Hi, new to the forums and to Infiniti. I currently drive a Mercedes CLK350 that's making me nervous and might be jumping ship over to Infiniti in the near future. Looks like the 07-08 G35 sedans are the best bet for me price depreciation wise right now, and have been looking at some for a few months now. I test drove an 07 G35x yesterday at Carmax and was very impressed. Looking at one from an individual seller with 75k miles for asking price of $18k that I have my mind set on right now.

A few differences that will take getting used to though. The car is not as quiet nor seemed as smooth of a drive from what I'm used to, but that's to be expected probably. The handling and overall drive did not seem as "fun" as my CLK, but then again I'm coming from a sport coupe to a sedan, and I also tested an AWD and not a sport model. I really don't need or want AWD so maybe driving a G35 or G35S will make a big difference?

The fuel mileage on paper should about be the same as the CLK, but I realized on the MPG meter in my test drive that it was only showing 17.1 mpg the entire drive and didn't budge. The meter probably wasn't reset and it was a short test drive with most of it being stop & go so I probably didn't give it enough time to see the full mpg potential I'm hoping. It definitely seemed roomier than I thought it would be, especially in the back. Pics don't do cars justice sometimes. Seats are very comfortable. Tried testing the heated seats but the seat was barely warm by the time the test drive was over. Is it normal for them to take that long to heat up?

Reading these forums for a little while now and there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the amount of posting on maintenance issues and shop trips at least on these forums anyway compared to the Benz forums I read a lot. Hoping that's a good indication of the car.

 

I you can stand the sport seats, get the S model. You'll get all the goodies (brakes, seats, facia) to make the ride sportier.

 

the mpgs should be fine after u reset it and is solely dependent on how u drive, i get 22mpg mixed with mostly highway on average while ppl usually get close to 17-18...

the heated seats have a TSB were they change out the harness if they dont warm up correctly, i had taht done and my seats warm up in about 5mins id say, i always turn on in High then switch to low once warm but expect these seats to take a bit longer to warm up then other cars.

Getting Sports model also gives you he sports tuned suspension which is more stiffer and might just be what youre looking for, test drive one and i think it will make you a bit more happier.

G/L!

 

Thanks. Going to try to test out another one today. Fuel efficiency is a bit disappointing but I'm a very conservative driver usually so my results should probably be a tad better. As for the sport, yeah I will maybe try one of those also.

 

Reliability kept me out of the German stuff. BMW blogs/forums were just scary.
I wouldn't expect a huge improvement in mpg unless you are cruising on the freeway. The sexy exhaust keeps my right foot heavy. As for sportyness a g35 would probably smoke a clk around a track.

 

The sport suspension is the opposite of what the op is looking for. He says he's conservative driver and wanted the smoother ride of the merc.

 

I recently had my heated seat harnesses replaced for free and it made a huge difference. They heat up rather quickly now.

 

Def go sport MT! the AT 's Transmissions just feel cheap or something to me. dont like the gear shifts and jerkyness. Maybe the loaners the dealerships have given me where all junk but.... IDK good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

I just got an Infiniti also. I sold my CTS-V due to the ungodly rearend whine that is unfixable, it just got that anoying. I had headers, catdelete, magnaflow cb and still all I could hear was that damn rearend. Anyways, i think I would stick to the G35S if I were u. I think it would suit your need for sport and comfort. I was really in the market for a 07 335i but the fuel pump and turbo horror storys kept me away. I def would not buy a BMW without CPO. If your worried about resale I would stay with a G35S with a MT. They seem to be more rare and sell a ton better than the rest in my opinion. I was looking for one for about 3 weeks. Every single one I called on that was a resonable price and distance from me was sold, about 15 total.

 

if you want auto, go with G37 7-sp. it makes a huge difference on mpg.

otherwise, 6MT if you can stand the clutch!

 

Wish those were as cheap as the G35s right now. It'd take a long time before I made up for the difference in price between an 07-08G35 and 09G37 with the fuel savings of the G37. With the cars being basically identical except for of course the engine that has minimal performance and efficiency differences I can't see going minimum $5k more.

 

The S wouldn't be worth the search for me. The ride is nice in the regular model. The seats don't heat up like German seats do but they get warm almost as quickly. In my 2005 G I get about 17mpg around town an premium and in my 2008 G I get 21mpg around town and 25mpg+ on longer trips. Mileage is pretty bad in the older one but acceptable in the newer one. When I had a g37 loaner I got 28.5mpg on an 1.5 hour trip.

 

^ the S is worth getting just because of the front end and seats

suspension i knew i was going to change anyway so that didn't matter

 

Geez Tim giving up a CTS-V for a G35 You must really like Infiniti.

 

Where in the OP does it say he's conservative?

In the bold above it says he's coming from a "sport coupe (CLK) to a sedan," and "The handling and overall drive did not seem as 'fun' as the CLK." To me, that shows that he isn't conservative and would prefer a sport suspension over the AWD/base suspension.

I will say he slightly contradicted himself, but overall, it seems he wants a sportier ride