Here’s a classic BMW 525i, seen in the Sanlitun embassy area in Beijing in the winter of 2013. The German sedan was a little dusty, but otherwise in great shape. It also has rare blue 京A license plates.
The E34 BMW 5 Series
BMW manufactured the E34 5 Series from 1987 to 1996, with a facelift in 1994. The Oxford Green Metallic car in the photos is a pre-facelift example, fitted with original alloy wheels. It is widely considered one of the most beautiful midsize sedans ever, penned by master designers Ercole Spada and J Mays.
The 525i was a mid-range model. The engine was a 2.5-liter inline six, with 170 hp and 222 Nm. BMW offered a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic, sending horsepower to the rear wheels. The top speed was 221 km/h, and it did 0-100 in 9.5 seconds. For an early-1990s executive sedan, that was genuinely quick.
The E34 in China
Note the Buick Regal sedan in the background.
BMW did not officially sell the E34 5 Series in China. However, there was a semi-official import, in which Chinese state-owned companies bought large batches of 5 Series for distribution in China. These cars usually went to other state-owned businesses, hotels, and high-end taxi services. The BMW 520i and the BMW 525i are the most common E34 models in China.
The license plate
Blue 京A license plates are rare and highly desirable today. This has to do with history. The Beijing government issued blue ones to the first batches of privately registered cars in Beijing, as opposed to cars registered to companies or the government.
Most blue 京A plates were issued in the early 1990s. At the time, almost nobody could afford to buy a car. So, people who owned a car with blue plates had money – and thus status. Blue 京A license plates are not the same as black 京A license plates.