after hashing around about what to get with the X lease coming due, I went and bought the CTS-V. To short-circuit some of the comments to come, I'll offer the following:
- wheel hop - haven't had it yet - maybe I need to drive it harder. Word is that Cadillac is coming with a fix for it soon.
- hp (or lack thereof) - rumors that the cars are dynoing too low - still fast enough for me, at about 25k-30k less than an M5 will be
- why would you do it (trade a bmw for a caddy)? simply, the cadillac people wanted it more. And, after driving an Escalade for a couple of years, I can tell you their customer service at the dealer beats the he** out of BMW's lack thereof. Also, I don't pull a boat trailer anymore, so I didn't need an SUV. I really wanted a 545, but it just didn't hit me when I drove it.
- will you drive a bmw again? of course. thinking in a year or two of something else. Sell the wife's XJ8 at that point, at get something a little more fun.
- how does it compare to a bmw? handling is not as stiff, to be sure. Lack of the road feel that made bmw famous (and fun to drive). But, there is enough to it to take a turn at speed and scare the sh** out of your passengers, without compromising your safety.
- is it fast? blazing. caddy says 4.6, mags say 5.0. I say fast enough to amaze me, whatever anyone else says.

So, I hope I can still hang here. You guys are infinitely more interesting than those folks at the caddy board. Too many BMW guys there telling everybody what morons they are for buying Cadillacs.

Also, since this is not a lease, I now have 'mod fever'. Doing a CAI on it this weekend, and looking at some other things. There seems to be no shortage of people developing stuff for it.




'02 BMW X5 4.4 SP
'87 BMW 535is
'84 BMW 325e
<img src="http://members.roadfly.com/ylwjacket/X5-sunset.jpg">