The BMW 5 Series History. The 3rd Generation (E34) The BMW 5 Series History. The 3rd Generation (E34) BMW The 3rd generation BMW 5 Series brought a lot of interesting premiers. For the first time all-wheel drive was available in a 5 Series. Moreover besides the sedan body style, the range expanded into the "Touring" wagon. Let's have a look behind the scenes of the development of BMWs 3rd Generation BMW 5 Series.