Commemorating 50 years of BMW M - BMW’s motorsport division has some roots in South Africa
As we look back at some of our favourite BMW M cars, it’s hard to comprehend a time span of 50 years of building focused performance cars. It’s the middle of a midlife crisis — 18 200 days or 436 800 hours — if we were to break it down.
Power? Well, compared to modern M cars the 3.0 CSL boasted a relatively modest 152kW and 286Nm of torque — considerably less than the gold-standard hot-hatches of today. Still, this was one heck of an important model for M, since it would eventually lead to the first dedicated M performance car for sale to the public — the mighty M1.
While many, and rightfully so, would argue “just add more power” it is, sadly, not that simple. It’s about balancing that power and using clever engineering to harness every centimetre of the speedy aptitude that courses through an M’s silicone veins. It was also the second production car to be homologated for race purposes after the inimitable E9 3.0 CSL “Batmobile”.
The BMW 530 MLE was manufactured in South Africa in the late 1970s. Photo: Studio Achtungachtzig Photography The F90 M5 Competition is arguably the most complete of the lot but, emotionally, it would have to be the E60 M5, with its howling V10, that remains etched in our minds. BMW M continues to resonate with many enthusiasts around the world and the southern tip of Africa is no exception. The past 50 years of the brand have had more highlights than we can go into on these pages but the fact that we have documented so many of our favourites is testament to the brand’s mettle and prowess. As we look back at some of our favourite BMW M cars, It’s hard to comprehend a timespan of 50 years of building focused performance cars.
The story of the M1 involves Lamborghini, which was supposed to build BMW a racing car but, legend has it, that there was a falling out between the two firms… It reminds us of another famous falling-out story. In any case, while we can speculate on whether it was due to the language barrier, or creative or technical differences, the point is BMW ended up building the car themselves – the first of only two mid-engined cars the company ever produced.
However, one of the main reasons that we admire the model is that it was built right here in Mzansi at the company’s Rosslyn plant, west of Tshwane. The 530 MLE’s South African roots and history place it on our list of favourite M cars – even though it wasn’t officially dubbed an M derivative.
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