The BMW M5 special edition "20 Jahre BMW Motorsport" (in English: "20 Years of BMW Motorsport") is one of the rarest M automobiles in existence. Only 20 were ever made and one of them belongs to the BMW M development engineer and former racer Jörg Weidinger. In the interview he tells us how he came to own this very limited edition vehicle, what makes this particular M5 so fascinating and why this collectors’ piece needs to be driven the way it was intended.
BMW M Magazin: You're jointly responsible for the development of the driving dynamics at BMW M – what exactly does that entail?
Jörg Weidinger: In our driving dynamics team I’m responsible for the suspension tuning of all the models allocated to me. Most recently for the BMW M4 CSL. I take care of the definition and realization of the whole spectrum of driving dynamics, whether we’re talking about comfort or the effect of the aerodynamics on the driving dynamics, including the vehicle’s racetrack performance.
How long have you been with BMW M?
I’ve been at BMW M since 2013. After a great start to my career in predevelopment (BMW Technik GmbH), I spent a few years in chassis development at BMW, before going to BMW M. A lot of my colleagues thought that was the best place for me. And ten years later I’m still here, so I guess they must have been right!
Mr Weidinger, you’re the owner of a very rare special edition BMW M: a BMW "20 Jahre BMW Motorsport" edition M5 of the second BMW M5 generation, the E34. How did that come about?
About 15 years ago, the vehicle was advertised in the BMW internal small ads. A colleague at the Dingolfing plant had owned and cherished the M5, but wanted to sell it. I’d never actually heard of this special edition and it didn’t take me long to make up my mind, especially as the price at the time was a pretty fair one.
I’d been fascinated by the M5 E34 ever since my apprenticeship at BMW in the early 1990s. This will certainly have been influenced by a taxi-ride I had as a 16-year old apprentice in a Daytona-violet M5 E34 with DTM works driver Jockel Winkelhock at a staff day on the run-in track at the Regensburg plant.
An M5 E34 in Mugello Red must be a real head-turner in the street. What’s your special fascination for this vehicle in particular?
Apart from the M5 E34 and the engine which is rich in history, it’s above all the rarity of this special edition. But also the rigorous realization of the idea, from the special Recaro seats with their own unique material to the red seatbelts with BMW Motorsport lettering and lots of other details – right through to the adaptation of the wing mirrors from the M3 E36, which were very special at the time.
Only 20 of this special edition were built in 1992. There are hardly any in BMW collections anywhere – which makes it even more valuable. Do you still drive your M5 on a regular basis?
I drive it, but not as much as I’d like. In the meantime, really good M5 E34s have become pretty rare, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like mine on the road anywhere. The rarity and the feeling of irreplaceability make me limit how often I drive it. But fortunately I have a few other historic BMW vehicles in my garage that I drive a lot more, at the moment my everyday oldies are a 2000 tii from 1971 and a 323i from 1985.
With a 3.8-litre inline-6-cylinder and 340 hp, the BMW M5 E34 was one of the fastest limousines in the world in the early 1990s. When you get behind the wheel, do you still put your foot down or do you go easy on such a collector’s item?
No, when it’s properly warmed up, then I drive it as it should be driven, no question! The engine is built for it, the whole engine design is thirsty for revs and not just load-free trundling. You already notice when the engine’s idling that this is an old-school sports engine at work: Compared with today’s engines, the idle is fairly uneven and that tells the sports fan before the car’s even moved that the engine valve timing is pretty sporty. But that’s the way it was back then and no-one would have thought to question it!
How does the performance feel now – surrounded by turbo-charged V8 engines in series vehicles that can develop more than 600 hp?
Let’s be clear, we’re talking about a completely different era. And as I say, a completely different engine philosophy. With the expectations and driving strategy that we have today with today’s vehicles, at first you’d be disappointed if you didn’t know any cars from back then. Because around the bottom, at low revs, there’s maybe less than in today’s “bread and butter cars”, the engine needs revs. This is a tamed racing engine which was originally created in the 70s by Paul Rosche and his team for the legendary M1. But if you compare the car with competitors of its generation, it soon becomes clear that at the end of the 1980s, early 90s, an M5 with 340 hp was hot stuff!
What was your best experience with the vehicle?
The car is constantly creating great experiences, whether you’re looking at it, cleaning it or driving it. Although the E34 isn’t an old-timer yet, you get a lot more questions and positive feedback in public than you’d think. One very special experience for me and the car was a photo-shoot for "sport auto" magazine a few years ago. It was the presentation of the F90 M5 Competition and my M5 played an important part.
Do you think that by definition a sports car has to be a two-seater? Or is a model like the BMW M5 also a full-on sports car?
I personally love the philosophy of understatement which we had at BMW M back then and still have today! A full-on limousine, without restrictions as regards space and long-distance aptitude, but which thanks to its connection not just with the engine but also driving pleasure is a extremely sporty vehicle, I like that! But for me this philosophy doesn’t exclude the idea of an even more rigorous sports car, and I’d love to work on that!
Your 1992 BMW M5 special edition is called “20 Years of BMW Motorsport” – and this year BMW M is celebrating its own 50-year anniversary. What in your opinion has changed over the last 30 years of motor sport – and what hasn’t?
I’ve been driving racing cars for 28 years, almost exclusively our marque by the way, so I think I’m able to judge. Put simply, the principle is still to cross the finishing line first! But the details have got more complicated, because in motorsport today – as in every other field of life – we try and exclude any element of chance or risk. Vehicle technology, the work of the teams, the racetracks, the organisation and infrastructure, everything has acquired a very high degree of perfection.
In today’s professional motorsport there’s almost no one taking a different path from the well-trodden one. There are almost no “DIYers” or garage teams, which means there are hardly any technical retirements and almost no team errors. Most racetracks are very safe beyond the asphalt, so everyone involved is now fully focussed on delivering 100% every second of the race and hoping to win thanks to tactics, weather or Balance of Perfomance.
In the past, the time gaps were bigger, luck played a much bigger role, the driver had to deal with problems, the teams had to improvise and you still had a chance of winning. And all in the knowledge that your next mistake could be your last. And the risks were far higher. I sometimes think that a middle way, one that removed some of the technical perfection, would be better. Especially in Europe we love engineers’ motorsport, but we shouldn’t forget the spectators, they want to see great duels on the track, an element of unpredictability and above all honest racing without interference from outside.
What are the personal highlights from 50 years of BMW M that occur to you spontaneously?
Oh, there are so many! One of the very best was getting the record on the Nordschleife with the M4 GTS in 2016. Another was our really cool outing in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring with our then managing director Markus Flasch, Matthias Malmedie and Niki Schelle, that was great fun. And besides the highlights, I’ve been lucky enough to have really special projects during my years at BMW M, projects I could take to series production with fantastic colleagues and team spirit!
And on top of all that, BMW has always given me the opportunity to get behind the wheel of racing cars and bring in my knowledge and experience. So, all in all, just what I dreamed of as a 16-year old in the first year of my apprenticeship at BMW!
JÖRG WEIDINGER.
Motor racing know-how and development competence: Jörg Weidinger has worked for more than 20 years at BMW and since 2013 for M. The former racing driver is still active and successful in motorsport. Hill climbs, 24-hour races, touring or racing cars: Jörg Weidinger has piloted very many different kinds of racing car. He’s a versatile driver who knows exactly where to find those final tenths of a second.
