2010 BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo


The 2010 5-Series Gran Turismo is a vehicle BMW calls a "progressive activity sedan."

Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2010 BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo

Having birthed the X6, BMW's 5-Series now morphs into a "progressive activity sedan." Just don't call it a hatchback. 

What We Know About the 2010 BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo 

A rose might smell the same with a different name, but BMW isn't down with Shakespeare. Why else would the company insist that its midsize X5 and compact X3 are not SUVs but SAVs, which stands for "sports activity vehicles"? Similar double-speak attends the new all-wheel-drive X6 "sports activity coupe," which can be viewed as either a sloped-roof X5 with less space or a sloped-roof 5-Series sedan on stilts.

Now BMW planners, apparently unfatigued by all this "activity," have hit on the "progressive activity sedan" as another conceptual riff on the mid-range 5-Series. But don't get excited. PAS is simply their name for the 4-door hatchback body style so popular in Europe and so shunned by many Americans as somewhat blue-collar. But because this one will also have wagon-like utility, and because "hatchback" and "wagon" are regarded as sales-killing no-no words in the car biz, it's getting the new suffix of Gran Turismo. So please remember, the 2010 BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo is no more an ordinary hatchback than the 5-Series Touring is an old-fashioned station wagon. Oh, what tangled webs they weave.

What's going on here? Several things. First, BMW knows it must keep coming up with new models to keep sales growing and to forestall possible buyer boredom with the usual sedans and wagons. Second, Munich wants to steal thunder from Mercedes-Benz's strong-selling CLS "4-door coupe," which is based on the everyday E-Class. The X6 is an opening salvo to that end. It's also a preemptive strike against Bavarian rival Audi, which is planning its own coupe-like 4-door, the A7. Last but obviously not least, people are still willing to pay extra for look-at-me styling, and automakers love the bottom-line results, as putting a new skin over existing bones is so much cheaper than a clean-sheet effort. So now you know the rationale for both the X6 and the 5-Series Gran Turismo.

BMW gave us an early look at the PAS in the form of the BMW Concept 5-Series Gran Turismo at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. Sources expect the 2010 production version to bow in Europe by mid-2009, which probably means a U.S. debut by early 2010. It's reportedly based on the redesigned 5-Series wagons that are due to arrive in calendar 2010, soon after 5-Series sedans. Unlike the U.S.-built X6, the 5-Series Gran Turismo will be sourced from Europe and at first will be offered with rear-wheel drive only. It shares the X6's general "fastback" profile, but the lack of AWD puts it visibly lower to the ground. Proportions differ as well. The 5-Series Gran Turismo will have a taller roofline versus the X6's "chop-top" to provide greater rear-seat space, and the seating position is said to be higher than a 5-Series sedan, but lower than an X6. One British source says BMW designers claim enough rear headroom to clear a top hat, sure to be appreciated by the white-tie-and-tails set.

Updated 06.01.2009

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