Before the world saw the first M5 in 1984 as the E28 generation, BMW made its M division shine with the M535i in 1980. It was the first M-badged 5 Series to move out of BMW’s Garching factory. It was powered by the M90 3.5-liter naturally aspirated straight-six engine, good for 215 horsepower and 228 pound-feet of torque. It is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car with a Getrag close-ratio manual gearbox. The drivetrain also sports a ZF-sourced disc-type limited-slip differential.

Unfortunately, BMW offered only 1,650 examples of this masterpiece worldwide, which included 240 iterations for the South African market. The M535i found inside a garage in the UK is one of seven homologation special models exclusively offered for the South African market. The owner confirmed that he got his hands on the car in South Africa shortly after graduating from college. He brought the car to his hometown in the UK, where it was stored in a garage specially constructed for the M535i. He also confirms that he has not seen the car for over a decade. Now, it is hard to digest the facts, and you might question the owner’s faith in high-performance BMWs, because there is no doubt it was a pretty exotic car for its time.

What is more remarkable about this 1983 M535i is that it is the Lightweight variant of the standard M535i. After shedding 132 pounds worth of sound-deadening materials, the M535i Lightweight tips the scales at 3,240 pounds. In addition, the uniqueness further increases when you look inside the cabin. The instrument console, dashboard parts, and door cards are from the next-generation E28 5 Series.

The M535i Comes Back To Life

It was a seemingly hopeless encounter when the show’s personalities came to find the M535i given the unknown status of the engine’s fuel pump and spark plugs. But after some tweaks and hours of hard work, the engine finally returned to life.The E12 M535i finally gets out of the garage after being inside for 31 years, and it is still in excellent condition considering its age. Of course, a few paint blemishes and chips are encountered, but the engine remains unharmed. The owner seems happy to see his very unique and loved BMW out on the road and has zero intentions of selling it. He has a file created solely for this ancient Bimmer that also includes a fax from BMW outlining the car’s attributes and a ton of pictures from when he and the vehicle were younger