Depends on what your definition of “is” is... (archive)

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Let’s get a few things straight. Number 1, BMW Motorsport Dept. It was actually “founded” in the early 1970s as a arm for factory racing. They helped produce and actually produced the 2002 Turbo, the CSLs, the 320i Turbos, etc., etc. They were prototyping things like turbos, 4 valve cyl heads, and turbo’ed 4 valve cyl head engines for racing in the 70s, long before you were driving around in M6s and M5s. These are the great racing cars of the 70s. If you really do your research and check out the cars these guys made, they were RACING cars.

Now, BMW offered to sell the 2002 Turbo, and a few versions of the 3.0 (later 3.2) CSL to the public. These were similar to the racing versions, but pared down for street use. Plus the 3.0 CSL was really just a tuned 3.0 motor at first. Then bored/stroked, etc. It was an evolutionary process. These cars sold thru BMW, and a lot of the parts made by BMW, but the cars themselves were developed for racing at first and then pared down for street use by the Motorsport division.

On to the M1. The M1 was originally designed and prototyped by Motorsport to go racing in the FIA sportscar categories (specifically, I think it was Group 4). It needed to be homologated, thus the production run. Lamborghini was first contracted to build the chassis, but when production problems arose, BMW had it done in Germany by Baur. The engines themselves were a dry sump, Kugelfischer-Bosch mechanical fuel injected, and built by the Motorsport division in Munich. Now, you must remember, that this engine, S38/M88 family, was developed out of the M30s that were raced in the E9 coupes in the 70s. The lineage of this famous engine still dates back to the M30 (which itself has architecture dating back to the M10!)

The E12 M535i was the first M-car produced for mass (or more massive) consumption in the family saloon style. While there were other prototypes and private cars made (such as the “E12 Motorsport 533i”), the M535i was the first designated M serial production car. About 1430 units were built over a 2 year period in both LHD and RHD versions. The production of the E12 M535i was very specifically market place driven. Remember, that BMW invented the sports saloon niche (though some claim Jaguar had it in the Mk2), BMW then developed it with the E12 M535i into a very specific niche. Yes, the M535i had the performance in its day to make minch meat of sports cars, as well as all the other saloon cars, but it still comes down to a very specific market place product.

BMW then introduced the E24 M635Csi. This car had another version of the S38/M88 engine family, but NOT the dry-sumped version in the M1. There are really quite a few differences between the engine you had in the M1 and the M635Csi/M5, and even the US versions. It’s the same engine “family” if you will, but nowhere near the same engine. And this engine “family” can, and does, trace its roots straight back to the M30, off of which Motorsport developed the engines. Of course, the M635Csi also filled a niche in the market place and competed directly with the Porsche 928s of the day. Now, the M635Csi was actually assembled on a production line, believe it or not. It was not technically “hand made”. And here is your definition of “hand made”. If you considered cars that were assembled by hand, “hand made”, then I’m sorry, all the cars in the world are “hand made”. Maybe not the run of the mill Honda or Chevy nowadays which only have machines touch them during assembly, but most cars during assembly require the human hand to assemble something. If you consider a Ferrari 275GTB hand made, with hand beaten body panels, hand welded tube frame, hand stiched leather, etc., etc., “hand made,” then the M635Csi or the M5 are NOT “hand made”. The M635Csi was assembled, sometimes by machine and sometimes by hand, on an assembly line.

With the E28 M5 didn’t have space to assemble it like the M635Csi (and the production figures show that the M635Csi had something like 3x time production the M5 had). The complete car shells came to Munich, where the engine and tranny were installed, and other pieces hand assembled. The assembly line was not very well automated at all, and THAT is why the production was so low, and which gave the impression of “hand made”. In effect, the most accurate way to describe the process of the manufacture of the E28 M5, was that it was the most “hand assembled” M-car other than the M1.

In late 1984, BMW introduced the E28 M535i (the 3rd production M-car, not counting the M1, the E28 M5 was actually officially intro’d after the E28 M535i). Here we get into even more market place driven products. This time, BMW decided to automate the production the most, and this set a standard to which later M-cars were to be produced. While yes, the outright performance of the model wasn’t “up to” some people’s standards when compared with BMW’s previous efforts and the competition at the time (remember that this is when Audi and M-B started getting in on the tuner and hot rod game). So the E28 M535i was the top of the line model. Also, BMW did not want to necessarily compete with Alpina who had the B9/B10 model right “above” the M535i, and the B7 and B7S turbo models right “above” the M5. So even the E28 M5, for what it’s worth, was “market place driven” to an extent.

The E30 M3 was made for homologation, and I won’t get much into that. Suffice it to say, it has the closest race breeding of any M car, probably even more valuable than the M1 since the M3 was so successful as opposed to the M1.

The E34 M5 had a multitude of parts and assemblies even more automated than previous M-cars, and same with the E36 M-cars. The E34 M5, one can claim, was the last true M-car in the vein that the E12 M535i, E24 M635Csi, and E28 M5 were, in the sense that there was a lot of “hand assembly” in the car. With the E36, BMW decided it was more economically feasible to produce M-cars on an automated assembly line, a la E28 M535i.

So, in conclusion, be careful how you define an M-car. Because BMW’s own methods of producing and selling them have changed drastically over the last 30 years. Yes 30 years, since the CSLs and Turbo 2002s were developed by the Motorsport Dept. Defining it one way may make you happy as a clam, but can infuriate the E36 M3 evo owner.

Since this “definition” of what is “M” itself has changed over the years, I like to keep the cars in their historical perspectives, and leave the facts as they are. BMW called the cars this and that, and built them this way and that, for whatever reasons they had. So be it. It doesn’t mean one is “better” than the other. Just the fact that it’s different, and that it fulfills/fulfilled a different need at some point in time. That is why I like to be very inclusive of what “M” really means. Since it has been defined so many ways at so many points in time, that is really the only way you can look at it.

First off, I like all E28's regardless of engine. People seem to be approaching this debate from the performance angle. My car is faster than your car, or my car is more rare than your car etc...

Let me be the first to say that the M535i is a great car, and so is the standard US spec 535iS.

Where the difference for me is made is the history of the M cars and the e28 specifically.
Remember that "M" stands for motorsport (though now in recent years it could stand for "marketing" at BMW). The "M" division was set up in the 70's to build race cars.

-And it still builds race cars. It built the touring cars in E30 and E36 forms that you saw in BTCC, etc. And now it has a lot of energy concentrating on the F1 cars. The business of BMW Motorsport has changed much through the years.

The M535i (E28 not E12) is a great car but from a historical standpoint it is not an M car as it was not built at the M factory, nor does it's engine share any parts with the historic 6 cyclinder "M" engine that powered the famous M1 street cars and the M1 Pro-cars that made nearly 650 horsepower.

-Well, the famous M1 procars that made nearly 650 horsepower have MANY engine bits NOT shared with the production M1!!! And there are many engine parts not shared with the M635Csi or M5!!! Remember too, that the S38/M88 block really isn’t that much different than an M30 block either! Though not interchangeable, there are lots of similar parts throughout these engines. Saying that the M535i doesn’t share parts is easy, but it applies to the M635Csi and the M5 as well!

As a counterpoint, the fact is that the E36 M cars weren't built at the Motorsport factory. Nor were the body shells of the E24s or E28s. And what do you mean by "built"? Partly assembled? Fully assembled? E30 M3s weren't "fully assembled" at that factory either. Again, be careful in your arguments here.

Until recently, all six cylinder "M" cars were descendants of the famous M1 in terms of their engines. To me the appealing part of the E28 M5 is the race heritage connection with the motorsport division. Does this make the M5 a better car than a M535i or a 535iS, maybe not to everyone else but to me it does.

-Descendents, derivatives? Yes. The same? No. And what were the Motorsport engines in the M1 derivatives of? The M30. And what was the M30 a derivative of? The M10. These engines have a long “family history” if you will. And just as well, I can claim that the M535i and 535iS engines are descendents of the famous single cam 3.0 and 3.2 liters that powered the CSLs! You must be very careful in your arguments here, because there are a lots of ways people can counter argue.

I grew up watching the M division race cars like the 3.5 CSL Batmobile, the 320 Turbos and the famous 2002 Turbo's. I get a great kick out of driving a car that can trace it's roots back to the people who built those famous race cars.
This may not be important to others and therefore the M5 is nothing more than a tuned e28 535 to some of you.

Certainly there may be other e28's that are not M cars but are as fast or faster than the M5 (Harge and Apina built e28's in Europe that were just as fast or faster). But to me they have little appeal since they were not built by the M division and have no race history.

-And here is where BMW became acutely aware of market place position. Even with the E12 M535i, they knew what they were doing to the market. It was never a “oh let’s just build this car cuz it’s cool and it’s fast.” No. BMW knew where it was headed in the market place and brought out cars to suit. And they necessarily wanted to complement the Alpina and Hartge cars as well, not directly compete with them.

FYI: the e28 M5 actually raced for one year in 1985 in the French Touring Car Championship so it even has some race history itself.

-Remember that tuners such as Alpina and Schnitzer ALSO raced! Schnitzer in fact won quite a bit in their prepped 635Csis! So again, be careful how you argue, since if you claim that tuners did not race, and there’s less appeal for that, it’s not necessarily true.

Bottom line is that all e28's are great cars and hark back to an era where BMW really defined the term sports sedan.
Regards,
Jon P. Kofod
88 M5
95 F355C

Here here. There’re really all great cars. And as you can see, each one is A-tuned to a different driver’s need. Hence some have M535is, some M635Csis, some M5s. To each his/her own.

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