General STS thread

Non-repair car talk
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General STS thread

Post by kevm14 »

So after buying the E55 in early June, the STS really didn't see much use. Then it broke and I waited a while to fix it. Finally I did (after, uh, breaking it even further) and I've driven it to work twice now. How does it compare to the E55? Let's begin.

First, this is a first year STS so 2 model years newer than the basic W211/E55 design which came out in 2003. However the cars themselves are only 1 model year apart. The STS has 155k (just turned) and the E55 has about 133k. So really they are pretty close as cars go. Also, while the E55 was clearly a very expensive car at $80k or so, the STS was no economy car with an MSRP somewhere in the $63k range as it is configured.

Exterior
I almost didn't bother. I actually still like the STS's design overall. This shouldn't be too surprising as I own 3 Sigma Art & Science cars. But it still looks good. I think the STS-V looks better with the tweaks to the front end. I also admit that from certain angles the STS seems like just a dumpy old Cadillac but from other angles you can really see something visually appealing and upscale. The E55 in black presents as something entirely different, maybe even a little older school. As far as "is that car cool or impressive" there's no doubt the E55 gets the nod here, but only because it is an AMG.

Door handles. What I mean is the keyless interface. I miss having the lock button on the STS after getting used to it on the E55. So I prefer the keyless system in the E55 because it works exactly the same on all 4 doors. The STS is also a good system (and I would say more simple) but I think Mercedes beat them here. For what it's worth, it was an option even on my E55 and it was standard on ALL STSs, even base V6 ones. So I definitely have to give GM some credit here. I believe it was also standard on all C6 Corvettes (same rocker switch even).

GM had factory remote start on the STS and the Germans did not believe in that at the time. However I almost never use it unless I am like clearing snow in anticipation of driving the car then it is convenient to remote start it.

Interior
I was mentioning this to Bob the other day. The STS interior actually feels quite a bit more modern to me. The E55 almost feels like 90s to me though that's not necessarily a bad thing. It has a low cowl and tall greenhouse that makes it feel that way. The STS feels sort of a generation newer but I'm not saying the quality is better. But honestly I don't find the quality all that much worse, either. This was probably GM's best interior of the 2000s and they spent a lot of money on it. I don't know that the W211 is known for being Mercedes best interior. The steering wheel is much larger in the STS but also has a thicker rim. The gauge cluster is very clean though the E55 again looks more upscale, MOSTLY, except for those stupid LCD bars on the sides for temp and gas level. I find the infotainment of the STS more modern and better overall. Stepping from a car with no nav to one with nav (and I am sure the STS had the better system anyway) also enhances this feeling, even if it is all terrible by Google Maps standards or whatever.

Other interior features include seats. The seats are more comfortable on the E55 while also being more supportive. This is an obvious win. However, the STS has two tricks up its sleeve: the seat heaters work better (and it has them in the REAR), and the seat ventilation also works better. It heats faster, holds the temp better, etc. Oh and it has a heated steering wheel, an option missing on my (Georgia) E55. I used this both days.

Visibility doesn't really feel worse in the STS even though the cowl is higher and the greenhouse is lower. Part of this is because the side mirrors are much better on the STS. The side mirrors on the E55 are actually kind of bad. They are small and start immediately at the door rather than go out farther so the blind spot is rather large.

Speaking of old stuff, the STS has factory bluetooth. I added it to the E55 with, admittedly, a factory type accessory. There are a couple differences. The E55 has a physical keypad which I've actually used to join conference calls (dial the passcode). The STS has a virtual one on the touchscreen and also doesn't let you input anything while you are moving over like 4 mph. The STS does show actual reception within the bluetooth display I just discovered. The E55 shows reception but just 1 bar all the time. The audio performance of the E55 is superior. I think I am much clearer and there is little or no echo.

STS also has some stuff that I really miss on the E55 aside from what I've mentioned. The auto high beam dimming. The ability to just flick the ring on the stalk and turn on the fog lights even when the headlights are in auto. Can't do that on the E55 because German engineering. You have to manually turn the headlight switch out of auto and two clicks to the right and then pull out to turn on the fogs. This is exactly like having manual headlights, which defeats the entire purpose. They help night visibility a little so I often just suck it up but wtf. Auto headlights are nothing new and it should not make me do all that just to use the fog lights.

Climate control lets you sync so you can control everything with one knob. On the E55 you have to control all 4 zones individually. Kind of like the auto headlights, this means a lot of fiddling if you want to change the temp. Now maybe you can just change the driver's temp and the car knows to bias the interior temp to that setting but I find myself either changing ALL 4 temps, or more commonly, just leaving it on 70F permanently because it turns out this is comfortable all the time.

Audio. I really just prefer the BOSE in the STS. I think it sounds more balanced. Harman Kardon seems to heavily color the sound and I still find it shrill and offensive. It sounds fine for music but the BOSE sounds more like a reference system. It's just better. The E55 can get pretty loud, too, and may actually have a bit more thump to the sub, but it has no loudness curve so there is pretty much no bass until you crank up the volume. BOSE just dominates here. Again, this was probably GM's best BOSE sound system (or best sound system period) at the time so keep that in mind. The E55 is better than the SRX and I'd have to do a real side by side with the CTS-V to figure it out.

To be continued.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General STS thread

Post by kevm14 »

Powertrain
Surprisingly this is a little bit of a mixed bag. There is no comparison for power or throttle response. E55 all day long, no question. However, the transmission is irritating in the E55. In the STS, you never really notice it. It just does its thing and is smooth basically all the time. The E55 always locks up the converter so there are always big RPM swings between each shift and plenty of firm shifting all over the place. Which reminds me. The shift algorithms on the E55 suck. They intended it to be a learning thing but I much prefer the consistency on the STS. I think GM did it right. You have a sport mode and it WILL detect spirited driving and hold RPMs but otherwise its just shifts at the right time all the time. The E55 will sometimes lug itself even at some substantial feeling throttle positions, or sometimes downshift when you weren't expecting it. It's annoying. They had to get fancy and do this adaptive crap and I don't really like it. The STS-V would have been a very nice overall compromise here, FWIW.

All that said, when you get into the throttle in the E55, damn, it's a beast. The STS has adequate power and it's funny to say that about 320 hp though it's a heavy AWD sedan. I don't think I could stand having less performance in a daily driver, which is why I am never going to be in the market for some old junk as a winter beater, not to mention all the other stuff it has that I enjoy.

Chassis/Brakes
As far as the suspension and handling, I still feel like the STS is superior here. Yes the E55 has these summer Continentals so I think the grip must be higher. But the STS is mostly better at everything else. The steering is FAR superior. It's actually not close. The ratio is better, the on center feel is better, the response is better. Again, it uses a premium ZF steering rack but it was certainly worth it. Going down the road the E55 feels more refined in terms of NVH but I think a lot of that is the bad engine mounts on the STS. But maybe there is something to the air suspension. That said, I prefer the combo of coil springs + MR shocks on the STS to air springs + adjustable shocks on the E55. The STS feels pretty comfortable over bumps but the MR system works to quell any bouncing before it has a chance to start. In Comfort on the E55, it can be a little bouncy. Overall, the STS is the superior achievement - their MR stuff is world class, even the early gen in my STS. Yes they are expensive but it's not like the E55 has a cheap suspension. Quite the opposite. I will really have to judge after my new tires and alignment on the STS. The E55 feels relaxed more like a B-body, which is totally fine for a daily driver by the way. But the STS feels like you might actually want to toss it around. The E55 will turn but it's never really happy doing so. And again, even in a straight line, the STS is better with more precise steering and less input required to keep it going straight or overall follow the road.

The brakes on the E55 are certainly more powerful with fixed calipers all around and bigger rotors. In practice, the Sensotronic brake by wire doesn't have great feel and has a fair amount of dead travel. I actually had no issue switching to the STS brakes for commute type driving. Under harder use I'm sure the bigger brakes on the E55 would become obvious. The E55 also dusts like crazy in the front but I assume I could get some different pads someday.

If I think of anything else I'll post.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General STS thread

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 3:33 pm Coolant hasn't budged since the second top off.
No it's still leaking. Not very quickly but is leaking. I added a little just now. I'll create a new thread when I figure out what it is. Seems to be leaking from the front right of the engine bay but that could be deceiving due to the way it is parked (front right a little lower than everything else).

Hopefully it's not the radiator. Or maybe it's finally the water pump? It's not obvious but I do think it's a leak rather than the engine ingesting coolant.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General STS thread

Post by kevm14 »

Decided to polish the headlights after the SRX.

I did 1000, 2000, (then I think more 1000...), machine compound, isopropyl and ceramic coating.
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: General STS thread

Post by kevm14 »

Just sold the STS for what I was asking: $2800. Ad was posted for 21 hours.

Here is the ad for posterity.

I'll post the story maybe. Kind of....interesting.
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Attachments
2005 Cadillac STS V8 AWD - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle....pdf
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