With the risk of sounding like a broken record, I still find it frustrating that BMW bundles models when it releases global sales results. The 1 Series and 2 Series are always grouped together, much like the X1 and X2. It’s the same story with the larger model pairs. The company does provide a breakdown for individual vehicles in North America, but not on a global scale.
When the half-year results came in, we noticed a significant jump for the 5 Series and 6 Series, with combined deliveries up 32.3% to 151,046 units. It’s no surprise that the often misunderstood 6 Series Gran Turismo dragged the result down. In a statement released today by BMW boss Oliver Zipse, we learn that the 5 Series alone is up by more than 40% in the first six months of the year compared to H1 2024.
You might be surprised to learn the quirky five-door liftback was still on sale in some markets during H1 2024. BMW dropped the G32 in India later that year to free up space at the Chennai plant for the long-wheelbase 5 Series.
Even in July 2025, the 6 Series GT doesn’t seem to be completely dead. You can still configure it on the company’s website in Malaysia. BMW builds the hugely practical car locally at the Kulim plant from complete knock-down (CKD) kits. By contrast, production at the Dingolfing factory in Germany ended in 2023.
As for why the 5er is thriving, the M5 models are undoubtedly contributing. Once again, BMW doesn’t specify how many of the 5 Series sales were regular variants and how many were M5s. However, the M division did achieve its best half-year results ever, driven by strong demand for the G90 and G99. By the way, BMW currently splits production evenly between the two M5 body styles.
All versions of the 5 Series will undergo a Life Cycle Impulse in the second half of 2027. Expect major interior changes, with iDrive X set to revamp the dashboard by introducing a large central touchscreen. Panoramic Vision will also debut, projecting three fixed tiles in the driver’s line of sight and six customizable widgets to the right at the base of the windshield. And yes, the iDrive rotary controller is going away.
Circling back to sales, BMW’s CEO is happy to report that demand for the X2 more than doubled through June. Then again, that’s not all that surprising. The U10 wasn’t widely available globally in the first half of 2024, so it’s not a fair year-over-year comparison.
Source: BMW
