BMW 5-Series GT Not Selling Well, To The Surprise Of No One Outside BMW

by Jack Baruth

Published: May 24th, 2011

bmw 5 series gt not selling well to the surprise of no one outside bmw

Oh, BMW. You so crazy.

What’s a BMW 5-Series “GT” anyway? Apparently, it’s a stretched Five body, plus hatchback, on the basic platform of the 7 Series. It’s cheaper than a “Siebener” while being bigger and uglier than the Five. It also fails to provide much of a wagon’s utility. Nevertheless, the GT was supposed to be a hot-selling “segment buster” for BMW, along with the similarly offensive-looking X6.

Turns out that the GT isn’t selling, and the people who do buy it are Bimmer diehards choosing it over a purchase of the more expensive Seven. Meanwhile, there’s a real 5-Series wagon coming for the rest of the world. What should BMW do?

According to AutoNews,

Now, BMW of North America CEO Jim O’Donnell says he wishes the company hadn’t stopped selling the 5-series wagon in the United States last year. BMW had expected the 5-series GT to attract those wagon buyers, but the GT is luring owners of the more-expensive 7-series sedan instead.

Will BMW bring the wagon back? The below image has been circulating around the ‘Net. If you own it, let us know.

Our take on things: The “GT” is a bit of a misshapen monster, while a Five wagon would bring BMW back in touch with that small but affluent and influential group of people who buy $60K German station wagons. Time to cull the number of Richard-The-Third-mobiles sold by BMW in this country by one and bring back the real deal, okay?

Jack Baruth

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2 of 58 comments

Rpn453 on May 25, 2011

That wagon is beautiful. The GT, not so much.

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Virginiavalley760 on Jul 23, 2011

I have a 2008 535 xi wagon, the best BMW I have ever owned (740 i, 320 ic, 545 and 530) in terms of shear driving fun and ability. The sport package was worth the extra $'s. Downsides are the 9 fuel injectors that have had to be replaced and the comfort access system that drains the battery if you don't keep the car locked when not in use. All of which that have been covered by warranty. Unfortunately, I will not keep the car past the warranty expiration and while BMW has fixed this issues with later models, they are no importing wagons into the US anymore. Shame on BMW. Going to look at a A7 and may try another Mercedes wagon again but only reluctantly.

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