BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo: Gone But Not Forgotten

Have you seen a 6-foot Chinese dude? I haven’t, and yet the Chinese want a long-wheelbase of everything – X1, 3 Series, X5, 5 Series and of course the 7 series – everything gets a nice stretch. And turns out we Indians have similar tastes, Mercedes notably doing roaring business with the long-wheelbase E-Class. But it was BMW, not Mercedes, who first cottoned on to the idea.

It goes back to 2010, the F10 5 Series, and growing concern about the social acceptance of SUVs. What if, thought BMW product planners, our customers wanted an X5 but didn’t want to be seen as profligate and unconcerned about the environment? And what if the very same customer could only afford a 5 Series but wanted the space of a 7 Series? The F07 5 Series Gran Turismo was the answer. To a question, as it turned out, nobody really asked.

First, the wheelbase. 102mm added to deliver – wait for it – the same wheelbase as the F01 7 Series, with which it shared the platform. You’d think that would be enough but for BMW’s engineers this was just the start of the transformation. The front suspension was taken from the 7 Series, even the track widths were identical. The rear suspension previewed what would come on the Touring (estate in BMW-speak). The ride height went up by 80mm to sit half-way between the 5 Series and X5, the jacking-up also enhancing road presence to something not quite like an SUV. The designers doubled down on the back end creating something between an X6 and the Touring with an innovative split tail gate operation. And the powertrains were the best of the BMW world, especially the 530d.

On paper, brilliant. In the metal, well, it had a backside that could best be described as polarising. And that’s if we were being charitable.

Get over that arse and from behind the ’wheel the 5 GT was brilliant. Those were the heydays of big diesels and the upgraded 3-litre made us even more passionate about sport-diesels. With 245bhp and, more to the point, 540Nm of torque, the 530d GT was the most powerful diesel we had experienced and mated to the ZF 8-speed automatic, previously the preserve of only the 7 Series, rapid progress was always effortless.

The chassis got Dynamic Drive Control as standard and left to its own devices delivered exceptionally sporty road manners for the category, reinforcing BMW’s Ultimate Driving Machine credentials. Ride wasn’t brilliant and run flats did it no favours either, but you got massive rear leg room, loads of head room, the rear seats could recline (which is strangely not offered on the new LWB 5 Series) – it really was a 7 Series for those who couldn’t afford a 7 Series.

Only thing is nobody wanted all the complication and so midway through the F10’s lifecycle came the F18 LWB 5 Series to let aforementioned Chinese dudes stretch out without being embarrassed about the back sides they were hauling around. The idea of just stretching out the wheelbase and doing precisely nothing else has proved so enduring and endearing – on either side of the Himalayas – that 15 years later we finally get what we wanted. No 5 GT. No 6 GT, either. Just a long wheelbase 5 Series to finally trouble the E-Class.