Construction In The Gray Area

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Prestige sedan is the name of the market segment newly discovered by BMW for the 5 Series Gran Turismo. The vehicle itself shows some similarities, but also clear differences to others.

By Martin Woldt

Who actually needs a vehicle like this? In view of a saturated car market, the issue of the car's crisis of meaning appears. While BMW customer research takes the matter much more practically and of course has found what it is looking for. In the triangle between the X5, the five sedan and the Touring, a clientele was discovered that the SUV was too bulky, the sedan not elegant enough, the station wagon too ostensibly functional. But who, as customers, have a high affinity for the BMW series of five. Out of this diffuse gray area the 5 Series Gran Turismo was born, which will experience its general baptism of fire next week at the IAA in Frankfurt / Main and then roll to the dealer in November.

A four-door coupe?

To come back to the initial problem: "What were we thinking?" BMW Sales Director Ian Robertson also pondered the question at the press presentation these days in order to then conjure up the concept of the prestige sedan and at the same time open up something like a new vehicle segment. At first glance, the term seems a bit far-fetched, as one recognizes in the 5 Series Gran Turismo at most a four-door coupé, with which BMW (Mercedes CLS, Passat CC, Audi A5 Sportback) is of course no longer alone. But even the data comparison reveals some differences. One of the most conspicuous is the large wheelbase on the BMW, which, with 3.07 meters on the back seat, allows legroom as in the seven.

The fact that BMW also speaks of headroom as in the X5 seems a bit exaggerated. But a hood recessed in the roof and the trough-shaped comfort seats actually create a generous all-round feeling, once you have taken a seat in the back. This is astonishing inasmuch as one suspects the opposite, given the coupártig sloping roof line. The usual visual restrictions also seem to be well resolved, at least when looking outside instead of the standard bench seat from an electric single seat, which is subject to a surcharge.

Room concept like in the Porsche Panamera

This spatial concept is most likely to be reminiscent of the Porsche Panamera, which - at least new for Porsche - has declared the back seat to be a conquering space. But while in the Porsche you glide comfortably, but rather sportily, deeply, BMW emphasizes the seat height at the back. At around 57 centimeters, it would be between the BMW X6 and the 5 Series Sedan. Frameless window panes do the rest for a good view. As in the Porsche, the individual seats can be adjusted lengthways, in the 5 Series Gran Turismo by ten centimeters. In this way, the trunk can be varied at the same time. At the front stop it is 590 liters (Panamera 500 liters), and when fully back it is 440 liters. The Audi A5 Sportback is about this size (480 liters),but with the rear seat folded down, it only has a little more than half (980 liters) of the BMW stowage volume available. Its cargo space is 1700 liters. The clear difference lies in the construction of the tailgate. It can be opened in two ways: As a small flap it swings open below the rear window and enables narrow luggage to be pushed in. Together with the rear window, however, it also folds up well above a man's height to accommodate bulky goods, for example in the enlarged cargo space. A partition wall shields the passenger compartment from the loading compartment when the rear seat is up. It folds forward together with the rear seats, so it is necessary to equip an almost flat loading floor. You can open it in two ways: As a small flap it swings open below the rear window and allows narrow luggage to be pushed in. Together with the rear window, however, it also folds up well above a man's height to accommodate bulky goods, for example in the enlarged cargo space. A partition wall shields the passenger compartment from the loading compartment when the rear seat is up. It folds forward together with the rear seats, so it is necessary to equip an almost flat loading floor. It can be opened in two ways: As a small flap it swings open below the rear window and enables narrow luggage to be pushed in. Together with the rear window, however, it also folds up well above a man's height to accommodate bulky goods, for example in the enlarged cargo space. A partition wall shields the passenger compartment from the loading compartment when the rear seat is up. It folds forward together with the rear seats, so it is necessary to equip an almost flat loading floor. It folds forward together with the rear seats, so it is necessary to equip an almost flat loading floor. It folds forward together with the rear seats, so it is necessary to equip an almost flat loading floor.

Technical presumption withdrawn

With so much comfort in the driver's rear area, the cockpit looks hardly less modest. The most striking thing is the 10.2-inch display and the dashboard, which is inclined almost like a table edge in a burl wood ambience. Together with the largely leather-covered center console, they push the technical feel around the gear knob into the background. The fact that the driver still does not lose the feeling of being in the center of his command center is due to the slight curvature of all operating instruments facing him.

powerful diesel

The downside of so much comfort is undoubtedly the vehicle weight. At 1960 kilograms, despite the use of aluminum, for example in the doors, it reaches the two-ton limit and requires corresponding strength under the hood. The 530d we drove with its 245 hp undoubtedly has that and can go from zero to 100 km / h in 6.9 seconds with its six-cylinder. At the top it reaches 240 km / h. A consumption of 6.5 liters per 100 kilometers was determined, which corresponds to CO2 emissions of 173 grams per kilometer. Consumption is kept under control, among other things, by the modern eight-speed automatic transmission from the 760i and the recovery of braking energy. 540 Newton meters as maximum torque allow both effortless gliding and more rapid driving maneuvers. At 55,200 euros the diesel also marks the entry into the world of the 5 Series Gran Turismo.