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Hope this helps.
I have been experiencing the following: In Drive, while traveling down a certain steep hill in my neighborhood at 40 - 45 MPH, the engine begins to rev to 3500 - 4000 rpm, as if it had downshifted. There is no engine braking
action. The vehicle does NOT accelerate with the higher RPM - the phenomenon seems to be a downshift.
8 - 10 occurences in 10,000 mi.
As I decelerate to the bottom of the hill the RPM gradually decreases to about 1500 then goes to idle as I stop.
I can extinguish this by going into manual shift and then up shifting into 5th gear. If I go back into D it returns.
Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?
Thanks,
Emgee
With the M, if I treat it gingerly, I can get 16-17 in mixed driving conditions. Prior to my 540, I had a BMW 528 (I-6 engine) which was consistently in the 22-23 mpg range, and a hell of a lot smoother than the 6-banger in the M.
I know this sounds harsh, and I like the M very much in most respects, but this just smacks of poor engineering.
It will probably improve after it's broken in. My M35 sport gets 18-20 mpg in mostly city driving. On the highway it gets 23+ mpg.
The E-Class is rear wheel or all wheel drive.
Also, while every penny counts, I would like to weigh in on the mpg issue a little further. We will use the number Ed has provided from his E350, 21 mpg, which probably skews a little high for mostly in-city driving and use a number oft-cited for the M35, 15 mpg, a number I think is a little low unless you drive it mostly in-city, on short trips, with time for the engine to cool between trips.
With these numbers, if you drive 12,000 miles per year and gasoline remains at $3/gal, you arrive at the following costs:
E350 - 12,000/21 = 571.4 gals @ $3.00 = $1552.20
M35x - 12,000/15 = 800.0 gals @ $3.00 = $2400.00
This results in a difference of $847.80 or about $70/month assuming worst case scenario. Now, while this is not inconsequential, let's compare the lease prices of the two cars mentioned.
36 month leases, 12,000 miles/year, at current prices of cars similarly equipped.
E350 4matic - price $59,000 for a monthly lease price
of $1,039 before taxes.
M35x - price $50,500 for a monthly lease price
of $673 before taxes.
At these prices, the Benz includes proximity warning sensors rather than back-up camera. The advantages of both have been argued and I have had both. I prefer the camera for a couple of reasons. The sensors do not pick up low-lying objects. Toys, children, curbs and other objects lower than the sensors will not be identified. Also, if you are in a parking lot and have had the fortune of parking next to the ubiquitous long SUVs, you know how difficult it is to see oncoming traffic behind you. The wide-angle lens of the camera lets you see objects behind you that you could not see with the naked eye.
Also, the Benz does not include the following:
- Intelligent Cruise - Interesting that this option is
not available on the E Class. It used to be.
- Lane Departure Warning - Some people don't care for
this anyway.
- All Leather - The model quoted comes with leather on
seating inserts only. The rest is M-B vinyl. The
M-B Tex is nice though for vinyl.
- DVD Audio - While the surround sound system is
included in this price, you can't play DVD Audio,
DTS, or Dolby 5.1 encoded music.
- Heated and reclining rear seats
- DVD Entertainment System - I hate that Infiniti chose
to mount the monitor on the roof rather than in
the seats. I can imagine that it obstructs the
rear view. It is something, however, not
available in the Benz.
- Voice Activation of Many Controls - Some people have
problems with voice activation. While my ex-
perience hasn't been perfect, I've yet to see a
voice recognition system that is, it is accurate
enough that I use it all the time. It is much
handier and safer than diverting your attention
from the road.
I believe the more complete feature content, reliability, and dramatically cheaper entry price of the M certainly outweigh the added fuel and rubber costs.
However, if you want a car that provides a smoother ride, more prestige, and a likelihood to have fewer rattles, then the E can make sense if you are willing to pay more.
You're right Doc. I remember his comment that the fun of the "boy racer" nature of the car wore on him quickly and he preferred the classic, refined, elegance of the E-Class.
I did respond though to his agreement that the awd of the M35x probably drags down the mpg of the car and it was "one of the key reasons that he bailed out" and opted for an E350.
I agree that Infiniti automobiles, for the most part, compare very unfavorably to their competition in mpg examinations. As I stated before, however, even with the added fuel expense the cost of ownership is still significantly less than the competition.
That said, with people's sensitivity to higher fuel costs it would serve Infiniti well to address poor mpg results.
P.S. - While I've conceded that the M doesn't fare as well as it's competitors, I've still achieved an average mpg greater than the EPA estimates.
http://www.infinitihelp.com/Infiniti/Bulletins/M/2006/1.htm
It has Infiniti service bulletins, several of which talk to techs about rattles. Hope it helps someone. Rattle would annoy me greatly in a 50K car.
Anybody had any problems that resulted in a visit to the repair shop?
I am also concerned about the push button start. Is it possible that the button could break, and then I would not be able to stop/start the car?
About the switch...anything can fail. It could just as easily be the ignition switch of a car that used a key. The more problematic thing is losing the key fob...the electronics will prevent the car from starting. If you don't have the second fob handy, you need to buy a new computer as well as the new remote fob from what I hear - big bucks. Unfortunately, this is becoming more common as car manufacturers try to come up with means to help prevent the cars from being stolen - Infiniti is by no means the only one.
Bart :shades:
Hey does anyone have the Blue exterior with Black interior?
Do you like it?
Any other color thoughts welcome.
BTW: How many miles did it take you to wear those Potenza's down?
Bart :shades:
My Sport is Crimson Roulette with the lite interior. I've not seen another one around here ... everyone seems to like the gray, blue, and black. Bart :shades:
can i get a little more detail about your deal?
i am this close to buy a car soon after returning my bmw.
thanks
M45 sprt, with goodies MSRP 57000, I am paying 500 over invoice.
4k down 580 a month for 24m/12k in CA.
4k down 580 a month for 24m/12k in CA
sounds really good to me............
please introduce me the dealer....
Is that $580.00 before the tax or after the tax???
I'm in L.A. CA
How far are you at???
I'm in Orange County.
The dealer is Mission Viejo Infiniti. Email me and i will give you my sales guy.
Good luck
Now a question--does anyone who has an M use it with a Palm Treo 650? I called Infiniti and they said the Treo is not fully compatible with the bluetooth network in the car. They did however mention that the Treo was tested before the firmware update, so it might work now--I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience.
Looking forward to picking up my M35x on Saturday!
I wasn't being a wiseguy, I live in NY where it is never Pitch black-but I have it down by feel as well.
However, making a call only can be dailed from the Treo... once the call starts to connect, the "M" handsfree is conncected and operates just fine.
So what doesn't work - is making a call via voice commands on the "M". Even if the number is in the M's address book it will not connect to the Treo 650.
Mostly I answer calls when driving - I rarely make them from the car... so it's works ok for me. But I sell Infiniti's - and I would love to hear from others - especially if your Treo 650 experience is any different than mine.
I assume that you have Verizon as a service provider, as do I. Other carriers, such as Sprint, offer 650's that function properly with the Infiniti even though they are not on Infiniti's supported phone list. Palm's implementation of Bluetooth has been widely criticized (just check boards like TreoCentral.com), but, even worse, the version of the firmware on the Verizon version is considerably older than other phones. Palm has corrected a number of bluetooth problems, but Verizon just doesn't seem to release firmware updates as frequently as the other carriers.
I experienced the behavior you described, but my Verizon 650 phone nows work fully with my M35x because I hacked the phone and created a customized ROM consisting of the Verizon 1.04 firmware overlayed with the Bluetooth components of the Sprint 1.13 firmware. This is a risky procedure in that it is possibly to render the phone useless if something goes wrong. In my case, it worked, and I have full functionality in the car.
The Treo650 forum on treocentral.com has some threads that discuss ROM customization and there are tools available. Obviously the safer way to deal with this would be to get a Sprint phone, they definitely work with the latest official Palm firmware. I'm not sure of the status of Cingular 650's.