INFINITI MTiming chain or Belt?

The Infiniti M is a mid-size luxury executive car (E-segment in Europe) produced by the Japanese manufacturer Nissan, under its premium brand Infiniti. Its predecessors were the Infiniti I, based on the Nissan Cefiro; and the Infiniti J30 (Nissan Leopard), depending on the bodywork we choose.

The first generation Infiniti M (Infiniti M30) arrived in 1989. It was a 2-door coupe based on the Nissan Leopard F31. It was launched together with the brand’s flagship, the Q45 in 1989. The model came from the Japanese market and was also marketed in America, where the public considered it a rather old-fashioned car, since it had the dashboard of the previous generation Nissan Skyline R31.

In 2002, the Japanese brand returned with the Infiniti M45, a vehicle based on the Nissan Gloria Y34. The model kept a 6-cylinder engine in Japan, while the Infiniti M45 (i.e. the second generation Infiniti M) came equipped with the 340-horsepower VK45DE V8, shared with the Infiniti Q45.

The third generation Infiniti M would appear soon after, in 2006. Its counterpart in Japan was the Nissan Fuga. As the Infiniti Q45 was no longer exported at this time, this model became the flagship of the brand internationally. The third-generation Infiniti M used the stiffer version of Nissan’s FM platform, shared with the Infiniti G35, Nissan 350Z and Infiniti FX. It had V6 and V8 engines, and the press rated it very positively, coming out well in comparisons against the BMW 5 Series 545i and 550i, or even with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class E500 and E550 or Lexus GS. It was also more attractively priced than all of these competitors. It won the Consumer Reports award in 2006, taking the position away from the 2005 Lexus LS. Despite this, it was not a big seller. Soon after, in 2008, the model got a facelift and a new V6 engine for the M35.

The fourth and last generation to date of the Infiniti M was launched in 2010, and is built on Nissan’s FM-L platform. It is a very interesting model in terms of quality, performance and design, which remains competitive even against German sedans. Both the M37 and M56 are sold with all-wheel drive variants, called M37x and M56x respectively. The model has not been discontinued, but as with the rest of Infiniti’s car portfolio, it has been rebranded to continue under the Infiniti Q70 name.