The manufacturers delivered the locomotives in 1924 and 1925 to the DRG, who took them into service, still as Class EP 5, with the numbers 21 501 - 535. In 1927 they were designated as E 52 01 - 35. The vehicles were exclusively based at Bavarian depots. By 1945, numbers E 52 02, 31 and 35 were retired. The DB took over the rest of the engines, but by 1950 numbers E 52 01, 29 and 32 had also retired. The remaining 29 machines were given the designation Class 152 in 1968. As new, powerful standard electric locomotives were available in large numbers as part of the DB's new construction programme, these heavy machines were soon redundant. In February 1973 the last engine of this class, number 152 014, was withdrawn from service. The Bavarian EP 5 was the heaviest electric locomotive ever to run in Germany, not the DRG Class E 95 as is often asserted.
