In a dilemma… Help.

[Savethemanuals]

Any must have options I’m leaving out that has enhanced your overall experience you wouldn’t get this car without?

Debated the parking pkg mainly for the hands free trunk closing feature. With kids gear I use that function occasionally but decided not worth it.

Another was the suede steering wheel and shifter but decided against that as well. My current car has suede steering wheel on half of it and it looks worn after just 16K miles. Feels cool to the touch though!

The CCB’s are pricey but debated sacrificing the semi-aniline seats for it to not deal with brake dust plus the massive drilled rotors look so cool . Ultimately decided the seats are more important. Anyone else surprised the iron rotors aren’t drilled??

 

[FLYARMY]

I have the auto parking feature and just tested it out one time in 3 years. It takes forever to get it set up and then to actually do its function. I can parallel park the car 10x faster. Only regret not getting the Performance Data Recorder.

 

[jbawden]

As a "girl dad" I'm very aware of stereotyping, female empowerment, and all that, but for the love of all things holy, 2 out of 3 cannot parallel park for the life of them. My older daughter and wife's rims look like a 36grit sanding wheel test product. My point is, 10x slower is better than what they can do. My younger daughter parks like a boss...not saying she's my favorite...buuuuuut.

Edit: A little calmer this morning, haha

 

[Roadhawk]

Supposedly the rotors aren't drilled on the BWs as Caddy was getting noise complaints on some prior cars and felt the typical Caddy buyer wants a calm noise free driving experience. Its amazing how good the brakes are considering - kudos to the engineers.

Its possible the 5 BW I came across a few days ago is one of the special silver colors. Maybe not - but it looked sharp - and different. I took some pics so I can post them at some point. The owner said something about it being a special version of some sort - but he may just have been referring to it being a 20th Anniversary (like all 2024s). The interior had some 2 tone brown & black seating - looked great. I'm not familiar enough with the 5 BW to know if it was anything unusual.

 

[BimmerFan]

Any must have options I’m leaving out that has enhanced your overall experience you wouldn’t get this car without?

Debated the parking pkg mainly for the hands free trunk closing feature. With kids gear I use that function occasionally but decided not worth it.

Another was the suede steering wheel and shifter but decided against that as well. My current car has suede steering wheel on half of it and it looks worn after just 16K miles. Feels cool to the touch though!

The CCB’s are pricey but debated sacrificing the semi-aniline seats for it to not deal with brake dust plus the massive drilled rotors look so cool . Ultimately decided the seats are more important. Anyone else surprised the iron rotors aren’t drilled??

Everything I read about these suede or alcantara steering wheels are that they just don't hold up well. Our palms sweat and frequently our hands are the dirtiest part among us, and so the wheels tend to get matted and nasty looking. So yeah, I concur.

CCBs are nice and all that, but I just don't see spending the money on them if it's mostly for cosmetics and cleaning. But I'm cheap, and I generally don't keep cars long, so expensive options don't pay off for me.

I've had cars with drilled rotors, usually my Porsches, and yes they look killer but they do tend to crack sooner than solid rotors, the benefits of them are limited with newer pad compounds and many folks used to refer to them as cheese graters, as they would theoretically generate more dust.

One could also argue that the theory that they reduce pad floating on outgassing is counteracted by the reduced surface area for the pads to work against. All I know for sure is that they cost more to replace.

***Fresh curb rash discovery warning*** As a "girl dad" I'm very aware of stereotyping, female empowerment, and all that bullshit, but for the love of fucking all things holy 2 out of 3 cannot parallel park for the life of them. My older daughter and wife's rims look like a 36grit sanding wheel test product. My point is, 10x slower is better than what they can do. My younger daughter parks like a boss...not saying she's my favorite...buuuuuut.

My wife never parallel parks, period, but still manages to hit curbs, she aims for potholes and has run into stationary cars while attempting to park. She has also hit the house twice. She claims that I only buy cars with a manual transmission so that she can't drive them. There may be some truth to that.

 

[Roadhawk]

We have an Alcantra steering wheel on our BMW ZHP and while its great its been a royal pain to maintain over the years. It greases up and flattens down pretty quickly and I have to spray it with special Alcantra cleaner and scrub it with the brush. I can never get it back to its original shape but just good enough to be pleasant again. Its as good as its been in a while right now...but that won't last.

 

[Roadhawk]

My wife drives MT but she learned on an old diesel Rabbit so she shifts very early and low in the power band. Our ZHP (her car) really wants to rev out to get in the power and she is always bogging it down. Its very painful for me as a passenger. Luckily I mostly drive when its the two of us. The car - which I keep very nice....does have numerous small scrapes and tears in the bumper as well as some wheel scrapes. I don't know when or how any of them occurred...

 

[kjt]

Everything I read about these suede or alcantara steering wheels are that they just don't hold up well. Our palms sweat and frequently our hands are the dirtiest part among us, and so the wheels tend to get matted and nasty looking. So yeah, I concur.

The Alcantara wheel on the Gen 2 CTS-V would get nasty. Here's a link to a 25-second video showing how to "restore" the nasty Alcantara using 600 grit sandpaper. Sanding Alcantara It works, but better to get the leather wheel.

 

[leres]

Everything I read about these suede or alcantara steering wheels are that they just don't hold up well. Our palms sweat and frequently our hands are the dirtiest part among us, and so the wheels tend to get matted and nasty looking. So yeah, I concur.

My 2014 CTS-V was a three year lease turn in and a certified pre-owned Cadillac and I'm pretty sure as part of the work to bring it up to spec they replaced the alcantara steering wheel and shifter; certainly they looked brand new when I got the car. But about three years later the steering wheel looked like hell so I ordered the leather version of the wheel and shifter and swapped them in.

Alcantara is probably fine for surfaces that do not regularly come in contact with hands...

CCBs are nice and all that, but I just don't see spending the money on them if it's mostly for cosmetics and cleaning. But I'm cheap, and I generally don't keep cars long, so expensive options don't pay off for me.

I've had cars with drilled rotors, usually my Porsches, and yes they look killer but they do tend to crack sooner than solid rotors, the benefits of them are limited with newer pad compounds and many folks used to refer to them as cheese graters, as they would theoretically generate more dust.

One could also argue that the theory that they reduce pad floating on outgassing is counteracted by the reduced surface area for the pads to work against. All I know for sure is that they cost more to replace.

As I've heard it told, the brake pads they had back in the day would outgass enough to it was worth drilling holes in the rotors. But decades ago the materials used in pads improved to the point where outgassing was no longer and issue.

In my book, slotted: yes, drilled: no.

I dunno why ceramic rotors are drilled. (I sure hope it's not purely for appearance!)

 

[piranha971]

Alcantara steering wheel and shifter is one option would pay to delete.

 

[MookdocOE]

Alcantara steering wheel and shifter is one option would pay to delete.

100% I would rather have a dog chew on that crap than pay for it.

 

[wschomburg]

Thanks all for the feedback! I ended up placing an order today through one of the local dealers. I sat in a '24 and '25 today and really liked the facelift screens but the main deciding factor was I wanted Typhoon metallic. I must say, from photos its easy to conclude the facelift front end not looking as good or aggressive as the pre-facelift but in person they both look fantastic. Now the wait begins... The dealer I placed the order with is not one of the top BW-selling dealers so we'll see how long until my order gets filled... Which will segue into my rant about the first dealer experience I had today for those interested below...

I determined which dealer I wanted to place my order with based on how many BW's they had inbound to increase my chances of getting my order filled. I walked into the store, told the sales person exactly what I was looking to do, only to be told by the sales manager that they are unwilling to order a green car in case I back out and they're stuck with it. He said the only way they'd do it is if I placed a $15K non-refundable deposit. Kinda reminds me when you get a contractor to the house to do some work for you, they don't want the job so they throw an outrageous number out there so you say no. Needless to say I said no thanks, drove 15 mins to another dealer and the experience couldn't have been more different. They showed enthusiasm towards the BW, took a $1k refundable deposit for my order, and out I went.

This will be my first non-German car ownership experience and I cannot wait to get the beast!

so what dealer did you go with?

 

[FLYARMY]

I always buy some type of leather cover for my steering wheels. I love seeing an original unscathed steering wheel on a car with lots of miles. I bought these things on Amazon and use them in my Blackwing. They have a carbon fiber texture for grip.

 

[piranha971]

Is that under screen strip a cf wrap? Do you know what that material is?

 

[dinkman]

Another was the suede steering wheel and shifter but decided against that as well. My current car has suede steering wheel on half of it and it looks worn after just 16K miles. Feels cool to the touch though!

this is well worth $20 and 15 minutes: SONAX Alcantara And Upholstery Cleaner 250 mL
have used it many times in past to recover icky alcantara steering wheels

 

[dinkman]

for me ideal spec is 6mt, a preferred color (feels like 80% of them were black or white which I dont want), upgraded seats (anything above the base) and sunroof. everything else i could care less for
i know its not a common opinion but i find the carbon fiber gaudy
and yes the regular brakes dust like the alamo but changing pads is cheap
i do like the bronze wheels but can live without them
never once used pdr on my 4bw
parking package i found the rear view mirror/camera off putting

 

[Jdeee]

Long time lurker. Been wanting a CT5V BW since it debuted and now I’m in a position to pull the trigger. With ‘25’s being imminent on dealer lots, there are good deals to be found on new ‘24’s. My dilemma is, do I pull the trigger on a relatively high msrp ‘24, or on a more modestly equipped ‘25 at msrp at a similar price?

A local dealer to me has 2 2024 CT5 BWs that have been sitting in their inventory for more than 6 months.

If these are still available in Feb then I’m headed for the dealer to begin negotiating, these dealers want to get rid of these 2024s.

Leasing these cars aren’t a bad idea with their high residual value, you might even be able to come out of the lease with some equity depending on how much you drive.

 

[Savethemanuals]

I have the auto parking feature and just tested it out one time in 3 years. It takes forever to get it set up and then to actually do its function. I can parallel park the car 10x faster. Only regret not getting the Performance Data Recorder.

Can you elaborate on why you regret not getting the PDR?

 

[FLYARMY]

For only $1600 more (2 months of payments for me) I could of had all the data that the car is capable to perform under my driving abilities. They had them in all the cars at Spring Mountain and that is when I realized what I missed out on. Especially if you are going to track your car. It has all the information of what you are doing right and wrong.

 

[FLYARMY]

Is that under screen strip a cf wrap? Do you know what that material is?

Yes it is a carbon fiber wrap. I also did it on my rear trunk spoiler, rockers and front bumper spoiler . Looks like the real deal except it didn't cost me thousands of dollars. If I scratch it, no big deal, peel and replace.
I don't know what brand of wrap, but it looks perfect.