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However, and I state for the record, I love both cars for different reasons. Jag service has been superior so far. They give you a better car as a loaner so you want that one instead. The only bad loaner was a Ford Taurus and that was faster than the X-Type. LOL. The other loaners were 390hp cars.
The G35 is REALLY fun to drive. Can anyone have too much fun driving this car? Once it gets AWD, Jag AWD X-Type sales may fall. There is simply no comparison except that the Jag looks better and people "think" you are driving a 60k+ car. You also have to worry about some kid stealing your pricey hood ornament to wear on his neck!
BTW: The official word from dealers is that Sat radio still isn't available for the G35, but they're (partially) wrong. The only part they're waiting for is a "sub-harness," which in fact is a 1-2 foot extension cord for the existing pre-wiring. Now, note that not all G35's are truly pre-wired, only those after a certain VIN range (210827 for the Coupe, unsure about the Sedan).
E-mail me with questions, if you'd like.
BMW has a lease right now that's got a money factor of 0.0012., which translates to 2.88%. Not bad but not amazing.
BMW also has multiple security deposits that you can buy (up to 10) to take .0001 off a money factor. Each deposit is based on the payment rounded up to the nearest $50. I bought 10. Thus my money factor became 0.0003. Or a bit over 0.7%. The best parts: my total out of pocket over 3 years will be 17200. I get the 5k in security deposits back at the end of the lease...or I can use them toward the car's buyout. And if I buyout the bimmer then, they make it a certified pre-owned so I get special bmw financing and a 100k warranty. Even better, of the 15k I planned on dropping on either new car, now I have 10 I can drop into other money makers rather than a car. I did the math with the bimmer and I come out a good 3-4k ahead at 3 years rather than if I bought it at a 2.9% 60 month loan and sold it at 36 months.
So with that difference I found myself looking at the G35 MT with premium (probably about 31k before TTL). Huge price gap I know. The G's an amazing car for the money but after 3 test drives in 330s with manuals (finally the performance package), I knew I found home regardless of price. The handling's razor sharp, engine supremely smooth, 6 speed crisp and this one always played against the G...I've been dearly in love with the shape of the 3 series sedans since 1998.
The G fit nicely and wowed me with that power and pretty impressive suspension. The 330i felt like nirvana.
Sounds like a motivated dealer, and BMW dealers are usually not.
Did you get your financing through BMW?
What was the price range? I bet 45k minimum!
MSRP was 43k+. They sold it at under 40k. $400 over invoice. The car still had plastic and cardboard in it when I drove it the first time.
Yes, I went through BMWFS because they have that insanely low MF of 0.0012 (through June 3rd) and then with the MSDs you can buy it down to 0.0003.
BMW is changing the MSDs program at the end of June so one can only buy 5 certificates, not 10.
Two friends who have worked for dealerships shook their heads and said that was an insane deal. Good guys at Cunningham too. Patient, polite, though nobody mentioned the MSDs. LOL Of course not, BMW barely makes a dime on the car's financing then.
I haven't seen spy shots or any auto show introduction of this. Maybe its because of what I thought when I saw it. Who would want it?
And shouldn't the license plate be down in the bumper, with a smooth trunk/liftgate to match the other two cars in the G35 lineup?
The car is at the dealer now and they gave me an I35 which seems slower (maybe heavier) and has far more body roll. BTW - the car vibrates and has the same "buzzing" sound people mention in most I35 posts. Anyone have this issue with the G35?
What are the engine differences between the G35 and the I35? I thought the two cars have the same engines? They definitely do NOT drive the same and the G35 seems far superior.
The g35 is built on the FM platform with a near 50/50 weight distribution, RWD, 5 speed auto and all indie suspension tuned for hard driving.
One aims to compete with Buicks, the other is designed to take on BMW.
Anyways, I suspect the G35 being RWD further reduces the chances of overwhelming the brakes since you don't have the same units stopping the drive wheels in addition to handling more of the braking load like you do in a FWD vehicle.
Honestly, I can't say that I've seen many cars with under-engineered brakes in the last decade or so. IMO, the 80's was a good time to own a specialty brake shop. A lot more heavy FWD's around with small rotors on the fronts.
I have 11k on my G and ordered brake pads just to have them. They took 1 week. I picked them up today and found out the above. I've scheduled an oil change for next week and to get a handle on how much pad I have left.
They went on to explain that the sport brakes in the G are like the BMW, Audi and are designed for superior braking. However, they will wear out quicker. Also, the rotors should be changed at the same time as the pads. Around 25-30k. If the pads go quicker, around 10-15k, they will not replace the rotors. The rotors are designed to wear quick, but not warp. Although, I've read about some G owners w/ warped rotors. So I dunno.
Don
Thanks for explaining the differences Blueguydotcom and Stebu.
There is an M45 Sedan as fredmcmurray mentions. It is another outstanding Infinity model if one wants to spend that much.
Regarding the brakes, they stop the shortest of most makes and models (except for the Corvette). My rotors are warped on a used G with 6,600 miles. The brake pads are severly worn, as well. Someone beat this car, but the engine seems fine.
There must be a reason why the parts are on backorder, right?
My service "professional" indicates he sees a lot of warped rotors on the G35 and on the I35 (even if not the same car). He indicates that Infinity/Nissan is reluctant to issue a recall at this time due to "unspecified" reasons.
Maybe the Edmunds editors can examine this issue in a long-term road test so we can all obtain objective facts? Hint hint......
I have had no problems w/ my G. Some brake noise that seems to come and go. Right now they aren't making noises. Lots of rain in Virginia, so it leads me to believe the noise is related to a build up of brake dust. I'm approaching the brake wear issue proactively. I really don't want to drive the loaners for any extended period of time. Hence, the purchase of the pads.
Don
The shifter assembly cylinders also have a tendancy to break (no recall to date). All are easy fixes and tend to be more problamatic on the first G35s off the assembly line.
The rear brake rotors and pads may become a recall soon, according to my service person.
Hope this is of help to someone.
Anyone have information regarding the Bridgestone tires?
I know that CR isn't good for much other than reliability ratings and I put little stock in their ability to judge performance cars. I'm just wondering what they did. Maybe they put somebody behind the wheel who never drove anything but a FWD car before.
For such a safety-conscious bunch, you'd think they'd know better than to lift mid-corner. Duh.
If I were to take stock in any reliability ratings, it would be CR.
Wrong. AutoWeek rolled a Jeep Liberty when they were instrument-testing it through the slalom, and provided comment from the driver, the editors, and from DCX. The driver admitted that he felt the inside rear tire lift, but continued around the next cone which resulted in the roll. DCX responded with the usual corporate CYA-speak, but then lowered the Liberty's suspension by over an inch for the following year's model. The entire matter was handled succinctly and responsibly.
CR drives SUVs beyond their intended performance envelopes, and then does a Chicken Little dance so they can maintain their "activist" credibility. It is not the fault of any car manufacturer if someone overdrives a SUV -- the fact that you have to step up to get into these vehicles is a big tip-off that they have a higher center of gravity than a passenger car.
Himiler - A Jeep Liberty is a couple of years old. Consumer reports has been doing this type of testing for many, many years on many, many products. They did not start extreme testing with the G35. Some people do use CRs input in their buying decisions. So when they say a dangerous handling situation exists with a car, they are usually right on the money. Whether or not you will ever put your car on the edge, is another story.
Having worked with some safety standards labs in the past, I can imagine that CR uses the same type of cookbook approach those labs use for much of their testing. It's an approach that doesn't always lend itself well to over-the-limit testing. Especially tests that require a good deal of subjective human intervention. I think it manifests itself in some of the rather bizzare results they get with tests such as performance driving.
On the other hand, I would take CR's less subjective reliabilty results to the bank.
As always, IMHO... you're mileage may vary.
PS. I've been reading CR for 20+years, so one may say I'm a loyal reader.
As kdshapiro said, you have to take the reviews in context. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of details in the article. But CR tries to simulate real world driving conditions and probably assumes that most of its readers are not particularly skilled drivers (very good assumption). So the "stupid" maneuvers they do, are probably not too far off from what a typical driver will do in an emergency situation. The sudden lane change test that tends to get some SUVs in trouble is very realistic in my expereience. I have seen several SUVs up on two wheels after just such a move on real freeways. And lifting is exactly what most drivers will do when they get in trouble on a turn. Does that mean it is a good reason to not buy the car. Not necessarily. As I mentioned, I already drive one of the most notorious snap oversteer cars on the road.
CR's notion that all RWD sedans should drive alike within the parameters of their testing methodology is utterly preposterous. One man's "dangerous handling" could easily be another man's "fun."
CR gave the G35 a black circle in the emergency handling department.
I don't think I ever pooh-pooh their advice, bad OR good. But, I do try to rationalize it a bit when it doesn't agree with my own experience. I don't see anything wrong with that. Many times it's just a matter of priority and theirs doesn't align with mine.
It's all to easy to put blinders on and ignore what we don't want to believe and take as gospel those things that we think should be true.
No blinders here, just an interest in objectivity.
It is just another data point. The G ain't perfect, there isn't one car on this planet that is.
Just as a point of comparison, and I am not looking to start a war, CR gave the 330i a red circle for emergency manuevers. Now one can assume CR did the same manuever for both cars and then measured the result. So you are saying you have to drive the differently in emergency avoidance. How many people will actually remember that, when faced with a split second decision, where you risk being seriously hurt or killed?
Getting down to it, most people lack the skill or training to know what to do in an emergency situation, anyway. (Which probably explains why most buyers are hung up on styling and safety features.)