To fully understand the position of the new 6-series GT in the BMW line-up you need to look to the past and to the future. The past because the 6 GT takes the place of the old and somewhat confused 5-series Gran Turismo, albeit with a new badge to denote its elevated status. So far, so logical, until that is you note how it muddies the existing 6-series range, which until now has been reserved for more sporting two-door coupé and cabriolets, and the rather lovely four-door Gran Coupé. That’s where the future comes in, because some time in 2018 those cars will be phased out in favour of the 8-series, at which point the positioning of the 6 GT will at last make sense. But what exactly is it?
We’ll turn to BMW for the answer to that, which says its GT models are the true definition of a “crossover”, providing the boot space of an estate and the elevated driving position of an SUV in a car the size of a saloon that has been styled to look like a coupé. Sounds more like a mish-mash to us.
What can’t be denied is that the design is more cohesive than the old 5 GT. Not the toughest of tasks, admittedly, but you might at least now choose this car over a 5-series on aesthetic grounds as well as practical ones, the improvements wrought largely from it being 2cm lower than the 5 GT, with a boot lid height dropped by 6cm.
Its platform borrows elements of 7-series and 5-series, with a 3-metre-long wheelbase to match the former. This means rear legroom is particularly generous, and although the seats themselves lack the full range of adjustment you’ll find in a 7-series, they still offer electrically reclining backrests and those pillowy soft headrests BMW is so good at. Open the doors at night and you also get the full “light carpet” effect from the 7-series, which is about as elegant a way to avoid treading in dog excrement as there can be.
The whole “bigger than an estate car” premise is valid, too, with the hatchback opening to reveal 610 litres of space, making the GT second only in BMW’s range to the X5. It also comfortably trumps the Audi A7 Sportback and Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake. Practicality is extended thanks to 40:20:40 split folding rear seats and a parcel shelf that can be stored under the boot floor - perfect for those camping trips where you’ve loaded your £50,000 BMW to the gunwales with tents and saucepans.
That price makes the 6 GT about £4,000 more expensive than a 5-series Touring with the same engine and trim, although BMW says that the 6 GT also comes with much more standard equipment. In fact, to add items such as the digital cockpit, adaptive LED headlights, reversing camera and powered tailgate to a 5-series would take it up to a similar price.
That comparison is slightly disingenuous, however, for it ignores the fact you can’t have a 6 GT with a 2.0-litre diesel engine, which in turn rules out the best value 5-series you can buy. Instead the 6 GT starts with the four-cylinder 630i petrol before moving through a pair of straight-sixes in the petrol 640i and diesel 630d, the former with xDrive four-wheel drive as standard and the latter with it as an option.
All come with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, and the range of trims is as simple as SE or the £3,600 more expensive M Sport, with its bigger wheels and brakes, and a panoramic roof. It is predicted that 85 per cent of customers in the UK will choose the latter, although we are an admittedly small market for this car, which has really been designed with an eye on China and South Korea.
Climbing into the 6 GT is very much like getting into a 5-series, only with a smaller gap between your posterior and the car’s 6cm raised driving position. So it’s taller, but still far from an SUV.
The dashboard layout basically mirrors what you’ll find in a high-spec 5-series and is thus hi-tech, tasteful and of superb quality. The centrepiece is a 10.2-inch touchscreen that can also be operated by the traditional BMW iDrive rotary controller. For its combination of functionality and ease of use it’s hard to beat, although we’d swipe the optional and not very good gesture control to one side.
We tried the 640i petrol first which is quiet but needs some revs to really feel brisk. In truth like all big BMWs the 6 GT is a car that suits the stronger mid-range pull of a diesel. Thankfully the 3.0-litre Twinpower turbo unit is a peach, with a creamy 457lb ft of torque (versus 332lb ft in the 640i) for effortless surge, plus a muted yet meaty soundtrack and an easy 500 miles from a full tank.
BMW says that the 6 GT provides the boot space of an estate and the elevated driving position of an SUV in a car the size of a saloon that has been styled to look like a coupé. Got that?
The test cars all rode on £1,670 worth of air suspension which cushions occupants superbly, even on 19-inch wheels, and tyre roar is suitably contained on all but the worst of road surfaces. What the car is like on the standard adaptive dampers (you still get air suspension at the rear) we’ll have to wait and see.
The increased ride height and about 180kg more weight mean the handling suffers compared with a 5-series, both in the way the car responds to steering inputs, the amount of body lean (or at least the perceived amount due to the higher driving position) and the speed it can be made to change direction, but it’s still at the more dynamically capable end of the spectrum for a machine that weighs 1,800kg before you fill it with passengers.
More important is how smooth the GT’s drivetrain feels. Don’t underestimate the contribution the ZF-sourced automatic gearbox makes here with a calibration as slick as the runniest of honeys.
This is not, however, a car that shrinks around you, and the view out of the back is as tricky as you’d expect given the rear three-quarter profile. The same, mind, can be said of its rivals, which is why all come with a full range of parking sensors, cameras and blind spot monitors.
Some of this technology is included as standard on the BMW, but for other bits you pay a king’s ransom, or at least it feels like it. That’s because much of it is grouped into packages that look like temptingly good value at perhaps £2,000 each, but can soon see you add another 20 per cent to the list price.
So it’s expensive. Who’d have thought it? More important is that as a package the 6 GT is a vast improvement on the 5-series GT it replaces, and sits at ease with its newfound promotion in the BMW range. Whether or not that makes it better than a well specified 5-series however, I’m still not entirely convinced.
FUEL ECONOMY 47.8mpg (EU Combined). On test 35mpg.
VERDICT Whether you step up to a 6 GT from a 5-series or down to it from a 7-series, you’re unlikely to be disappointed. The styling is still an acquired taste, however, and although well equipped as standard the price of options can still add up with frightening ease.
Audi’s sleek A7 makes great use of V6 diesel power to produce a smooth and sophisticated four-door coupe. Not nearly as roomy as the BMW, but the interior feels hi-tech and it handles with surprising verve for a big Audi. The flagship RS7 with its twin-turbo V8 is silly but in a good way.
At the bottom of the range you pay more money for a worse engine than in the BMW and Audi, but it’ll come in a car that looks as though it’s been coachbuilt. It’s worth upgrading to the diesel V6 to be in keeping with the CLS’s grand touring potential, but even then you’ll need steely discipline to stay away from the corner of the showroom where the bigger, more advanced and cheaper E-class Estate resides.