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CAP Blog > CAP Blog > Martin's Blog
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Oct
21
Written by:
Martin Ward
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Love it or hate it, the new BMW 5 GT certainly is a big thing. It is just short of 5 metres in length, at 4998mm and is 2132mm wide including the door mirrors.
 People within BMW were not sure about the 5 Series GT design and there are probably some who are still unsure about the styling or where it sits in the market. I first saw the Gran Turismo a few months ago and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as it really is one of those cars that is difficult to accept as a serious player in the market. However I, like most of the staff at BMW, are beginning to understand it and even grow to like its quirkiness.
There will be two models available at launch: the SE, which has five seats as standard and the Executive, which will have four seats, with the two in the rear being individual and sculptured. They are very luxurious and comfortable but obviously no use if you need to carry four passengers so having the two models makes a lot of sense. When the 5 Series GT hits the used car market there will be no doubt which has four and which has five seats.
There will be just a choice of three engines at launch: a 530d 245hp with emissions of 173g/km, 535i with 306hp and emissions of 209g/km and a 550i 407hp with emissions of 263g/km. The 530d will account for the majority of sales in the UK.
 To say this is a large car is an understatement, it’s huge. The rear legroom is similar to the 7 Series and the overall length is similar to the X5. No matter if it has two or three seats, it is pure luxury and equals the ride and comfort of the 7 Series. The boot lid or dual opening tailgate to give it its proper name, has the benefit of either being a full hatchback or just a small opening that can be used if smaller parcels or luggage have to be put in. It is also useful if the weather outside is cold, as the warm air can be kept inside the car by simply opening the small boot lid. The Skoda Superb has a similar design and that works really well. Have the manufacturers come up with the perfect answer to a problem that doesn’t really exist though? By having this extra heavy rear tailgate, BMW has had to use extra strong struts to hold it up and using these heavy duty struts, they are quite large in diameter and take up more room than a normal size gas strut. This means that rear window space has been lost, causing the view out of the rear to become restricted.
The interior oozes quality and you feel very special when sitting in it. The materials used and the fit and finish is top quality. The list of standard equipment on both the SE and Executive is endless, so finding options to add to the car becomes difficult.
 Prices for the Gran Turismo start from £40,810 on the road for the 530d SE and go up to £53,490 for the 550i Executive.
Once a few have been seen on the road, this unusually large hatchback will steadily begin to seem normal and it will hardly be noticed, just like the X6.
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