BMW said its first-quarter operating profit slid 2.5%, slightly missing expectations, due to currency headwinds and higher administrative and selling expenses.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were €2.46 billion, just below the €2.48 billion forecast in a Reuters poll as the value of the British pound and the Chinise renminbi hit profits.
The company said that car sales rose 5.9% to a new quarterly record.
The BMW Group reaffirmed its cautious full-year forecast of achieving slight increases in sales volume in the automotive segment and group profit before tax in 2016.
It warned of high levels of upfront expenditure for new technologies, intense price competition and rising personnel expenses.
BMW has seen sales momentum slow down in China, the world's biggest car market, as it prepares to launch new models like the long-wheelbase version of the X1 offroader.
In the first quarter, sales of Mercedes' passenger cars there jumped 36.4% in the first quarter of this year compared with 11.2% China growth for BMW.
