This is the 07 G35 Sedan forum, who cares about the BMW 335i, take it to the other cars forum please.

 

Jeez, you sure have tact don't you.

 

The name is trademarked, it's coming.

 

I was able to test drive a 335 Coupe today at the dealer and I must say I was impressed. With 3 adults in the car and the A/C on, the car pulled strong and the turbos were hardly noticeable (smooth and seemless) with very little turbo lag. The demo had the paddle shifter and IMO, it was an after thought (small paddles) but for $100 option, I'll probably would still order it. The front and side looks good but the rear kind of kills the overall look IMO. The interior was somewhat bland but with NAV, it would definately make the interior much better (the demo had no NAV). Still going to stick with the '07 G35x and can't wait for it to come out to test drive it.

 

I don't think that the paddles were an after thought at all....
Just their way of implementation, keeping the control at your finger tips.
I liked them very much, but liked the 6MT even more

I agree about the rear, just a little too bland.
The way the trunk lid falls away, it really screams for a good spoiler to make it more agressive looking.
I think that would make a huge difference; along with a front lip

 

I just test drove an '07 BMW 335i tt Coupe as well, and although I was impressed by the speed and torque (which really pushes you back in your seat), there were many things that it lacks compared with the Infiniti G35.

It's interior is bland; it still reminds me of the typical blah interiors of all the BMW 3 Series of years past. The dash, radio, a/c vents, etc. are just blah...it doesn't wrap around you like it seems to in the G35. I was also disappointed that the 335i didn't even come equipped with aluminum pedals, although it was a Sports/Premium package car. "Oh, I'm sorry, if you want those, you'll have to ask our parts department," the BMW salesman said.

The paddle shifters on the BMW 335i Coupe are very awkward to use, especially pulling them back to downshift. Both paddles do the same thing; it's not like the left one is for going in to a lower gear, and the right one is for going into a higher gear. They both use the push/pull method, and I didn't like it. I don't know if the '07 G35 will do the same or not, but these things on the Bimmer were just plain awkward; maybe it was b/c of their small size and placement. Also, I wasn't used to the fact that the ManuMatic shifting on the gear shift is backward from Infiniti...you have to push it up to go into a lower gear, and push it down to go into a higher gear. I think the Infiniti way is more natural to me; maybe I'm just used it.

Another thing I inquired about with the 335i was the TPS, which is just a dash light which comes on if one of your tires is low. Big deal - my wife's Honda Pilot has that! What I expected is what I have in my FX35 and what the new G35 will have is a real TPS which tells you the extact tire pressure in each tire and warns you when 1 or more tires are low on air.

I also asked where the CD Changer was located as I didn't see one. "I'm sorry, it doesn't have that; just a single cd player and Sirius Satellite Radio," the BMW salesman said. What???? "The Infiniti G35 has a 9.5 GB HDD so you can record ALL your cd's into the car's harddrive in addition to Satellite Radio," I said.

There's more...BMW charges an extra $500 for "Comfort Access," which Infiniti gives you as std. equipment...it's the same as the Infiniti "Intelligent Key" and push-button start. BMW also charges an extra $100 for the Paddle Shifters, which again Infiniti includes as std. equipment in the '07 G35 Sport. Nevermind that BMW also charges an extra $475 for metallic paint...God forbid you should expect to choose any color at no add'l charge! The 335i does not offer a backup camera or LSD as we also know.

If you want the BMW 335i loaded up with "most" of what you'd get with a loaded '07 G35, you'll have to pay very close to the $53k MSRP, and the lease programs on this car are horrible! Does anyone think that this car is worth leasing for $900/month? Now, granted I'm looking at a 24 or 30 month lease with 18k - 20k miles/year, but the extra 6k - 8k miles/year adds about $100/month, so a 2 to 2 1/2 year lease with std. 12k - 15k miles/year will still run about $800/month. A typical 36-month lease w/ 12k miles/year on a loaded 335i Coupe is about $700/month. I'm pretty sure I could get a loaded '07 M45, worth $60k for about the same.

In the end, I was very impressed how it drove...very tight, very fast, and handled like it were on rails, but it lacks so much of the cool stuff that Infiniti offers (and Infiniti gives some of that cool stuff at no extra charge). I would say that if all the high-tech stuff weren't important to me, then I would be more interested in the BMW 335i. I'm sure that's what the typical BMW driver says and why they lease or buy them. BTW - I asked the BMW salesman what their typical lease/buy ratio was, and he said 78% of their customers LEASE their BMW's. Huh, I wonder why that is...could it be that they just want the status of driving a BMW (even though they're waaay overpriced), even if it's got nothing in it (or just the basic options)??????? I bet only a few drive completely loaded cars. I think the BMW dealers and salespeople are laughing all the way to their banks!!!

Hey, if the '07 G35 is almost as fast (by 1/10 or 2/10's of a second off the 335i) and if it handles almost as well, then there's just no comparison. With all the things that the '07 G35 has which the BMW doesn't, Infiniti should have no trouble at all winning over customers. Once again, you get a much better bang for your buck with the Infinti G35!

 

See, that's typical justification. It happens on every board. Yes, the G35 is a better value, a way better value. You get as much technology at a lesser price. There is some you miss out on, but it's really not a huge issue (real time traffic, etc...). But that's typical of Infiniti - push the value because they can't compete dollar for dollar. Do you think Infiniti doesn't wish they could price in line with BMW? It took Lexus almost 30 years to get within 5% (and have people still buy the cars). If Infiniti priced similarly they wouldn't sell, that's how it is. Why? Because right now the 335i is the benchmark in it's class, and will likely remain so even after the '07 G is released. It'll be faster, and it'll drive better. In fact am I not incorrect in saying that in the three review/comparo's its been in it's "lost" to the 330i, with the 255hp engine? Why do you think that is, and it isn't because mags are biased. It's because they don't account for value, and disregarding price the BMW is the better all around car. Put money into the equation and you have an obvious case for the Infiniti, which is the point. Infiniti is doing well for itself (given that it was almost bankrupt 6 years ago), but it's going to be a long road before they can price similar to BMW.

I've owned two G's for a total of almost 175k KM now, I love them - and for the money they are, imo, the best value on the road, but they aren't BMWs.

(FWIW, I don't know where you're finding lease numbers, but the residual on the 335i is a staggering 65% - with that kind of residual and it's super low mf I won't be surprised if they lease for barely over what '07 G's are even though the OTD price will likely be 10k higher. People lease BMWs because the low mf and high residual make for low lease prices relative to the cost of the car.).

 

They should have stayed n/a and jacked up the motor.! Imo
I sure hope one doesnt blow up tomarrow when i am beating that thing around the track.!!

 

Infiniti has no intention of trying to price the G at the same level as the 330i/335i. It was never their intention to do so. What was their intention was to deliver the same/higher performance for thousands less.

I think if Infiniti were to develope the G with a price point of $10,000 more to match a similiarly optioned BMW, it would surpass the bmw.

And the only reason the G "lost" to the 330i was in some vague subjective points category. In almost every peformance category, the G outperformed the BMW.

 

The lease rates came straight from me sitting with the BMW salesman and leasing mgr. for an hour today after my test drive. The MF was between .00215 - .00270 depending on the lease/mileage term. With 7 MSD's (totaling more than $6,000...ouch ), it supposedly only lowered the MF to .00166. So, instead of $900/month, it would be $35 less with the MSD's...that's still horrible!

 

The New G35 Sedan actually was praised higher in the recent Autoweek comparison of the 3 series and Lexus, btw.

 

Against the 330ci not the 335...

 

Something is def wierd with those numbers.
I can lease for less than that with $0 down in CDN dollars (base $51,600 + +)

 

Yes, their leasing programs suck. I guess their MF's are way too high. The BMW salesman's excuse was a typical..."well, it's a BMW." Yeah, whatever.

24 and 30-month lease quotes with 18k and 20k miles/year. Considering BMW isn't giving much off MSRP at this point, most ppl are leasing the 335i Coupe only with Prem and Sport packages; maybe with a couple extra things for 36-month/12k mi./yr. for approx. $650/mo. That's just outrageous! A fully loaded car like I need with Auto, Navi, Sport, Prem., metallic paint, comfort access, paddle shifters, active steering, sat radio, and active cruise control is $53,240 MSRP. Originally, the salesman said no discount, then he offered $1,000 off, then in then end, it was $2,000 off MSRP, and it still came out to more than $800/mo. Even if I took off the active steering (which may not be necessary since I test drove a car without it and it seemed perfectly fine) it was still way out of the ballpark. Not worth it, imho. It's a fast, great handling car, but it's just not worth the $$ considering what it's missing.

 

Maybe the lease rates in your state are nutty? Those numbers are high. My lease would have been $690/mo with 2% down, Premium, Sport, Auto w/paddles, CA, and Nav. No trade over 3 years, residual of 67%. With my trade ($19,5000) and my discount (2k) my lease would have been a staggering $262/mo CAD for a standard lease.

FWIW, you don't want active steering, trust me.

Oh come on. Infiniti has to offer all the stuff BMW doesn't for the same cost because otherwise they wouldn't sell. They are *forced* to deliver close to the same performance for thousands less because they have to. If you think they are pricing the G low because they really like us consumers... well, I'm sorry to say that isn't it. They price it like they do because they *know* it needs to push value.

We're all G owners here. Ian and I went for a test drive a couple days ago. I'm coming from a heavily modded coupe for two years, to a stock sedan, and Ians comes from a modded sedan (modded for handling, and he's done a good job), and I think it's safe to say we were both impressed. Regardless of the intangibles, we both agreed the 335i handled significantly better than our sedans, was much more powerful and planted on the road. In fact, I recall Ian going around a long sweeping turn with some pretty serious undulations and we both remarked that our G's would have lost the corner at that speed very quickly. The DTC in the 335i didn't even blip.

So yes, again; the G is a better value. I don't think anyone can argue that. If I had exactly $50k CAD to spend on a car I'd buy another G sedan in a heartbeat. In fact I just recommended a friend get a G35x rather than a 330xi because he enjoys comfort more than sport, and the difference is over 10k; so it's a no brainer. But when it comes to power, handling, driving dynamics, there is a reason BMW's cost more.