Yet those things are so commonplace here in L.A. that nobody bats an eye when one is next to them at the stoplight.

It's almost that way with more "exotic" cars like Lamborghini Gallardos or Ferrari F430s or even 458s. They are everywhere in SoCal.

Is it a sign of our consumerism? It didn't used to be that way.....

Well, I'm a car guy so I occasionally bat an eye here in L.A.

Nice - I think the wagon might be the way to go - also you can visit the factory and watch it being built and they will let you be the first to turn it over...not bad.

I would go with the Thunder Grey and yellow calipers and dark wheels...

That would really startle the kids at daycare and look better in the parking lot than the rovers, benzes and bmw's....faster too.

A few mods and these are good for close to 700hp....and reliable. Now where is the checkbook?

No no I am not clueless in the least. I was saying that a 1998 S600 would obviously be worth 8K today and probably around 90K then. See what I mean? Of course it could have been more than 90K in the 90's my point is more to say that it took a good while for the vehicle to be worth 10% of new msrp.

an e39 M5 is...

Fat?

Delicate?

Clutch?

I can't imagine what you would do to a paddle shift transmission car.

It will be interesting to see how you do in your Lemon Law claim against GM after your 3rd clutch or transmission replacement when GM calls it willful abuse and refuses to honor the warranty.

Fat, delicate and crappy clutch...fact. if you owned one you would know. As any e39 M5 owner, and they will tell you about the clutch over a few beers.

I have not heard of any clutch issues on the CTS-V board with the caddies...have you?

GM has a great power train warranty - have not heard of them denying anything...have you?

Have you had a CTS-V and had this happen?

Have you driven a CTS-V? I have and the clutch feels head and shoulders better then the M5...

Having owned a 540/6 and driven an E39 M5, I can attest to the fact that the clutch take up is awkward and that the shifting is pretty poor. A Honda S2000 it is not. I'm told that removing the clutch delay valve makes a big difference.

Such a true statement..no truer words have been spoken! I bought my E55 when it was 2years old and now kids are selling their Golf/Rabbit GTIs and buying them up (and beating them up)...so many of these high $$ cars are available relatively inexpensively now, people have become desensitized (the internet has not helped either).

I want an e55 wagon. That's one of the few cars that really gets my want up.

Good luck...number sold:
E55 Wagon
2005: 129
2006: 64

I only need one. :)

And those sales figures only add to its appeal. I like having something that (almost) no one else has.

In the words of Ferris Bueller: "if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up"

Mine is Radiant Silver with dark wheels and the yellow calipers.

I considered E55 AMG and E63 AMG wagons also. The manual trans option in the CTS V really grabbed me as I don't really like auto boxes. One test drive and I was hooked. These V Wagons will likely be limited production as well since Americans in general don't buy wagons.

The 6 speed wagons will be hen's teeth, as they say.

My friend Jonny Lieberman at Motor Trend thinks it's the best car ever made. Ever

Please share your photo when you take delivery!!