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I looked at the X5 vs the FX when I purchased. The X5 was almost wholly inferior. I have seen the new X3 in person and It just doesn't seem to stack up well. It is slower all around. doesn't break as well but does seem to handle just as well but with a worse ride quality. Seeing as this is a new BMW it probably won't be discounted much so you could get a FX35 tech or base FX45 for about the same price for a 3.0 well equipped. At that point I think the X3 is a poor value comparitively. I also belive the FX has more rear seat room than the X3. I hope the real redesign of the X5 goes better than the intro of the X3.
I never would have posted anything if the above had been posted in context of the FX thread, instead of a review of a vehicle that seems to have never seen in person or driven.
(He now goes quietly away)
And, in the last summary paragraph, they were puzzled as to why BMW would bother bringing the X3 to market.
But I will give it a good look at the auto show this week so I can be an Real Expert in the future as per my web responsibilities.
JNRAS08U*3X 000014 - 002021
JNRAS08U*3X 100001 - 103411
JNRAS08W*3X 000028 - 004170
JNRAS08W*3X 200001 - 208109
JNRBS08W*3X 000051 - 003595
JNRBS08W*3X 400001 - 404688
I was just quoted $40,380 for a brand new FX45 - premium package, splash guard, cross bar, luggage protector. MSRP (with destination) is $47,590. It is red on black. Sounds like a decent deal? Also .9% for 36 months.
What da ya guys (and gals) think?
Kris
I stuck the key into the SHIFT LOCK override button and nothing happened.
Finally, the shifter moved to DRIVE with a terrible ratcheting sound.
My FX shifts normally once in DRIVE but two things are screwed up.
First, there is no MANUAL shift capability. The Shifter will not move to the Right +/- Gate.
Second, after putting the stick in PARK, the ignition switch will many times not go into the OFF Position, and I must leave the car with it beeping continuously.
Going in to the dealer Thursday, but have any of you experienced this problem?
It's all tied in with the SHIFT/BRAKE INTERLOCK
SYSTEM.
Thanks
Just my $.02.
(And yes, why are there posts regarding the X3 in the FX35/45 thread?
BTW yall- I had the brake caliper recall taken care of today & it took about 45 minutes combined with an oil change....they just re-torque the front bolts.
I now can get the "key" to go completely to the left to the OFF position, and that's tied in to the PARK position of the shifter.
The only symptom now is the inability to move the stick to the MANUAL gate.
It could be as simple as an "adjustment".
It reminds me of the 60's, when I had two 64 GTOs, and the stock shifter mechanism on the Muncie four-speed had rods with slide adjustments. It wasn't hard to get those out of whack.
Buying the Hurst shifter retrofit kit solved those problems because it had threaded rods.
How simple things were in those days. You could work on about 90% of the car yourself.
Now I doubt I would try to work on even 10% of the FX. Even if I had a breakout box (code reader), I would be challenged to replace the offending part.
We'll let you know the outcome Thursday. The dealer picked the date because there were no loaner cars available until then.
Thanks.
I have had such a list of dealers for my other cars - in case I want or need service along the way.
I just refilled the gas tank for the first time on my '04 FX35 and noticed the print on the refill door -- that unleaded gas is required but premium recommended.
Have any of you actually tried using less than 91 octane gas? Did you suffer any consequences re: performance or mileage? I don't push my vehicles to the performance limit, so the price difference at the pump (especially in Southern California) would be significant!
Infiniti Consumer Affairs
P.O. Box 191
Gardena, CA 90248
800.662.6200
9:00am - 6:00pm Eastern / Central Time
8:00am - 5:00pm Pacific Time
Otherwise I would suggest looking up a dealer in each of the major cities you will be driving through - or just rely on the free road servce that came with your Infiniti and call them if you have any problems.
"Roadside Assistance Program – Infiniti's 24-hour roadside assistance is like a best friend at the other end of a toll-free line. Should you ever require roadside mechanical assistance of any kind, Infiniti Roadside Assistance is at your service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.** Simply call 1-800-662-6200 from anywhere in the continental U.S. and help will be on the way.
Trip Interruption Benefits – In the unlikely event that your Infiniti experiences a breakdown more than 100 miles from home, an Infiniti representative can also authorize Trip Interruption Benefits** covering such costs as transportation, lodging and meals for you and your companions. You can rest assured that no matter how unexpected the circumstances, your driving experience will always be as worry-free as possible."
Any other factors that I need to be aware of between the two?
http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_- id=3604
They used regular unleaded in a BMW M3, which took a small hit in performance; scanty, you're right about the knock sensors in newer cars. They adjust the timing to the peak flamability of the gas in the cylinder. And the octane in the gas should have nothing to do with the amount of impurities in the gas -- that's probably dependent on the brand of fuel, not its octane rating.
I think I'll just stick to the expensive stuff. It shouldn't make a difference of more than a couple hundred bucks a year, anyway.
As the article points out:
"Cheapskates burning regular in cars designed to run on premium fuel can expect to trim performance by about the same percent they save at the pump. If the car is sufficiently new and sophisticated, it may not suffer any ill effects, but all such skinflints should be ready to switch back to premium at the first sign of knock or other drivability woes."
Wibble & Scanty- my point wasn't that there are more impurities in lower octane gasoline but that inefficient combustion may cause carbon buildup. Apparently, knock sensors prevent this from occurring, as you pointed out.
Bankeizen-
Have you driven both the 45 & 35? When I did my test drive I drove both & thought the 45 was just so much more fun that I couldn't settle for the 35. That's not to say the 35 is by any means under-powered, it isn't. I'm afraid now that I'll never be able to own a 6 banger again unless it's turbo-charged. I see from the other threads that you are considering several vehicles. Please let us know how your decision process goes.
I would greatly appreciate commentary on this issue as I may be making a mountain of a mole hill. To me safety is always the first issue.
to petewad3: I haven't driven the 45 yet because I found the sport suspension on the 35 to be too harsh for me and I beleive the 45 comes with a sport suspension, though I have been told they have mellowed it a bit for 2004. Hopefully, this weekend I will get the time to do some test driving.
1) Got a dealer-installed, Infiniti-supplied XM satellite radio. Love it, but the nav lcd screen will only show ten letters of the artist or title. Anyone had this problem or know of a fix I can relay to the dealer? Right now Infiniti and XM are saying there is nothing wrong with the unit.
2) When I back out of the drive and put the car in drive, as I accelerate past 10 mph a "tinny" clank originating in the front end happens 95% of the time. Dealer cannot find a problem. Again, anyone heard of this problem?
Overall, this is one of the most fun cars I have ever owned.
Debating to take it in for that.
Set the rearview as your normally would; lean your head all the way to the left so it touches the driver's window. From that position, set your left side-view mirror so you can see the back corner of your car. Now lean the same distance the other way, and set your right side-view mirror the same way. Now, here's what happens.
When a car comes up behind you, you should first see it in your rearview mirror. But as it passes you (let's say on your left), you'll see it move to the left side of your rearview mirror. And as its left headlight disappears from your rearview mirror, it should instantly show up in your left side-view mirror. There should be no delay. It should slip from one to the other, so you can always see it.
You probably already know to do this but I thought I would just go ahead and post the how to anyway.
The shift quirk was a matter of "out of adjustment", but this is the third and hopefully final stop for the AM radio outage.
After taking apart the rear interior section, and conferring with "Infinti Tech", they found an "open" in the AM antenna cable up front in the firewall area. A new cable is on order.
In the meantime, I get to drive a G35 Sedan loaner!
I never have had the opportunity to test the ubiquitous Nissan V-6, winner of Ward's Best Engine awards for over a decade.
Hey, this is the V-6 that thinks it's a V-8! This engine begs to rev compared to my 45.
I can chirp the tires at will.
And while my tranny seems lost at mid-throttle, a slight push on the throttle on this G brings in a kickdown that threatens to tear my head off!
Makes me wonder what one of these with a six-speed could do and I think 0-60 in the high 5's would be no problem.
That is a great performnance for the $$$.
Compared with the FX, it definitely has a "lighter" feel, and the ride is softer but not nearly as isolated from engine and exterior noise.
As fun as the FX, but not a head turner. It looks just like a bunch of sedans.
Maybe it's the stealth "quiet killer".
The Civic and Eclipse will never know what happened!
Also, the clang you hear is the ABS self-check that occurs at every startup. It is normal. I called my dealer I this when I first purchased and they new exactly what I was describing.
I'm not sure what you mean here. Sounds like your saying the NAV unit will show the entire title/artist. What are you referring to in the statement above? Are you saying the dealer can see the whole title on a NON-Nav unit? I only see the truncated title on mine?
For FX's without a navigation system, the lcd will show channel, artist and title all at the same time and in the middle of the screen.
On FX's with a navigation system, both the XM and Sirius artist and title info is at the bottom of the screen and you have to manually scroll through channel, artist and title to view this info one mode at a time. It is my understanding that for both XM and Sirius the title and artist is truncated to 10 characters, but in the case of Sirius-equipped unit, the entire title or artist can be viewed by turning the tuning knob while in the artist or title mode. This does not work on an XM-equipped unit. Hope this is clearer.