Test Drive: 2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo

2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo. Click image to enlarge

Braking and cornering are accurate, but you’re always aware of the GT’s weight. The only place you don’t really feel it is on the straightaway. Once you’re over that initial dead spot on the accelerator, the twin turbos deliver delicious speed, without any lag, as far up the speedometer as your respect for your driver’s licence will take you and beyond. The car exhibits a whine on deceleration, though, which I suspect may have something to do with the brake regeneration system. Fuel consumption is officially rated at 14.4 L/100 km (20 mpg Imp) in the city and 9.1 (31) on the highway; I averaged 13.3 (21).

2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo. Click image to enlarge

The GT’s shared origins with the 7 Series continues inside, where you’ll find that model’s dash layout. It’s been a while since I’ve driven a 5 or a 7 Series sedan, but I felt that the seating position seemed to be higher in the GT. The seats are extremely comfortable, aided with a massage feature and adaptable bolsters, along with heat and ventilation functions. I dislike the shifter, which requires you to push forward from a central default to reach Reverse – in a world where almost every other vehicle requires you to pull it, I think it’s unsafe to deviate. But I’ve finally made my peace with iDrive, which has gradually evolved (or perhaps devolved?) from a horribly complicated system to one that uses buttons alongside the joystick to access functions on the car’s computer screen, including an appreciated “Back” button if you venture too far into unknown territory.

And I’m very fond of a climate control system that has true dual settings: I like leaving my controls on “automatic,” while my husband dislikes that setting and prefers to constantly fiddle with mode and fan buttons. The GT’s let me set mine to a constant temperature, while he could switch everything except defrost to his heart’s content.

2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo. Click image to enlarge

The 7 Series is all about rear-seat passenger comfort, and so the GT is, too, with plenty of legroom and heated outboard chairs that can be adjusted for seatback angle and fore-and-aft position. An optional package, not added to my tester, turns it into a four-seater, adding rear ventilated comfort power-folding seats and a centre console.

The rear liftgates that set the GT apart from any other BMW also contribute to lousy rearward visibility; the exterior mirrors should be larger, and I ended up using the backup camera extensively. You can open the back end one of two ways. A smaller gate manually flips up, leaving the rear window intact. The larger gate, hinged above the rear window, operates electrically and can be set to any of five opening heights. A foldable barrier behind the rear seats keeps cargo from hitting them and creates a car-like feeling of a separate trunk (I don’t know why you would, but you can fold the rear seatbacks down and still keep the partition up). With the seats up, the cargo area is 87 cm long; with the seats and partition folded – they don’t go quite flat – it’s 170 cm long. Having the two gates means you can toss small items in without waiting for the big gate to open all the way, but I wonder if having two sets of hinges and two seals could increase the possibility of rattles as the GT ages.

Given that North Americans are far fonder of crossovers than they are of traditional wagons, there may be a more sizeable market for this model. I can also see it eclipsing the X6, especially since that line’s V8-powered version is more expensive, has a far more polarizing design, a cramped rear seat, and comes standard with all-wheel drive that some owners may not need or want. (The GT is rear-wheel only.) With the GT, the emphasis is also on occupants as a whole, rather than a driver’s car with creature comforts for passengers added in. It won’t satisfy someone who longs for the wheel of, say, a Z4 or M6, but it isn’t meant to be. Anyone looking for a high-end luxury wagon, crossover, SUV or even a big sedan should definitely be cross-shopping the Gran Turismo.