Hi, I’m Mike, and I’ll be your 2010 BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo tour guide during its last few months of its stay in the Motor Trend garage. We’re going about things a little differently these days with our long term fleet. MT editors are now assigned a car to chaperone, coddle and otherwise cruise about town and points beyond during its stay with us. The mission is to bring you more in-depth analysis, real-world feedback, bitches, delights and downers about cars like the 5 GT. I’ve been rolling GT-style in this 4579-pound, rear-drive Frankenwagoncrossover for a few weeks now, and I’ll start my opening entry with some observations from the helm. First off, there’s a squeaky wheel that needs some grease – literally. Boss man MacKenzie called this out a while back and I’ve experienced it several times now myself. At low speeds especially, the wheel starts whining when you turn it from side-to-side. I’ve got that on the list for the BMW techs to take a look at (break out the WD40) when I bring the 5 GT in for service in about 1000 miles.
I’m a morning coffee guy, and capable cupholders are of paramount importance when busting up and over the Sepulveda Pass hurtling toward the L.A. basin at 6 a.m. in wall-to-wall traffic. For some perspective, I enlisted the services of my wife, who fancies herself a world renowned cupholder expert. She is on record as despising BMW cupholders (the ones that come out of the dash), but shockingly, she had complementary things to say about the holding ability of the 5 GT’s units, which are located directly in front of the climate control system. They have a small clip that can adjust to allow for bigger gulps when necessary. My only complaint is that when the cups are in place they get in the way of said climate control system. The 5 GT’s seats are a tad on the firm side for my taste, but offer all manner of adjustment, including solid lateral and lumbar support. I especially like the headrest, which is cushy and you can even wrap it around your noggin if you want. The cabin is replete with other touches you’d expect in a car that rings the register at $70,975, including a great-looking, dark wood trim called Fineline Matte in BMW speak, full power tilt steering column, a solid audio system with Sirius and HD radio, navigation and a backup camera, and a panoramic glass roof -- arguably my favorite feature that dramatically opens up the cabin and lets the L.A. sun shine in. And of course, it has iDrive -- I’ll save that for another update.Up front in the center stack area, there’s a small storage bin that makes decent use of dead space but isn’t useful for much beyond change. The center storage area has enough volume to hold my two phones, garage door opener, wallet, breath mints, sunglasses, and some pocket lint. That’s all for now, stay tuned for next month’s update, when I’ll guide you through my impending dealer rendezvous and what I learned from a road trip I’m planning. You can also follow me on Twitter at MT_Floyd, where I’ll be adding more day-to-day observations about the car.
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