My new G8 doesn't lurch at all. Just smooth down shifts as I come to a stop.

What I miss from the GXP is the way that tranny stayed in clutch lockup when you lifted off the accelerator, giving you better engine braking.

 

I went to a local dealer a couple weeks ago to check out the G8 as I'll be replacing the 335i before too long. I honestly wasn't as impressed as I hoped I'd be. I like the roominess and the looks, but the quality isn't quite as high as I had hoped it would be. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty nice overall package and is a lot of performance for the money, but when I sat in it and shut the door it wasn't nearly as solid feeling as my 335i is. It made a tinny noise when I shut the door and didn't feel all that substantial. I did think it had a pretty big trunk and back seat though.

Another thing is that the seat bolster for the leg folded under my leg when I climbed into the driver's seat of the car. The leather felt kind of worn and cheap as well, but that could have been from all the showroom traffic and kids climbing in and out of it or something.

I could look past my minor gripes for a GXP with a manual trans, but doing a search in the area there are none and there will probably be none left by the time I am ready to buy in another few months. I'll probably end up getting another 335i or possibly a used '09 CTS-V.

 

Mine is also Maverick Silver Metallic, and I definitely agree!

 

My last car before the G8 was a 07 335i Coupe, so I know how you feel. Look at it this way; if they used the same quality level of materials as the 335i, the G8 GT would probably have to retail for $60,000.

 

Yup, GM, write this down. Kick a** RWD V8 sport sedans with 360+ horses sell great with a near $10,000 discount or 0% financing for 72 months.

The G8 is an outstanding car. I wish I was in the position to buy one with the deals out there right now, but I think the fact it's a steal right now is selling it as much as its merit at this point. Enthusiasts just can't resist that car at that price.

 

For the kind of quality you're benchmarking the G8 against, I would suggest looking at a Cadillac, except that Caddy doesn't put an LS3 variant into the CTS. I think GM is missing out on some sales here. Put the VVT 403hp 6.2 into a CTS and they then compete in a new market niche.

 

 

To be honest the CTS interior quality isn't that hot IMO either. A person I work with has a CTS 4 with all the bells and whistles, and the console squeaks like a SOB and the driver's seat broke and put the car out of commission for a week! It does also not appear to have aged all that well inside either, but it does have the tan interior...

 

Not being sarcy here but it is interesting to see what price people put on quality. Customers comparing the G8 to a 335i is the sort of thing GM would only dream about.

As an aside, I thought the G8 was perceived as being one of GM's quality benchmarks (the other being the 5G Camaro) given some of the comments from our NA friends?

It just goes to show, GM still has room to move to catch up to the competition in the area of perceived quality.

 

while i like the G8 the materials used in it could be of higher quality.

 

Congrats on your new G8, I love G8s and have really been debating on getting one.

I think the G8 GXP should have came with an upgraded interior....The show car interior would have been perfect for the GXP.


or this, SEMA car interior

 

My point was that the materials quality of the G8 is perfectly in keeping with it's price-point. I think the BMW is overpriced. On the other hand, if you can sell every one you make, is it really overpriced?

 

I was on the fence about buying a G8 for a while but ultimately decided I liked the benefits of my POS '97 T-bird (more or less a free car for me). That was all turned upside down last month when I was T-boned by a Dodge Ram 4x4. On a side note, side impacts are NOT a T-bird's forte, the passenger side door armrest became the driver's (my) armrest.

To replace the POS with another DD I chose the G8 GT in Maverick Silver Metallic with the sport and premium package.

The G8 is a fantastic sport sedan for the money. I have not noticed ANY issues with the IP reflections. The fit and finish of the interior is really good with a few exceptions (like the A piller to dash corner). The perforated leather seems like MUCH better quality than typical GM leather but time will ultimately tell. The **** controlled recline on the seats isn't a good idea. They're awkward to adjust for me when sitting in the seat (and how do you effectively adjust when not in the seat?) and almost impossible for my g/f who's pretty tiny and doesn't have the strength at such a weird angle.

The trunk and back seat are the point of buying a car like this and they don't disappoint. It's a VERY usable DD, especially that back seat.

I really like the styling. I'm a function before form kind of guy so the hood scoops and side vents are a little weird but I think they are visually integrated very well. I feel the look of the car is aggressive while still maintaining class. It's tasteful not gaudy like all the bumps, bulges, and holes that are tacked onto LS1 4th gen TA's (much less WS6 TA's).

The radio sounded really bad to my ears. Cranking the gain up on the sub amp, not using the preset EQ settings, and cranking the bass and high frequencies to help drown out the massive amount of midrange helped immensely.

The exhaust did too good of a job hiding what you're spending money on. The stock exhaust is whisper quiet. Please realize that I am NOT the type of person that wants an obnoxious or even loud car, especially in a DD. The stock exhaust was so tame that I had a cat-back on order, literally, the next day (I don't have the time to fabricate my own right now). I'm not a fan of the Corsa sound on performance cars but I think the reserved sound fits this car's personality great. It's reserved (and everything post gen-2 is anyway) but at least now it has a conservative burble at idle, hardly noticeable at cruise, and an almost exotic WOT sound. If you have a 6.0 liter under the hood you should be able to enjoy the sounds when it's appropriate IMO.

I have not had issues with the transmission lurching. I've been surprised how well the automatic tranny engine brakes such a large car. It's comfortable. It's perfect for a grocery getter. It's awfully boring. The manumatic mode is a complete joke. Does anybody really get use out of these? The lack of a manual transmission ultimately takes a huge chunk out of the fun factor of such a car. For the record I DID look at the GXP. Dealers wouldn't take less than MSRP Add to that fact that you have to pay for a bunch of crap that adds only marginally to the performance, gets an automatic $1700 tax increase, and sucks fuel even worse, it really starts to take away from the bargain factor. The clutch is a little unnerving in the GXP too. Beside all of that it's pointless to have a $40k car that's still slower and duller than my redneck-mobile Firebird.I will be swapping in a manual when I have time but that'll also mean swapping rear gears and I really hate setting those up

The one thing that isn't fantastic about this car is the fuel economy but even with just a 1000 miles on the odo I did get 25.8 mpg (not measured but read from the slightly limited DIC info) on the hwy. I need to tune this car with the wideband to get all the missing power and enable lean cruise and I think it'll be perfect. You can't complain too much for such a bigass car.

Power is good. The power delivery of gen 3 and 4 smallblocks is even more deceiving when it's pushing so much weight but it's more than ample. Like any automatic equipped car it has its good and bad speed spots to mash it. It's not a rocket ship but for a four door DD this thing wants to get up and go on the highway more than such a large car should.

Steering feel is really good. For normal driving this car quite enjoyable to drive. Passing, changing lanes, etc. is great. Don't get it in your head this car is a real performance car however. It leans and strains when you start to push it at all. You have to muscle all this mass when tackling anything that resembles fun corners. Again, you can't complain with such a bigass car but don't expect a Corvette or even pony car type handling. My slightly portly for me Firebird absolutely feels like a go-kart compared to this thing when it comes time to drive truly spiritedly. Of course this is also where the slushbox eliminates what little confidence you can have when pushing through corners. They could've tuned in a little less understeer for my liking. We'll see how it handles snow and ice (with all weather tires of course).

Suspension damping is overall pretty good. It's firm but far from abusive, which is exactly where my comfort zone is. It does however shudder under more types of bumps than I'd prefer. I'm sure the sprung mass really helps the ride but other than the aforementioned occasional shudder, it's perfect for a DD.

Chassis feels really rigid. Get back to me in 100k miles though.

Brakes have great modulation. There's a little bit of travel and then you modulate the braking with pressure more than pedal travel. Feedback is comforting. I had to emergency brake for deer on the road and the brakes hauled this bad boy down admirably. It doesn't nose dive as much as I thought it would when comparing to body lean in corners. Looking at the power, size of the car, and size of the brakes I have a hunch I could get these things to fade without too much effort on a track but again this is a sport sedan.

Overall it's the perfect DD for the money for someone like me but it IS ruined by the lack of a manual transmission. I am perpetually annoyed how such a great SPORT sedan is NOT offered with a transmission that makes the act of driving engaging. I'm not here to incite the automatic hopeful but this car desperately needs a manual and the GXP is most definitely not the answer. The G8 GT with a manual would be an utterly perfect DD sport sedan for the money. This car is soooo usable while also also being really fun to drive, at least up to the point of being aggressive. I would've bought without a flinch if it was offered with a manual and I'm only slightly annoyed that this was my best option when I HAD to buy a car to replace the DD.

 

Our 2009 had the low speed transmission issue described (GM has a TSB they address with a reflash). After the update it's much improved, but still not where it should be.

The car still feels as if the converter is locked up or that it still has second gear selected when slowing down at 5mph wanting to push the car forward on occasion. Then if one doesn't come to an absolute complete stop (rolling through) one will press the gas, car will hesitate, then it selects 1st gear and takes off like a rabid ape.

Hard to believe that the bus like transmission in my 2002 truck (Allison) is better programed for all situations than a transmission in a sport sedan in year 2009.

 

I just bought a 09 G8 GT in PSM. I love the car so far. No issues as yet. I've not ridden in a newer BMW, so I don't know what I'm missing as far as quality materials go. I do know that it is light years ahead of my '01 T/A WS6. And much better than my rattle trap '06 Civic which was totaled about a month back. I don't mind the A6 (which is shift-happy at times), although a manual option would have been nice. Who knows if GM would've made it with DI or not, or if it would have gotten the same MPG rating? The GXP was a little out of my price range anyway.

I'll probably go cat-back and CAI as well. 25.8 mpg (based off of the trip cpu) in a V8 car this heavy is pretty good IMO.

Again, I love it. And it is so nice to be back in a GM auto.