Tean, et nii mõnelgi on see raamat olemas, kuid kindlasti paljud ei ole saanud võimalust seda raamatut lugeda.
(kuna tekst on arvutisse skanneeritud jpg'na ja siis vastava programmiga tekst arvutile arusaadavaks tehtud, siis võib leiduda tekstis kirjavigu. Parandasin nii palju ära, kui sain.)
First 5 Series (E12)
→ 1972-1981
→ Launched BMW's Series model policy
→ Highly successful 9-year production run
→ Almost 700,000 made
→ Innovative design by Paul Bracq
→ Astute marketing brought in mainstream buyers
→ Powerful 528i became enthusiasts' favourite
→ First car manufactured at Dingolfing plant
Launched in the autumn of 1973, the first 5 Series is the car that marked BMW's coming of age - in more ways than one. Perhaps most importantly, it was the first model to be part of new CEO Eberhard von Kuenheim's ambitious plan for three co-ordinated ranges - the press soon named them Series - that would turn BMW's into the must-have cars for the up-and-coming generation of fast-moving business executives.
It was launched just as the company was on the crest of a wave. BMW's three main model lines were unstoppably successful, it had shot to international notice as the futuristic Turbo concept car led the athletes' parade at the 1972 Olympic Games in its home city of Munich, and the shiny just-completed 'four cylinder' company headquarters tower reached symbolically skyward, its top floor just two meters shorter than the famous Frauenkirche cathedral in the town center.
To the glare of this international spotlight was added the closely-focused attention of both industry commentators and BMW enthusiasts worldwide. To the business contingent the launch was a highly significant event, for the 5 Series was the car which would replace the Neue Klasse 1500-2000, the range which had saved BMW from the financial abyss in 1962 and which had led it to prosperity and global respect in the years that followed. The reception given to the new car would be critical to BMW's future growth prospects, predicted the analysts. There was also considerable interest surrounding the new production facilities at Dingolfing which, after having been acquired when BMW bought Glas, had been remodeled to become the company's largest and most modern factory.
To the growing band of BMW enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic the launch was awaited with especial eagerness. How would BMW follow up the car that had created the brand's shiny new identity the car that had established a whole new genre of classy sports saloon?
The answer came soon enough as the first Five revealed itself as a noticeably larger but also much more stylish four-door saloon with a gentler, more rounded theme to its lines. The interior was notably more adventurous, the center portion of the dashboard being drawn rearwards to bring the heater and radio controls into easier reach of the driver, and the main instruments being housed in a single clear array directly behind the steering wheel. The design represented a major step forward in ergonomics and would lead directly to the driver-oriented 'cockpit' interiors which became a key BMW trademark a few years later.
In engineering terms the 5 Series' body structure was innovative too. A reinforced safety cell surrounded the passenger compartment, the sills were reinforced and strengthened frontal structures provided extra energy absorption in a head-on crash. The four-spoke steering wheel had a very large boss, the column itself was jointed and the interior surfaces were carefully padded. BMW was clearly taking safety very seriously.
The smooth body shape might have marked a change of style, but underneath it the mechanical elements were pretty familiar. Front and rear suspensions followed the successful pattern of the previous model, and the initial engine choices - the 520 with the twin carburetor version of the 1990 cc M10 giving 115 horsepower and the 130 bhp 520i with its Kugelfischer fuel injection - paralleled those of the old car. Automatic transmission was available on the 520 only.
The 520 immediately sold well, thanks partly to a relatively modest price jump from the outgoing 2000. Take-up of the more expensive 520i was slower, the perception being that the extra cost was not reflected in significant extra performance. This underlined what many enthusiasts had begun to fear - that BMW was allowing its cars to become larger and heavier, and that sporty responsive driving characteristics were becoming less of a priority.
Nevertheless, the formula proved a big hit with the broader public and in its first full year on sale the 520/520i combination sold almost as many as the 2000 in its best year, and the expanded line up later went on into six-figure annual production numbers.
BMW had in any case anticipated the hard-driving enthusiasts' worries and within a year the first six-cylinder 5 Series had appeared. Using the much-praised 2.5 liter unit from the large 2500 line, the 525 tactfully dropped the power from 150 to 145 bhp; even so, this was enough to push top speed past 190 km/h and trim two seconds from the 0-100 km/h acceleration time.
The 525 was well received, but its initial success was short-lived as by the end of 1973 Germany - and many other European countries - were in the grip of the first fuel crisis, the panic that killed off the BMW 2002 turbo among other models. To address the sudden energy awareness that had hit the market, BMW responded with the 518, a low-power derivative which, with its 90 bhp, 1280 kg and automatic option, led some skeptics to ask whether BMW was still a maker of sporty cars. But again BMW had judged the market shrewdly and the 518 was the biggest seller in the 5 Series palette in 1975. By the end of the year the hot-shot 528, which had been waiting patiently in the wings until the fuel panic had subsided, had appeared in the catalog - much to the delight of keen drivers who relished its 165 horsepower (later to rise to 170), sharpened handling and top speed nudging the psychologically important 200 km/ h barrier.
In the United States, meanwhile, BMW had decided to move up market and provide only larger-engined six-cylinder versions of the new 5 Series. These were something of a mixed blessing, for with the mandatory de-smogging equipment the 530i - which was in fact assembled in South Africa - performed well when driven hard but had inconsistent performance at low speeds, along with high fuel consumption and a tendency to problems with the cylinder heads. This was blamed on the thermal reactor system BMW had chosen in order to allow the 530i to run on leaded fuel: as soon as the US cars switched to a proper catalyst system in 1977 the problem was solved. The 528i which resulted from this process became something of a classic sports saloon, hitting almost 210 km/h in its final 184 bhp European tune.
Big things had been happening at the lower end of the range, too. All models, beginning with the US 530i in late 1972 saw a change in style, with a taller grille at the front, broader rear lights displacing the fuel filler from the back panel to the right-hand rear flank, and the drivers mirror repositioned from the door surface to the front lower edge of the window frame. At the same time the 520 became a six-cylinder taking on the brand new M20 small six rated at 122 bhp - though critics frowned at a simultaneous weight increase of almost 100 kg. The six-cylinder proved to be pleasingly refined, but its performance, especially in flexibility fell short of that of its four-cylinder, fuel injection counterpart. Nevertheless, the new model soon assumed the mantle of best seller in the 5 line, setting a pattern for future generations of the car.
The 5 series continued to sell strongly - and bring in the dollars and Deutschmarks - until 1980, going out in June 1981 after a final high-performance flourish in the shape of the M535i. Sold through BMW Motorsport GmbH, this unashamedly sporting model married an upgraded version of the big M30 six-cylinder engine, now with 218 bhp, a five-speed overdrive or close-ratio gearbox, a deep air dam under the front bumper and a none-too-neat black spoiler on the boot lid. It was a storming performer, capable of 140 mph or 225 km/h. To match the performance the suspension was stiffened, the solid front discs were swapped to ventilated ones and a limited slip differential was fitted. Yet despite its tremendous performance the M535i was smooth, comfortable and - apart from the dog-leg gear pattern on the close-ratio gearbox - easy to drive. Though the idea of specially-built 'M' cars had yet to emerge, the M535i embodied many of the qualities that would mark out later generations of M5 as truly special saloons. Just 1410 were made, and today they are highly sought after.
The South African plant continued assembling the E12 5 Series for some while after the model had been replaced by the E28 in the summer of 1981. The final South African build models were a curious hybrid as they featured the smartened-up driver-oriented interior of the E28 but still looked like the older model externally; there were even a limited number of 3.3 liter engined 533i models commissioned.
As would so often become the pattern with successive BMW model generations, the E12 5 Series of 1972-1981 was the most successful so far, with almost 700,000 examples leaving the assembly lines in Dingolfing and Midrand/Rosslyn in South Africa. Though this first 5 Series was criticized in its earliest incarnations for sacrificing speed and sportiness for comfort and status, BMW soon regained favor with those hard-driving customers with the memorable 528i. Nevertheless, this model series will still go down in history as the car that steered BMW from the enthusiasts-only area of the market into the premium center-ground where the real prizes were to be won.
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