L M30B25 I6
- 525e - 2.7L M20B27 I6
- 528i - 2.8L M30B28 I6
- 530i - 3.0L M30B30 I6
- 535i/M535i - 3.4L M30B34 I6
- M5 - M88 I6, 286PS (210kW; 282hp)
High performance 5 Series - 24-valve DOHC, I6, six throttle bodies, Bosch Motronic integrated fuel injection. At its launch in 1984, the European specification E28 M5 was the fastest production sedan in the world.
The following models were sold in America: