Hey guys. I am in the market for a 2003 M45. I just wanted to get some thoughts and opinions on the car. Relibility, handeling, gas milage, ect. I curently have a Mercedes E430, but I am thinking about making this big jump to Japanese luxary and need some advice. Thanks!

Reliability is excellent, gas mileage should be similar to better to that of your E430.

Strongbad wrote:Hey guys. I am in the market for a 2003 M45. I just wanted to get some thoughts and opinions on the car. Relibility, handeling, gas milage, ect. I curently have a Mercedes E430, but I am thinking about making this big jump to Japanese luxary and need some advice. Thanks!

Welcome to NICO!

Reliability should be better than the E340. Mileage is probably similar. I get between 16 to 18 mpg with about 60 to 65% highway driving, although I do not have a light foot! Steady 65 mph gets over 25mpg on the highway - pretty awesome. With total city driving, my wife gets about 15 to 16 mpg.

The only thing to watch out for in a used one is the oil consumption. If the engine was not broken in properly, you may have issues. Please read the thread on some possible mechanisms to check for oil consumption ... definitely also get the Infiniti dealer records on work done and ask for the oil change records too (if not done at the dealer) to ensure that regular oil changes were done at least every 3750 miles!

Z

Well it's done folks. Thanks to those who posted advice. I made the jump to Japanese, after 7 years of BMW & Mercedes. I drove it and I was blown away. Absoutely loved it.

It is a '03 M45 lease return. It is under warranty, although I am not sure how long. It was manufactured 9/02 but was not sold until 10/03. Not sure if the warranty starts the day it is built, or the day it receives it's first owner.

I hit 22,000 miles on the test drive. It has normal wear and tear (scratches, ect.) I will take it to the dealership Monday. The sunroof shade is stuck closed, and it has a slight vibration when braking, esp. ,at high speeds. I also smell a faint smell of oil burning, so I suspect it might be burning oil.

Any sugestions as to other things I need to tell the dealership to check out are appreaciated.

Thanks for the welcome. Glad to be aboard.

Oh yeah. When I start the car, it tells me I have a flat. All tires seem to be fully inflated. Whats the deal with that? lol...
Modified by Strongbad at 11:23 PM 2/25/2006

WOW!

Love the black on black... Please tell me you got the Smoke wood trim?

Great having you aboard - It's always nice to see someone recognize that BMW and Benz are not the end-all, be-all of luxury performance sedans.

German is definately not perfect. They have things they do well. I think the engineering behing thier cars is second to none, but at the same time, simple things, like making a power window actuator that last more than 12 months gets left off the menu. Don't even get me started on thier stereos. Lol.

The wood trim is not the smokewood. It is the light color wood. As you can see, somebody "misplaced" the shift knob. I am on the dealer to try and find it or order another one. I would hate to have to buy one.

I'm calling tomorrow to make my first service appointment. Anybody here have any experience with Grubbs Infinity in Hurst, Texas?

Strongbad wrote:Well it's done folks. Thanks to those who posted advice. I made the jump to Japanese, after 7 years of BMW & Mercedes. I drove it and I was blown away. Absoutely loved it.

Cool!

Strongbad wrote:It is a '03 M45 lease return. It is under warranty, although I am not sure how long. It was manufactured 9/02 but was not sold until 10/03. Not sure if the warranty starts the day it is built, or the day it receives it's first owner.

Warranty period and mileage starts on the day of the first sale.

Strongbad wrote:Oh yeah. When I start the car, it tells me I have a flat. All tires seem to be fully inflated. Whats the deal with that? lol...

A few possibilities. One is that the tire is indeed underinflated. Check that with a good pressure reader and confirm that you have at least 34 psi in all your tires.

Another is that the sensor inside the tire is missing or damaged from a tire change or busted in some other way. Should be fixed by the dealer.

Finally, under some conditions, it simply needs a reset on the tire transmitter to work properly again. Again, the dealer can do this reset ... needs a special tool, as I recall.

Z

That would be awesome. That would mean I am covered until 10/07 under the factory warranty. The place that sold me the car offers an extended b-2-b warranty (5 yrs/ 100k mi) for $1900, but I would like to avoid that until my factory warranty runs dry. Speaking of which...

I am taking her in next week for service. Right here is what I am getting checked out.

*Sunroof shade stuck closed*Slight burnt oil smell after extended driving*Vibration/shaking when breaking at high speeds*Couple burned out interior bulbs

Is there anything else with these cars (known issues) that I should have them check out while I am at it?

Strongbad wrote:I am taking her in next week for service. Right here is what I am getting checked out.

*Sunroof shade stuck closed*Slight burnt oil smell after extended driving*Vibration/shaking when breaking at high speeds*Couple burned out interior bulbs

Is there anything else with these cars (known issues) that I should have them check out while I am at it?

Those are mainly it!

I would also ask to make sure that the transmission re-programming TSB has been done ... I forget the TSB number, but it is a common one that the dealer should know about. At 30k miles, there is more that should be done for long vehicle life, but you are only at 22k miles, right?

The vibration when braking may be one of a couple of possibilities. Either your rotor is warped (unlikely, but the usual answer from the service rep) or the pad was not "set" in properly by the tech/owner, or the tires are imbalanced.

If the rotor is warped, they can machine it - depending on how many times it has been done already. If the pads are worn badly or "spotted" the rotor, then they may simply need replacement as well as rotor machining. Do break new pads in correctly (the instructions are in a thread from Q45tech over in the Infiniti General forum, as I recall.)

Many tires go out of balance within 2000 to 4000 miles, and these sometimes feels like bad brakes, when it is really a tire imbalance problem. I re-balance my tires every 2500 to 3000 miles (freebies from the tire place I buy them from) and this makes all the difference for my driving habits!

Z

Yeah, I hit 22k on the way home. Drives perfect. Only feel the shaking when braking. Rotors sounds like a distinct possibility.

I will have them look at that while they are checking the tire sensors.

Thanks a bunch!