Sedan, wagon, SUV, crossover? BMW Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo is Progressive Activity Sedan.

Following the X6 into yet another new vehicle segment that hasn't yet been created, BMW's new creation "transfers the characteristics of a classic Gran Turismo to a very special four-door vehicle with four seats".

It's all about versatility: a flexible interior comprising the rear seats, the partition wall, and the luggage compartment lets you adjust the interior from a separate luggage compartment, like in a sedan, all the way to a loading capacity of 1650 litres with the rear seats folded down. This flexibility is rounded off by a two-piece tailgate.

That unique look

The car combines a modern, up-to-date interpretation of a Gran Turismo with four doors, the prestige of a Sedan, and the variability of a Sports Activity Vehicle. The typical BMW proportions are emphasised by the long engine compartment lid, the long wheelbase, the coupé-like roofline, and the greenhouse moved far to the rear.

The car's front-end is characterised by the large kidney grille positioned low down and standing upright at the front, as well as the large air intake. Tilted to an angle, extending far round to the side, are the dual round headlights — the corona rings of the daytime driving lights, finally, feature LED technology for the first time.

Following the example of a sporting coupé, the Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo comes with four doors and frameless windows. The aluminium surrounds on the side windows are milled out of one solid unit and hold the exterior mirrors. A further striking element on the side is the re-interpretation of the famous "Hofmeister kink" so typical of BMW at the rear end of the window graphics.

Horizontal lines at the rear emphasise the car's width and sporting character, further accentuated by the waistline extending from the side into the rear panel, a three-dimensional chrome bar and the flared wheel arches.

The outer rooflines merge into the air spoiler and to create the rear end's sporting fastback design. And as yet another feature typical of BMW, the L-shaped rear light clusters come with horizontal rows of lights extending far round into the side of the car.

Space inside

Inside, the catchphrase is "spacious and luxurious". The panorama glass roof intensifies the light and generous ambience inside the car, while the cockpit emphasises the width of the vehicle through its horizontal lines, black panel technology and a fully integrated 10.2-inch Control Display.

Up front it's about seating comfort, headroom and elbow room, while the slightly elevated seating position improves overview. Tilted slightly to the front, the instrument panel, finally, optimises the degree of control comfort on the driver's seat.

Extending all the way to the rear, the centre console in the concept car emphasises the length of the interior. Variability, again, is ensured by single seats at the rear — their backrests fold forwards individually and under electric power at the touch of a button, while the backrest angle itself is adjustable.

With the rear seats in their regular position, the Concept offers the passengers at the rear the same legroom as in the BMW 7 Series and virtually the same headroom as in the BMW X5. In this configuration, luggage compartment capacity is 430 litres. The partition wall behind the rear seats separates the passenger and luggage compartments from one another in terms of both acoustics and climate conditions, like in a sedan. If necessary, the rear seats move fore-and-aft by up to 100mm so that with the seats moved as far forward as possible, the occupants still enjoy the same legroom as in the BMW 5 Series Sedan, with luggage capacity increasing to 570 litres.

Then, once folding down the rear seat backrests and the partition wall, the luggage compartment further increases in size to its maximum capacity of 1650 litres. The firm cover on the luggage compartment may be stowed away in the floor of the compartment.

The two-piece tailgate allows unique variability in loading the luggage compartment: opening the small, sedan-like tailgate beneath the rear window enables the driver and passengers, in combination with the closed partition wall, to load the luggage compartment without creating any drafts into the passenger compartment or changing the temperature the passengers wish to enjoy. To load bulky objects, in turn, all the driver has to do is open up the large tailgate similar in its configuration to that of a Sports Activity Vehicle.

But is yet another car category really necessary?