The first BMW road car to wear M-badge wasn't the M1

"KnowsAboutCars" (knowsaboutcars) 06/11/2014 at 10:27 • Filed to: bmw, south africa

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It was E12 530 MLE. The 530 Motorsport Limited Edition was homologation special for competing in South African 'The Star Modified Production Series' which was the most prestigious saloon racing series in the country at the time.

Two racing cars were built, the first one by BMW Motorsport in cooperation with Schnitzer in Germany and the second one in South Africa.

Pictured above: The German built 530 MLE

All the road cars were built in South Africa and had the same 3 liter engine found in other 530 models. For MLE version it was tuned to produce 147kw (200hp) and 277Nm (204 lbs/ft) at 4300 rpm. Road going MLE's also featured vented front brakes, Bilstein shocks,bucket seats by Scheel in front, battery relocated to trunk, front spoiler and fender flares. In addition to those features the cars were made as light as possible with bodies made out of lighter gauge steel and aluminum. Some parts were drilled to reduce weight and all glass except the windshield was thinner than usual. Even the rear seat was made lighter using foam base instead of steel frame.

Pictured below: lightweight trunk hinge.

In total 218 cars were built, 216 of which were road cars. 530 MLE was initially only available in Ice white but later two metallic colors, Sapphire blue and Platinum, were added. One car is also known to have one-off paintwork and leather interior.

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Picture credits: firstfives.org.

Jonathan Harper > KnowsAboutCars 06/11/2014 at 10:54

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Right you are!

philipilihp > KnowsAboutCars 06/11/2014 at 11:01

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Thanks to Jason I now know that this image was taken in South Africa!

flyn09 > KnowsAboutCars 06/11/2014 at 13:39

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Dear BMW—in regards to Martini and Porsche, please bring back some great M striping. Thanks.