BMW BLOG

BMW 5 Series GT is arriving at U.S. dealerships as we speak and BMW North America is preparing for the launch of this new model, a somewhat controversial vehicle that brings out an unique design language from BMW.

We’ve heard all about the car from the exterior designer itself, Christopher Weil, we have also seen the GT in person and last but not least, we’ve seen plenty of positive reviews given to the 5er GT, most of them coming from automobile publications that have been very critical towards this new design soon after it was unveiled.

The UK fellows at TopGear are giving us their report on the 5 Series GT, this time the European model equipped with the 3.0 liter diesel engine.

This is not the usual new car drive report. Contrary to normal practice, there’ll be a lot of talk about the boot and the back seats, because that’s the only way for you to judge whether or not BMW really has invented a new kind of car. And if it has, whether it’s one actually worth having.

But there’s also our usual meat’n'potatoes, stuff about the engines, transmission, handling and ride – which are all borderline brilliant as it happens. Those things matter because while the 5-Series GT is in itself decidedly minority-interest, you’re to all intents and purposes at the wheel of next year’s 5-Series saloon and Touring.

Right. The boot. If a manufacturer goes to all the trouble of inventing a new kind of car, you’d think it would deploy all available language to explain the thing. Yet bizarrely BMW people refuse to call this a hatchback, even though that’s basically what it is. Instead they call it a GT, which is one thing it isn’t. A GT in my book is a short-wheelbase plush but lightweight coupe for comfortable high-speed touring. The 5-Series GT, on the other hand, is a five-door with a body and seats of such Heath Robinson complexity that the thing weighs two tonnes. Unsurprisingly, confusion reigns.

Full article continued