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BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo gets artsy with Patricia Urquiola and Giulio Ridolfo

Zach Bowman — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:59:00 EST

Filed under: Crossover, Hatchback, BMW, Design/Style, Luxury

The Dwelling Lab - Click above for high-res image gallery

It's safe to say you won't be seeing this BMW art car lapping Sarthe any time soon. The Bavarian automaker teamed up with textiles manufacturer Kvadrat and Flos to create "The Dwelling Lab" - a design installation. The brain child of ~~artists~~ designers (Thanks, Lorenzo!) Patricia Urquiola and Guilio Ridolfo, the exercise was designed to strut both BMW's and Kvadrat and Flos' commitments to creativity. Or something.

We won't pretend to be art critics, so we'll avoid strutting our ignorance by throwing judgment against the fabric-covered 5-Series Gran Turismo. Instead, we'll do our best to describe the piece and let you do the judging for yourself.

Urquiola wanted to draw the viewer's focus to the interior of the car, so she created the massive fabric cones called "diamonds" to pull your look inward. Sure enough, it's effective. You can't help but look toward the car's cloth-swaddled guts. The piece will be on display during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, held in Milan all this month. You'll find the press release after the jump.

Gallery: The Dwelling Lab

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo gets artsy with Patricia Urquiola and Giulio Ridolfo

BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo gets artsy with Patricia Urquiola and Giulio Ridolfo originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: BMW 535i Gran Turismo evolves the wagon with clever packaging, solid dynamics and... a prehensile tail?

Chris Paukert — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:56:00 EST

Filed under: Wagon, Crossover, Hatchback, BMW, First Drives, Design/Style, Diesel, Luxury

BMW 535i Gran Turismo - Click above for high-res image gallery

Evolution is a tough thing to watch - and not merely because it takes millions of years. While the developmental pace of the automobile has proven to be rather quicker than the natural world surrounding it, the car industry's recent house-on-fire rush into new niches and sub-genres has often been similarly challenging to make sense of. Like those primordial fish that beach themselves, drag their bellies on the sand with their fins and eventually mutate into, say, Adriana Lima, you just have to know that the industry's recent diversification efforts will eventually yield a timeless beauty or two. But thus far, you could be forgiven for thinking that the process will take a few hundred millennia - especially where it concerns the industry's nascent call-me-anything-but-a-station-wagon movement.

While the burgeoning four-door coupe segment has already yielded some supermodels, the kinlugger set has yet to work out the same way. This, despite seemingly every automaker downing the midnight Red Bull in an effort to hit upon a package that bundles the functional attributes of a family hauler without their social stigma. Some companies are disguising their efforts as SUVs (traditional square-rigged crossovers); a few have waded in with quasi-minivans, while others are staking their claim to the muddy hatchback middle ground. Enter the latest automotive platypus, BMW's 5 Series Gran Turismo, a distinctive new five-door that aims to meld the practical utility of a CUV and a station wagon without the either genre's dynamic and civil penalties.

Gallery: First Drive: BMW 535i Gran Turismo

Continue reading First Drive: BMW 535i Gran Turismo evolves the wagon with clever packaging, solid dynamics and... a prehensile tail?

First Drive: BMW 535i Gran Turismo evolves the wagon with clever packaging, solid dynamics and... a prehensile tail? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo may write epitaph for range's wagon bodystyle in America

Chris Paukert — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:58:00 EST

Filed under: Wagon, Crossover, BMW

BMW 5 Series Sports Wagon - Click above for high-res image gallery

Autoblog road test editor Damon Lavrinc is in Spartanburg, South Carolina to drive BMW's new all-conquering X6M, and in between bouts with the monster-motor'd crossover, he has had a chance to bend the ear of Martin Berkmann, manager of product planning for BMW North America, about another new capacious Bimmer - the 5 Series Gran Turismo.

Given the Bayern brand's increasingly crowded stable, it should come as no surprise that the boundary-blurring 5GT may result in the death of the sole 5 Series Sports Wagon model offered here in the States (a 530i model is shown). While the company's Touring variants carry a lot of water for BMW in other markets, the 535i xDrive SW makes up but a sliver of U.S. sales, and apparently BMW officials reckon the 5GT could just about extinguish what little demand there is.

By our measure, that's something of a shame, as the 535i xDrive wagon is a nice package all the way around. Further, the 4,100-pound wagon's more compact form, coupled with what figures to be a lower center of gravity ought to make for significantly better handling than the 4,800-pound 5GT. That said, our man Lavrinc is about to get a bonus preview ride on the company's test track in the Gran Turismo, so perhaps we'll learn otherwise very soon.

In any case, the official word hasn't come down yet, but judging by the fact that top officials are even willing to engage in discussions with us, this strikes us as a likely move.

Gallery: 2009 BMW 5 Series Sports Wagon

Gallery: 2010 BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo

BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo may write epitaph for range's wagon bodystyle in America originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Officially Official: BMW drops the details on its 2010 5 Series Gran Turismo [w/VIDEO]

Chris Paukert — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:28:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Crossover, Hatchback, BMW

2010 BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo - Click above for high-res image gallery

Despite the departure of controversial lead designer Chris Bangle, BMW is showing no signs of returning to the "One sausage, three-sizes" styling brief that it once adhered to. The latest proof of this is the announcement of the production 5 Series Gran Turismo, which, as expected, looks little changed from the concept that set tongues wagging in Geneva, save for a few details like smaller wheels, more conventional interior fabrics and real-world-sized side mirrors.

The genre-blurring 5 Series GT is, in the words of BMW, meant to combine "the characteristic features of a prestige saloon, a modern, highly versatile Sports Activity Vehicle, and a classic Gran Turismo" - outwardly, at least, we'd say that they've succeeded in meeting that goal, although the final judgment on whether this amalgam of characteristics is a even a direction worth pursuing will ultimately be made by consumers.

In the meantime, we can focus not only on the five-door hatchback's design, but also its internals, as BMW has released specifications and pricing for its European market models.

In the main, BMW has disclosed that Europe's gasoline model range will be composed of the 306 horsepower, 3.0-liter 535i Gran Turismo (a derivative of the fabulous dual-turbo inline-six seen in the engine bays of the 1, 3, and 5 Series) and the 550i Gran Turismo, which relies on a stonking dual-turbo 4.4-liter V8 good for 407 horsepower, an engine that promises to be just the thing when you're running late for your squash court appointment. Finally, there's the 530d Gran Turismo, which offers a 3.0-liter, 245 horsepower I6 diesel powerplant and a tidy C02 rating of 173 grams per kilometer. Regardless of which engine the buyer chooses, the sole gearbox offering will be the eight-speed automatic gearbox borrowed from the 760i luxury sedan. The cog-happy unit should not only help with overall fuel economy, but it makes any model in the range a sprightly performer, with BMW quoting 0-62 mph times of 6.3 seconds for the 535i GT, 5.5 seconds for the 550i GT, and a thoroughly respectable 6.9 seconds for the 530d GT (which also achieves 43.5 miles per imperial gallon, or around 36 mpg US).

It isn't yet clear what models will come to the States, but we're hearing that the 550i will be the first to make the journey, and it is likely to arrive carrying a price tag of around $70,000, which would represent around a $10,000 premium over the less-powerful 550i sedan. Check out the official video and complete press release after the jump, as well as the massive high-res gallery below. Thanks to everyone for the tips!

Gallery: 2010 BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading Officially Official: BMW drops the details on its 2010 5 Series Gran Turismo [w/VIDEO]

Officially Official: BMW drops the details on its 2010 5 Series Gran Turismo [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 May 2009 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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