By Kap Maceda Aguila
Before Bayerische Motoren Werke (yes, BMW) started adding more numerical prefixes, the 5 Series was effectively the midpoint — ensconced between the 3 Series and the 7 Series — in both pricing and size in the Munich-based car maker’s portfolio of vehicles. Started in 1972, the 5 Series succeeded the four-door sedan models dubbed BMW New Class, itself produced from 1962 to 1977.
To date seven generations of the 5 Series have rolled out. Following BMW’s company nomenclature for models, these are the E12 (1972-1981), E28 (1981-1988), E34 (1988-1996), E39 (1996-2003), E60 (2004-2010), F10/F11 (2010-2016), and G30/G31/G32 (from last year up to the present).
In a statement at the local launch of the newest generation, Asian Carmakers Corp. (Philippine distributor of BMW) president Maricar C. Parco said: “Since 1972, BMW has been producing an award-winning vehicle that enjoys international recognition and success,” and called the 5 Series as “the world’s most successful business car.”
Noted international auto Web site Edmunds.com describes the 5 Series as the “archetypal sport sedan for more than 30 years… in structure, form, performance, and overall excellence… the bogey against which every other sport sedan must be measured.” Indeed, sales figures bear this claim out. Some 7.9 million BMW 5 Series units across the previous six generations have been sold. In fact, the 5 Series accounted for about half of BMW’s profits in 2010.
If the first 5 Series certainly looks dated now, the design has indefinitely crossed into classic status. The simple lines, four circular head lamps supplanted on a dark background of the grille, and substantial bonnet underscored a package that was larger than BMW’s two-door 2002 series, yet was still small by present standards. Styled by Paul Bracq (who also has done work at Mercedes-Benz, Citro‘n, and Peugeot) and Italian coachbuilder and car designer Pietro Frua, this 5 was said to be based on the Bertone 1970 BMW Garmisch 2002ti Geneva show car. It is also significant in the pantheon of BMW vehicles as it is the first to use the naming system (i.e., series number followed by two numbers indicating engine displacement). Edmunds.com continues that this 5 was “designed to accommodate any of the company’s four- or six-cylinder engines [the first six-cylinder 5, the 2.5-liter 525, appeared in Europe for the 1973 model year].”
Perhaps more crucially, compared to other BMWs, the car proved simple and inexpensive to build — hence, it was markedly more profitable. It must be mentioned that despite the savings in production, BMW had in its hands a car that was “a leap forward in refinement and sophistication,” a vehicle that helped shed the company’s “dowdy” reputation in the 1970s.
Through the generations, the 5 Series has inherited many of the technologies and accoutrements of its more expensive brethren — distilling them into a more affordable package for the executive battling up the corporate ladder or the discriminating auto enthusiast who loves to get in the driver’s seat and command a compelling vehicle.
The third-generation 5’s innards and skeleton, for instance, were proven first on the 7 Series that preceded it. In many ways, this iteration helped define the tenor of the series henceforward — distilling the 7’s features into a more “manageable size while simultaneously increasing agility.” Meanwhile, the 3 Series (and other BMW vehicles) have also been getting cues in the 5’s execution.
As the 5 progressively grows in dimensions through generations, so do its slew of technological improvements. One thing that is also obvious is that the 5, through the marching of the years, rightfully earns its place among the best cars in the world to drive — or, in some cases, be driven in.
