ROAD TEST BMW 530d GT SE: For all the claims of a 'unique concept', the luxury hatchback with massive boot is hardly new, motoring editor Michael McAleerwrites of the 5-Series GT
THE MOST annoying phrase of 2009 has to be that favourite of self-proclaimed business “gurus” who extol desperate businesses drowning in red ink to “think outside the box”.
Apparently that’s the solution to unemployment, floods, lousy customer service and even penniless banks. It’s usually accompanied with a knowing wink and a Powerpoint presentation on the iPhone. For such nuggets of knowledge you get a hefty invoice for consultancy fees.
It ignores the fact that we’ve all been beaten into the box in the first place. When Henry Ford set up his production line, employees who sought to think outside the box were not exactly embraced. Visit any modern car factory and you get the impression that too much thinking by the workers might throw a spanner in the works.
Perhaps that’s why reliability has become so important to car buyers: in the age of mass production and encyclopaedic safety requirements, car firm’s have very little to play with. A few body panel changes here, a heated seat there and the rest is really a question of which model has the best advertisements and avoids hanging off the back of an AA truck too often.
For all the corporate fervour about modern engines, they’re still adaptations on the internal combustion engine from the 1890s. They’ve got better – well some have – but they’re not very from “the box”.
Even the great SUV revolution of the noughties was hardly new. Range Rover offered premium comfort and off-road ability decades ago.
If you were to believe the hype then every new car these days defines a new market segment, provides answers to questions no one thought to ask, provides solutions to problems we didn’t know we had. Now that’s thinking outside the box at least by the marketing folks.
Take this 5-Series Gran Turismo. According to BMW “through its unique concept alone, this revolutionary new car meets the challenges arising from the need for up-to-date mobility.” And there was you thinking it was just another quirky design from BMW. It doesn’t end there. It also boasts “spontaneous wellbeing and superior variability of the interior”. Forget about miracles at Knock: just sit yourself into the GT.
So what is this “revolutionary new car”? Well, it’s basically a hotchpotch of several current formats: a blend of coupé, SUV, premium estate. The front nose is the same as on the new 5-Series range unveiled last week. The body then stretches into a higher roofline, offering the same interior headroom as an X5 and adding a serious bit of bulk to the car, before the rear tapers off in an attempt to bring it back to more coupé styling. It all ends in a great big metal rump that hangs over the rear. Back there, it’s not sure whether to taper off into a point – now that would have been cool – or bulk up back to an SUV. It has been compared to an obese coupé, a squashed SUV and a hatchback 7 Series. It’s for those who thought the X6 just wasn’t wacky enough.
In a way they all fit. The 5 Series GT is the result of a serious raid on several parts bins. It might carry the 5 Series model name but that’s just to target the larger mid-sized premium market. Apart from the front nose, much of the rest of the car owes its pedigree to the 7 Series. It’s on the same platform as BMW’s flagship model, boasts the same transmission, most of the same interior features and a virtually identical options list. The new eight-speed automatic transmission from the 760 also features as standard in this car.
Claims of a link to the X5 come from the GT having the same headroom, but that’s largely down to the fact that the seating in this new car is lower than in the SUV. Sitting up front you feel like a child behind the wheel of your father’s car.
In the back the legroom is simply enormous. The fact that the rear seats can recline and adjust up to 100mm doesn’t make a difference. With the rear seats moved fully forward it’s still equal to what’s on offer in a regular 5 Series.
The boot boasts a split tailgate system that allows it to be opened like a saloon or – at the flick of a switch – as a proper hatch. It’s an impressive feature, even more so if it wasn’t the same principle applied by the Skoda Superb several months previously.
Spend another €950 and you get a button that closes the boot, for the truly lethargic. The boot itself is as enormous as the car, starting at 440 litres and stretching out to a massive 1,700 litres if you fold the rear seats down. It might not match the van-like Mercedes R-Class, but it’s ample enough for even the most actie professionals.
The idea behind all that interior space, apart from the “spontaneous wellbeing” it offers, is to give owners the sort of creature comforts you get in a 7 Series. Yet that’s a car popular with people who travel in the back seat. Would the GT be a car that executives would really want to be chauffeured around in?
Referring back to BMW, apparently the target market not only have demanding professional lives, but “spontaneous, multi-faceted activities in their leisure time”. There’s the spontaneity again. It makes you really wonder about the focus groups they use.
For all the claims at invention, luxury hatchbacks with massive boots are not entirely new. Mercedes dabbles with it in the R-Class, with limited success. In a way, BMW takes that idea and adds a touch of X6. Is that really a recipe for success?
Where some cars evoke a “wow”, with the GT it’s more “hmm”. That’s until you drive it.
It’s a pity about the dubious looks because the car handles impeccably. The test car came with BMW’s Dynamic Drive system that lets you choose between sport or normal mode, and if you add the optional Adaptive Drive for €4,120, a comfort setting.
There’s a noticeable tensing of the suspension in sports mode as this behemoth hunkers down for some corner work, while even in comfort mode it doesn’t turn into a mobile marshmallow, but soaks up the bumps while remaining alert to the odd erratic cornering that could throw it off kilter. This is what BMW does best: sharp handling cars that are responsive and eager.
The test car was powered by the firm’s well-regarded three-litre diesel that puts out 245bhp and even pulling along this two- tonne of metal it always packs a punch. It’s well-matched to the eight-speed gearbox and there’s no delay when you push pedal to the floor. It’s also relatively economical. While €630 a year in tax is not to be sneezed at, for something this size, it’s a relative bargain.
It doesn’t end there: as the premium price war continues, the 530d GT is barely off the boat and BMW has knocked €15,485 off the original price. It’s still just shy of €70,000 but that’s a lot more appealing than the initial figure.
And if you want 7 Series interior space and all the luxury gadgets that go along with it then this would seem like a better buy, saving you €22,490 over a 730d SE. BMW was thinking outside the box with this GT. It’s a great drive for its size and reaffirms our fondness for BMW’s three-litre diesel engine.
It all works, in spite of itself. And yes, it certainly answers questions that nobody asked. But is this really what you end up with by thinking outside the box? Is this what “spontaneity” means in German motoring parlance? There’s a lot to be said for life inside the box.
Factfile
BMW 530d GT SE
Engine: 2,993cc six-cylinder common-rail direct fuel injection with twin turbocharger putting out 245bhp @ 4,000rpm and offering 540Nm of torque from 1,750rpm; eight-speed auto transmission as standard; double wishbone front suspension on steel springs, multilink rear suspension on air springs
Specification: An enormous standard features list includes a host of airbags and stability control including ABS; Trailer Stability Control; and Drive Dynamic Control.
Other options include: Lane Departure Warning; Head-Up Display; Night Vision with pedestrian recognition; Active Cruise Control; 18" alloys; cruise control.
Further options include: Visibility package (€2,277.13); Navigation system with Voice Control and Bluetooth phone prep (€4,583.51); 19 alloys (€3,305.98); Adaptive Drive (€4,120.29); Integral Active Steering (€2,413.66); automatic tailgate (€950.80)
L/100km (mpg):urban – 8.1 (34.8); extra-urban – 5.6 (50.4); combined – 6.5 (43.5)
CO2 emissions: 173 g/km
Tax: Vehicle registration tax (VRT) – 28 per cent; motor tax – €630
Price: €69,630