Post by
joeygott »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/joeygott-u63586.html
Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:56 am
MOTORTREND's reputation was dealt a HUGE BLOW. The entire automotive industry was shocked that MT published this article. I got feedback from several insiders at different car companies and journalist in the field about this. Let me explain why.1- Infiniti "PROCURED" the BMW for the test. I've been reading 3 different car magazines on a weekly basis for 20 years. How often do you see the a car company bring the competition with them. MT was ok with that! Bad mistake.2- Infiniti isn't stupid. There is a measureable (I'm being politically correct here) difference in performance between the 2 cars. BMW is faster, period, so INfniti brings a car to the test that they know has mechanical problems. How do they know this, because they did the same test for EDMUNDS and got the same result. The car got hot during testing and went into limp mode. How do you beat a bigger, strong, faster, smoother, better trained fighter in hand to hand combat? You fight him when he has a broken leg!!! The reputation of Infiniti has been tarnished and the only ones that refuse to hold them accoutable are die hard INFINITI owners that are too loyal to see the truth.
3- The BMW that INFINITI brought to the test was an early model automatic and BMW didn't install oil coolers on the early model automatics. They have since corrected that and retrofitted the first few months production that went out without them. So the car gets hot, goes into Limp mode, Infiniti wins because the competitor got hot and the ECU put the motor into limp mode. That is a CROCK. You can blame BMW all you want about putting the car out without the oil cooler, and you would be right. They deserved what they got, I agree there, but INFINITI came out of this way worse.Infiniti was dishonest with the public, and with MT by doing this. They couldn't fight a fair fight since they had lost to the 335 so many other times that they had to resort to this. This is a fact, and I've confirmed this with SEVERAL high level people in the automotive industry, but it was pretty obvious when I read the article that something wasn't right.
I'm an INFINITI owner (and LOVE it) and considering the new G37 at the time the article came out. I had already read at least 5 other comparos that all favored the 335, some by a wide margin. So when I saw the headlines, THE KING IS DEAD, I got excited and though, finally, Infiniti did it!Well, instead they embarrased me, themselves, and lost a tremendous amount of credibility in the automotive world. My contacts said it didn't suprise them at all, that the CEO of Nissan/INfiniti is a "WHATEVER IT TAKES" type of guy. He applies that philosophy to manufacturer/production costs too, which is why Nissan has been dropping in all the QUALITY reports the last few years.
The BMW is the better car- Better performance (acceleration, handling, brakes), better warranty (including maintenance for 50k), better seats, better and more refined ride, MUCH better clutch engagement, 6spd vs 5spd tranny, MUCH better back seat (more leg and head room, ac vents, arm rest, map lights, courtesy lights, etc), and most of all, averages 3+ mpg better fuel economy. It's also 5-7k more so it should be better!
INFINITI is a better bang for the buck- nicer interior, great powertrain warranty, solid performance.
If you look at any of the consumer sites, JD POWER, CONSUMER REPORTS, etc. The infiniti g35/g37 and bmw 3 series score very evenly, very good across the board. Both are recommended with JD power giving the edge to BMW.
And before you start knocking the oil cooler issue too much, let's not forget about the MAJOR problems people have been experiencing on the G35's. Hundreds of engines have failed due to internal OIL leak causing the engine to BURN up all the oil and cook the motor. NISSAN/INFINITI havne't acknowleged the problem yet, and there are HUNDRED if not THOUSANDS more that will be affected in future months/years. Remember, this problem isn't on the first year model, it's on 2006's too. And what about the tire scalloping problem causing tremendous road noise (tire roar) and requiring premature replacement of tires, very expensive. There is a class action suit against Nissan and any day, they will file the one against INFINITI for the same problem.
So, upon hearing all of this and spending DOZENS of hours talking to people in the industry (NOT BMW), I decided to consider the 335. I drove the G35, read tons of reviews on the G37 (all very positive) and then drove the 335. I'm not kidding when I tell you the difference was shocking. It wasn't even close for me. Everything I read was true + some.The torque in that twin turbo motor just made it perform like a European V8. The car has great pickup from 1800 rpm in about any gear WITHOUT DOWNSHIFTING. It's really incredible.Then, I looked into MODIFYING the motor and found out that with a simple ECU flash or piggy back system, the car is as faster or faster than adding a turbo to the G35 (which cost around $8000 for all parts and labor). And when you mod a G35, you void all warranties. When you do a piggy back or ECU flash on the 335, you don't (unless you take it into the dealer with the piggy back on, but I'm getting a DINAN flash and have confirmed with 2 local BMW dealers it does NOT void any warranty). Also, the G37 has such high compression, it will be more expensive and much more difficult to modify than the G35. So....in the BMW 335, you have a SUPER FAST world class car, with full warranties, and will all the refinement and reliability of a stock production car. It just became a NO CONTEST, so I bought one. 9 months after coming out, the 335 Coupe is still selling at MSRP all over the country. That should tell you something.
Modified by joeygott at 2:16 PM 8/21/2007
Modified by joeygott at 2:46 PM 8/21/2007