Sometimes relationships sadly come to an end before they even get the opportunity to fully develop. Such is life I guess; circumstances change. This has led to my rare first-generation e12 BMW M535i now being put up for auction. Our relationship will end, but with a new enthusiast somewhere, a new relationship will flourish…
But let’s start from the beginning – the very beginning. Of course, in 1972 Jochen Neerpasch left Ford and joined BMW instead to establish BMW Motorsport GmbH and not least create what must surely be one of the world’s most legendary touring race cars – the BMW 3.0CSL. I suspect this is a story which hardly needs to be regurgitated here, and if I really were to do so, I would treat it with the due respect of a separate and stand-alone article. After the CSL came the iconic BMW M1 which, while being offered as a road car due to homologation requirements, was really developed to take BMW Motorsport’s racing efforts to the next level. But delays in production combined with changes to the Group 5 regulations meant the M1 never managed to meet its full potential.
But while all of this had been going on, Neerpasch’s little team of engineers had been quietly working their magic on the otherwise subtle 5-series e12 saloon. The result – the BMW M535i – was introduced to the public at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show, and thus was born the first M-badged sports saloon and their first true road car. With the e12 M535i, the road was paved for everything that the famous M-badge was going to become up through the eighties and nineties.
So what makes the e12 M535i so special you may ask?
Well for starters, partially-built e12 bodies were taken from BMW’s 5-series assembly line in Dingolfing and transported to Neerpasch’s Motorsport department in Preussenstrasse in Munich, where the rest of the car was then assembled by hand in true BMW Motorsport style – nothing like the later very crude marketing exercise that so many M-badged BMW’s sadly became. In other words, the E12 M535i is indeed a true product of BMW Motorsport GmbH.
But what did Neerpasch’s team do to convert the regular e12 saloon into the ultimate sports saloon?
For starters, there’s that gem of a 3.5-litre straight-6 engine. Many BMW enthusiasts will automatically assume this to be the evergreen M30 engine, but this is where it gets rather nerdy but also really interesting. Because despite sharing both engine size and even quoted power output with the 3.5-litre M30 engine, it was in fact the much rarer M90 engine which was utilised for the e12 M535i. Where the M30 engine has a displacement of 3,430cc the M90 is ever so slightly larger at 3,453cc, achieving this size through a larger bore but shorter stroke than the M30 engine, all of which makes the M90 engine noticeably more rev-happy if driven back to back with a similar M30 engine. And if that’s not enough to make you feel good about having the M90 under the bonnet, it’s worth noting that the M90 engine was creating by using the block from the legendary M88 engine used in the BMW M1 (which explains why the displacement of the M1 and e12 M535i is identical). Only, instead of sticking with the 24-valve DOHC head, they bolted on the normal 12-valve SOHC head, thereby creating the most sporty version possible of the 12-valve 3.5-litre engine. Another factor which indeed hands the e12 M535i a bucketload of BMW Motorsport pedigree and heritage.
But it wasn’t just a 4-door saloon with a fast engine. As part of the package, the e12 M535i owner also got a 5-speed close-ratio dogleg Getrag transmission which sent power to the rear wheels through a limited-slip differential with 25% lock. While the suspension of course retained the MacPherson struts at the front and the trailing arms at the rear, it was stiffened significantly with unique springs, specially developed shock absorbers from Bilstein and bigger diameter anti-roll bars both front and rear. The brakes were equally beefed up with thicker discs on the front axle which hid behind a set of 6.5 x 14” cross-spoke Mahle alloy wheels.
Cosmetical enhancements included a deep front spoiler which also eliminated the need for the heavy chromed front bumper, and not least a huge ducktail rear spoiler which certainly showcased the intensions of this sporting saloon. As if that wasn’t enough, there was also vivid BMW Motorsport decals down the flanks as well as across the front spoiler. If the first owner wanted his M535i a little more stealth, it was however a non-additional-cost option to order the car without these Motorsport stripes and even without the M535i badge as well.
The motorsport theme continued inside where a pair of Recaro seats cossetted the driver and front seat passenger while the 3-spoke leather steering wheel was identical to that used in the mid-engined M1. Further to that, there were of course various optional extras to choose from if you required a bit more luxury.
Production of the e12 M535i only started in April 1980 and was discontinued already in May 1981 as BMW got ready to introduce their new E28 5-series. In this short time, only 1410 examples were produced for the European market with 960 of them being LHD and the remaining 450 being RHD.
And this is where the story shifts to my particular BMW M535i which is one of those very rare RHD versions. The story goes that it was ordered new by a CEO from the Isle of Wight and subsequently manufactured by BMW Motorsport GmbH in January of 1981. I sadly don’t have any documentation which determines the name of the first owner, but I would have loved to meet the gentleman as I sense he would have been an interesting individual. He knew he wanted the ultimate sports saloon, yet amidst an era practically defined by the brash and the loud, this gentleman ignored the obvious and much more common combinations of either Alpine White or Polaris Silver with Motorsport stripes galore. Instead he opted for the subtle and hugely stylish Reseda Green Metallic and then also ticked the option box to delete both the stripes and the M-badges thereby creating perhaps the perfect Q-car. From here he proceeded to spec his M535i with most of the available factory options including black leather Recaro seats, power windows both front & rear, power steel sunroof, green tinted windows and even factory air condition. How long he kept his M535i I don’t know. But by 1994 it was still in the south of England as a gentleman from Penzance in Cornwall purchased the car and became its fifth owner.
I first saw the M535i in the flesh during the summer of 2002 as I was visiting the UK in my beloved NullZwei. During my travels through England I meet the prominent British Neue Klasse and 02 enthusiast Paul Hill who quickly became a very close friend. Paul had purchased the M535i just a year prior and was using it as his very cool daily wheels while he continued to play with older BMW’s. Only a couple of years later, Paul even drove his M535i across Europe to visit me in Denmark and take part in a classic BMW meet I had arranged with BMW Club Denmark. At every chance I got, I would get behind the wheel of Paul’s gorgeous e12 and enjoy the exhilarating drive. Here is a 4-door saloon which feels, sounds and behaves like the iconic BMW 3.0CSL – which shouldn’t really be all that surprising considering the two cars were developed and built by the same BMW Motorsport engineers. In modern terms, the 218hp might not sound of much, but consider that a mere four years prior to the launch of the M535i, Porsche gave us the 911 Turbo – the fastest production car out of Germany and in every way a supercar of the seventies. It achieved all of that with 260hp from a 3.0-litre engine, which really isn’t significantly more than the M535i can muster. Add to the equation that the e12 M535i was a relatively (at least for a mid-sized 4-door saloon) light construction tipping the scales at just above 1400kg, and suddenly it becomes apparent how the talented BMW Motorsport team could create such magic. Handling always feels crisp, stable and involving while the wail from that straight-6 simply never fails to put a broad smile on your face…
Pictures of the M535i as it was featured in TotalBMW Magazine during Paul’s ownership.
Pictures courtesy of TotalBMW.
Then in 2010, Paul called me out of the blue and asked whether I wanted to buy his M535i. Needless to say, I very much did! However, timing was bad and I had to give it a pass. Instead I made sure that the M535i at least went to a caring home as I put Paul in contact with a close Danish friend of mine who I figured would be both interested and able. Soon after, the M535i was driven to Denmark and joined my friend’s E28 M5 and E28 Alpina B10 in his garage. However, while he treated the M535i to a full service upon arrival in Denmark, he just never got around to officially importing it into the country and registering it there. Instead it just sat warm and snug in good BMW company for several years.
Fast forward to 2015 where I was about to move to the UK and we agree that it was time the M535i got to go home. With that, what I thought would never happen, suddenly became reality: I was the owner of this amazing BMW M535i.
Then started the process of awakening the beast from its hibernation. Already when Paul had sold the e12, there had been a few rust issues which could do with some attention. This was my first point of attention as I took the M535i to one of Denmark’s most reputable classic car bodyshops where any areas of concern where suitably seen to. A complete NOS left rear door was sourced while smaller repairs were carried out on the other three doors, both rear arches, the lower rear panel and various parts of the floors. Sticking to an Only-The-Best-Will-Do mantra, all cavities were then sprayed with Mike Sanders Anticorrosion Grease to keep rust from developing in the future. At this point I had my M535i trailered to the UK where I treated it to a very full service including all fluids, filters, ignition parts, various brake parts and so on and so on. I even bought five fresh Pirelli Cinturato CN36 tyres in 205/70 to wrap the factory 14” Mahle alloys in. I was never aiming for a Pebble Beach concours winner, but I wanted a sound and healthy driver which could be enjoyed out on the roads where a driving machine like this belongs. Eventually in 2019 my M535i passed its first MOT since 2010. Now there were just the cosmetics to deal with which involved a partial respray in the original shade of Reseda Green Metallic and various new pieces of trim. I was getting close.
But that’s where a cruel twist of fate stepped in as another change of job dictated our departure from the UK. With help from friends, I have obviously still finished my hugely original and unmolested BMW M535i exactly as I wanted her to be, but I now see that I’ll have to let her go before I’ve even had the pleasure of enjoying her out on all those excellent backroads of the Peak District. I guess they shall remain dreams as my RHD sports saloon just doesn’t fit into our new life here in mainland Europe. But I know I at least played my little part in ensuring this fabulous car lives on, and with a genuine 109,100 miles on the clock and all the hard work done, I’m sure there will be a very happy enthusiast somewhere out there once the auction with The Market comes to an end this coming Sunday. Happy bidding Ladies & Gentlemen…
The auction went live yesterday, Monday the 20th of July: The Market – 1981 BMW M535i
