BMW South Africa is in the process of restoring a rare 42-year-old road car that was born, all those years ago, to launch the German carmaker’s local motorsport heritage.
First, the history. When BMW SA wanted to go racing in the mid1970s, the company sought the advice of BMW Motorsport’s Jochen Neerpasch in Germany.
He suggested they compete with the first generation BMW 5 Series (E12) in the South African Modified Production Car Series. To qualify for entry, however, BMW SA had to sell 100 road-going versions of this first generation BMW 5 Series, known as the 530 MLE (Motorsport Limited Edition), to the public.
Developed by BMW Motorsport as a “homologation special” for SA, 110 units of the car rolled off the production line at BMW Group Plant in Rosslyn in 1976. The six-cylinder, three-litre engine was factory tweaked, boasting figures such as 147kW, 277Nm, a 208km/h top speed and a 0–100km/h sprint time of 9.3 seconds.
Unique in the world, the Rosslyn-produced vehicles saw weight-reduction measures that included bodywork and pedals drilled by hand, manual windows and Mahle wheels.
The race car was a huge success. Driven by people like Paddy Driver and Eddie Keizan, the cars scored 15 wins from 15 consecutive starts and BMW stamped its authority on the racing series with three championship titles in three years.
The BMW 530 MLE was the most successful racing BMW 5 Series in history when it was retired in 1985. And now, after years of searching, BMW SA has acquired one of the only BMW 530 MLEs known to have endured beyond its 70s heyday.
Car number 100 comes with a particular pedigree – it was owned by race driver and the racing 530 MLE’s team manager. Peter Kaye-Eddie, with its engine and chassis numbers a matching set.
The 530 MLE will be restored to its original road-going glory under the beady eyes of Custom Restorations boss Luis Malhou in Vereeniging. BMW SA has a long history of rare and storied special editions.
In 1973, BMW Group Plant Rosslyn was the very first BMW plant established outside of Germany and several models were specially built for the local market until 1990.
A growing list of these have been meticulously restored by BMW South Africa, including the cult classic BMW 333i.
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