[Katshot]

Did the show on Saturday, and one thing I made sure to do was check out the CTS, STS, 3-series, and 5-series. The first thing you notice at the respective booths, is the great difference in foot traffic. The BMW booth was mobbed, while the Cadillac booth was near empty. Fine by me, it gave me more uninterrupted time to gaze at the V2 on the turntable. The car really looked nice to me. The exterior isn't hard on the eyes for sure but it's really not a huge departure from the V1, so I have to believe that if you liked the original, you'd like the new one. IMO, the biggest difference is the interior. The new interior is VERY attractive, and when compared to the original, it shines even more. Unless I'm nuts, the color paint they had on this display car was different from the others I've seen pictures of. This car was a kind of cobalt blue (not sure what Cadillac calls it), and it looked very nice. As for the BMW's..., I really couldn't step back and get a good look at them but from what I DID see, I really am not impressed with the looks of the new M3, and the others are the same as what I've seen before so, there's nothing new there.
I know we've talked a great deal on this forum about these four cars, so I was curious as to how they stacked up against each other ergonomically. At 5' 10", 180lb., and size 10 shoes, I am NOT what I would call a big guy, so I think how I fit into the cars is probably a pretty "middle of the road" feel.
While I think the Cadillac's have much nicer interiors, front seating areas seemed more cramped to me. Harder for egress and ingress. All four were virtually identical in the rear seat, except the BMW's had even less room under the front seat for my feet than the Caddies did. The strange thing I noticed about the CTS and STS was how the dash juts out toward you. You really have to "fit" yourself into the car. It's almost like there's a body-shaped slot between the dash and seat that you slide into. It made the interior feel cramped to me. Plus, the glove box was virtually useless while sitting in the passenger seat. I realistically could only open the door about an inch before it was resting on my legs!
Also, in all four cars, I found that it was very hard getting my feet in and out of the rear seats due to lack of clearance and high sills.
Strangely, I noticed that I had none of these problems in the Buick Lucerne that was in the adjacent display area. I found it surprising that a Buick Lucerne had far more usable space in the passenger compartment than any of the Cadillacs and BMWs I looked at.
Bottom line, I'm not sure I liked any of these four cars. I'd certainly take the Cadillac's over the BMW's on looks alone, and the interiors were more inviting from a purely subjective point of view. But then, I've sat in cars that seemed more comfortable and easier to get in and out of, so I doubt any of these four would be on my "short-list".