The BMW 501 and 502 known as the Baroque Angel was produced between 1952 and 1964. However, it took a few years before the Barockengel achieved a high reputation. In the beginning, the 501 was severely underpowered – the 65 hp of the in-line six-cylinder was clearly too little for the heavy six-seater – but in 1954 it received a newly developed V8 engine, which first produced 95 hp, and from 1955 even 120 hp, which could even be increased to 160 hp in later years. With this engine, the top model of the 501/502 series, the 3200 S, was the fastest German production sedan of its time.

The elegant interior of the luxury sedan was correspondingly luxurious and comfortable. Here, too, BMW was able to attract attention with technical amenities. A choice of steering wheel or center gearshift, a hydraulic clutch assist and the hydrovac brake booster were innovative in the 1950s. So was the BMW 502, and from around the fall of 1959 it was the first German production car to be delivered with front disc brakes. The comfortable five-seater had sporty oversteering thanks to complex double wishbone wheel suspension at the front and triangular pushrods at the rear. Thanks to longitudinal torsion bars, the BMW 502 also advanced to become the comfortable, elite touring saloon of the 1950s.