Disclaimer: Even though these two words draw big smiles on each and every sports car fan, when they’re shown as a BMW vehicle’s version many of them might react with intense signs of rejection. Those were probably brought by the memories of the 5-Series-based sibling, which is actually understandable, but this article’s car turns out being worthy to receive attention because it shows its brand’s ability to learn from its own mistakes. So if you thought all the BMW GTs would be despicable, how about knowing this one better?
It would be impossible to start this article without acknowledging it took a lot of nerve from BMW for keep investing on the GT cars after the bad acceptance of the first one. This fact is interesting to notice because it clearly represents that there are actual limits of what people would like when it comes to crossovers – the time keeps passing but it never stops being surprising to see how many of those became successful in the past few years, in all kinds of automakers, sizes, proposals and markets. But after the big hits called X5 and X6, the Germans had a bad time with their first Gran Turismo, not because of its contents but its style. After all, as if it wasn’t enough to debut a fastback crossover in this very traditional automaker, the external design arrived way too strange, like if the elements don’t have any connection with each other. 3-Series, in turn, was designed with the intense concern of correcting this precise problem. The front fascia starts to reveal that it proudly shares DNA with sedan and wagon. GT’s elements are almost the same as those two’s, but the trick was to apply them with different proportions. The new car became some sort of “tougher” version without ever stopping to give the idea it’s a 3-Series, from every angle it’s observed – this is the biggest difference that makes this one a better-looking car than “5 GT”, the fact that it turned out an elegant car which has even managed to resemble its siblings.
Actually, it’s even possible to think there was some inspiration taken from X6, which was the very first BMW with this fastback-inspired design. But keeping the design matters aside, the fact is the new GT is an overgrown younger sibling: comparing with the other 3-Series, it became 3.2 inches taller, 7.9 inches larger and a 4.3 inches longer wheelbase, not to mention the 18.4 cubic feet bigger trunk (3.5 bigger than the wagon’s), which can be raised to 56.5 with all the seats folded down. And when it comes to seating, GT’s position is taller, with individually divided rear seats, bigger legroom and even several inclining positions. The whole interior keeps the concept of enlarging what is seen on 3-Series, with a very similar design and the same several coating options according to the version: it’ll be sold as base, Luxury, Modern, Sport and Urban, with the optional M Sports Package. In other words, this car strongly preserves the intention of being the 3-Series variation that offers what sedan and wagon don’t: while those are much more dedicated to great steering and typically-attractive design, GT tries to satisfy who is much more concerned to bigger comfort and internal space. Sharing that DNA also allows the new car to preserve the engines, composing three gasoline options and three diesel ones – some of them are 320i, 328i, 335i and 320d, with rear-wheel-drive or optional AWD. This Gran Turismo will be officially released at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show.
