(1968-1977) The line of six cylinder luxury cars produced at the time to compete against Mercedes Benz. The sedan (E3) and coupe (E9) provied to earn quite a reputable name in auto racing. Models were given names denoting their engine sizes, and suffixes to indicate the long-wheelbase (L) and fuel injection (i) available on later cars. The coupés were all named CS, followed by i (for fuel injection models) or L (for light-weight models, which also had fuel injection and higher power). The BMW E12 is the first generation of 5 Series executive cars, which was produced from 1972 to 1981 and initial models were powered by inline-four engines, using either a carburettor or fuel-injection. A year after launch, the first model powered by a straight-six engine was introduced. By the final years of E12 production, most models used a straight-six engine.
