BMW507

BMW 507 vs Mercedes 300 SL

The BMW 507 and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL had the same importer, met at the same shows and stood in the same price lists: the two as the period compared them on price, engineering, numbers and racing, with the other sports cars a 507 buyer could have chosen in 1956–59.

A silver Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupé with round headlamps and a wide grille on a brick floor against green tiles.
A Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupé, the 507's rival from the same importer, photographed on 21 April 2024: a rival, not a 507.CarspotterCal, CC BY-SA 4.0

At the Frankfurt show of September 1955 Mercedes-Benz brought its 300 SL, "unaltered" as Denis Jenkinson of Motor Sport put it, and the new 190 SL, and in another hall BMW showed the 507 for the first time. Jenkinson noted that the BMW would sell for less than the Mercedes. In auto motor und sport's price list of 22 September 1955 the 300 SL coupé cost DM 29,000 and BMW's own 503 DM 29,500, both above the 507. In 1987 Motor Sport regretted the tendency to measure BMW's cars against the matching Mercedes-Benz, adding: "Thirty years ago people were already doing it!"⁠1​2​3

One importer, two cars

Max Hoffman, the importer in New York, was behind both. Mercedes-Benz's own archive says that the road-going 300 SL "was initiated by Max Hoffman", its American importer since September 1952; the coupé was shown at the International Motor Sports Show in New York in February 1954, and the roadster that followed at Geneva in March 1957 was his idea too. Motor Sport wrote in 2020 that he ordered the first 1,000 cars. At BMW, which wanted a sports car for America, the one market where cars at that price would sell, Hoffman was asked to judge the first designs, disliked them and brought in Albrecht Goertz. Der Spiegel, telling the story in 2011, called Hoffman the importer who had already prompted Mercedes-Benz to build the 300 SL in series.

A red Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster with a beige hood on a roped museum plinth.
A Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster, the open car of 1957 that Hoffman also asked for, on a museum plinth on 29 May 2022: a rival, not a 507.Damian B Oh, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Side by side in the press

At Earls Court in October 1955 Motor Sport called the gull-wing coupé "the fastest normal, as distinct from sports/racing, car at the Show", at a British price "as high as £4,392 15s. 10d." In America, Jesse Alexander set the two side by side for Sports Cars Illustrated:

When you bring up the subject of the 507, someone immediately begins to compare it with the 300 SL, so let's do that. It is by no means as fast as the SL, but it is, on the other hand, a much more practical car, having adequate luggage space, easier entrance and exit, and is a good deal easier to service.

Jesse Alexander, Sports Cars Illustrated, May 1957

At the Paris Salon that October, Jenkinson put both among the "usable fast coupes like Ferrari Europa, 300SL, B.M.W. 507 and XK150".

The only measured comparison found came in February 1958, when auto motor und sport printed the runs it had made for Motor Revue with a 507 wearing its factory hardtop and a 300 SL roadster. The BMW was the works demonstrator M-JX 800, the car Elvis Presley bought that December. The Mercedes reached 221.5 km/h (138 mph) and got to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.8 seconds. Above 130 km/h (81 mph) it was the quicker car; in top gear from 65 to 130 km/h (40 to 81 mph) the BMW was. The Mercedes weighed 90 kg (198 lb) more.⁠11​9​12​13​14

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Prices when new

In every list read that gives both cars on the same date, the BMW was the cheaper. In Germany auto motor und sport's list of 30 September 1958 gave the 300 SL roadster at DM 32,500. The 507's own prices, in Germany, Britain and America, are with its specifications on the engine page.

In Motor Trend's guide of January 1959, which gave the prices of cars landed at an American port, the only sports car dearer than the 507 was the 300 SL, and the next, the Jaguar XK150 and the AC Ace, cost about half as much as the BMW:

CarPort-of-entry price, January 1959
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster$10,970
Jaguar XK150 roadster$4,495
AC Ace$4,495
Porsche 356A Super$4,365
Mercedes-Benz 190 SL$3,998
Porsche 356A$3,915
Chevrolet Corvette, standard V8$3,875
Ford Thunderbird hardtop$3,700
Austin-Healey 100-Six$2,995

By December 1959 Sports Cars Illustrated was placing the BMW among cars that cost "$10,000 or more", naming among their makers Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes-Benz.

In Britain, where few 507s were sold, Motor Sport's Earls Court guide of October 1959, which states no tax basis, gave the 300 SL at £5,314 and BMW's 503 at £4,959, both dearer than the 507; an Aston Martin DB4 was £3,755, a DB4 GT £4,534, a Corvette £2,905, a 190 SL £2,763 and the dearest Jaguar XK150, the 3.8 S, £2,176. BMW's own account of the 1957 British list set the 507 beside an XK140 at £1,693 and an Aston Martin from £3,901.⁠2​15​16​17​18​19

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Under the skin

The 300 SL's engine was a 2,996 cc six with an overhead camshaft and Bosch direct fuel injection, rated by Mercedes-Benz at 215 hp at 5,800 rpm, in a space frame of steel tubes, with swing axles at the back; the roadster had a low-pivot single-joint swing axle with a compensating spring. The maker gives the coupé up to 260 km/h (162 mph) and the roadster up to 250 km/h (155 mph), depending on the axle ratio, and the roadster had disc brakes all round from March 1961.

The 507's V8 was BMW's own light-alloy engine with pushrods and two Zenith twin-choke carburettors, in a box-section steel frame with tubular cross-members, BMW's description, and a live rear axle on torsion bars. Its brakes were Alfin drums, with Dunlop front discs offered only for the 1960 cars.⁠4​20​21​19

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Numbers and racing

Mercedes-Benz built 1,400 of the coupé between August 1954 and May 1957, 29 of them with light-alloy bodies, and 1,858 roadsters from 1957 to February 1963. The 507 was made in far smaller numbers, which How many were made counts, and Motor Sport wrote in 1987 that BMW never averaged as many as two a week.

The SL had racing behind it. Mercedes-Benz built two racing roadsters for the SCCA's Category D in 1957, and Paul O'Shea won the championship with one. In the SCCA's performance classes for the 1960 season the 300 SL coupé and roadster were in Class C and the 507 a class lower, in D, with the 3.4-litre Jaguar XKs, the Austin-Healey 3000 and the Morgan Plus Four. In 1987 Motor Sport set the prices and the racing side by side:

As a useful comparison, at the times Jaguar XK140 was less than £2,000, while even the Mercedes-Benz 300SL. was priced at £4,651. Of course, with its cachet of recent racing success, the Mercedes coupe, with its distinctive "gull wing" doors.' rather eclipsed the 507. And that was sad.

Alex Harmer, Motor Sport, February 1987

The 507's racing was on hills, as Notable BMW 507s tells: Hans Stuck won GT classes for BMW in 1958 and 1959, and at the Wurzen Pass in Austria in 1959 a Porsche Carrera beat his works car.⁠4​3​22​23​14

A black-and-white photograph of Hans Stuck smiling and holding a large laurel wreath with ribbons beside a car at a hill climb.
Hans Stuck with the winner's wreath of the Grand Tourisme class over 2,600 cc at Schauinsland, Freiburg, in July 1958, the class he won in BMW's works 507 on 27 July.Willy Pragher, CC BY 4.0

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The other rivals

The other cars a 507 buyer could have considered appear beside it in the period's price lists, show reports and race results. No head-to-head test of the 507 against any of them was found. Jaguar showed its XK140 range at Frankfurt in 1955, and Jenkinson counted the XK150 among his "usable fast coupes" in Paris two years later; in the SCCA's classes of 1960 the 3.8-litre XK150 S ran a class above the 507. At Frankfurt in 1955 Jenkinson likened the close fit of the 507's body round its wheels to Aston Martin's work, and in 1960 the SCCA put Aston Martin's DB2-4 in Class C with the 300 SL.

Ferrari's 3-litre 250 GT, 240 bhp at 7,000 rpm in Motor Sport's report from Earls Court in 1958, was among the cars of "$10,000 or more" with the 507 in America. Porsche's Carrera had a four-cam 1.5-litre engine of 100 bhp in 1955 and was "now only available as a stark competition car" by 1959. America's own Corvette cost well under half the BMW's price and had a 230 bhp V8 as standard in 1959, and the Thunderbird of 1959 was a four-seater. Mercedes-Benz's 190 SL, shown beside the 300 SL at Frankfurt in 1955, cost under half the 507's American price in 1959.

BMW's own 503 coupé and cabriolet, Goertz's other design, shared the 507's engine on a longer chassis and cost more than the 507 in every list read; in Germany in September 1958 it was DM 32,950. BMW built 412 of them, 273 coupés and 139 cabriolets.⁠1​12​24​16​17​23​19​15​6​25​21​26

A white Jaguar XK150 roadster with a red interior and wire wheels on grass by a wooden fence.
A Jaguar XK150 roadster near Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, on 25 April 2021: one of the 507's contemporaries, not a 507.Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0
A red Mercedes-Benz 190 SL roadster with its black hood raised, seen from the side on grass at a car meeting.
A Mercedes-Benz 190 SL at a classic-car meeting in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on 25 July 2007: one of the 507's contemporaries, not a 507.Jed, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Sources

Every source the site cites is on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  1. Denis Jenkinson ("D.S.J."), "The Frankfurt Motor Show", Motor Sport, Nov 1955, p. 51, the Mercedes-Benz and BMW stands; the 507 to sell for less than the 300 SL; the Jaguar stand; the 190 SL beside the 300 SL; the Porsche Carrera engine. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1955/51/the-frankfurt-motor-show Primary
  2. auto motor und sport, IAA report, "Technische Daten der deutschen Personenwagen" and "Preise der deutschen Personenwagen", Heft 20, 24 Sep 1955, price list "Stand vom 22. September 1955": the 300 SL and the 503; price list "Stand vom 22. September 1955". archive.org/details/auto-motor-und-sport-1955-heft-20 Primary
  3. Alex Harmer, "Sisters under the skin?", Motor Sport, Feb 1987, p. 17, para. 1, measuring BMW against Mercedes-Benz; para. 7, the quotation; the production rate. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1987/17/sisters-under-the-skin Reference
  4. Mercedes-Benz Classic (public archive, marsClassic), "Types 300 SL Coupé and 300 SL Roadster (W 198), 1954 - 1963" and "300 SL Roadster", the W 198 text: Hoffman's part, New York 1954, the roadster at Geneva in 1957; the W 198 text and the coupé and roadster specifications (oid 4699, 4690): engine, injection, output, frame, axles, speeds, brakes; the coupé's number; the roadster's "Units produced" (oid 4690); the SCCA's Category D in 1957. mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/Types-300-SL-Coup-and-300-SL-Roadster-W-198-1954---1963.xhtml?oid=4689 Primary
  5. Motor Sport, "Road car buying guide: Mercedes-Benz 300 SL", Jun 2020, p. 132, Hoffman's order for the first 1,000 cars. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-2020/132/road-car-buying-guide-mercedes-benz-300-sl Reference
  6. Melina Aulinger and Walter Zeichner, "You've got to be lucky", Mobile Tradition live (BMW Group Mobile Tradition), 02/2004, pp. 10–17, pp. 12–13, the American market and Hoffman's part; p. 16, the 503's numbers. bmw7er-club.de/interaktiv/download/mobilemtradition_02_04.pdf Primary
  7. BMW Group (PressClub Canada), "Designer Albrecht Graf Goertz passes away" (press release), 3 Nov 2006, Hoffman and Goertz. press.bmwgroup.com/canada/article/detail/T0028576EN/designer-albrecht-graf-goertz-passes-away Primary
  8. Jürgen Pander, "Designer Albrecht Graf Goertz: Paradiesvogel als Retter für BMW", Spiegel Online, 22 Jan 2011, Hoffman and the 300 SL. spiegel.de/auto/fahrkultur/designer-albrecht-graf-goertz-paradiesvogel-als-retter-fuer-bmw-a-740328.html Reference
  9. Jesse Alexander, "Complete report on BMW 507", with "Factory test data" and "Late news from BMW", Sports Cars Illustrated, May 1957, pp. 18–21, 50, the comparison with the 300 SL; the quotation. archive.org/details/sim_car-and-driver_1957-05_2 Primary
  10. Simon de Burton, "BMW 507 Roadster: a folly no longer", Motor Sport, Nov 2020, p. 127, "meant to challenge the SL for US sales". motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-2020/127/bmw-507-roadster-a-folly-no-longer Reference
  11. Motor Sport, "Sports and high-performance cars at Earls Court", with the list "Sports Cars Costing Under £1,000 Inclusive of P.T.", Nov 1955, p. 16, the Mercedes-Benz entry: the 300 SL coupé. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1955/16/sports-and-high-performance-cars-at-earls-court Primary
  12. Motor Sport, "The 44th Paris Salon", Nov 1957, p. 21, the Golden Rocket and the "usable fast coupes"; the "usable fast coupes". motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1957/21/the-44th-paris-salon Primary
  13. auto motor und sport, "Wie sie beschleunigen", Heft 4, 15 Feb 1958, the measured runs for Motor Revue: speeds, acceleration, top-gear pull, weights; "weder der Mercedes noch der BMW". archive.org/details/auto-motor-und-sport-1958-heft-4 Primary
  14. Sebastian Renz, "BMW 507 von Elvis Presley: Das Auto des Kings lebt", auto motor und sport, 16/2014; online 23 Jul 2014, the 1958 test car, M-JX 800; Schauinsland, 27 July 1958. web.archive.org/web/2015id_/https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/reise/bmw-507-von-elvis-presley-das-auto-des-kings-lebt Reference
  15. auto motor und sport, New-car price list ("Preise"), with the Motor Revue advertisement, Heft 21, 11 Oct 1958, price list "Stand vom 30. September 1958"; the BMW 503. archive.org/details/auto-motor-und-sport-1958-heft-21 Primary
  16. Motor Sport, "Earls Court Reviewed", Nov 1959, p. 39, the prices of the BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Chevrolet and Austin-Healey entries; the Porsche, Chevrolet and Aston Martin entries. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1959/39/earls-court-reviewed Primary
  17. Motor Trend, Annual guide: sports cars (the BMW 507 entry), Jan 1959, pp. 37–44 (BMW 507 p. 41), pp. 37–44, the sports cars' port-of-entry prices; the Thunderbird and Austin-Healey entries. archive.org/details/sim_motor-trend_1959-01_11_1 Primary
  18. BMW AG (BMW Group PressClub Czech Republic), "Zeitlose Eleganz: 50 Jahre BMW 507 und BMW 503", chapter of the press kit "Legenden der 50er Jahre: BMW 507 – BMW 503 – BMW Isetta", German, Apr 2005, the 1957 British price list: the XK140 and the Aston Martin. press.bmwgroup.com/czech/article/attachment/T0066597CS/96056 Primary
  19. Sports Cars Illustrated, "Disc-Braked BMW 507" (road test), with the same issue's Frankfurt show report, Dec 1959, pp. 49–51, 104, the cars of "$10,000 or more"; the Dunlop front discs on the 1960 cars; the makes of "$10,000 or more". archive.org/details/sim_car-and-driver_1959-12_5 Primary
  20. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, BMW 507 Touring Sport (sales brochure), German, 1/1959, W 61 5 1.59, the technical data: engine, frame, axles, brakes. archive.org/details/1959-bmw-507-touring-sport-brochure.-w-61-5-1.-59-0 Primary
  21. Gordon Wilkins, "BMW 503 and 507", Motor Trend, Jan 1958, the box-section side members and tubular cross-members; the 503 and 507: one engine, the 503's longer chassis. archive.org/details/sim_motor-trend_1958-01_10_1 Primary
  22. Denis Jenkinson ("D.S.J."), "An Austrian Hill-Climb", Motor Sport, Nov 1959, p. 64, the GT classes: Greger, Stuck, d'Orey. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1959/64/an-austrian-hill-climb Primary
  23. Sports Cars Illustrated, "SCCA Performance Classifications", May 1960, Classes C and D; Class C: the XK150 S 3.8 and the DB2-4. archive.org/details/sim_car-and-driver_1960-05_5 Primary
  24. Motor Sport, "The Cars at Earls Court", Nov 1958, p. 22, the Ferrari and Aston Martin entries. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1958/22/cars-earls-court Primary
  25. Industrial Design, Profile of Albrecht Graf Goertz, Aug 1959 (vol. 6 no. 8), pp. 50–51, "designed both the 507 and 503". archive.org/details/sim_i-d_1959-08_6_8 Primary
  26. BMW V8 Club Deutschland, "Technische Daten 503 507 3200CS", the 503: chassis range and numbers. bmw-v8-club.de/fahrzeuge/8-zylinder-baureihe/techniche-daten-503-507-3200-cs.html Reference

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