I'm a student hardcore volvo driver who is in the market for a new daily driver car to last me for the next half dozen years or so. I have decided that it's going to be a midsize sport luxury car, and the 2003 M45 is one of the cars I'm considering.

Right now I'm shopping it against a the 01-03 540i 6-speed, the Jaguar XJR, the 2003 Passat W8, and potentially the 04 V70R 6-speed.

I like the lower price for what you get compared to the BMW, and I also like the VK45DE alot as an engine. A couple reservations I have are the lack of a manual transmission, the interior and the build quality of the leather and the plastics, etc, and the stock exterior looks. Right now the BMW seems like it has a nicer interior and transmission, but a weaker engine and a higher pricetag.

What I'm curious about is what there is available for the M45 in terms of performance upgrades. I have read that the transmission, especially the tiptronic setup seems to be set up with luxury and smoothness instead of performance in mind. A 340 horsepower car that weighs 3800 lbs should do 0-60 in ~5-5.5 seconds and run in the 13's, instead of what all the road tests said the m45 should do. Are there any available ECU and TCU upgrades for the M45 to get a few more horsepower and more importantly get the transmission to shift more aggressively and upshift closer to the redline.

That should do it for performance stuff, although I'm curious about what you m45 owners think of the handling, as well as what the availiability of replacement shocks, springs, and sways is.

As for looks stuff, I'm mostly curious about how hard it is to get ahold of nissan gloria bumpers and taillights, because I think they make a huge difference with the looks of the car.

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have...

-Alex

I'm kind of in the same situation as you...I'm a college student starting to look for a new car and also considering an M45. The M45 blows away the power of everything but the Jag and will be way more reliable than any of the cars you have listed. I sell cars for a VW/Honda dealer during my summer breaks and while the Passat W8 is a real sleeper car and great to drive, it just doesn't have the power of the M45. BMWs have strange electrical problems. Jag XJR...beautiful and fast, but UNRELIABLE. As far as 0-60 times, I've seen as low as 5.2 for the M45 so it's no slouch. The build quality of Infiniti products is also not nearly as cheap as some magazines would have you believe...my current car is a 1995 G20t and people think it's a new car all the time. Get the M45. It stands out so much more than a BMW or Volvo and will be much more reliable. The main problem with the M45 is finding one.

ACBarnett wrote:the 2003 M45 is one of the cars I'm considering.

Good! I have a 2003 M45 and am very pleased with it. A few minor things needed taking care of in the past few years, but, in general, I have been very pleased with the car.

ACBarnett wrote:I like the lower price for what you get compared to the BMW, and I also like the VK45DE alot as an engine. A couple reservations I have are the lack of a manual transmission, the interior and the build quality of the leather and the plastics, etc, and the stock exterior looks. Right now the BMW seems like it has a nicer interior and transmission, but a weaker engine and a higher pricetag.

All of the above are valid pro's and con's for the 2003 and 2004 M45 models. The engine is outstanding, as long as you get one that does not have an oil burning problem. See threads on that topic. A manual transmission would be awesome, but is not available.

I agree, yes, I find the interior a bit less "luxurious" than the older Q45's I have had, with more use of plastic, but the quality of the leather is definitely right up there with the best. Overlal, it is a reasonable balance between luxury and cost ... as good as could be expected, I think. The Nissan Infiniti engineers found mostly the right compromises to make.

I guess that the lower pricetag comes with the slightly reduced interior in this regard. It has not been a problem for me, though. I bought the car for its performance and unique exterior look and am quite happy with that!

ACBarnett wrote:What I'm curious about is what there is available for the M45 in terms of performance upgrades. I have read that the transmission, especially the tiptronic setup seems to be set up with luxury and smoothness instead of performance in mind. A 340 horsepower car that weighs 3800 lbs should do 0-60 in ~5-5.5 seconds and run in the 13's, instead of what all the road tests said the m45 should do. Are there any available ECU and TCU upgrades for the M45 to get a few more horsepower and more importantly get the transmission to shift more aggressively and upshift closer to the redline.

Short of the rear axle ratio change, there isn't much available for those model years. And, given the low numbers sold, I would not expect much in the future either.

Performance wise, it can drop into the mid 5's for 0-60. Has been measured at 5.7 by some sources. Lower than that would be tough for even that engine and car weight, based on its luxury appointments, etc. I suspect that Infiniti was not aiming at that market.

FWIW, I have beaten low-end Ferrari's (a 308 of some sort) off the mark in a race to 80mph. Not indicative of ultra-high performance, but great for a daily driver!

ACBarnett wrote:That should do it for performance stuff, although I'm curious about what you m45 owners think of the handling, as well as what the availiability of replacement shocks, springs, and sways is.

For a luxury car, it is quite good. Not at a par with the best BMW's or the new 2006 M45 (which is amazing handling compared to the best), but good enough to deal with lots of situations. I have driven curvy roads at high speeds where I would not have dared attempt something in a lesser car.

ACBarnett wrote:As for looks stuff, I'm mostly curious about how hard it is to get ahold of nissan gloria bumpers and taillights, because I think they make a huge difference with the looks of the car.

I have no idea about this!

Z

right now I'm leaning towards the XJR, it just seems to have a bit nicer of an interior and be alot more tuner-friendly. I'm still going to testdrive the m45 and see what I think, but I like the idea of 5.5 second 0-60 times as a baseline. I wish there was more documentation about reflashing the m45's engine and transmission as well as about turboing the VK45. It seems like there's alot of potential there, I'm just a bit more interested in a car where the potential has been more realized (this was the same complaint I had about the 540i, before we even get to price )