1987 BMW (E28) M5

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I've owned this for just under three years now, bought privately soon after the ad appeared on PH. It's a late 1987 M5, one of the very last of the 187 cars they made in RHD for the UK market. It's Cirrus Blue and has the factory-fitted body kit that about one third of them were ordered with (at considerable expense at the time). The kit always divides opinion, but I actually went out looking for one with it. I am a child of the 80's!

It's also fairly rare in that the owner opted for cloth rather than leather interior, but I'm glad he did as it has stood up very well to the test of time and 140,000 miles. A previous owner had the seat bolsters done in leather at some point but it looks good and suits the look of the interior.

I've done, or had done, a variety of things to maintain and improve it, including: timing chain, new radiator, seat rebuild (frame had cracked), some welding underneath followed by a good clean up and waxoyl, new front grilles, wheel refurb and new tyres, Inspection 2 service, OEM exhaust back box and a thorough going over of the electrics which now all work, including the trip computer.

If you're unfamilar with these cars it has a motorsport-derived 3.5 litre straight six engine, LSD, 5 speed box, air-con, heated and fully electric seats. They were (briefly) the fastest saloon car in production in 1985 with a top speed of around 152 mph. I can confirm that it's still more than capable of dealing with modern traffic, albeit steering and brakes require more concentration than a modern car!

Anyway, some pics. It's been to a few Sunday Services so some people may recognise it:




Not all the pictures were taken by me, so if you recognise any of your own then thank you very much!!

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Cheers, that's an interesting comment about the body kit. Here's a picture I came across showing M5's with and without the kit.

(I have no connection to ML, have never used them, but understand they are very good).

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Thanks all.

Outnumbered, I remember your lovely CSL and our chat well! That was a good day out, thank you for the extra photos - I especially like the front grill shot showing the little arrow to indicate where the bonnet release catch is.

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Thanks all for the positive comments, I am genuinely surprised that no-one has come on to say they don't like the factory body kit! I'm glad I bought it when I did as prices are on the up and they will always be hard to find with only an estimated 60-80 ish left on the road.

Some recent pictures at a show in Uxbridge where we managed to get every model of M5 in a row, with an E12 M535i for good measure! Unfortunately the lens didn't extend wide enough to the F10 version...







And one at a wet PH South East meeting:

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Martin350 said:

Would this be the car I've seen around Maidstone a few times in the last week or two?

If not I've seen a very similar one on the A229 Loose Road near the fire station, and somewhere else I can't remember!

Looked gorgeous, and damn cool!

Hi there, yes that's me - I live quite close to the fire station so you may see me out and about a fair bit! My daily is (as of today) a grey '02 plate 530i Touring. I've just sold my grey Audi RS4 Avant (sob) which you may have seen or heard (Milltek!) if you live or work in the area.

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RichwiththeS2000 said:

See, my dad also had an E28 5 series back in the day. It was one of the first cars I remember enjoying riding along in as a kid. My dads not really a car guy, but he still remembers taking that thing out for drives 25 years later! I think about getting one sometimes but not sure if it's a case of "don't meet your heroes", or if it would be something I should do..!

I couldn't afford an M5, but even a regular one, I just love their looks...

Interesting that your Dad remembers it so well! The identical looking M535i with the same body kit is a lot cheaper than an M5, although prices are definitely on the up in the last couple of years or so. Different engine of course but still a lovely 3.5 straight six. Consider one now before they continue to climb??!!

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bulldong said:

My Dad also had one of these. I remember him stopping occasionally when we were driving along and doing 0-60 trials and timing it on the digital timer that looked like some sort of casio calculator. Was a fking hilarious car. Unfortunately when he sold it, he and I saw it in a ditch on a roundabout about 2 weeks later.

Edited by bulldong on Tuesday 8th September 20:54

Great memory (apart from the ditch bit) - the on board computer does look very much like an 80's Casio calculator! See to the left of the speedo in the picture below:

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Martin350 said:

Hi.
I live just off Cripple Street, so must be quite close.

Next time I see you whilst walking or driving my grey 350Z I'll

I will look out for you, I'm just off the Loose Road near the Wheatsheaf. I think I may have seen your 350Z already actually. Mrs S drives around in a black T5 Transporter Sportline, slightly modified and lowered and with a T5 number plate, she comes past Cripple Street several days a week doing the pre-school run. Feel free to give her a wave as well!

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I've tidied up and cleaned the tool kit - new backing foam, bulbs and foam fuse holder and polished the original tools which came up very well. The only one I have replaced is the water pump pliers, which are still available to order from BMW. Finally, I spent a relatively silly amount of money on a replica 'blue cloth' that it would have been supplied with new!

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e21Mark said:

They look great. I'm tempted to give the tools in my e21 some love now you've inspired me. So how much are those cloths then?

Thanks, it was quite satisfying! Now that your amazing E21 is done it could be time for some, errr, tool loving ;0)

I'm too embarrassed to openly admit what I spent on a small cloth that I will never use, but if you search fleabay for 'BMW blue cloth' it comes up first....

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JatHanspal said:

Cracking looking car there, great way to waste time on a Friday by browsing for ones for sale!

I always loved the tool kits that BMW are supplied with, albeit they are getting more light weight now and sparse. Do any other manufacturers provide similar tool kits in the car?

Cheers, and me. I was pleased to see that the tool kit was basically complete when I bought the car (I understand the plug spanners are quite valuable on their own).

I've recently picked up an E39 530i Touring and the tool kit is approx 1/4 the size of the M5's, if that!

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Quick update. The car came out of winter hibernation and pretty much straight off to have a few bits attended to: a small weep from the diff was solved with new seals, new gearbox mount and gear lever bushes fitted, air con re-gas and an oil service.
It's driving lovely and the new gear lever bushes have made an amazing difference to the quality of the change.

In January I had the steering wheel recovered and Jack at Royal Steering Wheels also adapted a new E30 M3 gear lever and gaitor to fit the M5 plastic mounting ring. He did an amazing job (and only charged me a tenner!) and the knob feels and looks much better (and close to identical to the NLA original item) than the E34 item that was in there previously.



I've been out to a few events in the last few weeks - Sunday Service at MBW, the Duxford Spring show and last week Motors by the Moat at Leeds Castle. All were really good shows, and I'm always surprised how much attention the M5 gets.
I'm to Classic Le Mans in it in July with a mate, staying with his buddies in a Triumph camping area. Should be good!

Nice pic by DanLlama at MBW:



and a couple of other recent ones




I wonder if the guy who owns this would like to swap?!

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Thanks all for the nice comments, and that looks like a lovely black M535i on the back and polished wheels. To answer or confirm a few of the questions:

The switch to the right above the dial on the dashboard is for the electric rear blind, which I'm told was a very rare dealer-fit option. It still works!



The M-Technic body kit is identical to the M535i and was an expensive option on an M5, apparently fitted to about one third of the 187 UK RHD cars. It seems to be less favoured now although I like it and think it suits the colour well.

I'm definitely hanging on to the car and getting good use out of it - I'm sure these are now in the "I wish I hadn't sold it" category for some...

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MrParting your (old?) M5 looks great - is it still with you?

Coincidentally I was pleased to meet Mr_Oversteer and his E28 this morning at a pre 1990 BMW meeting at the cafe at the bottom of Box Hill. Some very interesting cars present, not least an E12 with 3.8 litre M5 engine, a very purposeful looking 2002 Turbo and a couple of really smart M635 CSi's amongst others. Decent coffee and a bacon roll too.

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Cheers, I do sometimes wonder how many of the 187 RHD cars still exist...

To the left of the radio is the speaker balance control, and to the right is a switch to control the electric rear blind which I understand was an ultra rare dealer-fitted option. It still works!

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Late last month I took part in a photo shoot for Modern Classics magazine, who wanted to pitch an M5 against an Alpina B10 3.5. The location and weather were great, and it was a really enjoyable day doing moving tracking shots, comparing the cars, and having lots general car chat with the journalist Chris Chilton who used to be a staffer at AutoCar.

I think the magazine might be out around the end of the year - should be interesting!

A couple of my phone pictures before we got started

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Interesting thoughts on them 'in period', thanks. Do you have any more details or recollections of your M5?

I believe I saw that B7 Turbo at Gaydon last month - looked well used!

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Definitely. There's also another B7 Turbo (not an 'S'?) in the same colour knocking about with a similar BMW no. plate.