The sun rises ever higher in the rear-view mirror, lighting sea and the towering, perpendicular cliffs ahead with brilliant clarity against a cloudless October sky. The road snakes along the cliff-top; no other car is in sight. Sheep and long-haired, long-horned cattle pause to watch our last few miles of progress until the small town and its tiny harbour come into sight. John O’Groats.

As we pull up outside the First and Last tourist knick-knacks-cum-coffee shop, questions rise with the sun: how on earth do we manage to ruin so much of our natural heritage so comprehensively? How can the 874-mile length of the country’s archetypal end-to-end journey – Land’s End to John O’Groats – have at its extremities such dismal destinations?

Land’s End – not a treasured national park but a piece of real estate bought by entrepreneur Peter de Savary 22 years ago and sold on several times since then – offers an unappetising array of expensive but downmarket tourist attractions. The John O’Groats now spread before me, its 20 most geographically strategic acres also once owned by de Savary, is a nondescript monument to unrecognised natural beauty – and subject to muddled, dispiriting thinking by both council and commercial interests.

Running up to the water’s edge at the scenic Pentland Firth are nothing but downtrodden strips of grass and assorted tourist shops. The one half-decent building in town, the castle-like John O’Groats House hotel, stands on the shoreline in silent rebuke: long closed, its walls and paintwork are crumbling. No wonder there’s a travellers’ adage: start from John O’Groats because things can only get better.

The holiday crowds are long gone as I park up near the shops. Only four cars and a handful of people are to be seen. They amble over curiously, and not without reason. For what I have just parked is a curiosity in itself.

The 5 Series Gran Turismo is the second vehicle that BMW has launched in the past two years that can claim to be pioneering a market segment. The first was the bizarre X6, an unlikely and dubious mating of a thumping great four-wheel-drive with a coupé’s styling. The 5GT goes further, blending elements of the X6 with those of a luxury saloon, an estate, a swoopy coupé and even a hatchback.

Yet at first glance, far from appearing pioneering, BMW seems merely to be following Porsche with a cheaper version of the Panamera, Porsche’s innovative combination of luxury four-door saloon and fastback coupé styling. But closer inspection of the Porsche reveals a low floor and driving position in keeping with Porsche’s aim of creating a four-seater with the handling of a sports car. In contrast, says Michelle Roberts, who is in charge of BMW’s 5 and 6 ranges in the UK, the company has opted for what she describes as a “semi-command” ride height and driver position for the 5GT. That this involves compromise does not take long to become apparent.

The main reason I am up here is that the roads of Caithness and Sutherland provide some of the best anywhere on which to appraise a car. Even the main roads connecting the handful of larger towns are two-lane and narrow, yet vision ahead is excellent in a landscape largely bereft of trees. The roads continually rise and fall, and you rarely have to travel far before you encounter yet another open, inviting bend. Unlike the patched-up, bumpy byways of the south, these roads have their pitches and heaves but they are mostly longer and smoother, allowing the suspension to tell you exactly what is going on.

And what the 5GT’s suspension is telling me is that you don’t get owt for nowt. In its road behaviour, the car feels halfway between a sports utility vehicle and a saloon, estate car or coupé. The harder it is pushed through a bend, the more it inclines towards that uncertain, tip-toed sensation associated with SUVs, despite sophisticated anti-roll and stability systems. It does not have four-wheel-drive and, although it looks tall, its heaviest elements – engine and transmission – remain roughly as far off the ground as in a conventional car. But enough else has been raised to render the 5GT less enjoyable to drive than its more conventional stablemates.

It is the interior, however, that most justifies BMW’s claim to be pioneering. Despite the “5” designation, the 5GT is based on the floor platform of BMW’s larger 7-Series saloon. As a result, front and rear legroom is exceptional. The car will seat five in relative comfort but there is an “executive” option that provides two generously proportioned seats in the rear with a useful console between. For many, the space freed by removing the fifth seat will be welcome.

There are other innovative touches. The 5GT can also be used as a giant, luxurious hatchback. The rear seats fold down and there is a partition to allow flexible use of the loadspace. This is complemented by a dual-mode tailgate; a smaller, easy-lift one for everyday objects, and a larger one that lets the entire rear swing up from the roofline to load bigger stuff. The versatility here is genuinely innovative.

There are three engine options. One is a twin-turbocharged V8 belting out more than 400bhp, the second a single-turbo 3.5 litre petrol unit. By far the most sensible choice, however, is the 3 litre diesel – gutsier than the 3.5 litre petrol engine at low revs, as refined as anyone could want and capable of more than enough pace for most drivers. Factor in the frugal fuel consumption of the diesel and the case makes itself. BMW’s smooth new eight-speed automatic transmission is standard.

As John O’Groats fades once more in the mirror, I hope I have seen it for the last time in its present state – the Highlands and Islands development authorities and the town’s current owner, Highlands Heritage, plan a complete renewal: new high street, shops, restaurants and the rebuilding of the hotel.

For John O’Groats sake, I hope it happens. But for road testers’ sake, please visit by bike, bus or boat.

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The details

BMW’s genre-bender

How much
£40,810 before options (530dSE diesel)

How fast
0-62mph 6.9 secs, 145mph

How thirsty
43.5mpg on EU urban/rural test cycle

How green
173g CO2/km

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