I've read about all the TSBs on rattling.

I have a rattling from the driver side front. Took it to the dealer and had them check the a-pillar / windshield, headliner, parking brake cable. they also insulated the air vent.

the rattle is less pronounced now, but still audible esp on uneven surfaces like concrete highways, bridges, and overpasses.

So, they obviously did something to improve it, but what is causing it and will it improve????????

Well in my opinion the M chassis is not stiff enough. Rattles will increase over time. A chassis becomes less rigid with age so you'll have to turn up the radio. The M chassis is a derivitave of the G chassis. The G cars have much less horse power and weight that the M cars. The G car is just tight enough for a 3500 pound car with V6. Take the same chassis, enlarge it, add 400 pounds and the torque of a v8 and you have the M car, and in my opinion, with chassis regidity that is dated 10 years.

I had an M45 that was lemon lawed becasue of a banging in the rear suspension. It was a struggle to get the car lemon lawed but noone could ingnore the banging sound. During he process of trying to fix the bang I spent a lot of time on rough roads with an M and a G. I was able to reproduce the bang faithfully in my M and ever M45 they let me drive. The more I listened, the more rattles I heard.

I liked the M at first, it drives good, the electronics and ergonomics are great, the engine was wonderful. When pushed the chassis flexes. The chassis is a 3rd rate effort.

Iscamerica,

Regarding the M45 you lemon lawed because of the bang in the rear suspension....I assume you are talking about on 06? Please share more info on this. I know a few others have reported this also.

Ive got an 06, and the same problem. There is something definately not right, but the dealer wont address it. "Normal operating characteristics" is what they tell me. BS is what it is.

Mine "bangs" only on acceleration when I hit a bump, and when it does, it feels and sounds like I hit a big pothole doing 50mph.

Yes, that's it. I had an early 06. The banging in the rear suspension when accelerating and going over a bump was so promounced. My car made the noise occasionally when going over bumps while cruising too. EVERY M45 Lux or Sport I drove had this problem. After legal pressure, infiniti offered me another car, I test drove 3 more cars and they all made the noise. In a effort to fix the problem the dealership repalce many parts including shocks. They acknolwedged the problem was there and they could not fix it so I had legal ground, what they wrote on the repair order. This design flaw is serious in my opinion and will get worse with age. At the time the person I was working with at the dealership told me only they knew of the problem but only one other person in California was complainging. Me and him, so Infiniti was not providing many resources to get it worked out. BTW Ray Catena Infiniti in NJ handled this great and gave me a loaner car for the whole process. They are wonderful and were on my side. That is so rare.

Since we know how to reporduce the noise and many people are having it, perhaps a lawyer on the board can put together a class action law suite. Infiniti has settled many of these and has a few pending. Sad but law suites are the only was to get car companies to own up.

As for me I'll probably never buy another new car. The prospect of spending 700 to 1000 dollars a month for a car that is defective and having little or no recourse is insane. I lucked out on the M45 with the lemon law, my car qualified by circustance and a few small clerical oversights at the dealer, a perfect storm so to speak.

The current state of affairs is sad...

BMW's drive great but many have electrical problems,

Audis' have all sorts of issues and a questionalble VW based service department

A Mercedes drives like squish and many have electrical problems

Lexus' are numb but are close to perfect. I know I also have an RX300 with 65k on the clock and dont have any problems, not a noise, nothing. I did one brake job, oil changes and changed one tail lamp in 4 years. I've been to the dealer twince and both times I was King.

Infiniti is still in recovery mode and has a few bright spots, the G35 is worthy of the infiniti name plate.

Chrysler has a chance. I rented a 300 for a week while on vacation and was impressed but the interior is bland and has econo car plastic.Even a 300 with all sorts of option, approaching 50k still has the same plastic interior.
Modified by icsamerica1 at 9:13 AM 3/9/2006

A fully loaded 300C doesn't even approach $50K, unless you're talking about the SRT8.

ICSAmerica,

IIve been to the dealer numerous times to no avail. My dealer is NOT helpful like you mentioned yours was. All they keep telling me is that it is "normal operating characteristics" Im at my wits end with them. I really love my M except for this problem (and a couple others actually) Im trying to just "live with it" but as my wife keeps telling me, that's just too much money to spend to NOT be happy! I reluctantly agree. So....how many miles did your M have on it when you got to get rid of it? Did they give you another M or the $$ for it?


Modified by TXSJaybird at 8:13 PM 4/26/2006

I am in the market for an M45 or GS 430, and after hearing of this problem, I must say that I am fearful of the M45. I loved the car when I drove it, with the exception of the somewhat lower grade interior, relative to the GS, but my biggest fear has always been the reliability and build quality of the Infiniti.

Can anyone nullify my fears?

PeteV wrote:I am in the market for an M45 or GS 430, and after hearing of this problem, I must say that I am fearful of the M45. I loved the car when I drove it, with the exception of the somewhat lower grade interior, relative to the GS, but my biggest fear has always been the reliability and build quality of the Infiniti.

Can anyone nullify my fears?

Hi, and welcome to NICO.

I cannot comment on the above 2006 M rattling issue, since I do not own one.

But, I have owned an Infiniti of some sort since 1991 and am hooked on the brand and their models. My first Infiniti was a 1991 Q45 that I purchased new in March of 1991. Traded it in around Aug 1998 for a 1995 Q45 that was a lease return. Mistake ... I should have kept the 1991.

It was a mistake because I learned that lessors do not maintain "their" cars because they know that they will return the vehicle and let the subsequent owner deal with the resulting problems. So, yes, I had a transmission problem with the 1995 Q45 that was probably/definitely the result of poor prior maintenance. Even then, it was an outstanding car for the money.

Now, I have owned my 2003 M45 since Sept 2003 ... over 2.5 years now. Only minor and relatively trivial issues to deal with. Particularly since I do early maintenance things (some might call them overkill) that will make my cars last!

My point is that the cost of ownership (as measured on a cost-per-mile basis) is as good or better than most of the marques out there. Infiniti has lower initial cost than BMW and MB and Audi for equivalent-performing cars. Lexus may be better, but I (and it is a personal thing) find their cars numbing interior-wise and performance-wise and external looks-wise. Acura is also good, like Infiniti, but the lack of a V-8 makes that choice clear for me!

BTW, when I bought my 1991 Q45, I also test-drove the LS400 for example - the Q45 won hands down, silly ad campaign not withstanding. The Q was definitely targeting high-end BMW drivers, and the Lexus was targeting all MB drivers.

Recently, my boss test drove an Infiniti Q45 and a Lexus LS 430. No contest again (although he does not drive hard like I do) ... he bought a 2004 Q45! (Back in 1993, he sold his MB 400 and bought a 1993 Q45a after riding in my 1991, by the way! ) He kept his 1993 Q45a for eleven years - only major difficulty he had was with the adaptive suspension that needed work after about 9 years or so.

While I am disappointed that some people have this rattling problem, I am hoping it will turn out to be a "bad batch" and a non-issue for most of the other buyers. There is a reason the M35 made Consumer Reports highest-ranked luxury car of all time ... the "97" rating is one that no other car has achieved. An indicator of what is the likely scenario, I certainly believe!

Z

PeteV wrote:I am in the market for an M45 or GS 430.

I think that this comparison says it all for me! http://www.roadandtrack.com/ar...ber=1

Z

icsamerica1, can you describe how to reproduce this rattling? I'd like to take one for a test drive, and see if I notice it as well. Could be the nail in this car's coffin for me.

Had mine for over a month and 2500+ miles on many of the worst potholed roads on the continent (Montreal and Toronto). And I've got the Sport suspension. So far so good; the only rattles are from the coins I keep in the ash-tray, the DVD boxes I've got in a door pocket, and the stuff in my trunk (washer fluid container). I did notice the odd bushing squeak when it's been cold, and a vibration (almost imperceptible) from the Aero kit, also when it was very cold out. The car is as tight as my E500 was, and the windshield doesn't even leak like the Benz did .

But, it's only been a month.....

Myself and others have found it easy to make the rattle/bang happen when accelerating full throttel over a choppy road. With each chop the bang would happen. It's vey noticeable like this. I also got the noise randomly over other road imperfections with lesser degrees of harshness. The acceleration makes it unmistakeable.

16000 miles on my m35 no rattlesrented a chrsyler 300 station wagon couple weeks ago it reminded me of my wife 1976 volare wagon please dont compare these vechicles

icsamerica1 wrote:Well in my opinion the M chassis is not stiff enough. Rattles will increase over time. A chassis becomes less rigid with age so you'll have to turn up the radio. The M chassis is a derivitave of the G chassis. The G cars have much less horse power and weight that the M cars. The G car is just tight enough for a 3500 pound car with V6. Take the same chassis, enlarge it, add 400 pounds and the torque of a v8 and you have the M car, and in my opinion, with chassis regidity that is dated 10 years.

I had an M45 that was lemon lawed becasue of a banging in the rear suspension. It was a struggle to get the car lemon lawed but noone could ingnore the banging sound. During he process of trying to fix the bang I spent a lot of time on rough roads with an M and a G. I was able to reproduce the bang faithfully in my M and ever M45 they let me drive. The more I listened, the more rattles I heard.

I liked the M at first, it drives good, the electronics and ergonomics are great, the engine was wonderful. When pushed the chassis flexes. The chassis is a 3rd rate effort.

From what I've read, torsional rigidity is up 60%. I don't know how much the bending rigidity or "modulous of elasticity" has changed, but I think it's safe to assume that they are improved as well. Most of the car rags seem to feel that it's a pretty stiff structure.

You're right in that the chassis does indeed lose some rigidity over time, but the addition of front and rear strut tower braces usually are enough to compensate for the loss...

Best regards, Matt

Myself and others have found it easy to make the rattle/bang happen when accelerating full throttel over a choppy road. With each chop the bang would happen. It's vey noticeable like this. I also got the noise randomly over other road imperfections with lesser degrees of harshness. The acceleration makes it unmistakeable.

"interior quality is by far the best to ever come out of Infiniti."

I disagree with R&T on that, but people's memories are short so I'll let it slide.

Hello:

I have the '06 M35 with approx. 3,500 miles. I too have noticed this sound when going over pot holes while accelerating. The sound is a clear "bang" or "bam" and sounds almost like the trunk has been slammed. I didn't really think much of it, just thought I was hearing things every once in a while. The sound is remarkable, and I have definitely noticed it in the past and thought it was an odd sound. I will be speaking to my dealer about this. Thanks very much for posting this information

-cbw

I will be glad to help coordinate some sort of effort to have this issue addressed by Infiniti in an "official" capacity.

If it reaches the point, as stated above, that our M owners feel there is grounds for legal representation, I'll be glad to provide space and resources to coordinate that as well.

Hell, if we can develop a registry of every 240sx Convertible ever built in America, we can certainly handle this.

Let me know how you guys want to proceed and I can set up an "official" thread for this matter.

That would be awesome, Greg!

Z

Has there been any progress on this issue since April? My M35 has been to Southwest Infiniti twice for this problem with no success whatever. It developed after about three months, got gradually worse (car is now a year old, 7000 miles) and seems to have plateaued and it is driving me nuts. I get a loud bang from the rear end over small sharp irregularities under even light acceleration.

Infinitis service at the dealership and Consumer Affairs sucks!!!!!!

After fighting with Infiniti for almost two years with my 2003 FX45 which had massive oil consumption, engine noise, blue smoke from the exhaust, & many trips to the dealer that never fixed any problems, finally worked out a deal for a new 2006 M45 Sport.

After every failed attempt to fix a problem on the FX they said the vehicle is operating with in normal specs, there is nothing more we can do.

My 2006 M45 Sport has a slight noise in the drivers door. I do notice a pronounced humming noise coming from the transmission when cruising at 80mph. I hope this not a precursor to the loud banging noises that everybody else has experienced.

This may be the last Infiniti/Nissan I every purchase. I will see over time how the car responds and how Infiniti reacts to my future service needs and all the aforementioned Nico members. Please keep us posted on the status of your service campaigns to fix the banging problem.

~117