Minneapolis Street Sighting: BMW E28 M5

I'm going to be blunt here; BMWs of late don't really do much for me, styling-wise. Sure, they pack a mean bite, and sure they have great stance and poise from the factory.. but the design cues are simply not there. BMWs are not special anymore-- I mean, sure, they're recognizable, but then again, who couldn't miss a rolling turd with a kidney grille slapped on the front fascia.
Time to hark back into the 1980s, which apparently was a much better time for "enthusiast cars"; things like SMG, paddle shift, and ESC didn't exist. Not a single auto enthusiast had any idea was DSC or a speed governor was. ABS? What's that? This was a much simpler time for an enthusiast. A wide range of choices could be had via pretty much any automaker. The focus here, though, is BMW. Like today, the E28 5 Series was pretty much a shortened 7 Series in terms of features and comfort. Unlike today, the 5 Series of yesterday didn't cost near 7 Series money, nor did it have the vast array of trimlines and engine options that the much bigger 7 has. Although the precursor shares many of the same principles as the current car, an M5 used to be quite a bit more distinguishable than the more pedestrian version. In addition to riding a bit lower, and having its own wheels and tires (which it does so today), the M5 of yesterday was not necessarily built for straight line speed; i was built to carve up B-roads in Porsche-like fashion. Let's see an E60 do that.
This particular E28 M5 caught my eye for one main reason; it seems to have benefited from a mass retrofit of Euro accessories. The US version never came with unequal sized front lights, it never came with these cleaner bumpers, and the taillights are slightly different, too. In addition to the Euro treatment, this example also packed a mean set of BMW E39 wheels; and they look great. They're set in typical BMW mesh fashion, but being slightly upsized over the stock 15s, I'm sure these do wonders for the handling, plus they draw notice from a keen eye. How do I know? A couple other people who walked by as I was shooting asked where I got the wheels. I politely explained to the curious BMW fanatics that this gorgeous E28 was not my pride and joy. Oh how I wish it was, though.