Cadillac Owners Forum banner

New CTS-V Owner --> on the Autobahn in Germany.

5K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  Silencertk 
#1 ·
Hi, :thumbsup:

first of all I want to say that i've been reading along for a good month now, and have had my V for about 3 weeks. I live in Germany, have spent most of my life there. Previously owned:

(2004-2006) VW Passat 1.8T




2006-2007 Honda S2000



2007-2011 Mazda RX-8



2011-2012 Camaro SS



2012- present Cadillac CTS-V





http://www.streetculture.de/include.php?path=galerie_pic.php&pid=42310

http://www.streetculture.de/include.php?path=galerie_pic.php&pid=42319

http://www.streetculture.de/include.php?path=galerie_pic.php&pid=41980

I've always bought my cars stock and modded them to my ideas - mainly appearance mods. Never really got into performance stuff. When I went from my RX-8, which was by far my best project car - to the SS - I got hooked on power. The Camaro made incredible amounts of power compared to the RX-8 and I promised myself i'll never drive anything with less power again.

Well, the wifey is getting serious about family matters and I kinda had enough of the "in the spotlight all day everyday" feeling that the camaro caused over here in germany and started looking for something with a little more understatement. And wow, I've really found a f**** awesome car. :yup:

The V is an 07 - imported to Germany with only 6K miles on it. It's got a salvage title and was sold by College Auto Sales Miami - only for export. I was told it was used for drift training at a race school and that cadillac reguarly provides race car driver schools with cars that are driven until about 6K miles and then salvaged an resold..... :ill:

Not entirely sure what to make of that - the carfax turned up that the car was a manufacterer vehicle - 6K miles on it. No accidents - but has a salvage title. :suspect:

Any body that's ever heard about these cars - I wouldnt mind some insight on this. :canttalk:


The car itself is awesome. Beats my Camaro performance wise - at least it feels like it. The gear ratio is just so different - there's no way the camaro could ever catch me. (feels like it anyway)

So far i've:

Dropped it with a K-Sport Suspension Coilover Kit
Halo aftermarket Headlights (Ebay)
LED taillights (Ebay)
switched everything interior to LED
Resonator delete for Straight Pipes
(Thinking about plasti dippin the chrome grill for black to match wheels)

Anybody have any other inexpensive appearance mods they can come up with - I'm open for suggestions.

I'm not looking for any great performance mods. I dont plan on putting a blower on it, or doing any kind of engine modification. I'm looking for a long lasting engine/drivetrain. It already produces enough power for me as of now.

Issues:

Under hard acceleration I have a loud Clunk, under the car, feels like about around the driver seat position. It's like something underneath the car Clunks out of position and then back in position.

Under hard acceleration occasionally a clicking noise from the rear axles.

I want to drive the f**** car everyday, everywhere, but the gas prices in germany (roughly about $10 a gallon) are killing me lol. I have a daily beater car that I drive to work. All my nice cars have always been just for fun.

I've done alot of reading on different bearings and mounts and kits - but to be honest, i'm kinda lost. Is it the tranny mount thats alowing the transmission to move under hard tourque, is it the drive shaft rubber thingy, thats allowing something to move and twist, is it the differential mount thats allowing the rear diff to move - or an engine mount? eeehhhh i've been reading so much about all the different things people replace - dont know what i'm suppose to be doing.

Questions:

I'm looking for a european Nav/Radio/CD unit. Unfortunatly there seems to be no way to reprogramm my unit for the navigation to work in europe/germany.

I'd like to delete the Speed limiter. Currently i'm restricted to 240km/h which means, while i beat that shitty S4 at the light, he'll eventually catch up to me on the autobahn lol.


Looking forward to a great time on here.
 
See less See more
6
#2 ·
Welcome, sir. I live in Mainz and also enjoy pounding up and down the Autobahnen and the Nordschleife in my V. I see you have a KT registration so perhaps you're just a bit east of Frankfurt? Let me know if you ever want to meet up and hit the track or just grab some beers.

----------

Under hard acceleration I have a loud Clunk, under the car, feels like about around the driver seat position. It's like something underneath the car Clunks out of position and then back in position.

Under hard acceleration occasionally a clicking noise from the rear axles.
Sounds like you need new motor mounts, and maybe a new differential carrier bushing, and maybe a new transmission mount, for starters. If it makes you feel better, I also need all of the above but haven't gotten around to installing them yet.

I'm looking for a european Nav/Radio/CD unit. Unfortunatly there seems to be no way to reprogramm my unit for the navigation to work in europe/germany.
I spent quite a bit of money trying to get my NA nav system to work here and finally gave up on it. My Garmin Nuvi 3790 works better in every conceivable way, and does a great job helping me avoid die größten Stau...something the built in system cannot do.

I'd like to delete the Speed limiter. Currently i'm restricted to 240km/h which means, while i beat that shitty S4 at the light, he'll eventually catch up to me on the autobahn lol.
I'd also like to delete the speed limiter. While I don't bounce against it often, it is annoying when the road opens up wide and I can't pull past 240. I was thinking about picking up an HPTuner just to kill the damn thing, if I do I can let you know and maybe we can do your car too.
 
#5 · (Edited)
your v was probably one of the bondourant racing school v's, they have been floating around for sale latley.
Uhm, is that a good thing or a bad thing? :ill:

EDIT:

yeah, I just found a couple of threads about this particular V. I can still see some shadows of the stickers - and now that I saw some images of what they look like - I can piece things togehter. Well - I knew it was at a race school. there's some clutch chatter and sometimes the gears dont go in smoothly, but engine wise - it runs beautiful. I'm not worried about the suspension, as I've replaced shocks and springs anyway.

Weird knowing i bought a car everyone said - don't touch this (MC Hammer voice)

Btw - what do the Gold Calipers front and rear mean? (painted red now, but used to be gold)
 
#8 ·
gold calipers means the factory silver brembos changed colors from the excissive heat from hard braking.
i dont think being a x bondourant car is a bad thing , look at all the coin you saved from buying on with that low of miles with a clean title.
i would admajin you saved7-10k over a low mileage v with a clean title.
10k will transform your car into a beast.
 
#11 ·
Although I'm in the US, I've been spending an inordinate amount of time in the fatherland over the past year. I often fly into Frankfurt but I'm working in Stuttgart or more commonly in Kempen (near Dusseldorf.) If you guys decide to get together I'd love to join you :)

I have EFI Live on my laptop and could probably bring the cable over on one of my trips and remove the speed limiters for you guys but the VIN license is something like $125 (I have the older V1 EFI Live cable.) The next time I come over is this Sunday for a couple of weeks.

Mounts sound like a good place to start for the clicking and clunks. On my car the "clunks" were broken motor mounts and I had a distinct "clicking" coming from the stock clutch (some clunking coming from there too.) Installing a new clutch (Katech LS9 in my case) made this go away.
 
#12 ·
Hey that's awesome. So basically for 125$ we can get the limiter removed. Sweet, that sounds like a great idea.

I'll be driving the v till end of the month and then giving it a rest over the salty winter months..... B but if you re in country, give me a buzz, I wouldn't mind a trip do Frankfurt, scoop up Mr Mainz and grab lunch or dinner and rant about cars :)
 
#14 ·
I'll be driving the v till end of the month and then giving it a rest over the salty winter months..... B but if you re in country, give me a buzz, I wouldn't mind a trip do Frankfurt, scoop up Mr Mainz and grab lunch or dinner and rant about cars :)
ronr said:
Although I'm in the US, I've been spending an inordinate amount of time in the fatherland over the past year. I often fly into Frankfurt but I'm working in Stuttgart or more commonly in Kempen (near Dusseldorf.) If you guys decide to get together I'd love to join you
Yes, I'd love to. I'm happy to meet up any time...I drive the V all year, though it might be better to meet up while Silencertk still has his car out. It's too bad mberisha moved back to the US, or we could have had a photo with 3 V1's with German registration all next to each other. Surely would have been the largest collection of V1's in all of Germany.

----------

Awesome. Most of the CTS-V's over are are V2's. Euro Specs.

Yes, I live close to Wuerzburg, effectivly about 1,5 hrs from Frankfurt. There's a small US Car meet down here this weekend (bunch of 300C's, chargers, challengers, camaros and one - maybe two V's which would be mine and yours lol) - if your interested in hanging out for a couple of hours.

Send me a text or buzz me

0170/1800808
I'll send you a text later today, I've been busy all week. What day is the meet up? I'd like to head down there, but I'm not sure what my weekend plans are yet...
 
#13 ·
I had that "clunk" noise when I bought my V. Check your diff bushing,the one that goes between the diff and the floor of the car. Mine was bad which caused the diff to slam against the floor. It sounded like it came from the middle of the car like you are describing.
 
#15 ·
Met up with Silencertk today for the American car show that was out in his direction. It was a good time...I had no idea there was such a Chrysler tuning scene in Germany. Thank you for having us out your way sir, and for entertaining our monolingualism.

Took a few photos, most of which didn't come out so great. Enjoy the best 2 of the lot:





----------

Also: I had the nav disk in the whole way home and was watching the lat/long as we were driving back. It seemed to be correct, and when I got home I put the coordinates into Google Maps and it showed the correct location. It showed a fix on 6 satellites, and was even displaying elevation correctly. So, I think the problem is the system can't align the map to the location, not that it can't figure out the location. Not that this explanation makes the disk work any better...
 
#17 ·
That's an interesting find - with the whole map disc thingy. Doesnt really help us, but nevertheless - interesting.

It was awesome meeting you guys and I hope to have you guys down here again or us coming up your way. Here are my two visual impressions caught on (cell phone) Camera :)



 
#18 ·
Good Evening, I just found this thread while using Google. I currently have a job offer to Wiesbaden Germany and am debating on bringing my 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe with me. I am currently worried about the weather especially salt (may not be a problem if there are car washing facilities there). My windows are also tinted to include the tail lights and customized rims. I also see in the pictures that you have front license plates. Did they have to drill the holes or is tha some sort of kit? Front license plates aren't a requirement here in Oklahoma. Is there a Cadillac dealership in Germany that would honor the waranty if need be? I also saw you discussing the navigation. Should I order the German version from Cadillac or just plan on buying a Garmin or something? If you have any other recomendations, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance! If there is a different forum you would recommend, please let me know and I will head that way.
 
#19 ·
Good Evening, I just found this thread while using Google. I currently have a job offer to Wiesbaden Germany and am debating on bringing my 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe with me.
Brilliant. Will you be working for the US military at the air field, or will you be working on the German economy? Bring the car. There's no where else in the world you'll be able to legally run the car flat-out or take it to the Nordschleife. Driving here overall is excellent, German drivers are fantastic.

I am currently worried about the weather especially salt (may not be a problem if there are car washing facilities there). My windows are also tinted to include the tail lights and customized rims.
Salt in this region isn't a problem. It doesn't snow much here (I live in Mainz, which is just across the river from Wiesbaden), this part of the country has very mild weather. In Bavaria and other parts of the country it is much snowier. Either way Germany requires you to have either A/S or Winter tires in the winter, so if you're used to running summers all year, you'll need to buy another set. You will almost certainly need to remove all of your tint. The lights will need to be replaced to stock, too. The rims are likely to be OK, but I'd put the stock wheels on for inspection at the very least. If you're with the military you're inspection will be easier, even though technically you're required to meet the same standards as all Germans.

I also see in the pictures that you have front license plates. Did they have to drill the holes or is tha some sort of kit? Front license plates aren't a requirement here in Oklahoma.
You need a front plate. I already had holes drilled in my car so it didn't matter. My Saturn has a front plate that is stuck on with double-sided foam tape. Holds fine, if you don't want to drill holes (why would you); that's the way to go.

Is there a Cadillac dealership in Germany that would honor the waranty if need be? I also saw you discussing the navigation. Should I order the German version from Cadillac or just plan on buying a Garmin or something? If you have any other recomendations, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance! If there is a different forum you would recommend, please let me know and I will head that way.
There are Cadillac/Opel dealers for service, but I don't know the warranty procedure (both of my cars are out of warranty). At the worst, you would have to pay for the service out of pocket and then get the costs reimbursed through GM NA. Just be grateful you don't own a Toyota/Honda (why would you?) because any cars from them that are shipped out of NA have their warranties immediately voided.

Neither myself of Silencertk were able to get the navigation systems in our cars to work. Your system is totally different from ours, so it's plausible it might work. I just use a Garmin Nuvi; it's much better than any factory system, IMO, including the one in my buddies brand new M3 or the one in my dad's 2010 CTS Premium.
 
#20 ·
Thank you so much for the information! I will look into seeing what the cost is to replace my tail lights and buy new rims. I bought the car new from the dealership and they had already did the customization to the car. As for the front license plate, I've seen a couple of mods where they use the tow hook location to mount the license plate (I may try that option as well).
 
#22 ·
Good lookin rides! Welcome to the V community, if you had HP tuners I could have raised your limiter but it sounds like you've got that covered! Replace the Diff bushings as a start for the clunk in the rear, motor mounts and tranny mounts are also good investment. I'm running all revshift and love them but a lot of other guys go to creative steel although lately I've been reading a lot of threads with their failures.

https://www.revshift.com/shop/cts-v.php

https://www.creative-steel.com/store/

For the NAV ditch it and go aftermarket! :thumbsup:
 
#26 · (Edited)
He's just playing. He's not going to sell his V. Partially because no one in Germany wants to buy gas for a 6.0 V8 hahahahaha.

BTW I found and fixed the "clunk" noise I encountered during hard acceleration. One of the motor mounts - did not have a nut on the other end of the stud thats attached to the rubber mount. So under hard acceleration the engine moves and lifts up out of the mount "arm" and then "clunks" back down into it.

After some hard fun run and burnouts there was suddenly no clunk anymore. But my car was noticably louder. Upon inspection I noticed the intake piping had came loose from the air box. And I was not able to reattach it - it was to short. So upon further inspection I noticed that my engine was slightly tilted - driver side up. After putting it on the lift - the problem was clear. The engine had lifted up out of the mount arm and did not fall back down into it.

So pushed the mount back in place with a prybar and then put a nut with some loctite on the other end of it. BTW its a bitch to get work done down there....

#engine clunk cts-v :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top