A BMW MPV with seven seats is here, and the good news (at least in Singapore) is it’s in Category A. Meet the 216d Gran Tourer.

SINGAPORE — Three new BMWs went on sale last weekend, but with all the hype surrounding the new 7 Series, it’s been easy to overlook the other two.

Alongside the 740Li, Performance Motors has put the fuel-efficient 320d EfficientDynamics Edition and the seven-seater 216d Gran Tourer on sale. Both are powered by diesel engines.

The 320d ED is currently priced at $191,800 with COE, and the 216d GT at $172,800 with COE. Until the next COE bidding exercise (which happens Monday, November 16th), the 216d is being offered with a $5,000 discount, bringing its price to $167,800.

At the same time, the 218i ActiveTourer has been dropped from the local line-up, so for now you can have a 2 Series MPV (or Multi Purpose Vehicle) with neither petrol power nor in five-seater configuration.

We hear, however, that the ActiveTourer will make a comeback in diesel form, as a 216d. The target price is $156,800 with COE.

The new diesel models arrive on the back of the 116d’s success. According to statistics from the Land Transport Authority, BMW sold a total of 90 diesel cars in August and 80 in September of this year, a big jump from to the two sold in January and three in February.

READ MORE > Our 116d review – a BMW for $139K

It’s likely that the 116d’s success is down to the fact that its 1.5-litre turbodiesel has 116 horsepower, which enables it to slip into the Category A COE bracket.

The price gap between COEs in Categories A and B is relatively small (at just $1,500), but the 116d and 216d give buyers who set themselves a psychological threshold at Cat A something from BMW to consider.

As for the new EfficientDynamics edition of the 320d, its claim to fame is an ability to comfortably exceed 1,000km before needing a top-up. It has special features to reduce fuel consumption.

Lowered suspension and active air flaps in the front grille cut down wind resistance at highway speeds, for instance, and help the 320d ED to be the least thirsty of all 3 Series models.

Yet, it’s no slowpoke. The 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine generates 190hp at 4,000rpm and maximum torque of 400Nm between 1,750 to 2,500rpm, which punts it from 0 to 100km/h in 7.9 seconds.

It has a combined fuel consumption figure of what we estimate to be 3.9L/100km, based on the fact that its carbon emissions are low enough to qualify it for a $15,000 CEVS rebate.

The 216d GT is marginally less clean — combined fuel consumption is 4.4L/100km and it emits 116g/km of CO2 — but its winning card is an ability to fit seven people in the cabin. That gives it a USP over would-be rivals like the Mercedes-Benz B-Class and Volkswagen Golf Sportsvan.

It’s also well-equipped. The list of standard kit is a long one, and includes automatic start/stop, keyless entry and ignition, a multifunction steering wheel, electric front seats (with memory), dual-zone automatic climate control, automatic tailgate and LED headlights.

It also comes equipped with parking sensors and a rear view camera, but also self-parking (or at least, automatic steering for parking) so you’re unlikely to see paint from a 216d GT adorning a carpark wall.

As far as its ability to ferry seven people around, however, the 216d just about passes muster. Climbing into the back requires flexibility and spryness, and the lack of an air-con blower may prove problematic for long journeys.

There’s a remarkable amount of headroom in the back, while the slidable middle seats allow occupants to fight over kneeroom with those in Row 3. But the rearmost seats are mounted low, so they’re best reserved for kids or adults who were malnourished as kids.

The boot space can grow from 550 litres to 1,820 litres when you fold the middle chairs (which can be done with a simple button press).

While it’s practical, the 216d is no ball of fire, at least on paper. It takes 10.9 seconds to reach 100km/h.

Indeed, the Gran Tourer is a departure from the BMW norm. It has mechanical underpinings from BMW’s Mini range of cars, and its front wheels are powered by the engine, a break from the rear-drive format so championed by BMW that the company once referred to it as “standard drive”.

Then of course, there is the fact that it’s a seven-seat MPV. To the keen drivers that BMW has traditionally seduced, that is the equivalent of offering a head of cabbage to a wolf.

Yet, the 216d Gran Tourer was created to broaden BMW’s customer base as well as its cost base — not everyone wants a sports sedan, and the more variants you can spin-off from a car’s basic architecture, the cheaper it is to build them.

While BMW loyalists may scoff at the 216d Gran Tourer, its presence on the Singapore price list is bound to give the brand a sales boost, with doubtful impact on its allure. People who admire BMWs for their high performance and traditional qualities have no shortage of other models to buy, after all.

There is, let’s not forget, the new 7 Series.

READ MORE: We went to Germany to test drive the BMW 2 Series GT ahead of its launch here