Aimed at niche customers in a market sector not yet in being, the new 5 Series variant is a mix of some of the desirable elements that a saloon, estate or SUV can offer: elegance inside and out from a luxury BMW saloon; long legroom and huge load capacity from using the 7 Series platform; limousine ride comfort but with near 5 Series agility (it adopts the 7 Series adjustable rear air suspension); and the command seating positions, versatile sliding and folding rear seats and twin tailgate openings from the X5. The GT has boot space of 440 litres which can be expanded, by folding down the rear seats, to a very accommodating 1,700 litres.
The BMW 5 Series Grand Turismo, or Grand Tourer, by name and by nature, offers unbeatable space, specification and performance and it is also unbeatable because it is arguably the only car of this type on sale.
Trying to describe what the 5 Series Grand Turismo is not easy. It is aimed at a niche customer, a market sector not yet in being so only around 2,500 of these new models will be sold in the UK in a full year. The product is a mix of some of the desirable elements a saloon, estate or SUV can offer.Elegance inside and out from a luxury BMW saloon, long legroom and huge load capacity from using the 7 Series platform, limousine ride comfort but with near 5 Series agility although it adopts the 7 Series adjustable rear air suspension and the command seating positions, versatile sliding and folding rear seats and twin tailgate openings from the X5.
The GT has boot space of 440-litres which can be enhanced, by folding the rear seats down, up to 1,700-litres.Bringing luxury and versatility together in one product, that isn’t an out-and-out high-range 4x4’ is not an easy task but the unique BMW Grand Turismo is an interesting product.
5 Series GT engines
There are three engine options for the GT, the main selling 530d, 3.0-litre, six cylinder common-rail direct injection turbocharged diesel which will take 85% of sales. It produces 245hp with a massive 540Nm of torque and accelerates from zero to 62mph in 6.9 seconds before going on to a top speed of 149mph.
The combined cycle official; fuel economy is 43.5mpg and we achieved a real-life 27.5mpg during some very hard and fast driving on the wind
Like the other two engine options this unit is only available with BMW’s new fuel efficient eight-speed automatic transmission but with its tiptronic type sequential gear change function it works really well either in full auto mode or by using the manual override.
There are two petrol engines on offer, the 535i a new 3.0-litre six cylinder turbocharged powerplant with 306hp, 400Nm of torque 0-62mph takes 6.3 seconds and top speed is limited to 155mph. Average fuel economy is officially 31.7mpg but somehow we only achieved 19.3mpg during our test drive.
Working the petrol engine harder to achieve the same response as offered by the better 3.0-litre diesel unit took its toll on fuel economy. The emissions are 209g/km.The last engine option for those which must have the largest and most powerful on offer is the 550i, a 4.4-litre, V8 with twin turbochargers. Zero to 62mph takes 5.5 seconds, top speed is limited to 155mph with 25.2mpg being the officially combined cycle figure and 263g/km
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