BMW E28 5-series

The sharknosed ’80s BMW saloon which offers practical retro appeal, strong performance, and a hint of economy depending on the variant you choose.

- Matt Bell 

The arrival of the E28 5-series wassomewhat underwhelming when itwas launched in 1981. You’d have been mistaken for thinking that the E28 was simply a facelift of the E12 that came before it. One thing you could give BMW praise for was the fact that it continued a distinctive BMW look and was very well built.

Delve deeper and you’ll find that the E28 was in fact a brand new car, carrying over just the roof skin, doors, front and rear screens. The engines were all replaced bar the M10 four-pot 1766cc engine found in the 518; the six-pot carburettor 520 became the 520i with K-Jetronic fuel injection, whilst the 2.5 and 2.8-litre units were both given new Bosch LE-Jetronic fuel injection.

THE ENGINES

As mentioned previously, the four-pot 518i engine remained, carrying over the four speed gearbox with 90bhp and optional was the five speed box. The six-pot cars used BMW’s M30 engine, which all came with five speed gearboxes as standard. These produced 125bhp in 520i guise, 150bhp in 525i form and 184bhp in 528i guise. On all six cylinder cars, a three speed ZF automatic gearbox was optional.

After a year of production, 1982 saw the introduction of a new M20 engine, which came in the 520i. Over the previous engine, this came with a revised cylinder head and LE-Jetronic injection. All the six pots received a new Getrag 260 gearbox, bar the sport models which retained the old units.

Economy-bots were happy when in 1983 a 525e arrived. It produced 125bhp from 2.7-litres of displacement, thanks to a long stroke version of the M20 engine. A new gearbox arrived at the same time, a four-speed ZF4HP22 automatic with a very tall final drive that gave the model long legged gearing equating to around 33mph per 1000rpm in top gear. This meant that although performance was hindered, economy was boosted and 35-40mpg wasn’t unrealistic on long journeys.