For 2010, BMW added a hatchback version of its rear-wheel-drive 5 Series, dubbed the 5 Series Gran Turismo, starting with a 550i "GT" powered by the same 400-hp, twin-turbo V-8 as the 550i sedan. It was followed in the spring by a 535i GT that employs the 535i sedan's 300-hp, turbocharged six-cylinder. Both have eight-speed automatic transmissions. With the Gran Turismo now in the U.S. market, BMW no longer plans to import the 5 Series wagon.

The Gran Turismo sports a restyled interior and a streamlined exterior, both with cues from BMW's recently redesigned 7 Series flagship. With its steeply raked hatch ending in a short, sedanlike trunk, the Gran Turismo measures about 6 inches longer than the 5 Series sedan. The hatch opens in two sections: The entire hatch can be raised, or a section below the rear window opens separately to reveal a trunk behind the rear seats and below a cargo cover. The area offers 15.5 cubic feet of cargo volume, a bit less than the 2011 sedan's 18.4 cubic feet and the outgoing 2010 5 Series wagon's 17.7 cubic feet. For additional storage capacity, the seats fold down in a 40/20/40 split for a total of 60 cubic feet, beating the wagon's maximum volume of 58.3 cubic feet.

The Gran Turismo can accommodate four or five, depending on the backseat configuration. Though it carries the 5 Series name, this model shares as much with the larger 7 Series, so many of its measurements, including all seating dimensions, differ from those of the 5 Series sedan.

The Gran Turismo's interior features include the 7 Series' Black Panel gauge and climate displays, which incorporate BMW's traditional gauge themes into an electroluminescent display. A next-generation iDrive system, already used across various other BMW models, offers better screen resolution and more shortcut keys than its predecessor.