BMW BLOG

As we announced yesterday, BMW North America is introducing the BMW 550i Gran Turismo at several events across the country. One of these events took place at the BMW Headquarters in New Jersey.

While there are not many secrets left unknown about the new 550i GT, we find it quite fascinating to finally see more and more photos of this controversial BMW model, one that has drawn both positive and negative reactions from everyone.

Many people were and maybe still are questioning the reasons behind BMW’s decision to built this Gran Turismo vehicle, but in the past few weeks, we have seen our own readers shifting their opinion towards a more positive area. And honestly, judging from the photo below, the 550i GT is growing on us more and more every day. While we still have our doubts regarding the rear-end design, the front-end is absolutely gorgeous and the LED corona lights make it stand out even more.

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BMW North America continues to showcase the upcoming BMW 550i GT at several events across the country. Some of these events are available for the general public while others are more private.

Those of you that live in the New Jersey area and are members of the BMW Car Club of America, might have had the opportunity to attend the 550i GT Seminar, an event where BMW has once again displayed the new 5 Series Gran Turismo vehicle.

Courtesy of Jon Trudel over at ackthud.net, we have the opportunity for the first time to show you some real life photos of this 550i GT model.

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Last week, the fellows at HighMotor had the opportunity to attend an exclusive presentation of the upcoming BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo. The top model, BMW 550i GT was showcased during an event at the German Embassy in Madrid, Spain.

We’ve learned in the past that prior to the 5 GT hitting the dealerships’ showrooms, BMW will showcase the car at special preview events for future customers and companies interested in updating their car fleet.

To make the event even more interesting, BMW has also brought the designer of the 5 Series GT, Christoper Weil who gave a presentation on the development process. According to Weil, the 5 Series Gran Turismo development started three years ago and begins with a total of 6 teams submitting their sketches. Three of them are being chosen, but as one would expect, the decision is quite difficult, mostly because it requires to anticipate the car design trend  in three years from that time.

From here, with the 3 sketches elected, BMW started to work on them separately. The first thing was to make a model made of a flexible material in order to redesign it in small details. At that moment, BMW has three models in three dimensions.

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After the official revealing, the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo is out in the open and cruising down the Munich streets. While the official marketing photos were all about the gold and blueish colors, the test car spotted by Carscoop is sporting the beautiful Alpine White paint.

We never thought we would say this, but the 5 Series GT looks better on public roads that in those marketing photos. The car definitely has an impressive stance, road presence and it absolutely stands out. Of course, some of us are just not cut for this car and it will be difficult to accept it, but it definitely has its place in the BMW line-up and we are willing to bet that it will do just fine.

Now what else is new with the GT? Well, beside the fact that it has a brand new engine, the N55, a twin-scroller turbocharger which features for the first time High Precision Injection and variable VALVETRONIC.

In the U.S., the first model launched will be the 550i GT and a few months behind it, an xDrive version will be offered as well. The 550i Gran Turismo will launch in the fourth quarter of this year as a 2010 model. The base price is expected to be between $65,000-$70,000.

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Continuing with the BMW 5 Series GT and as promised, we have new videos illustrating some key elements in the exterior and interior design, along with some footage of the 5 GT in motion.

After carefully watching these new videos, we have no choice but to enforce our initial statement: the interior of the new 5 Gran Turismo is by far the best we have see in a BMW so far. The car truly is all about luxury and personal comfort and that is exactly what BMW is going for. Add to this package an extraordinary engine, performance, dynamics and all the new driving technologies, and we can see why the 5 GT might sell well.

But in the end, as we always said, it’s a personal choice and each individual has a different taste. Here is a little secret: Never been a fan of the 3 or 5 Wagons, so implicitly, I will never buy one. Does that mean I don’t love my BMWs? Far from it.

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BMW just launched the official website of the new BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo. Along with the microsite, a new set of photos and videos have been released as well. The BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo launches in a new, unexplored market for BMW, a market which demands a luxurious car that offers generous interior and cargo space, performance, dynamics while maintain high comfort levels.

The debate on whether this model will be successful, has already began and BMW fans across seem to be equally divided into two sides. While some see the 5 GT as a progression of the current BMW line-up and an expansion into new markets, others more conservative are afraid that it diminishes the core of BMW models.

When the first official photos hit the web, it seemed to be far more people opposing the new 5 GT, but with new photos and videos being released, the negative current seems to be shifting towards positive or at best neutral. We still believe that this is a niche car, same as the X6, and it will be hard to satisfy the large diversity of BMW fans. In our opinion, seeing the car in person will be the true test and afterwards a more objective opinion could be stated.

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An important element overlooked in the new BMW 5 Series GT, is the introduction for the first time in a U.S. BMW models of the Brake Energy Regeneration system. This particular technology has been already integrated in some European models as part of the BMW Efficiency Program.

The Brake Energy Regeneration system helps to save energy and therefore reduce the fuel consumptions by using an electronically controlled alternator. In most of the cars out there, the car’s alternator runs continuously and it can charge the battery at any time. In the new 5 Gran Turismo, the alternator is disengaged from the engine during normal cruise and acceleration, but it activates during decelerating or braking.  This adds to the engine drag braking, and the car’s kinetic energy is effectively transformed into electrical energy which replenishes the battery. An electronically controlled clutch is added to engage and disengage the alternator.

The battery uses a technology called “glass mat”, in which its internal plates are separated with saturated absorbent glass-boron silicate rather than the usual liquid electrolyte.

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With the risk of overloading you with all these BMW 5 Series GT related information, we still need to continue reporting our findings on this latest BMW model and also, to dig deeper into all the technical specifications we’re receiving. Yesterday we talked about the three different engine offerings to choose from in the 5 GT line-up, but many of you requested to see things like dimensions, weight, fuel consumption or emission levels.

The 5 Series models will be available with both gasoline and diesel engines, starting with the turbo inline-six 3.0 liter diesel engine which outputs 245 horsepower. The award-winning engine from the 335i or the 535i sedan made its way into the line-up as well. The high-end 550i GT is powered by the V8 twin-turbo 4.4 liter engine producing 407 horsepower.

One concern that many BMW fans always had, was the overall weight of these new vehicles that keep adding more technologies to them and becoming larger in size. BMW announced that the 535i GT weighs 4,277 lbs (1,940 kg), the diesel version, 530d GT,  4,321 lbs (1,960 kg) and the 550i GT, 4,542 lbs (2,060 kg).

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We’re continuing our coverage on the new BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo with a new video that was just released by BMW. Back in March, right after the concept GT was unveiled, Hans-Jurgen Branz, Project Manager for the 5 Series GT, spoke about the idea behind this new somewhat controversial car and the expectations BMW has for it.

We hope that by now you’re familiar with the 5 Series GT model, but just in case you missed our big news yesterday and the multiple photos, you can always go back here. As a last minute update, the BMW 5 Series GT will make its debut at the Frankfurt IAA motor show in September and European sales will start in October. The pricing for the German market has also been announced, the entry model 530i GT starts at 55,200 euro, followed by the diesel version, 530d GT at 55,700 euro. The high-end model, 550i GT, comes with a premium price of 75,300 euro, approximately $104,000.

BMW North America expects the 550i GT to have a base price set between $65,000-$70,000.

Since many of you have requested to see the full details on all the three motor options available for the BMW 5 Series GT at this point, we decided to give you a short summary. For the past eight hours or so, we have posted many articles around the 5 Series GT launch, so please take the time to browse through them, we have shared some useful information and most important, some high-quality photos of the Gran Turismo.

BMW 550i Gran Turismo:
V8 gasoline engine with TwinPower Turbo and High Precision Injection
Capacity: 4, 395 cc,
max output: 300 kW/407 hp from 5, 500–6,400 rpm,
max torque: 600 Nm/442 lb-ft from 1,750–4,500 rpm
Acceleration 0–100 km/h: 5.5 seconds
Top speed: 250 km/h (155 mph)
Average fuel consumption to the EU standard: 11.2 litres/100 kilometres, equal to 25.2 mpg imp
CO2 emissions to the EU standard: 263 g/km,
emission standard: EU5

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