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Name: Josh
Nickname: RawAutos
Member since: 2008-03-01 17:30:18
Website URL: http://www.rawautos.com
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User comments

E60/E61 5-Series: Thank You, BMW

November 18th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Thanks for pointing that out, Jp. I didn’t realize that I made that typo. It has been corrected.

BMW M3 GTS: An M3 CSL or GTR Successor?

November 10th, 2009 at 5:01 am

The extra 100 grand goes to the special interior package, which comes standard with nothing. No back seats, front racing seats, a roll cage, a 4.4L 450hp V8, special, adjustable suspension and aerodynamics. And other stuff like that. It’s a very special car. Now, whether it’s worth $170K, that’s a totally different story. I personally think it’s a tad over-priced, and believe it should be around $120K-$130K

BMW M3 GTS: An M3 CSL or GTR Successor?

November 10th, 2009 at 4:58 am

Well, we’ll see where it ends up when it laps The ‘Ring.

BMW Z4 M: The Other ///M Car

January 19th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Thank you for catching my typo. I usually type E85/86. But, I guess I forgot in this case.

2009 Cadillac CTS-V vs 2008 BMW M5

January 19th, 2009 at 8:28 pm

Then have fun with your Cadillac. The seat doesn’t come up to the back of my knees… I drive the CTS quite a bit. Unfortunately, my father owns one. It’s a sad piece of American machinery to me.

I doubt that the CTS holds its value better then a 3-Series. That hasn’t been the case at all for the retail prices I’ve seen. Your friends probably wouldn’t buy another BMW again, because they probably either didn’t know how to care for the car, didn’t get the right kinds of care for the car, and/or bought the wrong BMW. You didn’t specify new or used… Also, Cadillac’s the past few years have been decent. Before that… Not so hot.

BMW is a German car. It’s simple, the produce cars that are built to higher and better standards. The CTS doesn’t get as good of gas mileage, doesn’t wear as nicely, nor does it look as good after 10 years. Show me the large groups of people that get together and restore 10-20 year old Cadillacs. For every 1 group you can find me, I can find you over 100 that restore their BMW’s.

It doesn’t matter if you’re getting on a track or not. Plain and simple, the 328 and 335 are better cars then the CTS’s are. They handle better, feel better, drive better, are more comfortable, etc. etc.

But, if you like your Caddy, more power to ya, brother. That just leaves more BMW’s for me and the true enthusiasts to own and drive.

Thanks for reading my post and commenting. Come back soon!

Ferrari at the LA Auto Show

November 24th, 2008 at 7:20 pm

I disagree with all of you… I think the new Ferraris look amazing!

The old, classy BMW Z4

November 24th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

@mitchs_Z4: It’ll be a classic. The original Z4 will still be a great car in the future. This current Z4 is one of the few cars that has a design that I’m sad to see go. I will love the new one, but I’ll always love the original, and in some ways wish that it had never been changed.

The old, classy BMW Z4

November 24th, 2008 at 11:59 am

@Brookside: My buddy had a 2006 M Coupe Imola Red over Imola Red. That car was gorgeous. It’s still sitting at the BMW dealer he traded it in to. I shed a tear every time I see her. We had some great times in that car. The Z4 M Coupe and Roadster are two of the most underrated ///M cars of all time!!! I absolutely love them.

Our Review: 2009 BMW 7 Series

November 24th, 2008 at 11:53 am

@Jordan: Haha, that’s exactly what Horatiu and I said about the color As for the cross hatched grill, are you talking about the two black bars in the kidney grills? If so, those are on almost every past 7.

Mini E Test Drive

November 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 pm

@Clara: The Mini is not BMW’s Beetle. The Beetle is a different type of icon for a different type of person. The Mini Cooper is a rally and racing legend. It’s starred in movies as the getaway car. The Beetle and the Mini Cooper can’t be put in the same sentence.

Test Drive: 2009 BMW 335d

November 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 pm

@Clara: Thank you, Clara. I don’t think that they are limiting the power in lower gears, but it’s something we’d have to ask BMW. I’m not 100% sure. We will get back to you on that, though.

Ferrari at the LA Auto Show

November 23rd, 2008 at 11:13 pm

Eh, they could have been better. I had limited room to actually take decent photos without 400,000 morons in my way.

America vs BMW

October 2nd, 2008 at 9:45 am

@Marc: thanks for the comment, Marc. It’s so funny that you say that about the Chevy Cruze. I was just looking at it yesterday and couldn’t help but notice how awesome the interior looked. If that’s how GM is going to do their interiors for now on, I may have to change my interior stance, haha.

Paul Newman dead at 83

September 27th, 2008 at 9:11 pm

@Gragop: I agree 100%. Guys like him and Steve McQueen can never be replicated. They both gave so much to the automotive and racing communities. I wonder if McQueen were alive today, what he would say about BMW’s…?

2009 Cadillac CTS-V vs 2008 BMW M5

September 27th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

@Giom: I agree, BMW has researched the M5 to be a great all-round car. That’s just what it is. It’s always been the tops in those terms. It’s still shocking to me that it took 2 generations of an M5 until Mercedes finally had an AMG to compete, and that even wasn’t anything by comparison. The best competitor to the M5 was the RS6. And still, you couldn’t even get that in a manual… The 1st generation CTS-V was fantastic! As long as you weren’t listening to the squeaks, the differential breaking, and also as long as you weren’t driving long distance. Other than that, the car was a hell of a lot of fun to drive, and so very quick. It was a great American sports saloon. But then again, you could still buy an M5…

2009 Cadillac CTS-V vs 2008 BMW M5

September 27th, 2008 at 6:57 pm

@Alan: Haha, after knowing what it’s like to have 5ers and a 2008 piece of crap CTS in the garage, trust me, I would know much better than you what it’s like for both. The 5-Series is far better at handling, driving, better stereo, iDrive is more fun, seats are more bolstered and more comfortable, better gas mileage, better speed, more fun on any road, better iPod connectivity, and the list goes on. I’d love to have you drive both for a week or more and then tell me that the CTS is really the better car. The CTS is the most uncomfortable piece of shit I’ve ever driven. And I drive it quite a bit since it’s my father’s car…

The new CTS harddrive is useless. I don’t see why this gets people so excited.

The looks of the CTS are even bland… They look good from a distance, and then you get closer and you see the car looks like plastic and made cheaply. The interior isn’t anything special in comparison, the seats are HORRIBLE! The steering wheel is the most awful thing I’ve ever used to drive with. The steering goes where you want, but the transmission sucks, the brakes are either REALLY on or not there at all. You can’t modulate the brakes to be comfortable when stopping. You are either slamming on them, well, nothing.

The engine isn’t as nice as I expected. The car is just plain and simple useless.

The CTS-V is a much different car. It looks great, I’m sure it drives great, but that steering wheel and the interior are still a huge drawback. I would never buy the CTS-V simply due to that horrible feeling steering wheel. I can’t fit my hands around it at 9 and 3.

I’ve seen the CTS-V’s information, I know what it does. It’s quick as hell! But I would really, really hope so with the amount of power coming out of a 6.3L Supercharged V8. The M5 will make just as much power and still be the better car in its next iteration. It’s not even that much slower now… It may be a bit slower in a straight line, but look at the numbers, it almost had the Caddy.

CTS-V: 2:44.23
Bimmer: 2:44.70

That’s hardly enough to make me sell my M5 and go for a CTS-V. And you bring up the price point, again. You are just like all of the GT-R kids. You bring that up every chance you can. You won’t be able to find a CTS-V for sticker. Won’t happen.

From a fuel economy perspective, is it worth buying the 335d or X5 Diesel?

September 27th, 2008 at 6:42 pm

To me it’s worth it. Let’s be real, BMW’s EPA numbers have always been lower on the addendum sticker than they are in real life… Where the 335d says 33mpg on the highway, it’s probably more like 37-40mpg, depending on the driver, of course.

2009 Cadillac CTS-V vs 2008 BMW M5

September 27th, 2008 at 1:43 am

@Alan: Read Giom’s comment “Just amazes me how competitors need to add bigger capacity engines to keep up with BMW – even a few years on.

If I was Cadillac, I wouldn’t be proud of this outcome – their car should have annihilated the BMW.

This is why we love our Beemers so:)”

Okay, let’s also compare another fact. John Heinricy has been driving the CTS-V for the past half decade or so now. Don’t you think that a man who created the car could do better than Bill Auberlen who hasn’t driven an M5 in 4 years? I would expect that. It just goes to show that the M5 is king in the sense that you can just hop in it and feel comfortable to keep pushing the limits. The car doesn’t have to be on sale for it to be test driven and raced… John has clearly been driving the car for years and is also the creator of the damn car.

2009 Cadillac CTS-V vs 2008 BMW M5

September 27th, 2008 at 1:39 am

@Alan: Oh, Alan, please, don’t hurt my feelings! Please… The M5 is 5 years old and still showing that it’s not that much slower than a CTS-V. The M5 really isn’t more expensive if you go for a used or CPO unit. Actually, you could probably pick an E60 M5 up for less money than a brand new CTS-V. But, let’s not forget that the CTS-V will be held in high demand and sold for the highest price… The CTS-V will hit the lots and sticker at $80,000 once the dealerships add their price hike.

Now, since you say the M5 can’t hang. 4.1s 0-60 vs a 3.9s for the V. The CTS-V has 556hp and 551lb-ft of torque vs the M5’s 500hp and 383lb-ft of torque. I would sure as shit hope that the CTS-V is faster…

But, wait, it’s not that much faster! Holy hell!?

Read the article again, read the actual Road and Track article. And once you’ve done some real research on these two cars, come back and tell me that the CTS-V is still king. I would love to see what happens when the 2011 M5 comes out. The Cadillac will be crying its silly American eyes out all the way to the finish line 10s after the M5 already finished.

You say everybody has seen it… Who is everybody?

Is the SL 65 AMG BS MB's Supercar Savior?

September 22nd, 2008 at 8:05 am

@joe bennett: Haha, thank you. I aim to please.

The costs of ownership for a Ferrari or a Lamborghini are to be expected. But really, as I said about my friend, he has had no issues. He drives both his Ferrari and his Lambo daily, both being 6-spd manuals, and he hasn’t had any issues. Just normal wear and tear. Ferrari and Lamborghini’s have gotten better as daily drivers.

And, as for my mother’s SL’s, she spent a lot of money on maintenance. Each one was a pile of crap in its own respect. The only one that had nothing wrong with it was one of her 2001’s and her first 2003. Outside of those two, the other 5 cost 10’s of thousands of dollars… Sorry to break it to you. Mercedes-Benz just a few years ago was the 8th worst manufacturer in terms of amount of maintenance. They have turned this around a little bit, though.

As for the speed, the speed counts on the racetrack. Sure, a few tenths isn’t anything huge, but it makes enough of a difference when you want to win.

The car becomes useless when all it does is just go fast in rich style. Wow, just what I want, a 200+mph luxury cruiser with a fat, worthless and disgusting steering wheel, that just so happens to turn. Don’t you think there are better and more thrilling ways to spend your money? I think so. It’s too expensive, too fat, too slow, and so many other things.

How does Mercedes-Benz continue to “raise the bar to very sophisticated levels”?

I do not agree with that statement of not comparing apples to apples… When Mercedes wants to jump into the pond with the big boys, which they failed in once before with the SLR, they all become apples.

The SL does look cheesy. That’s the point of super cars. All of the wings, slats, grills, badges, and whatever else is cheesy. It just so happens to be stuff that is needed.

Who needs another automatic ‘luxury’ GT? No questions, just the facts.

Is the SL 65 AMG BS MB's Supercar Savior?

September 19th, 2008 at 11:00 pm

@joe bennett: You sir, have failed to realize the point of a super car or an exotic, for that matter. Aww, that’s cute that I can take my automatic Mercedes-Benz that will never break on a road trip. We all know that MB’s break down as often as the normal super car… An SLR is a fantastic machine. But it’s an oxymoron. Is it a super car, or is it a GT luxury car? You can’t have both in that game.

For the record, a good friend of mine has an F-430 Spider and a Gallardo Spyder. He drives both as his daily cars. He has yet to have any issues that would make him think of buying a car to drive every day instead of them. He will be getting his Scuderia soon, as well…

Honestly, if I’m spending lots of money on a sports car, or a super car for that matter, sure I want something nice and reliable. But, a Mercedes super car that is only an automatic? Mercedes hasn’t made a good manual transmission to actually suit its higher end models since the 300 SL of yesteryear, if I remember correctly. My mother has had about 7 SL’s, and to me, they have all been the most uncomfortable cars for any drive. They were all useless. Do they attract women for men? Yes. But is that the kind of woman you want? One that is attracted to a useless car that just cost you upwards of 100,000 dollars? If so, then more power to you and I hope you have a great divorce attorney.

What is the point here? The point is, a Mercedes super car is a useless car. It will be fast, safe, comfortable (to some), a marvel in speed and engineering. But will it be in the caliber of an Enzo or a Carrera GT? Nope. Will it be a car that would make you think twice about buying a much more exclusive Ferrari? Doubt it.

One thing that you forgot to mention, the SLR has had to have 6 different examples just to sell more than a few thousand cars. Gordon Murray is rumored to have retired because of the way Mercedes-Benz pushed him and his team into building a car that he didn’t agree with… It is the truth that the SLR was a failure! Mercedes-Benz themselves have admitted that. Let’s just hope that the new Gullwing will have a manual supplied by Pagani…

And as for the Corvette vs SL argument. I have driven both, played with both, had both sit in my driveways and use them on a more daily basis than most. And with this knowledge, I will say, the SL is inferior to the Corvette in terms of thrill and practicality. The Corvette is very cheap on the inside, I agree, but when you play with it the way it was meant to be used, it is brilliant. The first America sports car with non-American crappy abilities. The C6 was honed on the ‘Ring… Any questions?

BMW Blog is Looking For Bloggers

September 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am

@Clara: I started blogging a year ago October 1, Clara. I am now a well regarded blogger in many areas. I do video test drives of cars, full reviews. and what have you. Just the other month I did a video review of the 2009 Ford Flex, and out of the blue Ford e-mailed me asking to be a part of their 2009 Model Lineup Test Drive Event in Dearborn, MI. They paid for all of my airfare, limo and hotel accommodations. I got to drive cars all day on their test tracks eating great food, learning new technology, and best of all, I got to talk to and learn from some of the best journalists in the business. People that I’ve been reading for years.

Blogging is a life that is best to be what you make of it. If you want it to be your profession, you can make it so. If you want it to be a fun hobby, then you can do that, too.

Good luck with your decision, Clara. Feel free to ask me any questions.

BMW 335d shows up at the Performance Center

September 15th, 2008 at 9:57 pm

What a beautifully sculpted body. The E90 has officially become as characteristic, if not more, than the E46…

2009 Cadillac CTS-V vs 2008 BMW M5

September 14th, 2008 at 10:52 am

@Mark: Well, in some cases the CTS has a pretty good looking interior. That is, if you get the nicer interior options…

Chicks dig fast cars

September 11th, 2008 at 10:33 am

Hahaha! That’s what I do all the time for the ladies… The Bullitt isn’t exactly an M3, but it’s damn good…