Those seats are KILLER. Nothing like getting out of the hot, sticky mid day sun and sitting in the M45 with the air conditioned seats cooling your back and ****!!! That is some good shizzo. I really did not care for the design of the M45 before it came out was more against my dad getting this car (don't know if I would call it a "pig") over the new rover/benz m500 - but I after driving the car, telling the car what radio station or what number track on the CD I want to listen to - I dig the M45. For me I remember when I did not care for the look of the GS, but dayyuuum, many members rides here changed that view. I still think that a stock GS is wanting... But when done right the GS is a truly killer looking ride. Maybe the M45 will look better to others if it gets lowered, new wheels, nice kit... But stock, it does not look to bad. The thrill is in the ride, the air cond seats the stock suspension is amazing. No float like what my stock SC used to do. The M45 is planted. The stearing on the M45 is nice and tight like a sports car. I wish my SC steering was a little more firm. Its a great deal for what you get. Both cars are great cars. I do think a GS400/430 with nice wheels, kit, exhaust, and drop is nicer then the M45 visually. The M45 has all those new goodies with power and suspension to boot. I have seen a lot of really nice VIP style gloria photos on the net that making the M45 looking really nice as well...

If you are planning on keeping this new car for a while resale may not be a problem for you... Infiniti may be getting better resale in the future based on their current induction of new car lines and designs...


good luck on your decision

 

I like the exterior and interior sytling of GS. M45 is not a big seller and havn't seen one for many months. Although M45 has forty more horses on paper but it is heavier than GS4 (M45 curb weight - 3,851 lb). Its acceleration numbers are about the same as GS4 (0-60 5.8, 0-100 15.8, 1/4 M 14.4 May 03 Motor Trend).

 

The M45 was out when I got my GS430 back in December. The M45 was below the G35 on my list for several reasons.
1. Doors rattled when you shut them. Probably because the windows are not framed - just like my 77 Pontiac.
2. Car felt dated - it is an old design from Japan.
3. Interior was SMALL. Smaller in fact than the G35 - not good.
4. That chrome grill is just too darn big. Ugly.
5. Ever take a look at the colors Infiniti offers? Yuck. They don't even offer the car in a blue.

However, the car is quick, looks like it will trounce a GS off the line and the techno features it has (which have been discussed in this thread) make it a nice car. In the end, it being so small on the inside was the factor that made me decide not to even test drive it.

Doug

 

oh is the M45 already out?? I could swear it was about to be launched or something since I haven't seen one yet on the road, or at least around here hehee

 

Well after all this talk about the M45, I decided to stop by an Infiniti dealership to "re-evaluate" the car...here was my impression:

1) The Lexus Mark Levinson Systems BLOWS AWAY the Bose system EASILY. I mean NO comparison. The Bose system is as good as the standard Lexus "Premium" sound system however.

2) The Voice Recognition is a VERY cool feature.

3) As I stated before, the climate control seats KICK MAJOR ***.

4) The M45 did handle and feel much better than the GS, stock for stock that is.

5) The M45 moves. It's definitely NOT a pig. It has get up and go as much as a GS430 but with a GS300 price range. It will EASILY stomp the living crap out a GS300.

6) The interior size is a tad bit smaller (on paper) but it doesn't feel smaller to me. Feels the same.

7) The whole climate control/radio/nav system is not as quick to use FOR ME but then again, I've been using the Lexus setup for 3 years so I might be a little biased on this one.

8) The center console on the M45 isn't as good/nice as the GS's.

9) The Tiptronic tranny is better than the GS430's gate shift. As an automatic, it feels as good as the GS's automatic.

10) The M45 has a satellite radio option (XM or Sirius)

11) The M45 has adaptive cruise control (like the LS430)

12) The M45 has a tire pressure monitor (like the SC430)

13) The Nav system offers a birdseye view which is nice (in addition to the standard top down view like the Lexus system) but to me, the Lexus navigation system felt a little faster. Again, it could be because I'm used to the Lexus nav system.

14) When you turn off the engine of the M45, not only does the steering wheel get out of the way (like the GS...and the M45 does it a lot faster...many times have I hit my steering wheel on the way out), but the seat also moves back a little bit to make getting out easier.

15) The sound that the steering column and seat adjustments make is a little louder than on my GS430...this is minor since but I thought I'd point it out.

16) The seats (forget about the Climate Control portion) is way better then the GS's seats. They're more like the G35's seats...more supportive.

17) Leather quality feels better in the M45.

18) The comes with 18's. (that was a coincidence in numbering...I swear!)

19) Contrary to what Doug_999 said, the doors on the M45 were solid.

20) I agree with Doug_999 on the limited colors but honesly, the Black, Silver, and Diamond Graphite (Graphite Grey) work for me. The 2004 MY will get a color called Twighlight Blue.

21) The Graphite interior with the Smoke wood looks VERY NICE

22) For 2004, the M45 will get A 6-Disc In-Dash CD changer (it's a glove compartment one for now...like the GS), it will also get selectable tilting sideview mirrors (on reverse), It will also get a larger 7" LCD display for the Nav...


And as for the sale, yes, the sales aren't as good as Infiniti hoped for but that's good for US as the consumer. You know they'll work you a CRAZY good deal on a car that is already a crazy good deal (considering the features). FULLY LOADED (Nav and all the options), you can get it for $41K right now. Maybe even less if you really grind the dealership.

With the money you save, you can get some sick aftermarket items...body kit, coilovers, wheels, bars, new sound system, etc.

 

any spec how fast m45 is? i was kinda surprised when i raced a m45 on the freeway in my is300 stick. we gunned it from 70 all the way to 120 and i was gaining on him all the way. maybe he wasn't trying hard enough?

 

I doubt he was trying. The M45 accelerates much like the GS430....so unless you can gain on a GS430 on the freeway you shouldn't be able to gain on a M45 either...

 

Hmmm...just found this...ouch...

 

I would pick M45 over GS430.....especially with almost $10000 price difference

 

most people in here that dig some cool new features, well these are usually deleated by throwing wheels on the car, changing the stereos. Alot of the small things that make them different are usually changed by middle modding people to high modders. Plus a/c seats will be in the new gs. i would almost bank on it, unless cars can patient things. is that possible?

 

Hey troll bait...hmmm...I mean GS4Fun

I said I was W O R K I N G at Nissan not that I am an employee! You should R E A D though the entire post before making an assumption. Also, the number of posts you have on this board does not make you more loyal to Lexus than the rest of us and thus more qualified to determine who should be included in your group of lexus loyalists. The reason I joined was because of the great amount of insight and information I could gain from posts as well as some great deals on possible mods. This doesn't mean this is my FIRST lexus. Only the first that I am doing mods on.

Also, given my current position at Nissan and the fact that I have test driven almost all the "quality" Nissan/Infinti cars prior to release...I thought I could provide my two-cents on what I have seen and heard in regards to this specific post.

In regards to the JD Power Customer Service award...Nissan is celebrating this one very big here...their focus, both with regards to Nissan and Infiniti products is to provide the highest level of customer service in order to create return business...kind of like Lexus! They are telling all the dealers to make sure they do NOT sell any model (like the new 350z Roadster or M45) over sticker (MSRP) and are held accountable to provide quality service...this is all part of NML CEO Carlos Ghosn's grand plan to capture more market share worldwide and create more brand and quality awareness for the Infiniti nameplate.

I personally prefer the Lexus brand and will continue as the overall quality IMHO far exceeds that of Infinti and until that quality exceeds that of Lexus, I will contiue to buy Lexus. (I do have to admit that the service aspect of Lexus has been diminishing over the last few years...it is still great, but being Lexus owners, our expectations are already high!).

Enough said...let me get back to trolling!

 

I'm sure I'll get some flak for throwing this out there, but in addition to the M45 being a pretty great bang for the buck, so is the most recent Lincoln LS V8. The engine is definitely a step below the M45 and GS430, but it's substantially stronger than the GS300 and its peers. In fact, with the addition of variable valve timing this year, it's quite a decent engine. And the LS now has climate controlled front seats, heated rear seats, DVD navigation system, THX audio system, rear parking assist, and a much nicer interior including a brushed nickel center console and good console storage space.

That car fully loaded can be had for $41K which is a heck of a value proposition. Yes, it's a Lincoln, but I personally think it's a better looking car than the M45. In fact, I'd venture to say it's one of the best looking American-made sedans out there.

Just my $0.02, for what they're worth...

 

SCWells, IMO, the Lincoln LS de-throned the Caddy STS as the premier American sedan. I saw 48k loaded at the dealer though.

Whereas the GS series and say the G35 series were built to meet and beat the 5 series and 3 series, the M45 was brought here ONLY to fill the price gap between the G and Q.

I don't want to own a gap filler. Sorry.

 

Manaray, I shoudl clarify - the doors rattled when the window was down - I noticed it in the dealer. Window up, no problem.

 

doug_999,

It's sad to say this, but with the window down, both my '02 LS43 and my bro's '02 GS3 also rattle when you close the door....
typical Japanese car ?