It’s been four months since BMW hit the start button on M5 sedan production. Now, the G90 is joined on the assembly line by the more practical G99. Yes, the M5 Touring is now being made at the Dingolfing plant in Germany. The last time a long-roof M5 was in production was back in 2010 when the final E61, vehicle number 1,009, was built.
The M5 G99 should prove to be far more popular than its V10-powered predecessor. It’s the first BMW M wagon sold in North America where the smaller M3 Touring G81 is a forbidden fruit. Aside from enjoying global availability, the Audi RS6 Avant rival is likely to have a longer life cycle than the M5 E61. The bigger of the two M wagons is expected to remain in production until 2030 or even later.
The pair of M5s is built together with the M4 Coupe/Convertible and the M8 Coupe/Convertible/Gran Coupe. Nothing is official at this point but we’ve heard that neither the M4 nor the M8 will get a next generation. Well, at least not with combustion engines. Only around 6% of the cars assembled at the Dingolfing plant are full-fat M models. The factory in southern Bavaria also makes the regular 4, 5, 7, and 8 Series, plus the fully electric iX. Up until last year, the 6 Series Gran Turismo was also built there.
A little over 290,000 cars were built there last year, making Dingolfing the fourth-largest BMW plant in the world. The site employs 18,500 people along with approximately 900 apprentices. Back in September, operations were suspended for a few days due to weaker demand in China. The stoppage also had to do with issues regarding Continental’s integrated braking system.
Rumor has it BMW will make the next-generation 3 Series (G50) in Dingolfing. It’s unclear whether the Munich plant is still going to build the company’s most popular car. We do know the Neue Klasse-based i3 sedan will begin to roll off the assembly line in Munich in 2026.
Source: BMW
