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The
5 Series was launched in the year of the Summer
Olympic Games in Munich with the 520 and 520i.
The
first 5 Series model was a mid-sized sedan
with a new unit body and all-independent suspension. A European model,
it was produced as the 520 with a 115hp twin-carb 4-cylinder and the 520i
with a fuel-injected 130hp motor. These engines were the same ones used
in the 2002 and 2002tii.
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The New Class model 1600 Cabriolet was discontinued in 1972.
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1600-2/1602
One of the first models imported into the USA. Car and Driver called the 1600-2 "the best small sedan we ever drove."
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Cabriolets
The 1600 Cabriolet was removed from the product line in 1971.
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1800-2/1802
Introduced in the Fall of 1963, the 1800 had a bored and stroked 1500 engine producing 90 hp.
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2000tilux
The Tilux had leather interior, walnut dash and an upscaled dash.
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2002
The ultimate sports sedan began life as a 1600 with a 2-liter, single carb, four-cylinder engine.
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2002ti
The ti was a 2002 with 120 hp.
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2002tii
An upgrade to the 2002ti, the tii had a 1.4 in larger track, H-rated Michelin XAS tires, wider wheels and bigger brakes.
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Touring
The 1800, 2000 and 2002tii Touring models were introduced in 1971.
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The New Six model 2800CS was discontinued in
1972.
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2500
The original new six was an entry level four-door, medium-priced sedan with style and performance.
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2800
The 2800 was a 2500 with an engine stroked to 2.8 liters and extra luxury features.
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3.0CSi
The 3.0 CSi was the fuel-injected version of the 3.0CS.
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3.0S
With a bigger bore, the original engine grew to 3 liters. The Euro version had 180 hp, but the US model only 170 hp, due to emissions requirements.
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3.0CS
The ads called it "Bavarian Cream". The press called it one of the best cars in the world. The 3.0 range made its debut at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show.
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3.0CSL
The "L" here meant Lightweight. The car's doors, hood and trunk were made of aluminum. A fabled Group 2 racer.
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Bavaria
Called "one of the world's great buys in luxury sedans", the Bavaria was a 2500 with a 2800 engine created especially for the US market.
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1972's Events
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BMW expansion
includes the founding of BMW
Motorsport GmbH, the opening of an assembly plant in South
Africa, and the completion of the headquarters in Munich.
US President
Richard Milhous Nixon and Henry Alfred Kissinger, a Bavarian-born Harvard
professor, are awarded Time
Magazine's Man of the Year. Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1973.
Heinrich
Böll of West Germany is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Republican agents burglarize the Democratic headquarters at Watergate.
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) signed by the USA and the Soviet Union.
The compact
disc and electronic
mail are invented.
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Atari founder Nolan Bushnell introduces the arcade version of Pong, the first video game.
Joe Keenan, who was president of Atari from 1974 to 1978, calls Nolan Bushnell the Henry Ford of the video game business. "Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile," he
says, "but generations of schoolchildren think he did, and that's what counts."
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