A UK Only Limited Edition to end the Production of the (E34) M5 in the UK. These were limited to just 50 vehicles.

Originally going to be called the “Steve Soper Edition” it was, at the final hour changed to quite simply the Limited Edition or LE. The Steve Soper reference even gets a mention in the Factory printout of the vehicles.

Even though these were the run-out editions of the E34 M5, you could still order a ‘standard’  M5. These editions were special due to the colours being from the BMW ” Individual Programme “. These two versions were in Rosso Red with Champagne Leather & Natural Poplar Wood Trim or Orinoco Green with Petrol Mint Leather & Graphite Birds Eye Maple Wood Trim.

They were all six-speed manual. Options included an M-tech 4-Spoke Airbag Steering Wheel and automatic Air Conditioning.

A special feature was the Numbered Plaque that graced the gearbox wood surround, each with a number from 1 to 50. These had no significance to how they came off the production line, it was more a random choice from BMW.

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In total, there were 50 UK cars, 35 were produced in Orinoco Green and 15 finished in Rosso Red.

Production started in March 1995 through to June 1995. With the VIN numbers going from the first being 0323 up to the last being 0372, both of these being Green cars

I’ve saved these numbers for around 20 years and I still don’t have them all! But through old adverts and making notes over the years, my research comes down to this so far:

ROSSO RED NUMBERS ARE:

*02 *07 *13 *16 *17 *18 *19 *20 *21 *22 *23 *32 *50 (13 Cars – Oct 2017)

There is one P ‘registered car which is No16 Rosso Red.

No19 is the most recent to come up for sale

ORINOCO GREEN NUMBERS ARE:

*01 *03 *04 *05 *08 *09 *11 *14 *24 *25 *26 *28 *29 *30 *31 *33 *34 *35 *36 *38 *39 *40 *42 *44 *45 *46 *47 *49  (28 Cars – Jan 2022)

There are at least two cars that have been broken up. Including No44 which is believed scrapped. No03 is now living in Australia with No48 I just need proof of the colour to add it to the above numbers – No4 is living in China.

Very few have low mileage! Most are over 100k so it’s lovely to hear of one under that figure come for sale. I believe there are at least two cars that are one owner from new… one is believed to be near new and stored away, that’s in Rosso. (£75k? when it surfaces, I bet…) It’s thought one of the cars is unregistered, maybe a BMW (UK) car.

Currently, there are 41 cars registered in HowManyMade but that’s not checking more adverts (still a lot unchecked ) and using data from old formats of storage, so maybe at least two or 3 more… hopefully 10 more!

Here are a few adverts found from research… more to come.

This advert above is from June 1996… five months after the other advert… the same car moved to another dealer or another one?

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This advert below left is from October 1995… The right-hand advert is from Jan 1996, Did your car come from one of these garages? This will be your car.

This car below is from Jan 1996 – from Benham of Wolverhampton… your car?

And below an Orinoco Green edition from an original advert for Alan Kerr, later to become Damon Hill BMW in Warwick in 1995…

MORE TO FOLLOW ON THIS EDITION including more old Adverts and more pictures…

©howmanymade

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If this has been helpful in some way, then please mention where you got the information with an ” According to howmanymade ” It would be Greatly Appreciated for all the time I’ve spent researching for correct information and having it all in one place – Regards, Mike.