German Car Zone

I got an invite to attend a 5-Series Gran Turismo Preview Event tonight.

First off I'll say that yes, it looks much better in the metal than it does in pictures. It is much lower and sleeker than it looks in print. The interior is a winning 7-Series-like formula. Plenty of room and great materials all around. I'd rather have this than a 5-Series Touring and if it weren't for the price I think most people would also.




Very luxurious, open and airy. Rear seating equals that of the 750Li sitting nearby. Room, seating position, seat padding you name it, it does a 7-Series impersonation very well.

Dare I say I can see why someone would want one? The RWD 550i GT goes on sale here Dec 5th and the Xdrive AWD version 1 month later.




Wait until you see in on the road in Black or Dark Blue.









Some of the other BMWs on hand, the X6 and X5 M models:









A nice 750Li:





The 7-Series interior is just heavenly. I'll take a SWB 750i Sport please!


I must say that BMW is getting seriously close to knocking off Audi as my second choice among German luxury cars. From the M3 to the Z4 to the X6 to the 7-Series and now the 5 GT, BMW's styling has nearly come full circle. All that is needed is a replacement for the 5 and 6 Series cars...BMW will then have a much better looking lineup than they did from 2002-2004 when all the goofy designs were hitting the market.


M

Nice pics man. Too bad you didn't get a chance to test drive it.

Marcus,

now when you have seen the car in person ... does it makes "more sense"?

Is it now easier to understand "the car was designed inside-out" or "the form followed the function" argument?

OK, it's not a sporty sedan / hatch - but I guess doubts about 5er GT being "a van" are now gone.

Btw, what was the crowd's reaction to 5er GT ... and also to other BMW models?


PS: where was that event going on?

The 5GT is a great car, along with the 7 Series. They typify the direction BMW are going at the moment (which I'm not too happy about) but if this the direction they've chosen then what a great way to do it.

And to the BMW fanboys (you know who you are), remember this post the next time I have the audacity to criticise BMW in some way.

Having clear that every BMW is a great car, the 5er GT is a rare looking in my opinion, I just don´t like the concept of car, and I think it´s strange to see such a car under the BMW badge.

But this is how I see things in general, I also would prefer to see a sportier X5, ala Infinity FX for example, than to have two different models (X5 and X6) based on the sae platform.

Thanks a lot for taking the toime to do this Marcus.
Very nice pics.

What about the rear Marcus ? Does it make more sense irl ?

Thanks for the write-up Marcus! It's always interesting to read the opinion of the most respectable members here!

Yes it does make more sense now that I've seen it in person. The people there seemed to like it and were really impressed. The X6 M took more of the attention out of the two new M models that were there (X5M and X6M). They didn't have the 7-Series Xdrive models like they said they would, not sure why. This took place at a local dealer.


All in all I'd say that the 5 GT is a impressive machine, very well built, very comfortable, and spacious. My only concern though is for the 5-Series Touring, I wouldn't want one anymore if I had the choice between a Touring and the GT.


M

Yes it does. The whole car looks much better in person and the versatile hatch seemed to be the most "oh wow" feature with the crowd on hand. I didn't know the 5GT had frame-less doors though.

M