2008 M45 volume control 'problem'

[infinitum7]

I bought a new 2008 M45 with a bose system (not 14 speaker system) about 6 months ago. I love the car, but there is one thing that really bothers me; the volume control does not seem to be linear when increasing from 0 to 3 bars.

There is no sound at all until you turn the volume up to 3 bars. (Note: there are 2 clicks per bar) The first click of the 3rd bar is the first level where I can hear any sound but this level would only be practical for listening to music while the car is off and no one else is in the car with you. It is not loud enough to hear when driving and having a conversation with a passenger. However, with just one more click of the volume control, you still only see 3 bars and the volume is now too loud to have a conversation. Why doesn't the volume start at the 1st bar? If the first 2 bars produced audible sound, I would expect that I could find a volume setting that is somewhere between what I now get from the first and second clicks on third bar.

I took the car to the dealership (Sewell Infiniti, Houston TX - which I don't recommend at this point) and described the problem when I left the car for servicing. When I picked the car up, they said they couldn't reproduce the issue. I got the tech out there and showed him the problem and he agreed that the behavior didn't seem right. Well, long story short, they ended up saying that the volume control performed just like the other M45's they had on the lot.

I contacted Infiniti Consumer Affairs (somewhat helpful, but I am still disappointed in their response) and after 2 weeks, they told me they checked with their tech group and they had no reports of problems with this so the volume control must be performing as designed.

I have owned a 2006 Infiniti and also have a 2008 G37 and neither of the sound systems in those cars have this problem. I can't believe that no one else has reported this so I researched the web and this site and don't see a report of anything similar. Can anyone confirm that this is the way the volume control on their M45 behaves?

Thanks for listening.

[Zamba]

It's probably the same for all of our vehicles. I have the Bose Studio Surround in my car and I can't hear anything until I turn it to 2.5. At that level it's extremely faint and would be difficult to hear even when the engine is off. At 3 is when you actually make something out of the sound.

[exbmwdude]

I reported this to my dealer as well. I don't like that the volume "steps" are so huge. One click to the left and it's too quiet, one to the right and it's too loud. There's no excure for this sloppy programming, but no one seems willing to fix it. I may get into the diag mode this weekend and see if I can tweak the levels that way. I think if I can turn down the gain on the amp, then the individual volume steps coming out of the preamp will not be so pronounced.

exbmwdude2006 M35S