So my self and my uncle who's in his mid 30's decided to go test drive some cars for him last night. He's looking at a new car and we narrowed it down to the BMW 535, the Infiniti M45, and the Mercedes Benz E class.

I talked him out of the Benz because yes, they look good and they are nice driving cars, but they are always in the shop with electrical issues. Plus the dealerships are very customer orientated but have gone to far in my opinion. I mean they basically shoved an espresso down my throat and I was barely in the building. Their facility is nice but I have had problems with their techs and receptionists being rude.

Now the car. The outside is beautiful, but the inside was lacking right from when I touched the steering wheel I felt like I was grabbing a 1988 Honda steering wheel. Thats as far as my test drive got because I was fed up and really wasn't interested in the car.

On to Infiniti.

Our sales guy was awesome, but he had a problem with eye contact. But he new his stuff and building was nice, a little dated but still nicer then some other dealerships out there.

The M45 is a nice car. I am not crazy about the exterior it looks a little bloated and I prefer the four door G35 over the M but once you sit in it you feel like your on a sofa. The seats were plush and comfortable. The dash is huge and full of buttons and they give you a CD-rom tutorial on it, and the Navigational system is easy to read. and you can change it from white face to black face. so that it doesn't bother you at night.

The drive. Well it has a 325 hp V8. With all wheel drive and nearly 4200 pounds I was surprised this thing moved like it did. The first thing I noticed was a beeping which was the lane departure warning, I quickly turned that off. For its weight this car drove tighter then I expected but it just felt like a lowered SUV. You felt the weight and you knew it was there. Now something I didn't expect was the amazing turning radius, I drove around in circles amazed at this. I think its like 37 feet.

Like I stated earlier I felt like I was driving my couch.

Now the BMW 535i. This car is beautiful inside and out. The exterior is perfect. The interior fits like a glove. I sat down and immediately I knew this was the car I want. The seats fit like a glove. The dash is laid out so nothing is out of view but in a way so that nothing bothers you while driving at night. Something that Ryan (sales) pointed out was the ambient lighting. There is a small amber light that illuminates the shifter and one that hits the back of the center console.

Now I need to explain, any light that is on in the car at night bothers me, I have my dash turned way down, I throw a small towel over my after market headunit. light just bothers me. I didn't notice it. It truly is awesome. And when I got into my car it felt so dark. Totally weird totally awesome. And unlike the Benz when I grabbed the steering wheel I was greeted with maybe an inch and half of thick control over a 3600 pound twin turbo charged BMW.

Once I started driving it it was night and day. As with the Infiniti I felt like I was sitting on the car controlling it from a far I felt like I was actually in the car. I felt as connected to the road as if I was in my 3000GT but with out the bone jarring stiffness in the suspension. I got on it off the line at a light, and wasn't even at full throttle and it started to break loose near the top of the gear. Oh yeah it was an auto. At 1400 RPMs it has 300 FT/LBS of torque. The brakes are great.

You drive the BMW where as you just happened to be telling the Infiniti what to do from some big sofa.

Also, I know for a fact that on the lease everything but the tires are covered for free by the dealership. Brakes, lights, motor.

Now I just need $56,000. :57:

300 ft lbs of trq @ 1400 rpms on a twin turbo???? Do tell

mike's current mood: (jeleousy)

Me too but he has to wait a couple months for the next shipment from BMW with his color combo. Thats the thing with BMW they make X amount of cars and when they are sold tough.

I really can't wait to drive it again! It really is a fun car.

thats why i won't drive a great car til i get the money, cuz i'll just go crazy til i get it, i'm very impulsive. very...... gets me in trouble sometimes.

The GT was an impulse buy.

yours? mine kinda was, wish i'd done more research, probably would have gotten a GS-t convertible. oh well, you live you learn.

yeah mine was. I was at auction was really looking for an 02 eclipse V6 but I wasn't even really looking for myself that day and I saw it and had to buy it.

Sad thing is I found a white Eclipse and it was between the GT and the Eclipse and I was just like uhh... The 3000 GT!!!

what did you pay for it, how many miles when you bought it?

had a short bid war started at 8 no biters till 2300 then it went up and up till he pulled out at 4000 and I picked it up for 4100. plus 2% auction fee. So 4182. plus tax I forget its somewhere.

116k on the odo and needed tires a driver fender brakes and new suspension $1000 later it ran great till I broke stuff. It never broke I always broke it. I can honestly say that now that I look back and think about it. Everything that happened to that car was because of me.

P.S. the driver fender is still in my living room. HAHA!

EDIT: and everything worked when I bought it. ECS everything. This car is mint.

man, i payed a little over 9 for mine, but i know i got ripped. oh well, you live and learn, think i already said that but it's still true.

how many miles when you bought it?

61.

thing is that it sold. So the price was still right. Unfortunatly.

so true. thats why my next car is going to be straight from an auction. got a few people that do them, cut out the middle man. save some bank.

Right on.

OK so $2000 chip boosts torque by 68. HMMM its so tempting.