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Comments
That's not really fair. I mean, come on. What's not louder than an LS430? That car's on a whole other plain when it comes to quietness. Other cars aspire to be so quiet.
The goal of Infiniti is to balance both sport and lux - I think they are doing a great job - first with my wife's G35 coupe (her mid-life crisis car) and my M35 which gives me what I consider luxury and throws in the higher torque factor with a nice deep rumble.
Everyone is different so guess that is the great thing about having all these choices in cars...
I posted similarly many months ago and was advised by several posters to change the Goodyear Eagles to a quieter type like Avon or Pirelli. That's fine, but I'm pretty sure proper sound insulation in the wheel areas would have taken care of the problem. I have no complaints about the wind or engine noise, only the tire/road noise.
Also, Infiniti needs to improve the hands-free sound--every time I use my Motorola Razr with the Bluetooth hands free in the M35, the person on the other end of the call constantly complains about not being able to hear or understand me. The most common complaints are that I sound like I'm underwater, or in a wind tunnel. The road noise does not help. You may want to mention this to the engineers, as the functionality of the Bluetooth feature is greatly compromised.
I think the engineers came close to a perfect car here but instead it's just a great one. I have to say, overall, that I love my M and the shortcomings have not made me regret my decision in the least.
Everyone's saying the comparison to Lexus on the noise issue is unfair, but how about this: my 2002 BMW X5 was perfectly quiet at highway speeds, but you still get the snarl and engine sound when you step on it. The M should at least be the equal of ANY SUV in the noise dept.
Funny you should ask. I just had my 6 month service and it included rotating the tires ... after which the sensors don't "sense". I need to take it back for them to "reprogram" (whatever that means).
I keep an old-fashioned pressure guage in my glove box ... it NEVER agrees with the sensors ... it's usually 2 - 3 psi higher than the sensors register. Technology's great, but sometimes the simple old gadgets are better. Bart :shades:
However as the driver I acclimated to it. Conversely the passenger
who happens to be my wife has more of a problem with it.
I have Bridgestones and I am tempted to switch to Michelins.
Anyone done this with positive results.
thanks
I like my M35x's "humm", guess I just got used to it. My Volvo s80 was quiet, tooo quiet..almost fell asleep on some late night drives if the radio wasn't blasting..
I'm not 100% happy with all of the M-car's appointments, but I still love the car.
I have a much greater issue with the passenger seat, with the doors not locking when putting the car in gear, there being no backup system to drive the car if/when the key fob gets lost ... those are issues that need to be cleaned up. And there are other minor nagging items that have been brought up on this board over the last seven months all of which I would expect to be gone in the next model year.
Bart
The M isn't supposed to be a soundproof coffin like an LS430 but let's call a spade a spade--the M is a midsize luxury car and you shouldn't have obtrusive road noise at highway cruising speeds. Again I want to distinguish road noise (tires, pavement, etc.) from engine/exhaust and wind noise. The M is fine in the latter depts., but needs serious improvement with the former. That's just a fact.
Several posters above are questioning the role of tires in the M35 road noise. I made this observation several days ago and no one responded (don't you just love to quote yourself
I think I can get a set of 4 PZeros for about $700.
Lawdawg:
Prompted by this recent exchange of opinions, I paid close attention to "road noise" on my way to and from the office today. Maybe I had just gotten so accustomed to it that I no longer heard it ... but even TRYING to hear obtrusive (or even non-obtrusive) noise I heard none. With my moon roof open, with it closed; doesn't make a peep except on "washboard" roads. My Sport has the 19" Bridgestone Potenza's ... I've had cars in the past with noisy tires ... that point has been made here and I'd second that as the issue you're likely facing.
Now admittedly most if not all of us are married men ... and we've all been accused of being hard of hearing by our spouses. To my knowledge, however, my hearing's just fine. Bart :shades:
This is a wholly inappropriate comparison, amigo. The LS430 is a totally different car ... if you were making the comparison with the Q45 it's closer to apples and apples ...
I had a Q45 ... it was every bit as quiet as the LS ... but it handled far more responsively than the LS and that's why I bought it. The original equipment Michelins were church-mouse quiet, and when I switched over to Goodyears (I don't recall which one) the car felt a bit different but it was still very much more to my liking than the LS. Bart :shades:
I couldn't agree more. On the morning I bought my M45, I drove (once more) both: Sport and Luxury, back-to-back, on the same run, and I politely ask the sales rep to keep its mouth shut during the 10-min ride (city & highway) so that I would not be distracted and would be able to focus on the handling and road noise.
At highway speed, the Sport was *definitely* noisier, all of it because of the tires. Although I could appreciate the superior handling of the Sport, I went with the Luxury because of its quiteness (on the highway) and plusher ride in the city. Besides, I dislike the Sport rims, so it would have cost me 4 rims and 4 tires to make it good (to my taste) and get rid of that noise. I just chose the chrome wheels on the Luxury, and they still look better than any rims BMW has put on its line-up this year (different subject, but I think BMW is screwing up with its exterior design, I mean, look at the 5...) Ok, ok...
Thanks God, the M remains very sporty (with a sweet exhaust note), much more than the GS430 (which is was a bit too "boring" for my own taste), but otherwise my #2 choice (I prefer the classy look of the GS over the M).
Car's not perfect, got a few problems, still one to be addressed (noisy brakes), but the car is otherwise excellent and would buy it again without hesitation.
I've also wondered if this cold be a model issue. I got a 45 Luxury also, after driving a 35 and a Sport. I like the Lux the best, although it was a choice between "good, gooder and goodest
Question... My 2 yr contract is up with Verizon. If I renew, I can get a Motorola E815 for free, a Samsung SCH-a950 for $49. Or I can switch service to Cingular and get a RAZR. I'm not a heavy cell phone user, so all the bells and whistles are not as important as the phone working well with the car.
Has anyone tried the Samsung? Recommendations? Thank You...
Didn't you read my bloody email before replying to it?
The V815 for free is a no brainer to my way of thinking. I have a V815 that initially didn't couple with the car well, but that's been resolved and others here have posted they're very happy with it. Sound quality's terrific even with the moon roof open. The RAZR couples well, but neither the RAZR nor the V815 couples the phone book. Seems you're a "user lite" like me. I simply manually programmed the numbers I used most often into the car's system ... took me 10 minutes ... and all's just hunky dory.
Oh, one complaint I've heard about the RAZR is that with its internal antenna reception's a little weak. I love the slim package, though, but didn't want to sign on with Cingular because they have too many "black holes" in areas I tend to frequent. I moved from Sprint to Verizon because of better coverage and better choice of phones.
Hope this helps.
Bart :shades:
Let's not get confused here. The Verizon store here had what it had labeled as a V810 ... when I bought it it turned out to be an E815 by Motorola. I suspect there is such a thing as a V810 because I found and ordered online a holster for my new phone that fits a V810 and it's much smaller than the E815. When I lifted the battery on my new phone I discovered I indeed had an E815, the upgrade on the V710 ... and the same size as the V710. Be careful ... be certain what they're calling V810 is in fact the E815 ... if it's really a V810 I can't vouch for its quality.
Bart :confuse: :shades:
I'm waiting for my Sprint service contract to run out (5 more months), I may swich to Cingular.
I certainly will not use Sprint again. (after many years with them)
I am new to this forum.
I ordered a bmw 525i in august and they couldn't deliver it until december.
So I decided to wait but still looked around.
Last week I came across the deal of a lifetime. An m45 sport fully loaded.
Here in Canada the m45 sport comes with every single option.
So anyhow the persn in question wants to get out of his lease and I would be basically paying the same thing i would be with the 2006 bmw 525i. The bmw is fully loaded as well with navigation sport premium packages and all the other little goodies...
So I am wondering if you guys think i am making the right choice???
One other issues is the color of the infiniti m45. It is millenium bronze with the light gray interior and aluminum trim.
What do you think of the millenium bronze? i am 27 years old and am wondering if you think it is too old of a color.
ANy thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
The Bmw is a very nice car, but I have had many problems with it.
It is very underpowered, and just terrible in the snow even with 4 dedicated snow tires.
My Infiniti (excuse me, my Wife's Infiniti), is the 35x model.
The car is a rocket, handles great and has all the bells and whistles that I miss in the BMW.
If I were you, living in Canada, I would only look at an X model.
The car is so powerful that with only rear wheel drive, it will be a problem in Canada.
By the way, I leased the M35X for way less than the Bmw, with far more equiptment!
I agree, get the M35x. It will perform far better than the 525 and will do very well in the snow.
Check the color out and if you like it, it's a no brainer, go for the M45. I don't believe a color is "too old of a color" and wouldn't care one way or another if I liked it.
6 weeks after the accident, the body shop (ordering through the local infiniti dealer) STILL can't find the structural parts. I.e. No work has begun other than stripping the car down. The dealer says maybe 11/11 the parts may come in. On advice of my dealer (not the local dealer) I called the Infiniti complaint line who says they will look into the matter. Maybe they can find the parts before I go crazy and waste more money on a rental car.
Never thought about this being a downside to getting a brand new model but it is turning out to be.
I have had a number of friends with the new 530 and not one of them is every happy with the car, cool, and flashy, but misign something. The car is nice, dont get me wrong, its just way more money for less car.
Id urge you to further consider the M series. Also I think allwheel drive is important for the Canadian Weather (I live in AB). If you were prepared for the rear wheel in the BMW, they it will be no worse in the M, they have some sort of snow mode that makes for better control on starts. I've not used it, but its designed for snow starts/ice.
Good luck with the decision, BTW, color - not that important reallt - they always seem to be covered with white haze anyway here in AB anyway, my Midnight Blue (other car) looks white most of the year.... :-)
Bronze is often the color of 'old guy' cars, but the M tends to turn heads, and probably the color is going to work if you like it.
I too have driven RWD V8's in the snow for some years, without problems, but I think the low profile tires of the Sport won't work in Canadian winters. My guess is you'll want 4 mounted snow tires. The deal on a car coming out of an early lease may make it worthwhile.
Good luck, this is a great car.
Doc ... I don't know what "golden" means in this context, but I stand by the "slug" character of the 525I. IMO, there's nothing "golden" about the Bimmer. :shades:
Bart
I have been having a very difficult past 2 days deciding between both cars...
But I think I will end up getting the m45. The dea is just too good to pass up.
As well I found 19" winter bridgestone blizzax tires on tirerack.com for about 850$ US shipped to Canada which I think is a great deal... Will these tires the job though???
I have always wanted a bmw I guess that hopefully my next car when i'm 30 will be an m5, if i can afford it... And at least i'll start my bmw experience with a "true" bmw...
I think they'll work out well. I don't own them (yet), but have several friends who do and they all feel they do a great job in the snow. They are consistently reviewed well online.
I have always wanted a bmw I guess that hopefully my next car when i'm 30 will be an m5, if i can afford it...
Can't help but be a little jealous here; when I was 27, I was driving a Chevy Citation :lemon: However, I'm better now - after years of therapy
As a person who has driven Bimmers - this car will spoil you for most of what BMW offers, though probably not an M5!
When I was 27 I was newly married, starting the first year of my residency, had one kid on the way, and was taking home $92.12 every two weeks. I couldn't have bought the tires, let alone the car! LOL
Replaced them 8k ago with Pirelli PZeros from Tire Rack and what a difference. Much, much quieter.
Any help is appreciated!
I also live in the New England area and have already ordered a winter tire/rim setup for my M45 sport. Yes it is the sport model and thus it is a necessity for me but the benefits of this setup would helpful for you as well.
All-season tires are a great compromise. They are expected to handle well in the summer, rain, cold, snow, ice, provide a quiet ride and last for the 50k (if not more). In reality they can’t do everything well. Can you get by with AWD and all-season tires, yes you can. However there will be a noticeable improvement in handling and braking with a winter setup.
I would suggest going with a 17” rim. The folks over at the Tire Rack are good at recommending a rim/tire. My last two vehicles, both RWD and sport models, had Blizzak WS-50’s mounted on 16” rims (sport rim was 17”). Very good winter tire but the sidewall is very flexible. Your first corner and/or lane change will make you say, what happened there! I’m going with the LM series for my M45. The sidewall is stiffer. The total package price was around $1k.
Good luck with your decision.
Regards,
Chris
After removing the actual key from the fob, the remaining "keyless" fob will also lack any kind of hanging loop. It is my understanding that virtaully all valet parking systems have a cabinet or board with hooks to hang keys from. The M35 system will leave the valet company with no way to hang your fob from their board/cabinet. :confuse:
A crude solution may be to place it in a small zip-lock they can put their hook through.