Despite the fact that I’ve never driven one, the E28 M5 is my favorite BMW. That might sound crazy but I just love everything about it: its design, its engine, its interior, and everything I’ve heard about its drive. The first time I saw a video review of the E28 M5, it was Chris Harris reviewing his own. While listening to everything he said about it, I though to myself “That’s my perfect car.” So when I see Doug DeMuro got into the nitty-gritty of one, I immediately click.
What makes the E28 M5 so special? Well, it was really the first-ever BMW M car. OK, so the BMW M1 was first but that was really only made for homologation purposes and was never a proper production car. The E28 M5 is what really started the M Division upgrading normal Bimmers to make performance cars. It started out life as a standard E28 5 Series but BMW M stuffed in the 3.5-liter inline-six from the BMW M1, gave it better suspension, and upgraded its brakes. It immediately became a legend. It was a car that could carry five passengers at triple-digit Autobahn speeds with east. It was a sedan that was faster than the Corvette and rivaled the Porsche 911. That was unheard of at the time.
Naturally, you can understand my desire to learn of the E28 M5’s quirks and features. To be honest, there really aren’t that many. The E28 M5 came from an era of BMW when everything was intelligently laid out. Even most of the quirky things about the E28 M5 made sense, such as the oddly offset exhaust, which was placed there because of the spare tire well. The only real headscratcher is inside the M5, where its heated seat controls require double-jointed elbows to reach. However, most of the cabin is pretty sensible.
When it comes to driving the E28 M5, it seems Doug is quite smitten. Though, I’ve yet to meet anyone that’s driven the car and not come away smitten. Everything from its engine, to its steering, to its suspension just seems so right. And when he puts his foot down in the video, you can hear that glorious inline-six sing and it’s a thing of joy.
If you’re like me and…
