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I've been driving a FX35 for about 4-5 months now, and I very much enjoy it over the LX470 that it replaced. They are really different automobiles and while the lexus may have better quality and materials, the drive of the smaller infiniti more than makes up for it. Maybe it's just me, but I don't really notice what the dash and other parts are made of.

BTW, don't you feel that the FX has better quality leather and seats compared to the e60 (I have sports seats and dakota leather myself)?

Oh and I don't know how the 6 and 8 cylinder engines of the FX compare, but do you find that your FX is more rev-happy than your e60?
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I couldn't agree more with alpineweiss. My friend has a 2003 3 series and a 2004 5 series, and I drive a 2004 FX35. I feel my car is far superior. The interior materials do not feel that bad, they just arent put together as tightly, and the leather is much better. It has a better feel, the BMWs have a hard and thin feel. I have heard many a story of a BMW onwer sliding into his car with blue jeans on and tearing the leather with the bottom buttons; that wouldn't happen in my car. As for driving, you cannot simply compare a Lexus to an Infiniti. Infiniti's are designed for performance, Lexus' have a far softer ride and are meant for luxury, not real performance. I drove an X5, RX330, Acura MDX and Touareg before buying the FX. All were built with different goals in mind, but the FXs closest competitor would be the X5. The X5 is very very boring when compared. Stale interior and exterior, and not much driving excitement. Transmission is very sluggish as well, whereas you don't even feel the upshifts in the FX, completely seamless power. My car is fully loaded, and out the door price was 45k. Euqivalent X5 would be over 50k excluding taxes and so on. Not to mention the X5 3.0 is damn slow compared to the FX. I love my car and would never buy a BMW over it.
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Have you check your resale value on the FX? my friend bought a 2004 brand new FX45 for 50K out of door last october, and now i can purchase a 2004 FX45loaded for same option with 5000Miles for just $36000 out of door. The company where i work for purchase a X5 3.0 last year for $46000 and with 6000 miles the similar car is still worth around $39-40K. I didn't said that the FX is not a good car, but simply it's not really worth that much money. I undestand that the current X5 is kind of boring looking inside, but don't forget that it has been in the market since year 2000, i'm sure you will change your mind when the new X5 is release. The leather used Infitini/Lexus looks better when they are new, but wait for 3 year and you will see that the BMW leather shows less wear. The Rear Seat on the X5 is pretty comfortable and it still has some usefull cargo space behind, this is not found on the FX.

Basically if i will be shopping for a new for $45-50k Price range SUV, i will stay with BMW or the Porsche Cayenne.
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Both the Cayenne and the X5 have better resale values because of the badge. All BMWs and Porsches have high resale values for that reason. Both are good cars, but the Cayenne is way too expensive for what you get, and is butt ugly, and the X5 is good for some things but doesn't have the performance of the Cayenne or FX. FX is simply the best value, unless you want to go offroad, which I doubt you or anyone else will be doing in a performance SUV.