Hi everyone! I'm new to the community as I've now moved over from the dark side (BMW) having sold my 2001 BMW E39 530i and purchased a 2013 FX50s 5.0. Because of the market conditions here in Australia, in that Infiniti is having a hard time gaining ground in this hyper competitive market and with the recent change to the model line-up with 'Q' designations; i picked up this brand new Infiniti for a ridiculous price. I was originally intent to put an order in for a new Porsche Macan, but in the end I couldn't rationalize spending twice as much for the same features and performance. Of course, I wasn't willing to wait until late 2014 to actually take delivery either. Good things come to those whom wait they say, yet in this case better things come to me for not waiting.
I looked at the BMW X series, but concluded that they were all hideous and look like failed photo-shop experiments. The Range Rover Sport was nice, but to be honest i simply don't want to be associated with the brand or the stigma attached to it's pretentious community. The ML class Mercedes was nice too, but i'm not a fan of the body shape or the driving dynamics of the AMG version; not to mention being stupidly overpriced. The Audi Q5 TDI was impressive, but looks generic and common. The Lexus rx450h is.... well, the rx450h. Yet my girlfriend and I were very impressed with the Volvo XC60 R-Design, but concluded that we'd buy one in a couple years to replace her Peugeot. I might have kids by then, so the standard fitted booster seats would make sense then. But it was a great car, very quick and punchy with heaps of torque, amazing comfort, good value, well made, awesome features. Just a really, really impressive car.
When all was said and done, the Infiniti brand fit my profile and my personality. The FX50 was too good of a deal, unrivalled value and I truly love everything about he car.
Spec-sheet for the FX50s here in Aus is $116,995 Drive-away, yet I paid only $81,000 with a bunch of extra's included.... ($6699.00 Value)
· 4 year warranty extended from the purchase date rather than build date (gained 8 months)
· Perflection Protection Package (Paint, Leather, Vinyl, Fabric, Tint, Rust Module)
· QX70s Designation provided along with the 5.0 side designation
· Rubber protective cargo mat (So my Beagle and Tenterfield don't ruin the cargo area)
· Rear Bumper Protection Plate
So I think I did pretty well, considering that a comparative Macan S would have cost me $148,502. With no discount and a long wait to take delivery. No thanks.
My FX50 is the Black Obsidian with Graphite Leather / Black Lacquer interior. With both the S Premium options too.
So, it's my intent to do quite a bit of work to it right away so that i'm happy with it from the get go rather than doing it in stages, here are my thoughts....
· Paint match ALL chrome to the Black Obsidian (Door Handles, Vents, Window Trim, Designations, Protection Plate, Everything)
· Paint match the Rails, Cross Bars and the Roof Box to match Black Obsidian body paint. (Need the extra storage for long work trips)
· Powder-coat the stock 21" wheels to match the same Black Obsidian color
· Fit a Borla Cat-Back system with Black tips (Have considered others but they're not easy to get down here in Australia)
· Replace the stock air intakes with a pair of nice sounding cold air intakes with black obsidian paint applied.
· Install Stinger Roadkill Sound Damping foam and material sheeting throughout to combat road noise (Due to wheels/tires)
· Try to find some nice LED fixtures for the headlights and taillights similar to Mr. Hollywood's car, limited options known to me.
· Darken Taillights and Headlights, but not as significantly as other examples.
That's pretty much it, i'm not going to do anything else. No superchargers or turbo's or anything like that. Just simple, clean, elegant changes to get the stealth black/dark gray look. I'm also likely to get a very subtle contrasting shadow effect vinyl wrap done soon with my company logo, which will give it a custom commercial image without making it a billboard.
As for me. I'm an Entrepreneur by trade and the founder of an Australian based cloud services brokerage platform that will be taking over the world in the next few years. I studied Audio Engineering and Signals Analysis back in Uni before realizing that the music industry had become a soulless freak-show devoid of talent or ethics; so I left the industry behind, I had worked with bands and artist you may have likely heard of; Killing Heidi, Space Like Alice and Kylie Minouge. In 2005 I relocated to the USA where I spent a year with Microsoft working on Flight Simulator X and as a lead tester with Nintendo simultaneously. Becoming depressed by Seattle and with Microsoft embarrassingly failing leadership, I then moved to Las Vegas where i was an executive coordinator in the Hilton; wherein i spent a lot of time overseeing convention operations for CES, SEMA etc. My Final stretch in the USA was with Rockstar Games SD as a texture artist before returning to Australia in 2009. Seeking a physical challenge and a fresh perspective of the world, I then surprised all whom know me by abruptly joining the Australian Defense Force. I spent four years in the military, moving on with my life in late 2013 to take up my aforementioned entrepreneurial mantle which will likely fill the next decade or more.
So, that's me and my car. I'm a very experienced photographer, graphic designed and visual effects artist so you can expect some awesome content during my FX50s project.
I'm new to Infiniti, so I hope that this community can offer me both advice and support; which would be greatly appreciated. My company is doing some pretty significant things at the moment with some radical milestones on the near horizon, so there may be times wherein i seem to vanish from the Earth entirely. Yet i'll try to remain in touch with the community where possible. I'll also try to create my profile at some point in the near future.
Thanks Everyone, looking forward to many creative and innovative discussions.