1975 BMW E12 520i - First Generation 5 Series POV Drive (Binaural Audio)

Such a nice car!

Lots of people know what the e12 is. My parents had a 78 530i and 79 528i and it's still my dream car to this day

Modern BMWs look just awful. Will keep my e39 forever and learned how to drive on a e12.

Sheer Driving Pleasure

this E12 is in an amazingly good shape! Very rare! My Grandma had one in 1972 in yellow. She only drove it till '79 because of bad corrosion. The first 5-series was literally very rusty just after a few years. Sad because that's the reason why you don't see those cars anymore.

Wrong, in 1973 and 1974 I purchased from a BMW dealer, 2 different ones a 1973 Malagna wine, and then a 1974 metallic Blue , both model 2002’s. Friends purchased earlier once in the US, that is how I knew about them.

is it just me or was it pinging on the highway?

60 miles per hour...yeah right, and a scale that goes to 220....

Nobody’s taking mirrors off due to wind noise. That’s not a thing.

Ted, what a great and respectful review! I am the European who remembers this and has big nostalgia for it. I am from Finland and spent the whole of my childhood in the backseat of the same car - a 1973 deep yellow 520. Not with an “i” in the badge though which means slightly less power having carburetor instead of fuel injection. It was still pretty fast car in the 70s. The dashboard was modern, stylish and full of quality. The seatbelts in the 1973 model were even more different though - there was a bent U shaped bar between the seats and the seatbelt had a buckle that hooked on it. I remember every details of the car. It is fantastic. I wish I had a chance to buy this car!

Silver is a German rainbow colour is hilarious 🤣

Only 13500km?😮

Now this is a BMW. Puts the 2023's to shame.

This was very much my dad's ride in Germany, 1978-83, in Saphirblau.
2L manual, with a sunroof.
Then, he bought a 79 2L manual in Antracitgrau.
Years later, here in Canada, I found myself at the auction and having struck out on the cars I had looked at in the yard, just hung around in the stands.
The last car for the evening rolled into the ring, while I was texting my girlfriend and a familiar mechanical fuel injection noise from my past made me look up...
And see a Saphirblau 1984 520i roll in.
Full euro spec steel bumpers, big and little headlights, radio antenna on the "wrong" side. Rust free, and purring like a kitten.
I drove it home for $575.
Research proved a Canadian Forces member bought it new while stationed in Germany, and brought it home in the early 90s.
Being Canadian he bought an automatic car, which now would be very rare in Germany, and the 2L six cylinder is very rare here.
I called for a quote for some parts to Calgary BMW, the guy so much wanted me to bring the car to the dealership, as none of the techs had never seen a euro spec 5 series.
That was 2004.

In USA esisteva già nel 76 era la 530i

Bmw is the meaning quality of drive.❤bimmer fans

This is a rare review itself, bravo

Ты никогда не узнаешь устройство авто если у тебя такой авто…. Никогда ничего не будешь крутить никогда

Трасу держит так что все новые авто на которых я ездил а ездил на всем… рядом не стоят.

Ни рулевая колонка ни коробка ни двигло ничего. Вообще.. что типа танка

Не знаю из чего делали это авто но оно ни ломалось вообще. Только пеньки по лесу сбивал. Вещь. Все фигня дальше.

В этом автомобиле ни ломалось ничего от слова совсем. Заливаешь масло бензин. Все ни аморты ни шаровые… пять мешков зерна полутороцентнерных 3 свиньи) два мужика и в таком режиме ее развалить было невозможно.

Love it, it’s in fantastic condition. I have a 1974 E12 in Inca Orange which I’m restoring on my channel. It’s the second time I own this car and I won’t be selling it again.

I own this type of car I own from Africa it's now restored... My first car at 25 yrs old

That took me back. My father had a 525 six cylinder of that era in Australia.

Used to think the older BMWs were ugly but they've gradually grown on me over the years. Beautiful machinery.

CLassic BMW existed before 1975, starting in 1971

Hoffman was a dealer. He got cars from the manufacturers.

WOW! My dad had one IDENTICAL to this (except for the right side mirror). I was lucky enough when I got my driving license to be able to drive it. It was a great car, comfortable, with great interior and great interior room. A simple car but able to give a lot of satisfaction.
To improve driveability, 195/60 wheels were useful. Two things were missing for making it perfect: air conditioning (but we were used to do without it) and the 5th gear: it was a rare optional on the 520/520i with the dogleg schema (1st gear bottom left). The ZF gearbox was great. Fuel economy it was, as for each of this vintage car, important. At top speed (185 km/h - 120 Mph) it was 3 km/liter... huge :D
Anyway, a great car, I would love to have one in my garage.
Cheers

1st and 2nd gen 5 series 2 of the Best sedan designs in history

very nice, but the verdict of the day of the German auto press was that the 520 was a bit of a mid-level Bavarian government official's car. The Alfetta was considered to be superior in almost every way.
(Of course, the Alfettas all rusted away within 6 years max...)

Looks like fiat132 2.0

I’ve never seen that seatbelt! But it looks cool!

We had one back in the 80s. I loved it, was an extremely fun car. It was just like the one in the video silver with the blue interior.

There is no way I'd put a mint condition car like that on the road everyday. I wouldn't want to ruin it!

That always surprises me to hear “you can use it everyday”… this is exactly what it was built for ! As any past car…

A look back in time.

I'm inlove with this car

Fernl. Actually stands for Fernlicht

stunning car.. never seen an 80s bmw with such a steady fuel gauge

Later E12s with big USA bumpers were sold in the USA

В 1994 году у меня была такая, БМВ 520, только карбюраторная и с 4-х ступенчатой мкпп. Очень забавный автомобиль был!

Rewatch after the 3 series comment 😅

These were police cars in West Germany. Great memories as a kid there.

Connecticut Vibes

A "real BMW" as I like to call ones like this 525. Sad indeed, that BMW has resigned itself to churning out forgettable, overstyled appliances
nowadays.

BMW should go back to making cars like this.