In their sedan comparison the new BMW 530 placed 6th out of 7 cars! I remember when BMWs always won. How times have changed.

Scan please.

finally glad to see car magazines stopped kissing BMWs ***.. i guess they are no longer blind.

i would not buy a CTS over an E320

Neither would most of us...

I think there might be some patriotism in that pick by the mag...cmon...never have i felt quality inside a cadillac like i have inside a benz (despite benz's drop). Making a more modern looking car doesnt change that...in fact, im put off by that.

agreed.

OK, I've driven the BMW, Cadillac and Mercedes. To say the CTS is better than the 530i is really, really stretching it. I drove both the CTS and BMW at a General Motors sponsored event, and even the event coordinators (GM people) agreed the 530i was a better car. They quickly pointed out to me that the new Seville (STS I believe) is targeted at the 530 and that will be the better camparison.

As for the E320, IMHO it is also a superior car than the CTS, although I am biased towards the tree pointed star!

I'm not in any way putting down Cadillac or the CTS, they have (so far) done a great job of resurrecting a division that was all but dead. At this point, IMO, Cadillac is winning accolades due to how superior their cars are compared to their past offerings, not how superior they are to others offerings. This often happens in the automotive world and it's a distinction writers seem to struggle with.

Not to throw a wrench in all of this but......................where in the heck is the Lexus GS 430 in this comparo? As a past owner of a GS400 Platinum Edition (just sold it for my E55), I can tell you that it would easily fall in the price bracket of the E320 ($50k) and is heads and tails better than any car in the comparo IMHO! Just goes to show you, some of the people in these articles aren't really true car enthusiasts. For that matter, what about the Acura 3.2(TL)?.......................They just wanted to make sure Cadillac won without raising TOO BIG of a stink!!!..........Could you imagine the following :
CTS - 1st Place
GS 430 - 2nd Place
Acura 3.2 - 3rd Place
E320 - 4th Place
Audi A6 - 5th Place

Now THAT would have been WW III with the automakers!!

2004 Audi A6. I wonder why they don't specify which model? If it is a 4.2 liter, I'd take it ove the E320 or the 530 any day. Probably not though, b/c it would bring it out of the price range.

They're having kittens about the article over on the Roadfly BMW E60 forum.

Man I'm glad I'm not saddled with that abortion of an automobile.

I smile every time I strap on my E55.

Not to knock Chrysler, but when one of your traditionally most highly rated models loses to a Chrysler 300, that's just sad, Amos. And that must be a Cadillac CTS-V, right? Cause I test drove a plain Jane CTS and no way that thing would place first ahead of anything in my opinion.

Technically speaking.. isn't the CTS direct competition for the C-Class, 3 series and the A4s??

Why would they pit it against these boys.... and win? Something's sketchy..

The Chrysler 300C will do 0-60 in 5.3 and weighs 4200 lbs. Evidently, you are must be totally unaware of the New 2005 Chrysler 300 Sedan. Maybe you are thinking of the front drive 2004 300M. The rear drive 2005 Chrysler 300 is awesome and 20% of it's parts come for the W210 E-Class and W203 C-Class. The V8 gets the 5-Speed tranny used in E55 and the first US car to have ESP. Don't know if they used the 250HP 3.5L V6 or the V8 Hemi for the R&T test.

Fully loaded the 300C with V8 (base $32,995) , DVD Nav, Sunroof , Sirius, Bluetooth wireless, HID, Leather, 18" rims, Boston Acoustic Stereo is $38k.





300C Drifting and Smoking Tires Video:

http://superdave3692.home.comcast.net/300cdrifting.wmv

Sorry, but I don't know why the link does not work

link fixed:

http://superdave3692.home.comcast.net/300cdrifting.wmv

.............i know all of this is subjective, I agree with the comments about the Chrysler 300. But I invite everyone to take a look at the Acura TL. Yes it won't have the excusivity factor, but I think this is probably the best car for the money that is on the road today.

Ted

No, Kev, I was basically just talking about the turn around in the rankings and peoples perceptions of the brands. We looked at the 300C a couple weeks ago at a Chrylser open house. Quite impressive and a great price. But I hadn't realized it was that quick. That car should really sell, eh? My wife took the Cruiser convertible out with 220 hp. Nice pickup to it. We should see a lot of those babies out on the road soon too.

Chrysler dealers are now stating that the demand for Hemis is so high, with so many factory orders that it will take a minimum of 12 months to get a V8 Hemi. They also ran out of sunroofs. The supplier could not keep up with the orders and no 300 or Magnum can be ordered with a sunroof at the moment. They have a hit on their hands!

Guess where the designer came from who designed the 300c and the new Magnum wagon??

What other car has very similar looking front grill?

Where did Ralph Gilles come from?



"Ralph Gilles is a director - design at DaimlerChrysler. His schooling career and training includes studying Transportation Design at the Center of Creative Studies, receiving a Bachelors of Science Degree in 1992, and an MBA from Michigan State University. In addition, he served as a part-time instructor at the Center for Creative Studies. Mr. Gilles served as the primary interior designer for the Dodge Viper GTS/R, Dodge ESX2 and Jeep Jeepster concept vehicles; and the production versions of the 2003 Dodge Viper and 2002 Jeep Liberty. His latest projects include the all-new 2005 Chrysler 300C and Dodge Magnum."


Article" From dropout to Chrysler design whiz"

http://www.detnews.com/2003/autoscon...g01-144569.htm

Sorry,

My mistake I thought Freeman Thomas was the head of the division in charge of desiging these two cars.

http://www.cardesignnews.com/news/wh...r-fthomas.html

He came from Audi to head up Chrysler's Pacifica Design Center.

The grill styles on these two cars (300 C and Magnum) is very close the the direction Audi has headed.

Take a look at the Avantissimo...looks pretty close to the magnum.

http://www.kak.net/audi/audi-avantissimo.htm

Cheers,