Review: 2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo, Ultimate Riding Machine

The 2010 550i Gran Turismo is a large car, although not the largest from Munich. That honor goes to the long-wheelbase 7 Series. Like the upcoming 5 Series sedan, the GT shares its platform with the new 7 series that debuted in 2009 riding on a 120.7 inch wheelbase that is just slightly shorter than the standard-length 7. The Gran Turismo is three inches shorter overall than the standard 7 Series but stands just over three inches taller than the 7 and nearly four inches higher than the 2011 5 Series.



The result is a five door hatchback design that looks slightly awkward from some angles. It never exhibits the sleek shape of the new 5 or the 7 nor does it have the more upright and tough-looking stance of the X5 or X6. In order to maintain suitable proportions, the nose is taller than the 5 Series sedan giving it a more imposing stance than its sedan siblings. The rear roof-line has a slightly hump-backed profile in order to ensure adequate rear headroom although the look is not as severe as the Panamera. Given this car's intended market, we'd say that sacrificing the more fastback look of the X6 is worth it in this case.

The Gran Turismo has similar body side sculpting to the newer sedans but lacks some of the hood contours which we think would have helped break up some of the vast expanse of metal there. Since functionality is one of the driving forces behind this body style, BMW has gotten creative at the back end. The GT has what BMW calls a bi-modal hatch. In one mode the metal area starting at the base of the rear glass opens much like a conventional trunk-lid, albeit one that is tall but not long. This allows your longer Ikea flat packs to be slid in without opening the entire hatch.



The other option is to open the entire hatch with the rear glass for loading larger items. In this mode the load cover can be removed and either or both of the rear seats can be folded flat. Switches at the back of the cargo area allow the rear seats to be released without having to go around to the side doors. The rear seats have fore-aft power adjustments which allow the occupants to balance cargo space and extra leg room. With the rear seats pushed all the way back the tall, well shaped cargo area offers 10 cubic feet of storage, a quantity that jumps to 15 cubic feet with the seats forward. That's plenty for a road trip with four people. With the seats folded the volume jumps to 63 cubic feet, ideal for hauling antiques.



BMW went with frame-less side side glass hoping for a more coupe-like appearance, but due to the overall shape and the extra height of the GT the effect was only partially successful. Once you get inside, the appearance and layout is pretty much the same as the 7 Series which is not a bad thing. The main difference from the 7 is the taller seating position which isn't as high as an X5 but more like the Lincoln MKS. In spite of the very supportive sport seats, the result is a more chair-like stance than what we are used to in most BMWs with less of the sporting feel we typically expect. We were particularly pleased to find that our GT had the matte finish on the wood trim. We find that the typical high-gloss woods typically have such an excessive sheen that they end up looking like plastic. The matte version absolutely looks and feels like real wood.



The back seat is where the GT really shines. The standard configuration has a contoured bench that is split 60/40 with each side being independently adjustable fore and aft. The optional four seat layout puts a large center console between the two seats with a bin large enough to hold the two pairs of wireless headphones and a remote control for the entertainment system. Individual LCD screens are mounted on each of the seat backs and each rear occupant can manage their own air temperature. We expect a large proportion of the GT production volume will wind up in China where affluent entrepreneurs prefer to be driven rather trying to navigate the horrendous traffic jams.




Our Gran Turismo was filled with just about every electronic gadget that BMW offers except for adaptive cruise control. The same gorgeous high-resolution 10 inch screen found in the 7 Series occupies the center of the dashboard while the iDrive knob on the console provides the control interface. The third generation iDrive system is so vastly improved that's its actually quite easy to use now. Our biggest annoyance however, is that the voice commands still don't allow the user to delve deep enough into the menu structure to be really useful. The engineers should really be taking a hint from the Ford Sync system here.

As long as you don't wear polarized sunglasses, BMW's heads up display is very useful for displaying a variety of vehicle information including navigation instructions. However, both the HUD and the orange radio display in the center stack vanish completely when viewed through polarized lenses. Our test car was also equipped with the optional night vision system. This can be very handy when driving at night, especially in rain or fog. Unfortunately, it would be even more useful if it was displayed by the HUD like the first such system developed by Cadillac a decade ago or even in the main instrument cluster the way the Mercedes-Benz S-Class does. By displaying the infrared image in the navigation screen it can actually be more of a distraction.



Another element to be wary of with such systems is that they depend on differences in temperature to create an image. A car that hasn't been running recently and parked at the side of the road will be at whatever the ambient temperature around it is. On the night vision display it will appear as nothing more than a black hole in the image. Thus you still need to look down the road while driving, not just at the screen. Maneuvering a car as large as the GT is also aided by the surround view system which uses a pair small cameras mounted in the front edge of the wheel arches to let you see the curbs or cars around you.




The 550i GT may not be quite the driving machine that an M3 or Z4 is, but it's still a BMW. That means this machine handles far better than you would expect from such a tall and heavy beast. Body roll is well controlled especially if you select the Sport or Sport+ modes from the dynamic driving control. DDC can be customized in each mode to adjust the throttle response, shift speed, steering effort and adaptive damping. Even in normal mode with with the transmission lever in manual mode, the shifts come much quicker than almost any other tap-shift automatic transmission.

The new eight-speed automatic transmission not only shifts quickly but also remarkably smoothly. It doesn't matter if you cruise along or thrash the GT as though it was a Z4 on Mulholland highway, gear changes are virtually transparent to the occupants. That's particularly impressive considering the massive torque flowing through from the 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8. This direct injected powerplant features reverse flow with the intake manifolds on the outside of the cylinder heads and the exhausts and turbos in the valley between the cylinder banks. This provides short exhaust gas paths to the turbos and instant response. In the 550i, the V8 produces the same 400 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque as it does in the 750i. The best part is that the torque peak is constant from 1,750 rpm all the way to 4,500 rpm so you have instant thrust at almost any speed.



So is the 550i Gran Turismo an ultimate driving machine? Ultimate no. But it does drive far better than you would ever expect such a large, 5,000 pound car to perform. This truly is a car for the long road trip that can still maintain its composure when forced to detour off the freeway onto a country road. Unfortunately that combination of weight and power means that in spite of featuring brake energy regeneration and the new eight-speed transmission, the GT still has a significant thirst for premium unleaded fuel. During our week with the car it only averaged 16.5 mpg.

At $90,875 as tested our 550i Gran Turismo comes in several thousand dollars cheaper than a comparably equipped 750i. The GT is not as attractive or sleek as the sedan but does provide an additional dose of utility that is simply not available with the trunk. Many people may also find that the roominess and higher seating position provide a more comfortable ride, especially for those in back. Ultimately this may the best BMW to be driven in.




Photos Copyright ©2010 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.