[Carnage]

I'm in Salt Lake City on business this weekend and had a choice between an Impala or for $10 extra a day, a new M35. Guess which one I picked.

Not a bad car overall, I give it a 7 out of 10, the loss of points comes from one area, performance.

Interior: very nice. The seats are very comfortable and better than the E90's regular or sport seats, I would put them just a step below the seats in my M3 in terms of comfort. The upper back area and head/neck areas are much better than the BMW's. Lots of room and the materials used in the interior look like a better grade then the G35's, which looks cheap to me and is one of the reasons why I didn't buy one.

The dials, buttons, etc are laid out nicely with the expection of the rear-view mirrors and the VDC buttons. They are about knee level buried at about the 7pm level on the dash. You have to feel for them for your left hand behind the steering wheel.

Performance:

It is the most uneventful 275 HP car I have ever driven. It accelerates like a truck, even in manual mode the shifting is sloppy and the power is not used to its potential. With that HP the car should perform alot better than it does. Handling is ok but not what I am used to, you just don't have the same attachment to the road as with a BMW.

Based on the price, the M35 is a better comparison with the 335i sedan then the G35 IMO.

Scorecard

Interior- I have to give the nod to Infiniti here, they did a nice job with the interior.

Performance- No contest. The BMW wins by a country mile.

Overall- If you could match the Infinti interior with the performance of the 335 you'd have a close to perfect sedan.

As they stand, if you are more worried about the interior and are not concerned about performance, buy the M35.

But if you want second to none performance in this price range and an above average interior, the 335 is the way to go.

[Greeney]

Do you think the M45 would solve the issues of power?

[Carnage]

Originally Posted by Greeney

Do you think the M45 would solve the issues of power?

Not really. The M45 is only putting out 325HP and it weighs over 4,000 lbs. The 550i (to which Infiniti compares the M45) puts out ~40 more HP and weighs 200+ lbs. less.

That's the same problem with the M35. The 275 HP is trying to move a 3,900 lbs. car.

[Greeney]

Originally Posted by matsarge

Not really. The M45 is only putting out 325HP and it weighs over 4,000 lbs. The 550i (to which Infiniti compares the M45) puts out ~40 more HP and weighs 200+ lbs. less.

That's the same problem with the M35. The 275 HP is trying to move a 3,900 lbs. car.

Thats a very good, and true point. Any idea what the TQ number on the M45 is? It seemed to put down fair 0-62 times as far as I know.

[Carnage]

Originally Posted by Greeney

Thats a very good, and true point. Any idea what the TQ number on the M45 is? It seemed to put down fair 0-62 times as far as I know.

336 ft-lbs. @ 4000 rpm

The M35 is 268 ft-lbs. @ 4800 rpm

[Greeney]

Thats prob why the M35 feels so slow, look how high that TQ kicks in. Thats actually astounding.

[DFW_M]

I am not sure I understand the seat comfort comparison between M35 (at least 5er class) and the 3er/M3... It would suck for the 3-series if the seats were on par with the M35...

In my opinion, the M35 looks good insede and out, except for the rear...those lights are...too big or something?

[NFS13]

Originally Posted by dr325i

I am not sure I understand the seat comfort comparison between M35 (at least 5er class) and the 3er/M3... It would suck for the 3-series if the seats were on par with the M35...

In my opinion, the M35 looks good insede and out, except for the rear...those lights are...too big or something?

I was just about to comment on the lights. WAY to big, HUGE actually! And the light pattern is goofy. Was looking for a primary family sedan last year and couldn't get past them.

[Carnage]

Originally Posted by dr325i

I am not sure I understand the seat comfort comparison between M35 (at least 5er class) and the 3er/M3... It would suck for the 3-series if the seats were on par with the M35...

Read the end of my post again...

"Based on the price, the M35 is a better comparison with the 335i sedan then the G35 IMO."

The M35 base is about $6K less than the 530i base but only 3K more than the 335i base. A well optioned M35 sport and 335i are very close in price.

A well optioned M45 is more in line with the price of a well-optioned 530i or base 550i.

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by matsarge

Read the end of my post again...

"Based on the price, the M35 is a better comparison with the 335i sedan then the G35 IMO."

The M35 base is about $6K less than the 530i base but only 3K more than the 335i base. A well optioned M35 sport and 335i are very close in price.

A well optioned M45 is more in line with the price of a well-optioned 530i or base 550i.

But based purely on price, you could never compare the Infiniti model with the BMW -- the G was always $5k less than the 3er (330), M35 was always below the similarly optioned 530.

I's think that overall -- price + performance + looks + build feel and quality, the G and 3er come very close: the G price is way more affordable, the rest is on the Bimmer side.

[just4kickz]

i think the M is pretty sweet... my freind used to drive his bro's... 5% all around and then 50 on the front... hella hard to see through.

[picus]

Originally Posted by Greeney

Thats prob why the M35 feels so slow, look how high that TQ kicks in. Thats actually astounding.

The joys of the VQ. It's a great engine but as it gets older the peak torque keeps moving further up the band. In the newest iteration it's up to 5200rpm.

[Carnage]

Originally Posted by dr325i

But based purely on price, you could never compare the Infiniti model with the BMW.

That's a fallacy that's been put into our brains over the years because of the types of cars that magazines have choosen to compare.

The fact of the matter is that most people start researching cars based on a price they can afford, then the performance, features, etc. come into play after that. A small majority of people do it the other way around.

Big magazines may not, but real people compare the M models from Infiniti to the 3-series all the time. Why? Because they cost close to the same and we are in a "most bang for the buck" society. We as BMW lovers can be spoiled because we are focused on the driving experience and the performance, will pay extra for it, and don't understand why others don't have that same focus. Most people are just concerned with getting all they can for their buck. If I had a fixed amount to spend of mid-40's and I was looking for the most out of my $ and not 0-60 or slalom times, I would buy an M35 before I bought 3-series. More room, more features, same price.

People who don't read the magazines, want a "sports sedan" and can only afford a mid-30's car, don't even look at BMW. Why? Because they think it's out of their price range. They could care less what a magazine thinks is in the same class.

As far as 5-series go, put a bunch of options on a 525 or 530 and you're up in the price range of a M45. In that case the M45 wins hands down because the 525 and 530 are under-powered and not as nice.

If you look at everything for what it is, you can see the BMW has some serious gaps in the way it's cars are priced and out-fitted if it really wants to take the leap from appealling to just the performance crowd and start appealling to the masses. Personally, I like the focus on performance and don't care that others have more features to the same or less money and I'd rather not see a zillion 3-series cars every where I turn like the TL's or the G35's, etc.