BMW tweaks 5 Series, 6 Series GT ranges

BMW Group Australia has introduced some minor increases to standard specification in its 5 Series and 6 Series GT ranges alongside small price rises, while other changes have been made to BMW’s X SUV line-up.

 

All variants of the 5 Series, 5 Series Touring and 6 Series GT have increased in price by $1000, with the exception of the M5 super sedan which has seen a $5000 bump.

 

Along with the increases, the 6 Series GT range has been reduced from three variants to two, with the removal of the $151,400 top-spec six-cylinder 640i xDrive.

 

To justify the increases in price, BMW has added a few features to the 5 and 6 Series ranges, starting with the BMW Live Cockpit Professional system, which makes a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster standard across the line-ups.

 

Live Cockpit Professional also includes other features such as an equally-sized infotainment screen with BMW’s latest Operating System, advanced sat-nav system, a 20GB hard-drive multimedia system, two USB ports, news and weather apps, and Intelligent Emergency Call which automatically notifies emergency services in case of a crash.

 

Connected Package Professional has also been made standard, which includes BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant voice control, concierge services, remote services, remote 3D view and the BMW Connected app.

 

Lastly, wireless smartphone charging has also been made standard across the range.

 

Along with the upgrades to the 5 and 6 Series, BMW has also adjusted pricing of a number of its SUV model ranges, however unlike the sedan versions, there are no apparent increases to specification.

 

Starting with the X2 small coupe-SUV range, all variants bar the M-fettled M35i xDrive have seen an increase of $500, starting with the sDrive18i at $47,400 and topping out at $60,400 for the xDrive20d.

 

The X5 large SUV range, which first launched locally late last year, has seen an increase, with the 30d and 40i both going up by $5000, to $117,900 and $120,900 respectively, while the top-spec M50d has increased by $2000, to $151,900.

 

And lastly, the flagship of the BMW range, the X7 upper-large SUV, has also seen increases in price despite only going on sale earlier this year.

 

Like the X5, the range-opening 30d version has gone up by $5000 to $124,900, while the M50d has increased by $2000 to $171,900.

 

Through the first seven months of the year, BMW sales have remained fairly steady, only dropping 3.1 per cent against an overall market that has slid 7.7 per cent.

 

The X3 mid-size SUV has been the best seller for the German brand with 2843 units, ahead of the X5 (1990), 3 Series (1632) and X1 (1577).