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1987 BMW E28 M5
Motorsport’s first purpose-built high-performance saloon is the rarest of all production BMWs. Just 187 examples of the first-generation M5 (E28) were hand-built in right-hand-drive form, and costing close to £36,000 in 1987, exclusivity was assured.
Just as the Golf GTI marked the birth of the ‘Hot Hatch’, so it was that Munich’s original M5 heralded the arrival of the ‘Super Saloon’. Audi, Mercedes and, yes, even Vauxhall with the Lotus Carlton were soon to follow suit but 23 years on the M5 still reigns supreme…always the driver’s choice.
BMW
Standard UK specification included: Tinted Glass, Rear Window Blind, Rear Seat Head Restraints, M-Tech Rear Spoiler, Air Conditioning, Electric Sunroof, Electric Front Seats, Headlight Wash-Wipe & BBS Wheels.
Out of 10 cars produced for the UK only 2 are believed to have been in Cirrus Blue.
Before leaving the Motorsport factory in Garching, the M-Division carried out their own pre-delivery Inspection. There is a stamped record of this in the service book. Given its standard specification, chassis No 124 was probably a dealer stock order.
In addition to the standard UK specification the car is fitted with:
1. Hartge Additional Long Range Fuel Tank 2. Alpina Suspension Kit 3. Nakamichi Period Sound System 4. Thatcham Cat 1 Alarm 5. BMW Duster & Ice Scraper !
Mr. B of Leighton Buzzard is the next recorded owner. On 11th September 1994 Mr. B carried out an Inspection 2 at 73,717 miles and kept the car until July 1996 and 83,000 miles. At this point the car was 8.5 years old and had covered on average 10,000 miles per annum. The car was purchased by a Mr. R and he is probably the most important owner of this car to date.
Mr. R was the Parts Manager of a BMW dealership and was in the fortunate position of being able to benefit from a staff discount on parts. He maintained the car regardless of cost and during his ownership (approximately 12 years) there are parts bills from BMW totalling £6,033.67 alone. During Mr. R’s ownership the car was either serviced ‘in house’ by BMW or by Autobahn Services. Mr. R continued to purchase all parts from BMW Heathrow but felt that Autobahn were best placed and had a better specific knowledge of this car to actually carry out the service work. The car was finally sold by Mr. R in 2007 with a recorded mileage of circa 114,000.
Another Mr. B purchased the car on 14th March 2008 and kept it for approximately 4 months. We finally purchased the car on 9th July 2008.
Now affectionately referred to as the old ‘Square Rigger’ this unobtrusive family holdall must surely rank as the ultimate Q-car. Discreet almost to the point of anonymity, the M5’s appearance displays little to hint at its 150mph supercar performance.
Not to be confused with the similar looking but more modestly powered M535, this Motorsport classic boasts the legendary 24-valve 3.5 litre engine first seen in the rather more exotic mid-engine M1. This is a car that can be driven with serious enthusiasm and yet is quite happy to potter through the urban crawl at just 30mph in fifth gear. To sum up, this masterpiece of understatement could best be described as a “Ferrari in a Saville Row suit”.
Chassis Number 1679124 (No.124 out of 187) was manufactured on 26th January 1987 at the BMW Motorsport factory in Garching, Germany. The build specification sheet shows this car was a ‘standard’ UK car with Cirrus Blue paintwork and Pacific Blue leather interior.
The car was consigned to Coombs of Guildford (BMW Dealers aka Vines). It is believed that Coombs used the car as a display/demonstrator vehicle under the registration plate “FLY 1” for approximately 12 months. The car was not actually registered as E128 JPD until 7th January 1988, meaning that it is one of the very last UK registered cars. Given the vehicles rarity and a standard UK list price of circa £36,000, (equivalent to £70,000 today) it is not that surprising that Coombs took just over a year to sell the car.
A running-in service was carried out by Coombs at 1,350 miles on 17th February 1988 and they also carried out the first oil service at 6,500 miles on 10th April 1989. The car was probably sold by the first owner sometime in May 1989 (2 years old). It was obviously very lightly used in its first 2 years of ownership and it may well have been that the first owner lived in Guildford & commuted into the City. The service records then switch to Wood of Bournemouth (BMW Dealers) and the new owner was clearly someone that needed a car for long journeys.
From June 1989 until April 1991 the car covered just over 39,000 miles. The car, however, was meticulously serviced by Wood of Bournemouth during this period. On 25th April 1991 the car was purchased by a Mr. P of Renfrewshire, Scotland. By this time the recorded mileage was 45,304 miles. Mr. P kept the car until April 1994 (3 years) and arranged for all servicing work to be carried out by Henry Bros. of Glasgow. There are service bills totalling £2,886.05 during Mr. P’s ownership. The car was sold by Mr. P on 10th April 1994 with a recorded mileage of 69,188.
