Just curious if anyone here has owned or driven an m35/m45? Input such as driving experince and overall feel for this two models. Also what is the reliability factor. I went to g35driver but its been down for the past 3 days. Thanks to all who post thier experiences and knowledge of these cars. TIA BTW I did search and found nothing

 

Try freshalloy.com for Infiniti M forums.

I've been thinking about to buy an 06 Infiniti M45 or 04-05 Lexus LS430 in the last few weeks. I drove 4 M45s, 2 from an Infiniti dealer (CPO) and 2 from an independent dealer. All of them are Sport.

To me, the car feels very sporty, especially considering the weight (almost 2 tons!). It has plenty of torque, motor is very smooth, and the transmission shifts firmly and smoothly. The ride quality is very nice and tight, almost like a BMW. It turns eagerly, has good steering feedback, and has nice brakes.

The downsides of the car are a few: bad gas mileage, some odd logics (like you can't turn off the adaptive cruise control, memory seat doesn't work if the car's off, etc). The lane departure warning is also annoying. You can't program the Navi when the car's in motion, either.

If the car is equipped with DVD player, you can play a DVD Video on the Nav screen when the car's stopped. The DVD player also plays DVD Audio, but I'm not sure if it's a changer or a single disc player. The CD changer itself can play MP3.

 

I've been driving an M45 sport for 2 years.
From my experience after 2 years,
the pros:
- love the rims (19" sport rims)
- adaptive headlights
- Reliability has been excellent; no rattles, no issues, no oil burning, nothing to bring back for warranty work.
- Handles great
- Goes fast
- Navi system isn't as intuitive as Acura's, but is just as good (aside from the lockout and no nav-traffic)
- the 5.1 stereo is great
- I do my own basic maintenance since I have access to a lift...nothing exotic for an oil/filter change except having to remove a lot of screws to remove the plastic covers under the car.
- Adaptive cruise control CAN be turned off...you hold down the on/off button until the radar bars in the gauge cluster disappear and you have regular cruise.
- The lane departure can be turned off permanently too, but I have it on and don't think it's that annoying at all...in fact, I think it is too quiet.
- The navi is as good as any Acura navi, it's just not as intuitive and is locked out while in motion. But you can still control the navi with voice commands and it is a 3-step process to enter a destination in with voice commands...very easy.
- Backup cam with the prediction lines are great
- The seats aren't only ventilated, they are cooled (unlike the "ventilated" seats that just blow ambient air up your ass, the M's have little solid-state cooling units).
- Black paint has been holding up very well, even with several long highway trips over the years. It looks dirty when it's dirty, but looks hot when clean.

cons:
- Gas mileage...I get 14mpg with mostly city driving, up to 20mpg on the highway. When I did 50/50 from my old house, I was averaging 16-17mpg.
- Summer tires suck in winter, obviously. I change out to snows every winter.
- DVD drive location (for DVD audios) is in the center armrest, so it's a pain to change DVD-a's while driving.
- seat heaters get toasty, like, after 30 minutes, so it is slow to warm.
- rear brakes worn after 25k miles...while fronts still have 75% life left...I think this is a design flaw and is becoming more common since EBD is becoming standard (i have heard many of my friends with different cars, VW's, hondas, etc. having this same problem).


Overall, I love this car and think the pros outweigh the cons. At lease end, I will contemplate purchasing the car, but am leaning towards an MDX instead for the utility (which I am beginning to need more and more of, as well as not having to deal with changing summer tires out).

 

those cons (besides mileage) seem very trivial....more annoying tha real cons. As far as the mileage...well it's a V8. I am sure you knew what you were getting into when you bought it.

I think the M45 is the deal of the century as far as luxury sedans are concerned. It is a pretty perfect car. No real complaints from what I have read. One of my partners just bought one and he can't stop talking about it....and this is a guy who just a porsche to go along with it for the summer .

 

I forgot to add as a "pro" that this is a very roomy car. The classification based on interior volume is actually "large car" per the EPA (same class as 7-series, S-class, etc.), but it doesn't drive as a big car...the sport version anyway. I don't know about the other verisons.

 

would you recommend this car to people looking in this category?

 

which category?

If someone is looking in the full-size luxury sedan segment (s-class, 7-series, etc.), I would not recommend the M because it's only competitive in size, but not in amenities since it's price range is only mid-luxury.

But if someone is looking at midsize luxury sedans and can care less about a propeller or star on the hood, the M is a great choice.

 

I don't own one, but I was previously in the repair biz and we catered to people who drove nicer vehicles and saw a fair amount of M's. They needed normal scheduled maintenance but I don't think I've ever seen anything break or cause problem on an M. In its class, it would be my number one pick - I just wish they put a manual in it .

Comparing the LS430 to the M is an apples to oranges comparison, the LS430 is more luxurious, higher quality materials(in particular with the premium leather), quieter vehicle. The M is sportier and more involving drivers car. If I could only have one car I would want the M45 sport, if I could keep my S2000, I would go with the LS430.

 

I went looking at these with someone and the salesman told me that Infiniti is looking to compete with the 7-series and Lexus LS with the M45.

 

LOL, being a car salesman requires a pulse and a driver's license and that's about it. I know because I was one in college and there are no disaffected rocket scientists working at a car dealer I assure you.

 

that salesman is an idiot. my local dealer the salesmen handed me a brochure that was taken out of a Car & Driver comparison that pitted the M vs lexus GS, benz Eclass, bmw 5 series, audi a6 etc

 

That's what I told him. and I quote "Infiniti is going to lose that battle"

He disagreed

 

mrdeeno, I stand corrected. The adaptive cruise control can be disabled. Although I believe the laser gun still emits the laser beam for its pre-collision detector and can't be disabled, correct?

Do you use radar detector? If you do, is it annoying or do you have a way to disable the car's laser?

 

I have only used the adaptive cruise control on a handful of occasions, and it does get a little 'freaky', but more because of the highways I usually drive on than the system itself. I live near jersey where if there is 2 car lengths between you and the car in front of you, someone will merge into it, and you can imagine how the cruise control would freak out in cases like that. It has 3 range settings and i usually keep it on the lowest range.

But i have also used it on a drive down to Virginia and when there is regular traffic on the freeways (as in not many people cutting in and out and merging and what not every 1/2 mile), it works fine.

The pre-collision part doesn't do anything unless you are going to collide, and it only "prepares" the brakes and cinches the seat belts. it won't apply braking like the RL's precollision system (although it will apply brakes if you have the adpative cruise control system on and set). If you have the cruise control on but the adaptive part turned off and aren't watching what you are doing, it'll rear end the car in front of you.

 

but infiniti has a similar problem with acura. because neither carmaker has a true flagship sedan, there are a number of people that believe the M and RL are supposed to compete with the 7, S, LS, etc.

 

Infiniti had a 'Q' up until the end of 2007, so at least there is a spot for the 'Q' to return, which has been rumored. Acura has never had such a flagship, so it would be brand spanking new territory for them.

 

yea, i know the Q will eventually come back.

but i'm just saying that there are lot of buyers that don't know that and see the M as the 7 series-type flagship since it's the biggest sedan.

<----- highly anticipating news of the new Q, by the way.

 

Mrdeeno thanks for your response, I was hoping to get feedback from someone like yourself, that has been driving one for a while. Is there any reason you got the M45 over the M35?100 horsepower is a lot of extra ponies. I am not worried to much about gas milage otherwise I would keep the TL. Again , thanks for your input. And NO, I do not feel the 4G Tl will be what some pf us hope it will be.

 

I think the difference is only 50 HP. M35 is rated at 275 HP and M45 at 325 HP.

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the M... even the first gen... And while only about 1 out of 10 FX's sold were "45's"... It seems that they actually sold a good amount of M45's (in comparison to the FX's ratio of 45/35)

 

The M45 HP is slightly higher, but the big benefit of the V8 over a V6 is torque, and it makes a pretty big difference considering how heavy the car is. The reason I went with a V8 over a V6 is because I could afford it and wanted the bigger engine. Had the RL had a V8, I would probably be driving one of those right now.