In October 1972, the new BMW 520 (E12) fitted with a carburettor was joined by a version with mechanical injection, the BMW 520i. The engineering and equipment was virtually identical with the BMW 520, but it was given a standard speedometer. By comparison with the carburettor version, the BMW 520i had slightly improved driving performance and lower consumption. Nevertheless, only around 25,000 units had been built by 1979.