Raymond has had an E28 BMW M5 for 23 years: ‘Last year he reached 270 km/h’

Compared to the 635 hp that the latest M5 Competition delivers, the 286 hp of the BMW in this article may not be very impressive. Yet the E28 manages to touch the enthusiast’s heart the most. A car that fully involves you in driving in every respect: almost all senses are stimulated.

Raymond can talk about that. His daily car is an E39 530i Touring, which he has driven with complete satisfaction for twelve years. He wants to continue doing that for as long as possible. And there is another M5 in the garage. “That’s an E34 from 1990 with the 3.6-liter engine; I’ve had it for 25 years. I found him in Switzerland. A special car, it was only registered in 1994 and has never been driven in the winter. When you drive it, you feel that it is better than the E28 in everything and at the same time it also has that pure and mechanical character.”

Raymond’s two M5s, on the left the E34, on the right the E28.

Still, he wanted that first M5 and it was not easy to find a nice, honest one. “Eventually in 2001 I ended up with someone who collected Alpinas and of the many M5s that had passed in review up to that point, this one had the most beautiful exterior. Not messed up, first paint and reasonable mileage. BMW Motorsport GmbH delivered it on October 18, 1985. For me it was initially a collector’s item, on which I have improved and updated a lot. Every now and then I bought a so-called Kurzzeitkennzeichen just across the border in Germany to be able to make longer trips, including to the Eiffel. The license plate was applied for in 2008, partly because of the new bpm rules.”

Engine overhaul in 2010

Equipped with yellow plates, the M was able to start the bigger rides, but unfortunately disaster struck a month after registration. “On June 8, 2008. I merged onto the A1 autobahn and suddenly felt that the power decreased slightly. That lasted a few seconds and a little later he easily reached 260 km/h. It wasn’t until I left the highway later that a loud clicking noise came from the engine. I knew immediately that something was wrong.”

The M5 was a guest in AutoWeek Classics 12 2023 for a Klokje Rond Klassiek inspection, how that ended you can read in that edition.

At the end of June, the M5 was back in the Netherlands and further research could begin. When dismantling the engine, Raymond and his colleagues discovered that it had been tinkered with before, sometime between 1985 and 1993. The engine block bore the code ’00’ instead of a single zero, which refers to a slightly larger bore. the cylinders. “That did not correspond to the size of pistons that were in the block. I then decided, in consultation with several experts, to completely rebuild the engine. One of the exhaust valves was burned and we discovered cracks in the cylinder head, between the exhaust valves and the combustion chambers. And you guessed it: a new head is no longer available. I started working with an overhaul company. The cylinder head has been professionally repaired, the cylinders have been rebored, the correct size pistons have been installed and all rotating parts are new.”

The engine went after the M1 into the first M5.

Raymond is now 23,000 kilometers further and finds out afterwards that the engine has only been running perfectly since the overhaul. “I once drove more than 1,500 kilometers in one day, regularly between 200 and 230 km/h, without any pain. Last year in Germany the counter reached 270, even then he still has left.”

73-page report on his M5

The fact that Raymond is meticulous is evident from a 73-page report that we obtained. In it he describes step by step the process of a loose crankshaft pulley, but also something about the background of his E28, the overhaul of the engine and information about the M88/3, as the six-cylinder of the first M5 is called. “Yes, I like to keep track of everything accurately, which is what I’m used to from my work. Two years ago I discovered that the crankshaft pulley was not properly secured. Luckily just in time. It was still attached with two bolts, which could have ended very badly. During this repair, the cooling system was immediately improved, including the installation of a fan with eleven blades instead of the original nine.”

This is how he handled countless cases over the years. All brake calipers have been overhauled and the front shock absorbers are new. The original ones are still present at the back: Bilstein B6. “Other than that, it’s mostly enjoyable. That engine is phenomenal. You can accelerate from 50 km/h in fifth gear without jerking. And that while five is quite long. When you just drive it, it feels and sounds like a normal 5 Series.”

Two years ago he took it to Zandvoort, in the context of fifty years of BMW M. It was very hot on the return journey, he says, on the N200 the thermometer showed 43 degrees. “Luckily the cooling system could handle that just fine. I had the engine oil checked by a laboratory in the US and the latest samples showed that the engine is in perfect health. There is minimal leakage at a seal, which is because I don’t use the car much. The next job is refinishing, after that it will be absolutely perfect.”

The M5 was sensational when it took office.

History: First BMW diesel, first M5

The second generation 5-series, the E28, came onto the market in 1981 and was built until December 1987. The entry-level car is a 518 with a four-cylinder engine for the accountant who never leaves town, otherwise there are only six-cylinders. In 1983, BMW competed with Mercedes-Benz and introduced a diesel for the first time in history: the 524td. Other special versions are the 525e with an economical 2.7-liter engine and the M535i.

The E28 also forms the basis for the first real M: the M5. Precursors exist in the form of the M1, the M535i based on the E12 and the M635 CSi. An extra nice detail is that the M5 made its world debut at the Amsterdam AutoRAI in 1985. It has the same 3.5-liter straight-six as the M1, but with slightly more power, and Bosch Motronic instead of mechanical injection. A car that had no equal at the time, the M5 was downright sensational in advance, with more power than a Ferrari 308 or Porsche 911 Carrera.

If BMW had not yet put itself on the map as a manufacturer of sports cars, the M5 would certainly put the brand in that position. It’s a moving understatement, something people today call a ‘sleeper’. The so-called wolf in sheep’s clothing. On the outside, only the nameplates refer to the beastly character. No spoilers, no body kit, no extremely large wheels, no large air intakes in the front; it could have just been a very ordinary Fünfer. The springs are slightly shorter, the dampers are gas-filled and stiffer and the tires (Michelin TRX ex works) are wider. The following generations of M5 became increasingly faster and more powerful; As far as we are concerned, the E28 is the purest of the bunch.