Hi, all.

When we bought my 2003 M45 some years ago, my wife and I had earlier test driven some cars (for replacing her car.) We were comparing these to the Infiniti G35, which is what we eventually walked into the Infiniti dealer to purchase (as a replacement for my Q45 when it had the transmission problem).

But the low price on the M45 beckoned and we ended up with that ... so, our test drives are not really fair to those other models, but I will list them anyway (without commenting on the comparison).

We test drove and checked out the following cars (again, remember the model we were comparing to was the G35):

Volvo S80BMW 325iBMW 330iAcura RLLexus ES 300Lexus IS 300Volkwagen Passat

For others, the question is still: what did you test drive/compare it to before you made the M35 or M45 (current gen or the first gen) purchase?

Z

Yes, back in 2003. I test drove most of the Lexus's back then. But the power was not there. Only the M45 had the power I was looking for in a sedan. And till this day, no one has come up to a 340hp sedan in its class. The only down fall, there is no high performance parts for the M45, ie Intakes, exhaust, tuning software etc.

I test drove a 2003 BMW M5, a Mercedes CLK500 AMG and a Infiniti FX45.

M45 Lover wrote:I test drove a 2003 BMW M5, a Mercedes CLK500 AMG and a Infiniti FX45.

Wow and you chose the M over those!! Impressive for the M indeed!

What made you chose the M over those?

We drove the Volvo S60R, Mercedes E350, G35, Acura TL and BMW 530i and we found the the M35 was the best bang for our buck and it's not something you see on the road everyday. At least not yet.

elwesso wrote:Wow and you chose the M over those!! Impressive for the M indeed!

What made you chose the M over those?

Yes, indeed!

I'd love to hear the answer to the question too!

Z

Hi all,

I/we did not test drive anything other than the M35. I wanted to test drive the M45, but was honestly afraid to test, because I would have went with it. Bottom line, I wanted to keep the car under $50K and the M45 won't let me do it.

I have a tendency to surf the web, when I am looking to get a new car. Car& Driver, Motor Trend, Road&Track, Consumer Reports, etc. say it all. I went and test drove it and liked it from the first second.

I have had three Audi's A-6, two 5-series BMW's, one Lexus GS300 and (so far) the M35 is the king. Audi/Lexus tie for second, and BMW comes in a distant third.

have a good one.

elwesso wrote:
Wow and you chose the M over those!! Impressive for the M indeed!

What made you chose the M over those?

I test drove 3 2003 M5's, they were very nice but all had clutch issues and I am not crazy about buying a car that is very soon to be outdated with the new model year 2007. Also the new M5 shares too much of the same looks with the 5 series and I am not crazy about the BMW styling as of late. I actually own a BMW X5 4.4i coincedentally LOL!

The CLK500AMG was nice but for all the options I wanted the price would have been around 110k canadian. Plus I was not all that impressed with the value for the offering.

The Infiniti FX45 was on my short list until I saw the Infiniti M45 Sport. I simply did not need 2 SUV's in my garage hence the reason I opted for the m45 sport

Been loving my ride ever since!

M45 Lover wrote:Been loving my ride ever since!

Thanks for the info! I continue to believe, even more so now, that Infiniti has a major hit on their hands with the M45.

Z