Hello, I am new in here and seeking for an advice, I am planning to buy a new car, and within my budget after reading and searching online I narrowed my choice to 2 cars:

• 2004 G35 Coupe auto
• 2004 BMW 330ci auto

First thing I live in Lebanon, and in my country Infiniti and BMW cars are mostly imported from the US, and the prices differ of course, a 2004 G35 or 330 costs an average of 16k USD, therefore my budget wont allow me to go for 2005 or higher models.
What I need from you guys is your advice about the 2004 G35 since I am in a G drivers forum, I want to know if the 2004 model is an overall trouble-free car, I have read that they do eat alot of brake pads and rotors but it is not a big deal for me, as long as there is no major reported flaw in the car's engine, transmission, or any other critical component, I have seen a very clean 04 330ci (85k miles) with clean carfax and it looked in a pretty decent condition, but after some research I found that many E46 suffer from the no-reverse problem which is very expensive to repair.

I need your opinion on this I want to know if the 04 G35 has some major issues like the E46, and what about the maintenance and parts cost and reliability comparing to the BMW ? mpg is not a factor in here since I will be using the car to go work everyday (7km away from home) and for weekends casual rides, since its a used car it wont have any warranty of course, I will be counting on the carfax (+ an autocheck report) and a trusted mechanic will check it of course.

 

If you want a car with 0 flaws get a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic.

I've seen BMW 3series with high milage... not sure how much people have poured into them to get there, but I do know it's a lot less expensive getting the Infiniti's there.

 

If you buy the BMW your mechanic will know you and your credit card on a very personal basis

 

The g35 is known to be reliable as far as the major mechanical parts. I have an 03 with just shy of 100k miles and it's never left me stranded or with a repair bill over $300. There are a lot of little minor issues that crop up (Cam position sensors, window motors, third brake lights, etc) but they can be fixed cheaply if you can do the work yourself. There are good writeups online to show you how to fix most of the known problems. A BMW that old is likely to make you poor fast. I vote for the G35

 

I would go and get a G35, cheaper to fix, and as its been said, half the thing that are wrong with the car you can fix them easily yourself, bunch of DIY on this forum. Also the repair bills for the bmw will not be pretty, but if you got money for one to maintain you can give it a try, i personally wouldnt it.

 

bmws need servicing way too often. go with the g you wont be disappointed!!