They already buffed up EXP you get in matches, is this not enough? Most of us had to grind the EXP pre-nerf. There is also challenge log for EXP as well.

i180 gear is pretty expensive so horde the gear until you reach rank 45 when you can start equipping them... Or glamouring them. I feel most of the complaints for this is because people don't like they can't glamour it because it's locked behind a rank system