Greetings Guys and Gals...I'm brand new to this board and brand new to the G35 Sedan....Let me give you a little background..For the last three years I've been driving the BMW M5, arguably the finest 4 door sedan ever produced...Though I've never seen an arguement that would dissuade me from that opinion. That being said, due to losing my you-know-what in the stock market and a couple of other economic factors I couldn't justify getting another car in that price range. I was rather distraught at giving up that ride and "trading down" into something more mundane and found myself rather melancholy at the prospect. I test drove various different cars including the 2004 Maxima, Acura CL coupe and they just had the feel of "nice" cars but nothing special...The I test drove the MT sedan and I was like WOW! What have they got here. This car has that "heavy" feel you find in the German imports..(the M5 weighs 4100 pounds) Simply put...I was blown away and was sold on this car after 2 shifts down the street. For those of you who don't know any different, and I'm not trying to talk down to anyone..the 6 speed in this car is NICER and crisper than that of the M5. The acceleration is straight ahead as opposed to the front wheel drive cars that yank you hard right under full accleration and the clutch is really close to perfection. Simply put this car approaches maybe 80 to 90% of the feel of the M5. It's not quite as spacious and not quite as locked to the road but at half the price..what a bargain! This car is the cream of the crop by in this price category. It's a good thing the car market is so soft or we would all would have paid sticker for this gem.. My only real complaints so far is the front cabin is a bit narrow for us larger guys...I'm 6'3.. 225 and my legs rub just a bit againt the console and drivers door, ( what's the deal with the diagonal intrusion coming out of the console that hold the power outlet?) and the dim light on the clock that makes it virtually invisible at night. Oh yea...and I had to get a GPS to get a trip computer..that should be standard on all G35's.. the basic Maxima has one for goodness sakes!..but no car is perfect ergonimically..I could list quite a few things the M5 would need to correct to be the perfect car.. Anyway..just wanted to say Hi and I look forward to learning all the insight I will get from reading everyone's posts!

 

well frist off let me welcome you to the forum. second let me congradulate you on your new G. Sorry to hear about lossing the M5 but you deffently chose a winner with the G.
Good luck with your new G and i hope to see you around the forum.

 

Welcome to the club. Sorry you had to give up your M5, but at least you're not slummin' too bad in the G![img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Any reliability issues with the Bimmer over the past 3 years?

<font color=green>GG</font color=green>

 

Well, like I said...no car is perfect...The M5 is slightly underclutched for the 400 hp and 400 pounds of torque is cranks out. This causes the clutches to go out early...MIne went at 20,000 but in BMW's defense they replaced it under warranty..Actually, for the first 48,000 miles they replace everything under warranty with the exception of tires..which M5 owners go through very quickly! I went through 3 sets in 44,000 fun miles!

I would never drive a BMW that wasn't under warranty...It cost a fortune to fix anything...They have a very high opinion of their parts! The stereo which was made by Harmon-Kardon was unbeleiveable.....the first mod I put on my G35 will definetely be upgraded speakers and amp....If anyone has some good suggestions I would love to hear what you have done to improve the OEM stereo on the G35!

 

Mozieman, I have the same opinion. I used to drive a 99' BMW 323is (the last year model of the E36). It's a great car, but the cost of ownership is too high. Plus, once the car hits the 100k milestone, all the problems come up at the same time. I can use the fixing car cost to down pay my 6-MT G coupe.


[img]/w3timages/icons/cool.gif[/img] 03 G35C - DG/Willow 6-MT Premium Navigation [img]/w3timages/icons/cool.gif[/img]

 

Mozieman, thanks for the feedback and welcome! I came from the other direction, an old '87 Supra automatic with over 200,000 miles (that car cost me $2500 3 years ago). I know I made a good choice for my first new car, but was nice to hear your comments. To be honest, I really couldn't afford much more of a car than the G35 so I'm still quite overwhelmed its level of performance and luxury everytime I go for a drive.

BTW, I was flipping the magazine rack the other day and came across a Road&Track buyer's guide. They took 11 luxury/performance sedans on a road trip and nominated the G35 as #1, due to it's excellent price and performance.

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6MT Sedan, Brilliant Silver, Aero/Premium/Winter

 

Hi,

The G35 6mt for the money is the best sports sedan on the market. The BMW is the best sedan if money is no object. But guess what money is an object and I do love my G35 6mt.

 

Tim, that's about the conclusion that I came to in my test drive adventure.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter