Great Forum. Have been a long time Nissan Maxima owner and finally stepped up to the Infiniti this year. Recently purchased an 06 M35X based on reviews and a test drive. I have 3000 miles and have been slightly disappointed in it's noise and ability to absorb bumps. The noise is muted but you feel the slightest bumps. Don't know if others feel the same way or something can be down to eliminate this. I didn't notice this in the first 2000 miles. Other than this the car has been great.

can't agree on the rough ride...but then I came from a '91 Saab 9000 turbo..however the "noise" is from the lousy Goodyear rubber. We had the same tires (in a 17") on our Mazda3 hatch...it was WAY noisy...I replaced them with Nokian NRVi's...at least a 60% noise reduction and way better grip and handling. Unfortunately the only tire they have for the M is a Y rated tire..very pricey and short life. Perhaps by the first of next year they will be available in V as well as their super Z tire.If you're not familiar with Nokian..visit their site at nokiantyres.com. They make great products at reasonable prices....in Finland.

I dont have any complaints about the firm ride; Thats what a performance sedan is about, the firm sports care feel. If you wanted a softer ride the Q would have been a better choice (likly)

Also the AWD does make the ride stiffer than the M35 without AWD or SPORT. If you test drove the none X version, then yes you could say the ride is stiffer.

I like the feel of the steering and the road, I dont want a boat that floats... this car has a great deal of balance between the sport feel, and the smooth ride in my opnion;

However, I'm sure one can fiddle with the suspection/shocks etc to smooth it out event more; This car would have been ideal for an air suspension that could adjust with speed, and offer user selectable touring or performace mode.

I ordered a new ML330 CDI 2007, and I've ordered witht he Air Suspension, and thats one of its benifits. The M would have been a a little better with something like that...

tk

I agree that the ride is in part related to the Goodyear RS-A. Noticed a similar problem on a 2001 Caddy DTS until I switched to Bridgestone.

My question as a new owner of a 2007 M35x is oil change frequency. Since most of my driving is highway, can I really trust a 7500 mile oil change? If I go with interval should synthetic oil be used?

CRG wrote:I agree that the ride is in part related to the Goodyear RS-A. Noticed a similar problem on a 2001 Caddy DTS until I switched to Bridgestone.

Yes, the Goodyear RS-A is a pathetic tire - I just don't understand why so many manufacturers use it as an OEM tire. I would strongly recommend getting something way better! Just make sure to meet the load index for the weight of the car (in the case of the M45) - the specifications are available in the stickies in this forum!

CRG wrote:My question as a new owner of a 2007 M35x is oil change frequency. Since most of my driving is highway, can I really trust a 7500 mile oil change? If I go with interval should synthetic oil be used?

Welcome to NICO!

I am a firm believer in oil and filter changes every 3750 miles at least (even though the M35 says 7500 miles is okay). This is cheap insurance to make sure that the car engine runs well in the long run.

You can use synthetic for better results, but as long as you are methodical about it, dino oil will be fine. Definitely use dino for the first 7500 to 10000 miles though, to let everything seat in properly before you switch to synthetic.

Overall, I would say that the frequency is more important than using synthetic. I.e., if I had a choice between synthetic at 7500 and dino oil at 3750, I would do dino oil at 3750. FWIW, I don't make this choice and just do synthetic at 3750.

Per our former oil expert here at NICO, I would recommend Chevron Supreme and Castrol GTX as excellent dino oils. In a 5W-30 or 10W-30 weight (or slightly different depending on your location). In synthetic, the Mobil 1 0W-40 is a great all-year-round oil, although there are other good synthetics available too (Valvoline, AMSoil, etc.)

Z

pavhg wrote:Great Forum.

Thanks! And welcome to NICO!

pavhg wrote:Have been a long time Nissan Maxima owner and finally stepped up to the Infiniti this year. Recently purchased an 06 M35X based on reviews and a test drive. I have 3000 miles and have been slightly disappointed in it's noise and ability to absorb bumps. The noise is muted but you feel the slightest bumps. Don't know if others feel the same way or something can be down to eliminate this. I didn't notice this in the first 2000 miles. Other than this the car has been great.

This appears to be one of the few areas that people with the M have complained about. Do check it out with the dealer and make sure that everything is properly tightened down and that the shocks are in good shape.

Z