# Review: 2006 Infiniti M45 (vs. BMW 5-Series)



## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

_*Infiniti Puts On the Gloves*

If the high tech and high horsepower of a BMW 5-Series luxury sport sedan appeals to you -- but the idea of paying high dollars to get it doesn't -- you might be very interested in Infiniti's new M45._

http://site.aol.com/autos/article/4.adp


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## hts (Dec 19, 2001)

I drove the M45 in Phoenix several months ago and came away very, very impressed.

The new 5'er styling still hasn't grown on me, so I'm just debating whether or not I can live w/o a stick. Now that we've moved back to DC, I'm tempted to believe that I can.


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## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Saw an M45 the other day on the road. The M45 has the BIGGEST rear tail light's I've ever seen on a car! Proportionate to the rest of the car, the rear lights are HUGE!


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Unfortunately we'll never see those cars here.


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## F1Crazy (Dec 11, 2002)

Alex Baumann said:


> Unfortunately we'll never see those cars here.


I don't think you're missing much. Good cars but a little bland.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

F1Crazy said:


> I don't think you're missing much. Good cars but a little bland.


Competition is always good for the shopping guy/gal.

That said, Lexus is still having a hard time in the german market. It didn't really take off.


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

Alex Baumann said:


> That said, Lexus is still having a hard time in the german market. It didn't really take off.


It's interesting that when Edmunds compared the M45 with the Acura RL and Lexus GS (all 2006 models), it came in 3rd with the main complaint being that it didn't provide as much isolation from the road as either of the others. Sounds like it might do better amongst those of us who prefer that characteristic to the floating couch feel of Lexus and Acura. Between the G35 with marketing campaigns comparing it to the 3 series and the new M45's focus on handling over "cush, Infiniti seems to be the only one of the three specifically targeting BMW's market share in the US and might do better in Germany than I'd guess Lexus would. Do you see many around, and what kind of buyer is it attracting there?


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## F1Crazy (Dec 11, 2002)

Infiniti brand doesn't exist in Europe, neither does Acura. The only one is Lexus, recently introduced and like Alex said it does rather poorly. Main competitor for BMW is still M-B and Audi. Audi has come in very strong in recent years, they are putting a lot of focus on driving experience and the image of Audi is going to change to performance oriented brand within VAG.


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

F1Crazy said:


> Infiniti brand doesn't exist in Europe, neither does Acura. The only one is Lexus, recently introduced and like Alex said it does rather poorly. Main competitor for BMW is still M-B and Audi. Audi has come in very strong in recent years, they are putting a lot of focus on driving experience and the image of Audi is going to change to performance oriented brand within VAG.


Oops, guess I wasn't clear on what I was asking. I knew Acura and Infinit don't exist in Germany and Lexus was only recently introduced. I was just curious what kind of driver their target market was in Germany. Here, the bigger Lexus models (GS and LS) seem more likely to lure former American car drivers who want the cushy comfort of something like a Cadillac with the dependability of a Japanese car and the ES is targeted more toward people moving up from a Camry or Accord. I don't know too many people moving from BMW/Audi/MB to Lexus here so I'm not sure who they'd be trying to lure away there.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

I'm not sure what their target market is, since it wasn't clear to me in all the years of Lexus' existence in the german market.

Their LS class is supposed to be a direct competitor to Audi A8, BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class. But these cars have a very strong customer base. But it sold quite poorly. The media said it was a copy of the old S-Class. 

The IS class was supposed to be running against BMW's 3 Series, Audi A4. Mercedes C class was not a real competitor since the driving dynamics (i.e. handling) is not a Mercedes virtue. 

I think it has a lot to do with the conservative german buyer. The brand image of german cars is still very strong. If you look at the sales of figures of the 3-Series alone, it is on the second place since years, right behind VW Golf. It's outselling any other car on the market. 

Even topping the quality surveys during the last five years didn't help to push the sales.


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## Thertorch (Mar 10, 2004)

1Dreamer said:


> Oops, guess I wasn't clear on what I was asking. I knew Acura and Infinit don't exist in Germany and Lexus was only recently introduced. I was just curious what kind of driver their target market was in Germany. *Here, the bigger Lexus models (GS and LS) seem more likely to lure former American car drivers who want the cushy comfort of something like a Cadillac with the dependability of a Japanese car* and the ES is targeted more toward people moving up from a Camry or Accord. I don't know too many people moving from BMW/Audi/MB to Lexus here so I'm not sure who they'd be trying to lure away there.


 

http://www.jdpower.com/cc/auto/ratings/vehicles/FindJdAwards.jsp


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## cwsqbm (Aug 4, 2004)

Alex Baumann said:


> I think it has a lot to do with the conservative german buyer. The brand image of german cars is still very strong.


It also explains why Chevy, Ford, and Dodge got away with selling junk for years. Nationalism vs. better quality. However, it only lasts for so long. The American car makers were surpassed years ago, and its finally caught up with them with Chrysler having to merge with MB to survive, and GM looking like the next to go. The Germans are just now being surpassed, so there's time for them to correct their problems. I think MB is focusing in the right direction on fixing the quality problems before adding anymore error prone electronic features. The E90 is an incredible car, but if it suffers quality problems, it will loose market share in the U.S. in the long run.


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

Thertorch said:


> http://www.jdpower.com/cc/auto/ratings/vehicles/FindJdAwards.jsp


The link you provided just gave me a blank JD Powers ratings page.  I wasn't referring to ratings though - just perception, and it was a purely unscientific statement based on people I know who have moved to Lexus from other brands. My father is just one example of someone who drove "luxury" American boats (ie. Cadillacs) up until he bought an LS after a neighbor bought one and let him drive it, now my father's brother is considering one too after driving my father's and my mother thinks her next car will be a Lexus to replace her Jaguar. Another friend of theirs recently bought an Acura RL and another is considering a Lexus after having nothing but problems with their 7 series. Amongst my friends, one bought an RX to replace a Grand Cherokee and another bought GS to replace an Accord. But two friends recently bought G35's replacing a Lexus IS and a 325 and think the new Infiniti's are the best thing since sliced bread. :dunno:


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## skylineg35 (Oct 16, 2002)

F1Crazy said:


> I don't think you're missing much. Good cars but a little bland.


 I don't think it's bland, it handles and performs very well. Oh by the way did you watch the German Gran Prix? Renault and MB/MacLarean are pulling away from the rest.


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## F1Crazy (Dec 11, 2002)

skylineg35 said:


> I don't think it's bland, it handles and performs very well. Oh by the way did you watch the German Gran Prix? Renault and MB/MacLarean are pulling away from the rest.


It's actually McLaren Mercedes  Too bad Kimi can't get a break.

BTW, I think some Japanese brands will gain recognition once they start to deliver in international motorsport competition. That's why I like Honda, they have racing in their heritage.


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## Scorp76 (Dec 9, 2002)

F1Crazy said:


> I don't think you're missing much. Good cars but a little bland.


Agreed.

nissan has a long way to go still before they hit a true homerun.


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## Clarke (Oct 21, 2002)

Scorp76 said:


> Agreed.
> 
> nissan has a long way to go still before they hit a true homerun.


Different era,but at your age you can not have any idea what a monster homerun the 240 Z was at the time.


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## F1Crazy (Dec 11, 2002)

Clarke said:


> Different era,but at your age you can not have any idea what a monster homerun the 240 Z was at the time


Too bad they didn't capitalize on the cult that car created. What separates BMW from other makers is how active and successful they are in motorsports and it all started long time ago, just check your sig


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Last night I had an M45 in front of me getting on the freeway. We were doing about 30-40 mph we hit the freeway. That guy laid into his M45 and he took off like he was shot out of a cannon. Very nice and much, much more rapid acceleration than my lowly 330i could ever manage. 

Impressed. Too bad it's so damn big.


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## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

What Infiniti needs to do to fight the M3 and S4 is stuff the M45's V-8 in a special edition of the G35 and keep the 6MT in it. Not that the 3.5 6 is weak, but a healthy HP jump from a burly V-8 would make that car interesting.


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## e46Christian (Feb 27, 2003)

racerdave said:


> What Infiniti needs to do to fight the M3 and S4 is stuff the M45's V-8 in a special edition of the G35 and keep the 6MT in it. Not that the 3.5 6 is weak, but a healthy HP jump from a burly V-8 would make that car interesting.


 I believe they call that car the Skyline GT-R. The next one IS making it to the US with a rumored 450bhp (minimum) Cosworth tuned engine.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

e46Christian said:


> I believe they call that car the Skyline GT-R. The next one IS making it to the US with a rumored 450bhp (minimum) Cosworth tuned engine.


GT-R is using the 3.5 engine with turbos. They've never released a GT-R with a V8 before. Not a bad idea though.


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## ViperSSD (Jul 16, 2005)

Ttruthfully, while i like the Infinit M, besides the flat chrome bars in the grill....there is little family resemblence among those cars which seems just wierd.


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## e46Christian (Feb 27, 2003)

blueguydotcom said:


> GT-R is using the 3.5 engine with turbos. They've never released a GT-R with a V8 before. Not a bad idea though.


 Yeah, I know. They're using a smaller (3.0 liter) twin turbo version of the G35 engine on the JGTC racing series and they seem to be kicking everyone's ass. Ultimately, it might be cheaper to use the tweaked V8 instead of the TT setup, but they're extremely tight lipped about every detail of the car - so who knows.


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## fuz (Feb 6, 2002)

I belive nissan is seperating the GT-R and the Skyline GT-R into two different vehicles. The GT-R being a primarily sport focused car from the ground up, while the Skyline GT-R is just a normal factory tuned Skyline/G35.

I suppose they could make a V-8 special edition, though the car is heavy enough as is. That lack of a nimble feel that is pervasive is smaller, lighter (even slightly like the 3-series) cars really turned me off from the G35. It's certainly a more than track worthy opponent, but I don't really enjoy driving it as much unless they changed something major that I'm not aware of.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

e46Christian said:


> Yeah, I know. They're using a smaller (3.0 liter) twin turbo version of the G35 engine on the JGTC racing series and they seem to be kicking everyone's ass. Ultimately, it might be cheaper to use the tweaked V8 instead of the TT setup, but they're extremely tight lipped about every detail of the car - so who knows.


I loved the old nissan 3.0. That engine had nice torque, good power and it was rock solid. The 3.5, to me, feels a little too unrefined.


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## e46Christian (Feb 27, 2003)

blueguydotcom said:


> I loved the old nissan 3.0. That engine had nice torque, good power and it was rock solid. The 3.5, to me, feels a little too unrefined.


 I hear ya. I love my TT Z, even though it's nowhere near as refined as the E46. Everything on it just feels so direct, like the car is an extension of your body and you feel totally connected to the road. Plus, a few minor tweaks put you >400hp easy .


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## WHITE E39 (Apr 10, 2008)

blueguydotcom said:


> Last night I had an M45 in front of me getting on the freeway. We were doing about 30-40 mph we hit the freeway. That guy laid into his M45 and he took off like he was shot out of a cannon. Very nice and much, much more rapid acceleration than my lowly 330i could ever manage.
> 
> Impressed. Too bad it's so damn big.


I know this is old but it's funny. :rofl:

The M45 is over 4000lbs.


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