| First Drive | Lisbon, Portugal | BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo |
Apparently there's this person - let's call him Keith - who despite knowing a bit about his cars and having the blessing of a nice big salary, just can't quite find the right motor. The problem is that Keith needs his car to perform a number of hitherto mutually exclusive functions: he has young kids, so he needs boot space, but he's also given to taxiing his business associates about, so he needs the back seats to be as splendiferous as those in the front. He also likes to drive a bit sportily at weekends, yet his missus likes the commanding feeling of safety afforded by a massive SUV. What to do?
Step in the new BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo (let's just call it the GT). Loads of makers are naming their cars crossovers at the moment, but few actually live up to the cognomen like the GT: BMW reckons it crosses the best of a saloon, an estate, a coupé, a hatchback and an SUV. Impossible, surely?
In the Metal
Not many cars require the level of mental processing demanded by the GT at first sight. For that reason - and much like the
BMW X6 - it will divide opinion strongly and fairly instantly. We'd advise you to wait until you see one in the metal before passing final judgement, because the GT is one of those rare cars whose form resolutely follows its function; once you understand what it does, it ceases being vulgar and becomes much easier to process.
While the nose previews the forthcoming 5 Series proper, the so-called 'semi-command' driving position (somewhere between an SUV and a saloon) imbues greater visibility. It's an unsurprisingly tidy, intuitive and top quality cabin, though the whole front-end plays second fiddle (aesthetically) to what's going on from the B-pillar backwards.
The kicked up rear is there because the GT is a full four-seater with a massive boot, access to which is afforded by a
Skoda Superb-style split (and powered) tailgate. BMW makes much of this, because the semblance of an entirely separate luggage compartment, like a saloon, gives it executive car credibility, while also offering the flexibility of a hatch - the rear bulkhead folds down with the seats, electrically. Five seats are standard, though to borrow BMW phraseology; it's more like a semi five-seater because the middle one isn't really a seat. To experience the GT to the full from the back, opting for four seats is the only way to fly. In that case, each of them moves fore and aft and there's a big centre console.
What you get for your Money
The like-for-like premium required to upgrade to a Gran Turismo will be around £5,000 compared to the saloon, with the 530d SE GT commanding £40,810 in the UK - although BMW pointed out that as well as the extra space there's some extra kit bundled in too.
Standard spec includes an eight-speed automatic gearbox, 18-inch wheels (which still look quite small), a soft close tailgate, a massive panoramic glass roof, leather and four-zone air conditioning. Trimmings like active steering, a head up display, night vision and side view cameras are optional.
But of course it's the space that's most intriguing here, and there is plenty of that. The boot is a sizeable 440 litres, but increases to a 5 Series Touring-trumping 1,700 with the rear seats folded. It has a lower roofline than the
BMW X5 but equal headroom, and it's shorter than a
7 Series but boasts the same rear legroom. That considered, you can see why it looks the way it does.
Driving it
Packaging aside, how the 5 GT drives is pivotal to its success, because otherwise it's arguably of no more distinct appeal than an X5 or any other SUV. Back to 'semi-command', then. Contrary to our suspicion, a seating position halfway between a saloon and an SUV is a surprisingly pragmatic solution. There's a case for saying it's neither nothing nor something - it doesn't quite offer the same imperious driving position as an SUV, and nor is it as cocooning and dynamic as a Beemer saloon. Yet undoubtedly many will enjoy the extra visibility it affords. In contrast, the GT's rear screen is so high and small it's virtually useless.
Our first drive revealed that the GT rides with the gentle suppleness of the 7 Series, yet in Sport mode it handles with about eight tenths of the gusto you'd expect of a BMW saloon. The steering is light and accurate, the eight-speed auto transmission is quick to change and always settles in the appropriate ratio, the throttle sharp yet easy to modulate, and the cabin effective at shutting out unwanted noises. It really is as impressive and complete a way of transporting four comfortably as anything this side of a
Mercedes S-Class; at the same time, it's as tenacious as something notably smaller.
Worth Noting
Of the two engines we tried, the 530d diesel unit impresses most. While the 35i engine is, as ever, a free-revving, fruity-soundtrack-ed beast of a straight-six, the effortless flexibility of the 30d's massive torque river is far more suited to the nature of the GT; it's happy being driven hard, but that won't be the case most of the time.
Running costs wise, then, the 245bhp, 398lb.ft 530d returns 43.4mpg and pushes out 173g/km, so it's hardly a tree terroriser given its performance. We all know how these things work in reality though, and with the car weighing in at a porky two tonnes and a driver keen to exploit its 6.9-second 0-62mph sprint, expect real life economy in the mid-thirties. Still impressive, we must say.
Summary
There's undoubtedly an element of the horribly offensive about the new 5 GT; its shape is arguably as dichotomous as anything BMW produced during the Bangle era. However, its brilliance lies not in the fact it performs a delicate balancing act of different functions, but that it does each one very well indeed. It might look like a sledgehammer, but it's a buyer who's thought hard about what he wants that chooses a GT. It's not perfect of course - it's neither as sharp as the next Five will undoubtedly be, nor as eminently luggage-friendly as the equivalent Touring - but it's the most avant-garde car we've seen for a good while. Keith will be impressed, as are we.
