Every super sedan that has ever filled your mirrors owes something to the E28 M5. When it appeared at the 1985 Amsterdam Motor Show it basically invented the category. BMW took a sensible sedan, hid a thoroughbred engine inside, but kept it low-key. The engine was the M88, lifted nearly intact from the M1 supercar, a 3.5-liter straight-six good for 282 hp (US cars ran a catalyst-equipped version closer to 256). At launch it was the fastest production sedan in the world, and it made more power than a contemporary Ferrari 328.
The genius was in the restraint. No wings, no shouty graphics, just a small badge and a slightly lowered stance hinting at the trouble underneath. Each car was assembled largely by hand, and BMW built only around 2,200 across the entire 1985 to 1988 run.
Today the E28 is the founding document of the whole M5 idea, the car every successor has spent forty years reinterpreting. Values have climbed to match that importance, especially for clean, unmolested examples with paperwork intact. If you want the genuine article, the original business-suit-with-running-shoes BMW, this is where it starts.

528e

518i

520i

524td

525e

525i

528i

533i

535i

535is

Alpina B10

Alpina B2.8

Alpina B7

Alpina B9

Alpina TWR

M535i

Browse 3 BMW 5 Series E28 listings. Sales from $2,800 to $126,000. Get free email alerts on MaxFindsCars.

BMW 5 Series E28 (1981–1988) for Sale | MaxFindsCars

BMW 5 Series E28

Variants

M5

528e

518i

520i

524td

525e

525i

528i

533i

535i

535is

Alpina B10

Alpina B2.8

Alpina B7

Alpina B9

Alpina TWR

M535i

Active Listings(3)

1988 BMW M5

1986 BMW M5

1983 BMW 5 Series

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1985 BMW 535i

1986 BMW 520i

1985 BMW 535i

1988 BMW 535is

1988 BMW M5

1986 BMW 535i

1987 BMW 535is

1986 BMW E28 M5

1986 BMW E28 M5

1985 BMW E28 5-Series

1985 BMW E28 5-Series

1984 BMW E28 5-Series