Noted

However, here is my take and please excuse my primitive views:
I have had my 08 G35 for 9 months after owning a Lexus IS250 AWD. I dumped the IS for the lack of power, space and basically getting smoked by inferior cars My ego could not allow me to accept that.

On this site, I have seen many who although, they own the G, they have a brand inferiority complex. As one who owned a Lex, I can tell you that in terms of refinement, from interior, exterior, gadgets etc, the G is very close and in fact surpasses the IS in some areas (gadgets, quality of ride. etc). So I do not have any illusions about the grass being greener on the other side.

Now, compared to the 335i, the fact of the matter is other than handling and perfomance under 6000 rpm, there is nothing, and I repeat NOTHING, the 335i does better. If I then zero in on the perfomance, and say so you get slightly better perfomance with the 335i, is it worth 30% more? A lot of magazines end up saying if money isnt an issue, the G is a better car. Well, I have news for them, in this world, money is a limited resource (hence the subjects called Economics, Finance etc). I do understand that others have unlimited amounts of it (there are some here who own both the 335i and the G35, a clear sign of unlimited resources), but its a safe bet that 99% of us out there have limited amounts, so lets not hide behind a finger and lets begin to make conclusions based on real world criteria.

Going back to my original post, if I get smoked by a 335i, I do not give a rats a** about that, the guy paid more than I did, and frankly, maybe he deserves to be that fast. Consider that a Corvette, M3 will do the same so at some stage you have to set a point where you are willing to accept what happens. To me, its pricing. The more money you paid, the happier I am to smoke your fumes. (Although the G smokes everything from Audi other than S+ models and a lot more +40k cars, a whole lot more.

I can afford a 335i, since I drive a G35, the 335i can be had for not that much more than the G (if leased). But I would never do that, its simply not that much better, and in any case, to me at least, the G looks better inside & outside, has better and more gagdets, is more reliable (consumer reports), more space.

Just my worthless 2 cents

 

^ Well said.

One glaring difference between the G and the IS is that (IMO) the IS's leather is MUCH nicer than the G's...

The BMW does have quicker turn-in than the G, but that's expected given the vehicle specs, weight difference, and tire differenes

 

i honestly don't think the 335i is a better performance car. it might be a tiny bit faster, but i don't think it handles better. i've driven both, and i own a g35 sport, and i think the main reason why people think the 335 handles better is because it is a smaller vehicle. the smaller the vehicle the better it will "feel" through turns. also, i don't think the fact that the G35 has an LSD gets mentioned enough in this debate. granted, its a VLSD, not a mechanical unit, but it still is a lot better than the 335i's open differential. man, if we think launching a g35 is hard, imagine a 335i with all that torque and no LSD.

anyway, i'm confident that around a track, with the same driver on the same day, both cars will run very very very similar times. the 335 has the slight power advantage, but i think the g35's LSD will help it get out of turns with more power to the ground. plus, on a track, more time is spent higher in the power band, which gives the advantage to the G35. i'd love to see a comparison done where a 335i with sport package and G35s get whipped around a track. i know there was a best motoring video where both cars finished in identical time but that was with like 5 cars on the track at the same time.

 

I was very interested in the 335 sedan, especially due to the rather inexpensive possibility of an ECU mod for a staggering amount of additional power... factory FI for the win.

However, and I'm surprised I don't hear more about it, but BMW has changed the ECU for 2009 and it can't simply accept an ECU mod WITHOUT it being detectable, which will negate your warranty for sure. This is a deal breaker for me, and I'm watching the situation closely.

Of course, I figured it was only a matter of time before BMW did this, and now they have.

But for me, this changes the game. I would have dropped the extra coin, no problem, for the additional performance envelope of the 335i... but now that the warranty is at stake, I am back to considering the 335i and the G37 on their STOCK merits... and the negligible performance advantage of the BMW does not outweigh the price advantages of the G37 anymore. Plus, tuned G37s are putting out some good additional power... which proves their future mod potential.

 

Thats true, Infiniti should use the EX interior on the G, not sure if this is what there are doing with the G37s for '09.

 

The leather in the '09 G37s feel the same as the leather in the 07-08 G35s.

 

I want FX leather in the G's. I'd gladly pay a little extra for it...

And cooled seats.

 

I would have paid been willing to pay more if FX leather and cooled seats were an option. G leather is a little on the hard side.

 

Power and handling - sounds like a lot when you are comparing sports sedans. I'd also add feel, as I can't put my finger on it but the 335 just has a more sorted feel to it. Thise are not things that end up on a spec sheet or magazine 0-60 numbers. Also, where the power is in the rpm range may be a factor - The torque of the 335 down low is something that the G does not have. In many cases, the 335 has 50 lb-ft of torque more than the G at a given rpm. Deal breaker - not for me, but it is definitely noticeable.

Depends what not much more means. I'm at 25% more right now.

I've been tracking lease prices on a few cars as I am preparing to give back my 335. The rates on the BMW are not that great (not as good as they were awhile back). And unlike the G37, the 09 is not really a new model and the rates are not artificial like they are for the G37 (until some time passes). Right now, equipped the way I would get them (6mt, NAV, Premium, CA (335), Ipod (335), Sport pkg - each car equally equipped basically), the BMW is running $680 on a 36 month lease, and the G37 is running $544. Assumes 3k off of the Infiniti (looking ahead to spring/summer), and 2.5k off the BMW. Numbers are for December for G37 and January for 335.

Leasing or buying, the G is a better VALUE.

 

wow didnt know.. nice thread

 

It seems we are saying the same thing in different ways

 

Nice article. The conclusion seems to be the same throughout all the comparisons between the 335i and G35/G37. Value is important!

On a side note: the 335i does have one advantage and although it only represents a small portion of drivers, the 335i is a easier car to tune.

 

I'm at my dealer and I just compared the leather in the G, M, & FX back-to-back. I don't see any difference in the quality of the leather. The seats in the M seem very comparable to the G. The M's are just wider and the stuffing is a bit softer. The FX leather, if anything, seems more coarse and harder then the G & M. The complex stitching pattern is nicer and for sure the A/C seat feature is nice, but the leather just doesn't strike me as better.

 

Leather Quilted seats in the new FX > *

 

I kind of doubt that few people would tune the 335i knowing that it's traceable and their warranty would be voided.