My shifting definitly is smooth out after say 3ooo miles but the gas petal takes some getting used to. I had trouble getting a smooth start ferom a slow roll or stop initially. I think the low end torque may me more that I have had in past auto's by as long shot.
I have read owner evaluations and road tests on the Goodyear Eagle-RS-A tires(standard on the M 35's) at the Tirerack web site. In these tests and owner reports on many different vehicles, the tires do very poorly on wet road surfaces compared to other high performance all season tires. I have only had my car for a week (M35X), so I have no wet experience with them. Its been a dry summer in Boston! Has anyone any input on driving on very wet roads, or any problems with hydroplaneing? What effect does all wheel drive have on hydroplaneing, and how would the car shift power from the front to the rear axle under those conditions, as the front tires do not rotate normally with hydroplaneing? Thanks,( I also posted on the problems & solutions wforum as I am not sure which is correct.)
After a month with my M35 I have to disagree about the cruise control being a "gimmick". I find it allows you to use the cruise control in fairly dense traffic that we see all the time here in the SF Bay area where a standard cruise control would be useless. I didn't think it was necessary but now find it really a nice feature. I use it far more than the cruise control on my other vehicles. I also think it is a safety feature for those who are sometimes distracted while driving or don't tend to maintain safe following distance. (not me, of course )
I also disagree about wanting automatic locks. I have them on one of my cars and find them annoying. I would approve of them only if they were easily turned off by the owner.
My list of desired improvements include: 1. Full control for passenger seat 2. Move the memory buttons up where they can be seen 3. Slow the response of the up/down steering wheel control 4. Change the light switch so it is Auto-Off-Park-On instead of Off-Auto-Park-On 5. More difference in the force required between the "lane change" and "on" feature of the turn signals (about one out of 4 times I click them on while trying to only use lane change) 6. Self closing trunk latch (for the times when #7 happens) 7. Recess the buttons more on the smart key so they don't accidentally depress when in you pocket. 8. Place the nav screen deeper in a recess so the sun doesn't wash it out so much. 9. Make the rear shade an option without having to order the entertainment package.
All of these are minor (except for the passenger seat) and I really love the car. I have had no problems to date. I also really like the "ATM" dashboard because of the easy to read buttons.
M's graphite leather is getting scorched in the sunlight. Does anybody have a recent experience with applying any protectants?
Here in the desert almost everyone tints their windows for protection from heat, and those tints also filter out UV so they also protect the interiors. In some states window tinting is illegal ... IL comes to mind. But there are UV protective films that aren't tinted so this would be a viable solution. You'd get the bonus of some heat protection.
I've never seen a true "protectant" that works, but again ... no one here has any experience with them. You could try SPF-30 but that would be a greasy mess.
Same experience, and I attribute it to the very tight and true steering and suspension ... that plus the ease with which I drive the car. I'm actually a bit concerned that it may be TOO easy to drive ... I find if my mind wanders from the task at hand for even a moment I drift. :shades:
The Potenza REO50's have a wheel saving protective rubber bumper on them
Mine also. Fortunately 95+% of my parking is diagonal or perpendicular so all that's really at risk is my aero dam. Also fortunately, the car's short enough to park short of curbs without it sticking out into harm's way. (Now that I think of it, I don't think I've EVER parked this car parallel.) :shades:
Got the E815 and hooked it up with my M35x and it works great. The only bad thing is that I couldn't transfer my phone book- oh well. At least the phone works. By the way- the car rocks!!!!
Good post. I strongly agree with much of what you said.
On Intelligent Cruise: I live in the bay area as well, and you hit the nail on the head. This cruise is extremely functional when a standard cruise (or a weaker implementation) would so often be completely useless. I also notice that much of the time the intelligent cruise responds more smoothly to traffic changes than I would using pedals. It makes my wife happy.
I'm just totally loving the car as well, and I do agree with a couple of your suggested improvements:
-. Full control for the passenger seat -. Auto closing/opening trunk.
And a couple of my own suggestions:
-. More preset banks for satellite radio (Instead of Presets A,B,C, have Presets A-H. The total number of preset banks would be a user preference) -. No truncation of Satellite radio Artist/Song Info.
I also would recommend automatic door locks and automatic wind shield wipers for when your in a light shower. I really like my car and I know these things are not that big of a deal, but I am used to both of these items from my previous vehicle and found them both useful. Maybe next time. Hawkeye
Does anybody know where I can get the wooden knob for the stick shift? Can I get it at the dealership, and if so what is the price? I'd like to put it on as it would look good with the wooden trim interior.
Hey all. I'm waiting for my M35 to be delivered. I can't wait! It's a base model, non-Journey. The stereo is the "stock" Infiniti, not the Bose. Does anyone know whether these stereos have AUX inputs so I can hook my digital audio player into the radio? If so, how is it done? Thanks for the help.
Does anyone know if dealers can install an Aero Kit after the sale? I'm looking at a blk/blk Premium without splash guards, but really want the aero. What kind of price should I expect on the aero, installed?
They can install the Aero Kit after the sale. My dealer offered it to me on my blk/blk M45 back in March when I picked it up. The cost at my dealer mentioned was around $2500 and I have since seen one on the dealers floor at that price, but I believe it is high. I inquired on here about pricing of such a kit and got a quote of $ 1500 as I recall it.
I have 8500 miles on my M45 and love the car. It has been flawless and still amazes me with it quickness and comfort. My wife, who initially didnt want me to get the M45 and give up my Q, now wants to drive it all the time. When I had the Q she would complain if I drove HER G35 too many days to work because she missed driving it. That hasnt happened yet with the M.
I thought I'd like both features in my M35x, but find I turn them both off more than use them. The roads I drive most have long patched areas of shiny tar, usually about 12 to 18 inches from the left side of the left lane. The sunlight reflecting off of these areas causes the LDW chimes to be more of an annoyance than a help. That, and most of these roads have no real left shoulder, and if you've crossed the line to the left, you're inches from the cement barrier. Can't depend on LDW.
For the no so Intelligent Cruse Control, I find the minimum distance setting too far. Leave that much space between the car in front of you, and little old white (sometimes blue) haired ladies zip past you and tell you you're number one with their middle finger extended. There are several real problems with ICC though: Rather than back off the gas, it instead applies the brake. I'm sure you know how annoying it is to be behind a driver than is constantly on and off the brake. Well, that's what ICC is doing for you. All the driver behind you sees is that you're hitting the brake for no good reason, and quickly shoots past you to cut you out, further causing ICC to brake harder. With the gear ratio being what it is, lifting the accelerator would be all that's required to slow down to match their speed in most cases I've seen.
That, and there needs to be more smarts when it comes to ICC accelerating. So you come flying up on a slower vehicle, and ICC brakes. The reason the car ahead is slower is that they're waiting for an opening to pass the slow poke ahead of them. They shoot into the next lane, and ICC stomps on the gas again because the car ahead is now gone, only to slam on the brake again in a second or two when you close the void he left, and are now behind the slow poke. Not very intelligent, IMHO.
While these two features might be okay on a long drive on roads with little traffic, I find them annoying for even the non rush hour traffic times I commute. It would have been an easy thing to program ICC to "look ahead" to see how far the next vehicle is before trying to resume the set speed after the lane opened up, and not accelerate so soon, and so hard.
The other problem with ICC is going around bends in the road. I've had ICC brake hard when driving in the left lane going around a left hand bend, and overtaking a car in the lane to my right.
Perhaps some day ICC and LDW will be perfected to the point where it does not have so many false positives. That day is not here yet, IHMO.
Fortunately, both features can be turned off, still making the M a pleasure to drive.
I have the car almost 4000 miles. Have not had an issue in the rain. I do however drive conservativly in the wet. In the dry these tires stick like glue. No issues at all. I hope they last a while! Thats my main concern, the tread wear is relativly low on these tioes and the tire rack has tham at 199 each which is much lower than any local tire center.
Sorry to have to say this, but (contrary to what others have said here) there is no available factory AUX input for the stock radio.
The M's AUX input (for audio and/or video) is only provided with the DVD player. It's available with any system that has DVD audio: either the 5.1 surround system, or the mobile entertainment system (ie, the DVD system with the overhead screen).
The only after market system providing a pure AUX audio input that I've seen so far is the iCruise for ipod (which unfortunately disables any use of the CD changer).
More may be available either now or down the road, but I've yet to locate one. Alternatives right now include FM modulation, or a possible hack that locates an audio feed to the radio and splits it with a switch.
Oh Man!!!!! Now I'm really disapointed. I'm using the Monster FM transmitter right now and it works fine, but I know wired would sound better. I was hoping that the back of the head unit would have some inputs for satellite that would be going unused. Well, I guess I stick to FM transmitting for now.
Thanks. I also agree with your suggestions about the radio. More buttons might be better also. For example, if they had 10 buttons instead of 6 you would also be able to use the buttons to directly select a satellite radio stream number. So far the only way I have found to do this is to use the voice recognition system. Since I use other satellite radios it's easier for me to remember what stream number I want than to remember what was programmed into the presets.
Hmmm. My ICC does ease off the gas and uses the brakes only if closing speed is fairly high. If you think the following distance is too long on the short setting I suspect that your idea of safe following distance is quite different than mine.
I really like it but the nice thing for everyone is that it can be turned on or off to suit your driving style.
> Here in the desert almost everyone tints their windows for protection from heat, and those tints also filter out UV so they also protect the interiors.
If you look at the lower right corner of the driver's window from the outside, you will see a "UV" mark. Does it mean the factory (untinted) glass filters out UV?
My concern was not so much about UV but drying out of the leather in high heat. Am looking for a good quality protectant that would not leave white residue in the perforations and along the seams of the graphite-color seats.
I have complained previously on this thread about Sirius. There were two issues: my receiver was not able to tune to more than 6-20 channels and the sound quality was poor.
I solved the first issue by contacting Sirius on the cell phone while in the car with the receiver on. They sent down an initialization code in a few minutes, after which I could tune to all channels and see programming categories on the screen. (Hint: neither two dealers nor Infiniti was able to tell me how to get the full receiver ID code displayed on the screen. I finally figured it out: tune to channel #0 and press the Radio button. Pressing Settings only displays a partial, truncated code. Once you have the full code, you can call Sirius.)
The second issue is partially solved. After the initialization, music quality improved somewhat in terms of audio bandwidth and compression artifacts. Do not ask me why but before it sounded as if the receiver was only able to pick up a 96kbps stream. Lots of modulation of treble with a several-second cadence, as if somebody was repeatedly turning the treble knob down 6dB and up to neutral. After the initialization, channel #71 (my favorite) sounds better, although some songs still suffer from poor encoding quality. All in all, I would say the encoding is somewhere between 96 and 128kbps CBR on a regular MP3 scale.
Hmmm. My ICC does ease off the gas and uses the brakes only if closing speed is fairly high.
My experience matches yours. In addition, I've seen the M apply the breaks on a downgrade. With the cruise on other cars I've driven, a downgrade will cause the car to go well over the desired speed, and easing off the gas just doesn't do it. While some ICC's might apply breaks to avoid a collision, I've never seen any others (besides the M) capable of simply maintaining speed on a downgrade: It's been a real irritation for me in the past. The M's ICC is the best I've seen, by a variety of criteria.
If you think the following distance is too long on the short setting I suspect that your idea of safe following distance is quite different than mine.
Driving the M is a real pleasure. It gets a lot of attention too! Have you noticed how many G owners drop their jaw? As if they just realized in a split second they bought the wrong car... :P
My ICC does ease off the gas and uses the brakes only if closing speed is fairly high.
Okay, perhaps I need to give it another shot. Thanks.
If you think the following distance is too long on the short setting I suspect that your idea of safe following distance is quite different than mine.
Possibly, but I don't rely on technology; It does not know what's happening as far down the road as I can see. And, my following distance is further than most. Ever driven from the Philly 'burbs to the Princeton NJ area? My guess is, no.
While the tech might attract some, and make them feel as if they can do whatever they care to do behind the wheel, I'd rather depend on my reflexes and 38 years of driving savvy to keep me safe.
I really like it but the nice thing for everyone is that it can be turned on or off to suit your driving style.
Possibly, but I don't rely on technology; It does not know what's happening as far down the road as I can see. And, my following distance is further than most. Ever driven from the Philly 'burbs to the Princeton NJ area? My guess is, no.
True, but it does watch the car in front of you constantly which is something you cannot do if you are scanning ahead, back, and to the sides as you should. It can also do a good job at determining relative speed changes which are difficult for many people to recognize quickly. I guess my point is that if the car in front hits the brakes while you are looking elsewhere or being distracted by something, the action of the ICC would, at the very least, return your attention to what is happening directly ahead and give you some extra milliseconds to take action if necessary.
If you've been driving for 38 years you've driven almost as long as I have. I try to remember that, as we get up in years, our reactions times get longer very gradually and almost unnoticeably so I try to compensate for this by leaving a somewhat larger cushion of space around me when I drive. The ICC helps with this quite nicely and I perceive it as a safety factor instead of the hazard a standard cruise control can be.
Lexol!...check out the advice on carcareonline.com. This site has long been THE reference for online car care advice (and products). Check out the "How-To" section.
I have the 8 speaker radio/CD system (Journey package) and finally decided to program the station presets (been having too much fun with the voice response system!). Has anyone else noticed that when toggling the steering wheel button up, the stations sequence down the preset list and vice versa? I was expecting the arrows on the steering wheel toggle button to reflect the preset numbering......... :surprise:
I thought this was a bug, too, until someone pointed out that the toggle on the steering wheel matches the vertical list of stations when the "Radio" button is pressed.
Since then, I have created a mental image of stations in a vertical list numbered from top to bottom. Going "down the list" is therefore going "up the dial".
The phone was very easy to pair with the car. Now the car recognizes the phone almost instantly every time.
I also have the e815 from Verizon and I need to couple the phone to the car almost every time. If I'm away from the car for more than a couple of minutes they need to be re-introduced. I have had to create a "shortcut" on my phone so a one-step process gets it done ... but it is a nuisance to have to unholster the phone to get this done.
How long have you had your Infiniti? I got mine the beginning of April, so maybe there's been a tweaking of the software in the car. Or of the phone? How long have you had your e815? I've had mine ~ one month. Maybe there's new software in the phone? This may require another trip to Infiniti ... Verizon has been singularly (no pun intended) uncooperative in helping with the coupling process; I'm rather disgusted with their after-the-sale service. Bart :mad:
Does anyone know if dealers can install an Aero Kit after the sale?
Yessir ... certainly can. I've heard the cost is between $1,500 and $2,500 and am inclined to think the lower number is more realistic as MSRP on mine was $1,390. :shades:
If you look at the lower right corner of the driver's window from the outside, you will see a "UV" mark. Does it mean the factory (untinted) glass filters out UV?
For an eye doctor I'm pretty dense. Of course the glass is all UV protected ... that's why photosensitive eyeglasses ("transitions") don't work in a car. Duh! (I'm also a blond, or at least was before I turned gray). :shades:
I also have an M45 Sport and an E815. Only had to couple it once. Connects autmatically everytime I enter the car. The first couple times I had to re-pair because my E815 booth tooth was not set to the "on" position. After setting to "on" postion, it couples automatically.
The first couple times I had to re-pair because my E815 booth tooth was not set to the "on" position. After setting to "on" postion, it couples automatically.
Now I'm annoyed. Mine won't do it irrespective of HOW it's set. Time to go to a different Verizon store. My first Verizon phone was a V710 ... my wife now has it. It coupled perfectly every time. &%#$@! :mad: :shades:
As docnukem said, it's consistent with the screen display of your six presets.
There's a good reason why they do it that way: The rocker switch used to move through the presets is also used to move through ALL on screen menus, whenever such menu's are displayed. (When there are no menus displayed, the control moves through the radio presets or CD/DVD tracks.) The ability to navigate through any on screen menus without taking your hands off the steering wheel is an extremely useful feature, and one that I've really been enjoying. Consistency requires those preset directions.
Note that in addition to navigating up and down the menus you can use that same control as an ENTER button for any currently selected menu choice simply by pressing it straight in. Similarly you can use it to dismiss the NAV warning screen at system startup without ever taking your hands off the wheel.
I've gotten very comfortable with the radio preset directions now that I visualize the on screen preset menus. IMO it's a very big win as far as trade-offs go.
Saw the CU sport sedan review today when I returned from vacation. Nice comments, specifically "the M35 is our new top rated sedan" More print accolades for the M35. Makes me feel even better about this purchase. However I've had so much fun with this car over the last 8 weeks I frankly could have cared less...!
Just recently took a long trip in my M45 including a number of miles on I-95 in Virginia and NC. I agree that the LDW might actually improve my driving, but it had too many false positives for me to leave it on. The cruise control was different. I like it a lot better than prior ones I've mostly not used. This one is good in all but the heaviest traffic, for the reasons I've already seen in this good set of posts. One thing to add: the sudden deceleration seems to happen only when the closest following distance is set. So, I cruise on the middle distance setting, and change to the closest if I need to keep following in the left lane. A little fiddling, but it seems to work well.
as we get up in years, our reactions times get longer very gradually and almost unnoticeably so I try to compensate for this by leaving a somewhat larger cushion of space around me when I drive. The ICC helps with this quite nicely and I perceive it as a safety factor instead of the hazard a standard cruise control can be.
While I agree with what you say, I am as concerned with the traffic that's behind me as well. As we all should be. I turned ICC on again yesterday, and sure enough, it false triggered and hit the brakes going around a bend in the road with no vehicle in my lane, yet a much slower car in the right lane.
The problem remains: When there's no traffic in front of you, those behind you who may not be as acutely aware of the whole traffic picture, may not react fast enough when the car in front of them hits the brake for no apparent reason. To me, this is a deterrent to using ICC. If I were in the flat states with long straight roads, it makes sense. Driving highway speeds on roads which twist and turn around cities, it does not.
If anything, ICC should work with LDW to make a determination as to which lane the ICC reflection is coming from. Might not be able to do it accurately with only one camera, but coupled with the lane divider lines, it might be possible. They could also have sampled steering wheel position to determine if you were going around a turn, and factor that in. It would have made for fewer false triggers. And if you've not experienced ICC hitting the brakes hard with the above scenario, you can't appreciate why I say it's not so intelligent.
There's another thing I forgot: When you're changing lanes to pass a slower vehicle with ICC on, the car slows (brakes?) when you're half way between lanes. So you're merging into faster traffic, and the car slows. Okay, that helps me, how?
Maybe my ICC is broken. Don't know. But, the owners manual warnings state ICC is "primarily intended for use on straight, dry, open roads with light traffic." I'm now a believer. Check out pages 5-22 through 5-27. I think I need to move to Kansas ;-) I also think we need a larger sample size. Anyone else notice these problems with ICC? Unless folks stay in the right lane and are content to slow down to match the speed of traffic ahead in their lane, and never pass, then ICC is a Good Thing.
I was a bit puzzled at first with the counter-intuitive direction of the rocker until I realized the link with the screen display, which made it all logical. I love the fact that the pre-set change AND the volume buttons are on the same (left) side of the wheel, as I generally drive with my left hand. M-B had channel up/down on the left and volume on the right. Must we live like animals? However, has anyone else experienced inadvertent station/track change when turning the wheel and accidentally hitting the rocker switch or am I the only ham-handed dork driving one of these marvelous machines? I'm also getting a little rattle/squeak/something from the right front passenger seat which I believe someone addressed in an earlier post...I'll have to check the old ones to see what it was and how it was resolved. 550 miles until the break-in is complete!
I know the manual says 1200 miles and my intention is to observe it. Just curious how many of you forego that recommendation and drive your M aggressively right out of the gate.
I just got mine on 8/8 and already have 550 miles on it. 650 to go...
I raced every BMW and Audi that dared pull even with me for the first few days I had my M - left them all crying in their lederhosen.
The "Check Engine Soon" light came on before I had gotten through my first tank of gas and the dealership was good enough to swap cars with another identical new one on the lot.
I behaved myself with the second one and have just completed my breaking-in oil change without getting over 3,000 RPMs
I know quitting cold turkey is hard sangone but you can do it!
I've noticed that the ICC closely monitors relative speed and reacts if there is a progressive increase in my closing speed on the car ahead. Since we must use depth perception to judge this the ICC appears to do a much better job at detecting this and will slow or brake sometimes when I haven't yet perceived it as necessary.
If you look at the statistics in regards to the number of rear end collisions you can make a couple of assumptions - many people are not good a judging changes in speed of cars ahead of them and many also don't fully understand how reaction time and physics dictate a safe following distance. Because of this and my experience with the ICC, I would be happier if the car behind me was using ICC rather than a conventional cruise control.
Has anyone seen any insurance company comments about ICC?
With that said, I find that operation is much smoother if you leave the following distance on long or medium because fewer potential collisions will be detected. I suspect that this will make little or no difference in the time one arrives at their destination and providing some extra space to slow more gradually in the event of a stop will likely reduce the possibility that you will be hit in the rear by someone else following too closely and/or not paying attention.
I do agree about false positives on the LDW but the chime is so unobtrusive that I tend to leave it on.
Speaking of Mercedes, and living like animals: Did you know that current generation Mercedes, such as E, CLS, and S, have gotten worse, and that the steering wheel radio controls ignore the presets entirely. That's hard to believe, and is a total deal killer for me. (But not the only one.)
I haven't had any inadvertent hits on the M's steering wheel controls. With my LS430 it would happen all the time, since the controls extended out radially. The most common case on the Lexus was when I used one finger to twirl the steering wheel for parking or very sharp turns. The M controls are just totally out of the way for me.
Sounds like you happen to have a driving style conflicting with those controls.
Comments
I have close to 4000 and love this car.
I also disagree about wanting automatic locks. I have them on one of my cars and find them annoying. I would approve of them only if they were easily turned off by the owner.
My list of desired improvements include:
1. Full control for passenger seat
2. Move the memory buttons up where they can be seen
3. Slow the response of the up/down steering wheel control
4. Change the light switch so it is Auto-Off-Park-On instead of Off-Auto-Park-On
5. More difference in the force required between the "lane change" and "on" feature of the turn signals (about one out of 4 times I click them on while trying to only use lane change)
6. Self closing trunk latch (for the times when #7 happens)
7. Recess the buttons more on the smart key so they don't accidentally depress when in you pocket.
8. Place the nav screen deeper in a recess so the sun doesn't wash it out so much.
9. Make the rear shade an option without having to order the entertainment package.
All of these are minor (except for the passenger seat) and I really love the car. I have had no problems to date. I also really like the "ATM" dashboard because of the easy to read buttons.
Here in the desert almost everyone tints their windows for protection from heat, and those tints also filter out UV so they also protect the interiors. In some states window tinting is illegal ... IL comes to mind. But there are UV protective films that aren't tinted so this would be a viable solution. You'd get the bonus of some heat protection.
I've never seen a true "protectant" that works, but again ... no one here has any experience with them. You could try SPF-30 but that would be a greasy mess.
Bart :shades:
Same experience, and I attribute it to the very tight and true steering and suspension ... that plus the ease with which I drive the car. I'm actually a bit concerned that it may be TOO easy to drive ... I find if my mind wanders from the task at hand for even a moment I drift. :shades:
Mine also. Fortunately 95+% of my parking is diagonal or perpendicular so all that's really at risk is my aero dam. Also fortunately, the car's short enough to park short of curbs without it sticking out into harm's way. (Now that I think of it, I don't think I've EVER parked this car parallel.) :shades:
On Intelligent Cruise:
I live in the bay area as well, and you hit the nail on the head. This cruise is extremely functional when a standard cruise (or a weaker implementation) would so often be completely useless. I also notice that much of the time the intelligent cruise responds more smoothly to traffic changes than I would using pedals. It makes my wife happy.
I'm just totally loving the car as well, and I do agree with a couple of your suggested improvements:
-. Full control for the passenger seat
-. Auto closing/opening trunk.
And a couple of my own suggestions:
-. More preset banks for satellite radio (Instead of Presets A,B,C, have Presets A-H. The total number of preset banks would be a user preference)
-. No truncation of Satellite radio Artist/Song Info.
All in all an absolutely awesome car.
Pete
Thanks!
It's a base model, non-Journey.
The stereo is the "stock" Infiniti, not the Bose. Does anyone know whether these stereos have AUX inputs so I can hook my digital audio player into the radio? If so, how is it done? Thanks for the help.
I have 8500 miles on my M45 and love the car. It has been flawless and still amazes me with it quickness and comfort. My wife, who initially didnt want me to get the M45 and give up my Q, now wants to drive it all the time. When I had the Q she would complain if I drove HER G35 too many days to work because she missed driving it. That hasnt happened yet with the M.
What's the best way for me to get to the AUX inputs?
Where are they?
more than use them. The roads I drive most have long patched areas
of shiny tar, usually about 12 to 18 inches from the left side of the left lane.
The sunlight reflecting off of these areas causes the LDW chimes to
be more of an annoyance than a help. That, and most of these roads have no
real left shoulder, and if you've crossed the line to the left, you're inches from
the cement barrier. Can't depend on LDW.
For the no so Intelligent Cruse Control, I find the minimum distance setting
too far. Leave that much space between the car in front of you, and little
old white (sometimes blue) haired ladies zip past you and tell you you're
number one with their middle finger extended. There are several real problems
with ICC though: Rather than back off the gas, it instead applies the brake.
I'm sure you know how annoying it is to be behind a driver than is constantly
on and off the brake. Well, that's what ICC is doing for you. All the driver behind
you sees is that you're hitting the brake for no good reason, and quickly shoots
past you to cut you out, further causing ICC to brake harder. With the gear ratio
being what it is, lifting the accelerator would be all that's required to slow down to
match their speed in most cases I've seen.
That, and there needs to be more smarts when it comes to ICC accelerating.
So you come flying up on a slower vehicle, and ICC brakes. The reason the car ahead is slower is that they're waiting for an opening to pass the slow poke
ahead of them. They shoot into the next lane, and ICC stomps on the gas
again because the car ahead is now gone, only to slam on the brake again
in a second or two when you close the void he left, and are now behind the
slow poke. Not very intelligent, IMHO.
While these two features might be okay on a long drive on roads with little traffic,
I find them annoying for even the non rush hour traffic times I commute. It would
have been an easy thing to program ICC to "look ahead" to see how far the next
vehicle is before trying to resume the set speed after the lane opened up, and
not accelerate so soon, and so hard.
The other problem with ICC is going around bends in the road. I've had ICC
brake hard when driving in the left lane going around a left hand bend, and
overtaking a car in the lane to my right.
Perhaps some day ICC and LDW will be perfected to the point where it does
not have so many false positives. That day is not here yet, IHMO.
Fortunately, both features can be turned off, still making the M a pleasure to
drive.
The M's AUX input (for audio and/or video) is only provided with the DVD player. It's available with any system that has DVD audio: either the 5.1 surround system, or the mobile entertainment system (ie, the DVD system with the overhead screen).
The only after market system providing a pure AUX audio input that I've seen so far is the iCruise for ipod (which unfortunately disables any use of the CD changer).
More may be available either now or down the road, but I've yet to locate one. Alternatives right now include FM modulation, or a possible hack that locates an audio feed to the radio and splits it with a switch.
Pete
Now I'm really disapointed.
I'm using the Monster FM transmitter right now and it works fine, but I know wired would sound better.
I was hoping that the back of the head unit would have some inputs for satellite that would be going unused.
Well, I guess I stick to FM transmitting for now.
I really like it but the nice thing for everyone is that it can be turned on or off to suit your driving style.
Thanks,
The phone was very easy to pair with the car. Now the car recognizes the phone almost instantly every time.
Highly recommended!
If you look at the lower right corner of the driver's window from the outside, you will see a "UV" mark. Does it mean the factory (untinted) glass filters out UV?
My concern was not so much about UV but drying out of the leather in high heat. Am looking for a good quality protectant that would not leave white residue in the perforations and along the seams of the graphite-color seats.
I solved the first issue by contacting Sirius on the cell phone while in the car with the receiver on. They sent down an initialization code in a few minutes, after which I could tune to all channels and see programming categories on the screen. (Hint: neither two dealers nor Infiniti was able to tell me how to get the full receiver ID code displayed on the screen. I finally figured it out: tune to channel #0 and press the Radio button. Pressing Settings only displays a partial, truncated code. Once you have the full code, you can call Sirius.)
The second issue is partially solved. After the initialization, music quality improved somewhat in terms of audio bandwidth and compression artifacts. Do not ask me why but before it sounded as if the receiver was only able to pick up a 96kbps stream. Lots of modulation of treble with a several-second cadence, as if somebody was repeatedly turning the treble knob down 6dB and up to neutral. After the initialization, channel #71 (my favorite) sounds better, although some songs still suffer from poor encoding quality. All in all, I would say the encoding is somewhere between 96 and 128kbps CBR on a regular MP3 scale.
Hope this helps people with similar issues.
My experience matches yours. In addition, I've seen the M apply the breaks on a downgrade. With the cruise on other cars I've driven, a downgrade will cause the car to go well over the desired speed, and easing off the gas just doesn't do it. While some ICC's might apply breaks to avoid a collision, I've never seen any others (besides the M) capable of simply maintaining speed on a downgrade: It's been a real irritation for me in the past. The M's ICC is the best I've seen, by a variety of criteria.
If you think the following distance is too long on the short setting I suspect that your idea of safe following distance is quite different than mine.
Well put.
Pete
Okay, perhaps I need to give it another shot. Thanks.
If you think the following distance is too long on the short setting I suspect that your idea of safe following distance is quite different than mine.
Possibly, but I don't rely on technology; It does not know what's happening as
far down the road as I can see. And, my following distance is further than
most. Ever driven from the Philly 'burbs to the Princeton NJ area? My guess
is, no.
While the tech might attract some, and make them feel as if they can do
whatever they care to do behind the wheel, I'd rather depend on my
reflexes and 38 years of driving savvy to keep me safe.
I really like it but the nice thing for everyone is that it can be turned on or off to suit your driving style.
Well said. Best "feature" about the M.
far down the road as I can see. And, my following distance is further than
most. Ever driven from the Philly 'burbs to the Princeton NJ area? My guess
is, no.
True, but it does watch the car in front of you constantly which is something you cannot do if you are scanning ahead, back, and to the sides as you should. It can also do a good job at determining relative speed changes which are difficult for many people to recognize quickly. I guess my point is that if the car in front hits the brakes while you are looking elsewhere or being distracted by something, the action of the ICC would, at the very least, return your attention to what is happening directly ahead and give you some extra milliseconds to take action if necessary.
If you've been driving for 38 years you've driven almost as long as I have. I try to remember that, as we get up in years, our reactions times get longer very gradually and almost unnoticeably so I try to compensate for this by leaving a somewhat larger cushion of space around me when I drive. The ICC helps with this quite nicely and I perceive it as a safety factor instead of the hazard a standard cruise control can be.
Since then, I have created a mental image of stations in a vertical list numbered from top to bottom. Going "down the list" is therefore going "up the dial".
It still seems counter-intuitive.
I also have the e815 from Verizon and I need to couple the phone to the car almost every time. If I'm away from the car for more than a couple of minutes they need to be re-introduced. I have had to create a "shortcut" on my phone so a one-step process gets it done ... but it is a nuisance to have to unholster the phone to get this done.
How long have you had your Infiniti? I got mine the beginning of April, so maybe there's been a tweaking of the software in the car. Or of the phone? How long have you had your e815? I've had mine ~ one month. Maybe there's new software in the phone? This may require another trip to Infiniti ... Verizon has been singularly (no pun intended) uncooperative in helping with the coupling process; I'm rather disgusted with their after-the-sale service. Bart :mad:
Yessir ... certainly can. I've heard the cost is between $1,500 and $2,500 and am inclined to think the lower number is more realistic as MSRP on mine was $1,390. :shades:
For an eye doctor I'm pretty dense. Of course the glass is all UV protected ... that's why photosensitive eyeglasses ("transitions") don't work in a car. Duh! (I'm also a blond, or at least was before I turned gray). :shades:
I also have an M45 Sport and an E815. Only had to couple it once. Connects autmatically everytime I enter the car. The first couple times I had to re-pair because my E815 booth tooth was not set to the "on" position. After setting to "on" postion, it couples automatically.
Now I'm annoyed. Mine won't do it irrespective of HOW it's set. Time to go to a different Verizon store. My first Verizon phone was a V710 ... my wife now has it. It coupled perfectly every time. &%#$@! :mad: :shades:
There's a good reason why they do it that way: The rocker switch used to move through the presets is also used to move through ALL on screen menus, whenever such menu's are displayed. (When there are no menus displayed, the control moves through the radio presets or CD/DVD tracks.) The ability to navigate through any on screen menus without taking your hands off the steering wheel is an extremely useful feature, and one that I've really been enjoying. Consistency requires those preset directions.
Note that in addition to navigating up and down the menus you can use that same control as an ENTER button for any currently selected menu choice simply by pressing it straight in. Similarly you can use it to dismiss the NAV warning screen at system startup without ever taking your hands off the wheel.
I've gotten very comfortable with the radio preset directions now that I visualize the on screen preset menus. IMO it's a very big win as far as trade-offs go.
Pete
'Connection'
'Bluetooth Link'
'Setup'
'Power', and set to 'On'.
Then go back one step, to 'Device History', then
'My Car' (or whatever your M gave you as a title)
'Access', and set to 'Automatic'.
Try it and let me know!
Great driving trip overall, fast and smooth.
While I agree with what you say, I am as concerned with the
traffic that's behind me as well. As we all should be.
I turned ICC on again yesterday, and sure enough, it false
triggered and hit the brakes going around a bend in the road with
no vehicle in my lane, yet a much slower car in the right lane.
The problem remains: When there's no traffic in front of you,
those behind you who may not be as acutely aware of the whole
traffic picture, may not react fast enough when the car in
front of them hits the brake for no apparent reason. To me,
this is a deterrent to using ICC. If I were in the flat
states with long straight roads, it makes sense. Driving
highway speeds on roads which twist and turn around
cities, it does not.
If anything, ICC should work with LDW to make a determination
as to which lane the ICC reflection is coming from. Might not
be able to do it accurately with only one camera, but coupled
with the lane divider lines, it might be possible. They could also
have sampled steering wheel position to determine if you were
going around a turn, and factor that in. It would have made
for fewer false triggers. And if you've not experienced ICC
hitting the brakes hard with the above scenario, you can't
appreciate why I say it's not so intelligent.
There's another thing I forgot: When you're changing lanes
to pass a slower vehicle with ICC on, the car slows (brakes?)
when you're half way between lanes. So you're merging into
faster traffic, and the car slows. Okay, that helps me, how?
Maybe my ICC is broken. Don't know. But, the owners manual
warnings state ICC is "primarily intended for use on straight,
dry, open roads with light traffic." I'm now a believer.
Check out pages 5-22 through 5-27. I think I need to move
to Kansas ;-) I also think we need a larger sample size.
Anyone else notice these problems with ICC? Unless folks
stay in the right lane and are content to slow down to match the
speed of traffic ahead in their lane, and never pass, then ICC
is a Good Thing.
However, has anyone else experienced inadvertent station/track change when turning the wheel and accidentally hitting the rocker switch or am I the only ham-handed dork driving one of these marvelous machines?
I'm also getting a little rattle/squeak/something from the right front passenger seat which I believe someone addressed in an earlier post...I'll have to check the old ones to see what it was and how it was resolved.
550 miles until the break-in is complete!
I just got mine on 8/8 and already have 550 miles on it. 650 to go...
The "Check Engine Soon" light came on before I had gotten through my first tank of gas and the dealership was good enough to swap cars with another identical new one on the lot.
I behaved myself with the second one and have just completed my breaking-in oil change without getting over 3,000 RPMs
I know quitting cold turkey is hard sangone but you can do it!
If you look at the statistics in regards to the number of rear end collisions you can make a couple of assumptions - many people are not good a judging changes in speed of cars ahead of them and many also don't fully understand how reaction time and physics dictate a safe following distance. Because of this and my experience with the ICC, I would be happier if the car behind me was using ICC rather than a conventional cruise control.
Has anyone seen any insurance company comments about ICC?
With that said, I find that operation is much smoother if you leave the following distance on long or medium because fewer potential collisions will be detected. I suspect that this will make little or no difference in the time one arrives at their destination and providing some extra space to slow more gradually in the event of a stop will likely reduce the possibility that you will be hit in the rear by someone else following too closely and/or not paying attention.
I do agree about false positives on the LDW but the chime is so unobtrusive that I tend to leave it on.
I haven't had any inadvertent hits on the M's steering wheel controls. With my LS430 it would happen all the time, since the controls extended out radially. The most common case on the Lexus was when I used one finger to twirl the steering wheel for parking or very sharp turns. The M controls are just totally out of the way for me.
Sounds like you happen to have a driving style conflicting with those controls.
Pete