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—Spartanburg, South Carolina

We had the opportunity today to ride in the upcoming 5-Series Gran Turismo on BMW’s test track in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The experience was rather revealing.

First, the car looks better in the metal than it does in pictures (still, it was unfortunate that BMW wouldn’t allow us to photograph these pre-production models). That is a somewhat common occurrence with modern cars because photos tend to flatten out some of the surface work that sophisticated designers use. The other issue in the case of the 5-Series GT is that many of the original pictures were in an unflattering beige tone. One BMW employee volunteered, “They shouldn’t offer this car in that color.” Seeing darker and richer colors on this car, helps a lot with our sense of the design. Even so, you probably need to be in the target market (desirous of luxury and some level of functionality in a non-SUV) to see the car as attractive.

CLICK HERE to continue reading about the BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo

The interior is also very well done. The styling is pure 7-Series, but the interior seems more airy on the GT. The rear seats have legroom in between the 750i and the (limousine-like) long-wheelbase 750Li, but the extra headroom and panoramic roof help the GT. We also thought that the seat cushions in the GT were just enough softer to be noticeably better.

The GT rear seats move fore and aft, and backrest angle is adjustable. The rear seats can be heated and ventilated, and the backs can be folded at the press of a button. The trunk is roomy with the seats up, and there is a lot of room with them folded down. The dual mode trunk lid—door or hatch depending on which button you press—makes loading large objects easier than on a sedan. But like a sedan, the interior is separated completely (there is a wall and a lid) from the trunk when the rear seats are up. It sounds minor, but acoustically this makes the rear seats seem more luxurious than they would in a typical wagon or crossover. All-in-all this could be one of the top rear passenger compartments on offer today.

Riding in a car is a tough way to estimate driving dynamics, but we would say that the 5-Series GT has real potential. First, the cars that we were in had active damping and active anti-roll systems. This makes body roll very well controlled (particularly in a car with slightly more ground clearance than a standard sedan). The BMW test drivers also pushed it fairly hard on the track and our sense was that the car is well balanced (helped along by having a 50.2/49.8 percent weight distribution, which is very good even for a BMW).

The twin-turbo V-8 is a strong motor. Its’ 450 pound-feet of torque along with an new eight-speed automatic transmission gets the GT to 60 miles per hour in a quoted 5.4 seconds. The car moves along when the driver floors it, and the gearbox is extremely smooth. The automatic, plus a special electrical system that doesn’t use the alternator all the time, help to achieve a five-percent efficiency gain (probably good for a 1-2 miles per gallon improvement).

The track surface we were on was glass smooth, so we can’t say much about ride except that the pre-production cars seemed very stable. Wind noise was noticeable, but partly because all other sounds were minimal.

There are a lot of manufacturers making a lot of cars today; many are variants on a common theme. The leaders today are targeting new segments with vehicles that are slightly unusual, and the 5-Series Gran Turismo is certainly one of those vehicles. It makes sense to us, but we talked to a lot of journalists who didn’t get it. That’s market segmentation for you.

Interestingly, the U.S. is the largest market for most BMW models, but Germany will be the largest market, they believe, for this car. It is odd to think of the Germans as more receptive to innovation than the Americans, but perhaps the wagon and hatch tradition of Europe is easier to translate.

Despite targeting a niche, we will get several variants of the 5 Series Gran Turismo. The launch car will have rear wheel drive and the turbo V-8. Soon after, we’ll get six-cylinder and AWD options. An M car is also likely, though not so soon after launch. BMW says they want to bring in diesels, but also says Americans are biased against them. So, we doubt the GT will get a diesel in this generation. Too bad, because, given the long distance driving this car is built for, a diesel would suit it very well.

Diesel or no diesel, this is one of BMW’s well-conceived cars and seems to be well executed as well. We’ll put the latter thought to the test around the time the launch happens at the Frankfurt Motor Show.