When a magazine continues to bow to the same tired car year after year, one begins to wonder about the payoffs involved. In the case of the BMW 3-series, what began as a taut, nimble sports car has turned into a bloated, overweight a boat requiring twin turbos to motor down the highway. And Automobile Mag still gives it an award year after year, and admits it doesn't even think about it. I always thought that your magazine went the extra mile in evaluating automobiles, but now I realize that year after year you blindly just fill in the same blanks with the same cars, and really aren't interested in the new, the edgy, the progressive. Better to be safe and repeat the mantra: BMW, BMW..........

Maybe someone needs to take another look and realise there is more to the world than the BMW 3-series. Maybe the resurrection of one of the all-time great monikors, Cadillac, is more worthy than another retread BMW.  

Welcome Cadilac dealer, wherever you are! Drop a couple hundred pounds off the new CTS and BMW will have more competition.  

Typical dumb assumption. I am a CTS OWNER, and bought one after comparing to the BMW 3-series. To me, BMW is a stale product that is living on reputation.  

Wow, you seem to have an issue with admitting that BMW builds a better car than Caddy.  Price independent, the BMW bests the Caddy in almost every objective (performance)categories and most subjective categories as well - both base and upscale versions. Hmmmm, lets see the BMW bests the Caddy according to Automobile, C&D, Motor Trend, Consumer Reports, Edmunds, TTAC.com, etc.  According to your logic they are all on the dole or perhaps living in past.

The new CTS is a great car and probably represents a breakthrough for American auto industry in this segment, but one year does not erase 15 years of poor efforts in this area and GM needs to keep the improvements coming and prove the reliability is there.  Its a bit much to expect Caddy to knock the king off the throne in production year one.  

Motor Trend made the CTS car of the year. Besides, true allstars don't have to live on their rep, but jump out on the edge! BMW hasn't taken a chance in years with their 3-series. For me, it came down to a 335 or a CTS, and the CTS is a clear winner. Put these 2 cars side by side in a parking lot and see who gets the attention. The CTS is an All-Star! I know; I have een stopped a dozen or more times in the 2 months I've owned it; asking to see inside, sit inside, etc.

To me, it's the same as the MLB All-star game. you have the tired old veteran that is named on reputation, and the young slugger that produces results. This list of allstars is a yearly award, not a lifetime achievement award.  

The 3 Series remains a great car.  But... it used to be cutting edge, the pioneer of the "Sports Sedan" concept, and now that segment is full of competition.

Reputation definitely helps the 3 land at the top of the pack for most, but take the badges off the front and this segment is close enough to come down to personal taste and driving preferences.  

The fact is that the BMW 3 series has retained the car of the year title each year because it continues to exceed all other auto manufacturers in producing the most balanced, well thought out automobile in the market.  I am sure Automobile Magazine would give this title to another company if they could only step up to the plate and produce cars that surpass the calculated perfection found in BMW's.  

Remember the award is given out each year, so that means every company has the opportunity to win, but to date none have stepped up and delivered a more carefully crafted and executed vehicle than the BMW 3 series.

So I guess the thought should be, stop complaining about the 3 series always wining and instead bring a car to the table that can actually stand in the presence of the 3 series, and unfortunately to date this would not be a Cadillac.  

the award is given each year, I agree, but the magazine seems stuck in some distant past that demands the 3 sereis always receive an award. I don't feel it deserved it this year; instead it is the CTS that represents innovation and edge this year that BMW can't match; that is why I bought a CTS.  

I'm with everyone who thinks that BMW 3-series is just getting the awards it's getting just because it's tradition. I have driven an E46 generation 3-series, and I didn't feel anything special about it. Then again, I'm not an automotive jounalist with experience driving hundreds of cars. But for the price, I don't think the cars are worth it. I've always been a "bang for the buck" kind of guy, and the "high-end" German brands just don't have that kind of appeal.  

Look, the new CTS is a better car than Cadillac has ever built (sadly that's not saying much), but to think that it's better than the BMW after it's first real attempt in this segment is just dumb.  BMW created the sports sedan and has worked hard the past few decades perfecting it.  Cadillac on the other hand has been building senior citizen mobiles for the past few decades and only realized about 10 years ago that it's a dying market and started taking on the likes of BMW and Audi.  Give Cadillac another 20 years to catch up.  

Wow! Magazines bowing! Bang 4 The Buck!

I bought my first BMW because I saw a guy on a TV show drove a 6 series that I thought was beautiful. It was a grey market 635CSi with a close ration 5spd. I picked it up in Texas and drove home to Oregon.

I'd taken one for a test drive before deciding to buy one however, on the drive home I realized I'd left the world of "Plow Horses" behind and stepped through the door to Thoroghbreds. I can see you won't get that from a test drive.

A couple years later I began working in the real estate business so saddly I sold that car and bought a 535i. One rainy November night I was going down the freeway @ 65 when I "discovered" a drunk in a jacked up 4X4, spun around in my lane with his lights off. I only had enough time to utter a four letter word before I hit him.

With cars all around me, I never left my lane. The impact was so great (this was pre-airbags too) it shoved the front drivers side tire clear through the fenderwell into the cabin pinning and breaking my left ankle. My son, who was sleeping in the passenger seat woke up saying, "What the #%^@!"

Since then I've had a 325IS, 328CIC, 330CICA and I currently drive an 05 E46 M3 convertible.

American manufacturers have had the lead in technology, capability and work force pool since the 1800's. Don't get me wrong, I love America. But industry has squandered their gift. They have abdicated pride and quality for profits.

In my limited view of things, it doesn't appear there's any change coming on the horizon. The mouth comes from the "Old Guard" and until that changes, what trickles out the other end is still going to be #%@!.

There's this amazing new horizon called "Green." We have the brightest minds in the world here. So what inventions are we putting on the road?

It's been almost a year ago that BMW put a 7 series on the road running on Hydrogen (that's 2/3rds of a water molecule) that would shame a Cadillac in performance.

Bang 4 The Buck!?!? I'm alive today because I got my bang for the buck. A car so well constructed that in a 65 MPH frontal crash it bowed up and side ways, yet all I had was a broken foot and a boy who needed his mouth washed out with soap. (which I didn't do because I had just uttered the same word.)

I'd never bought a new car before I got my M3. I hate the depreciation. So I think I'll keep it until I die. Why? Well, as I said, it's my first new car (55yo when I bought it), I hate depreciation, but two things are the most important.

First, if I'm in an accident I'm in one of the safest cars ever built. And Second, that 535 I was driving was just under 300,000 miles when the accident happened, still ran like a Swiss watch, handled like it had just come off the show room floor, and was almost as tight as the day it left the assembly line.

I don't see that as a possibility from anything currently "Made In America," nor do I see it coming from Japan or any other country.

BMW has diligently pursued perfection for many years. How else could they design engines less then 200 cubic inches that out perform and out last the "competition?"

Automobile may derive advertising dollars from BMW. But from the number and variety of other advertisers it should be obvious to any reader their view of BMW comes from a true appreciation of the car rather then some "Pay-Back" for advertising with them.

Can someone get me a ladder? This soapbox ended up far higher then I anticipated!

PS: If I ever do buy another car, IT WILL BE A BMW. I too want the most bang for my buck.