The BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo is emblematic of everything that's both right and wrong with today's automotive industry.
In a desperate search for the next big thing, product planners continue to push, pull, and bend the metal shapes draped over four wheels. In some cases, it works to great effect (see the modern crossover or the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class). In others, you get cars like the 5 GT. That's not to say the 2010 BMW 535i GT we piloted for almost 24,000 miles is an inherently bad car. But in Munich's unceasing drive to develop yet another "segment buster," it instead created a vehicle that's been mostly a bust in the U.S.
As the 5 GT is part crossover, part station wagon, part sedan, it's hard to figure out the BMW's mission. It's nowhere near as engaging to drive as the 5 Series sedan or wagon (the latter of which it nominally replaced in the U.S.). It doesn't offer the commanding view of the road or the interior space of the X5 or the bizarro world appeal of the X6.
Built on a variation of the 7 Series platform, it isn't even really a 5 Series in the strictest sense, and its awkward exterior proportions are a reflection of that.
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