Design
The previous incarnation of this car – the 5-series GT – was often lambasted for its gawky styling and while the 6-series version hasn’t quite pulled off the ugly duckling metamorphosis it makes a passable attempt at a swan. Overall it’s 21mm lower than before, and perhaps most crucially the rear end is 64mm lower and along with the increase in length by 87mm the overall shape is sleeker than before.
On the road seen in amongst other traffic the GT doesn’t look overly large and hides its bulk well, the less intimidating kidney grilles (they’re more akin to the 5-series than the 7-series’ overly large nostils) help here. There’s some neat detailing too, the LED rear lights are strongly sculpted while the ‘Icon’ BMW LED headlights retain the family look.
Subscribe to evo magazine
It’s inside that BMW has really concentrated it efforts and the overall architecture is shared with the Five and the Seven which are now at the top of their game. The 10.25-inch monitor can be used as a touch screen or with the iDrive controller and the Professional Multimedia system is second to none being both intuitive and informative.
There’s a feeling of space that you don’t quite get with a 5-series Touring and those in the rear have plenty of head room while the longer wheelbase over a Five ensures there’s acres of leg room too. Boot space is huge – 610-litres with the seats up, 1800 with them folded – considerably more (110- and 110-litres respectively) than in the 5-series GT and larger than the new 5-series Touring, too.
There are a raft of options to choose from – ventilated, massaging seats, gesture control (don’t bother), Apple CarPlay and Bowers & Wilkins surround sound – but the standard machine comes with just about everything you could realistically need.
