Did you know BMW was days away from revealing a BMW M5 Convertible for the E34-generation 5-Series? This drop-top version of the M5 would’ve been sold in the early 1990s, but it was killed before ever seeing the light of day. We knew BMW built such a machine; our very own reviews director Mike Duff laid eyes on the M5 Convertible back in 2009 in one of BMW’s super-secret basements filled with cars. But BMW Blog has just shed some additional light on the subject, explaining why it never saw production. The E34 M5 Convertible was about as ready for the spotlight as it gets before BMW pulled the plug. A prototype was built; a booth at the Geneva Motor Show was booked; and then ... it never went any further. The report claims BMW yanked this open roof M5 over fears it would harm sales of the 3-Series Convertible. ...
Did you know BMW was days away from revealing a BMW M5 Convertible for the E34-generation 5-Series? This drop-top version of the M5 would’ve been sold in the early 1990s, but it was killed before ever seeing the light of day. We knew BMW built such a machine; our very own reviews director Mike Duff laid eyes on the M5 Convertible back in 2009 in one of BMW’s super-secret basements filled with cars. But BMW Blog has just shed some additional light on the subject, explaining why it never saw production. The E34 M5 Convertible was about as ready for the spotlight as it gets before BMW pulled the plug. A prototype was built; a booth at the Geneva Motor Show was booked; and then … it never went any further. The report claims BMW yanked this open roof M5 over fears it would harm sales of the 3-Series Convertible. If so, that’s a rather thin reason to kill the car. The M5 was an extremely low-production variant at the time, as BMW sold a total of 11,989 units to the entire world between 1989 and 1995. BMW only built one alternative body style to the sedan during that time, with the Touring model selling a total of 891 examples. It wouldn’t have been far-fetched to expect a similarly low take rate for the convertible.
There isn’t much official information about the M5 Convertible out there, but BMW does provide a short paragraph of details. “Despite being a road-ready prototype with a 315 hp in-line six-cylinder it never went into production: Only a single BMW M5 Convertible was ever built and its two doors are longer than the sedan’s, to make the back seats more easily accessible. The boot is also longer than that of the production model, to accommodate the soft top compartment. The hydraulically powered convertible roof was a soft top.” BMW Blog added that the M5 Convertible was slated to start at £50,000, which in the early 1990s would’ve converted to around $90,000. Adjusted for inflation, that’s well over $200,000 today. Even if BMW had gone on to build this high-performance drop-top, there’s no guarantee BMW would’ve ever sold it in America; nevertheless, it sure is fun to look back on what could’ve been.
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