Has anyone tried to fit an I30 hood on their 95-99 maxima? I am redoing my front end, but I want something that will lineup with the fenders and directly bolt on.

 

someone started a thread on this a while ago, I believe its very much possible no much modding but you'll need all the I30 parts. hood bumper reinforment,fogs, headlight etc.

 

yup you will need parts from the i30 like the hood, bumper, fogs, fenders and etc.

 

well I don't want to do a full conversion, just want to replace the hood ... and I want to know that it will work before I try to find one.

 

I dont think you'll need to change your bumper. Just get an i30 grill and get rid of your maxima grill. You'll also need a new hood latch from an I30

This conversion will confuse the hell out of a lot of people

 

well my car already confuses the hell out of alot of people ... I have M5 angel eyes. They aren't molded yet, but they are in there.

 

hell need to change his hood bumper fender and lights because the grill and hood are one peice and also the headligts are diff grills shaped differently

 

yes so you are screwed. just get a maxima CF hood and be happy.

 

Are you redoing your front end as a result of an accident or just your own presonal style?



sounds like a cheaper and better solution.

 

i30 hoods are expensive. i had a hard time finding one for my moms i30.

 

Finding a hood or finding one cheap the stealership always has them

 

Well the front end has to be completely custom anyways ... I am trying to decide between mounting the BMW kidney grilles on the bumper or on the hood like a 5 series. I am NOT trying to convert the front end to a 5 series, I30, etc ... just give a distinct look that no one else has.

 

Here is another angle

 

If anyone is good at photoshop, I would love to see what it would look like with the 5 series kidney grille!

 

the headlights and angel eyes look good, but wow you have some serious fitment issues.Those look like headlights from the Infinty J serise. How are you planning on filling that gap?

 

probably use alot of bondo and plastic filer and weld in a piece of alluminum or soemthing like that. looks hot.

 

I like the idea I was thinking about doing something like that but never really followed through I think you should try to stick with a bmw grille but doing your whole hood over would probably be a lot of extra work.
..........and a little off topic what year M5 did those come off of?.......
and good luck and keep me posted I want to see what this come out like when you finish with it happy modding

 

www.certifit.com has i30 stuff for not too much

 

Those lights are sweet how much did you get it for and from what car and year ??

 

haha, holy ****! those lights look crazy. im not a fan of the rims, but to each his own. i hope it all works out for you, and post pics of the finished product, or as you go along. those lights look sick!

 

Dood change your rims and get rid of that pin stripe on the side of your car. Get some I30 t BBS rims, then your ride will be tite

 

I have the M-series fenders that are fiberglass so molding the sides won't be that hard ... just the bumper. I am probably going to end up molding the BMW grilles on the bumper. It seems to be the only reasonable way to do it. If I try to mold it onto the hood, I am asking for months of work!

As for the rims .... I know its not alot of people style, but I can promise that they look better on the car than in the pictures. I had the Mille Miglia 17" spiders that were tooooooo small for a Maxima, but looked good none the less. I never was that big of a fan of chrome wheels, but I seem to like these pretty well and it definitely gets some attention toward my car. (Not just negative attention when they see my "grille-less" front end!)

The headlights fit a '02 M5 and I got them off of ebay. Believe it or not, its the 3rd pair of HIDs and headlights that I have had on my car. The first were 8000k with the stock headlights ($480). Second were the R32 Skyline headlights ($300) with Bi-Xenon 4200k Mercedes Projectors ($420). And now lastly the BMW M5 lights ($900 w/ Bulbs and Balasts). In case you haven't noticed, I change my mind too much and care waaaaay tooooooo much about lighting!

Today its off to throw on the front stillen spoiler and head to Miami!

 

That's funny. Before I read this Ninos I was getting ready to type the exact same 2 things. I probably wasn't going to mention the rims (but did think it) but I was certainly going to say: Before you do one more mod max2fast, ditch the pin stripe! Otherwise, looks good and good luck.

 

Similar to my idea of modding J30 headlights to fit in our stock housings. I have a simple projector question, Is the projector function of a projector headlight a simple lens or does it also involve an electronic component or something of the sort? Please only answer this if you have some idea how a projector lighting system actaully works. Thanks.

 

PROJECTOR 101 Notes:

Well that is a great question that I have plenty of aquired knowledge on! There are tons of things to look at when considering projector headlights. Here are just a few:

1) Lens Type
2) Beam Pattern
3) RHD vs. LHD (or also JDM)
4) Single or Dual Beam

1) For the Lens Type, there are both solid clear and ribbed. The solid clear gives you are very distinct and sharp cutoff line. While this is a great looking pattern that is cast onto the ground, it isn't efficient for lighting up street signs. You tend to see these projectors on S2000s, Muranos, FX45s, etc. The second and more preferred lens is the ribbed lens. This has tiny almost unnoticed circular ribs throughout the glass. This will give you more of a hazy line on the road, but will light up road signs much better. You will find these on almost all BMWs, Mercedes, etc.

2) Beam patterns come in many shapes and flavors too:

_________/------------- <---- Angled

_________|------------- <---- Stair Step

------------------------ <---- Flat

Angled beams (like the ones that I have currently) are better for oncoming traffic. They light up the right hand side of the road very well, but have a low beam on the left hand side. This is the best style for a car that sits up high like a truck or SUV. I personally prefer the Stair Step, but BMW decided to go with Angled for all of their production cars with HID.

The Stair Step pattern is best for driving. The extremely sharp cutoff line allows the driver to position the headlights just under the eyes of the oncoming drivers without blinding them. This pattern will almost cause a stobe effect to the oncoming traffic if the driver is driving on a rough road.

The flat beam is not recommended for any cars except highly lowered cars. The flat beam will project all the way down the road, but might be too high for oncoming drivers. Most all production cars will not come with these lights.

3) The third thing you need to find out prior to buying projectors is whether or not they are RHD (Right hand drive) or LHD (figure this one out for yourself ) Most of the aftermarket lights will be RHD and will be no problem, but if you get a JDM (Japanese Domestic Made) or LHD headlight housings, you will need to switch out the projectors or try to redo the shield (not recommended since the optics of the projector rely on the shields exact positioning). Just make sure that you get the RHD and you will be safe ... otherwise you are going to get alot of people flashing their lights at you thinking you have your high beams on!

4) Single or Dual Beam projectors is another very important option. Single beam is about 90% of the projectors out there. They have a very basic design and are much cheaper for the factory to use that Dual Beam. Dual Beams have a servo motor in them that moves the shield when voltage is applied to them (when you activate your high beams). By moving the shield, it allows the whole projector to project and you now have light broadcast all over the highway and up into the trees. This is a great way to have high beam HIDs without buying another set and waiting for them to warm up everytime you turn them on. You will find these on the 04-current Maximas, 04-current TLs, newer 7 series, etc.

To answer your question about my headlights that I currently have, they do have electronic components for the auto-leveling feature that BMW has, but until I can crack the code to the stepper motors and build a controller that will dip the beams when oncoming traffic is sensed, I will not be able to use that feature. Other than that, they are good ol' RHD single beam projectors with an Angled beam pattern!

 

Here is my current project pics!

 

More Pics:

 

Yes I know the grille looks like it was made from gutter guard ... and it is ... but its only temporary until I can devote some more time to finishing my bumper off for paint. Please bear with me as I am a fulltime employee, fulltime student and i'm in a fulltime relationship doing everything in the few spare moments that I have!

 

if only i was in duluth right now I'd drive by to see the car in person.


Look like a very creative task your trying to do. has the potential to look good when you done, seem like with your busy schedule it will take some time. modified 97+ grill painted body color would look sweet in there, Black out the headlight and fill every hole smoothly and you should have a pretty nice looking one of a kind Max.

 

[QUOTE]if only i was in duluth right now I'd drive by to see the car in person.


Look like a very creative task your trying to do. has the potential to look good when you done, seem like with your busy schedule it will take some time. modified 97+ grill painted body color would look sweet in there, Black out the headlight and fill every hole smoothly and you should have a pretty nice looking one of a kind Max.[QUOTE]

Well I appreciate your interest in my project and would love to show you sometime if you are ever in Duluth! Also love looking at other Maximas so feel free to email me if you are ever in town. The front end is definitely going to have the BMW kidney grille, and I most likely wont blackout the headlights ... (just because I want to show them off!), ... but I still think that it will be a one of a kind max when I am done! Thanks for the ideas though!

 

the only thing i dont like so far on your car is...the altezzas. but everything else looks hot

 

To be honest ... the only reason that I have them is for the LEDs. Other than that ... I normally hate altezzas!

 

Can you say in words exactly what you are doing to the interior? The pictures are a tad blurry and I see a few things that I know are not stock but I can't tell exactly what is going on. Thanks.

 

thanks will do, I go up every now and then If i'm up I'll try to check it out.




you could put the keyboard in that pocket behind the passenger seat I dont know if the cable is that long but that is another storage option if you feel that its sticking out too much.

 

Sorry about the pics ... I just quickly took some with my camera phone. The console has a very rough, but functional leather screen holder. It (just like the grille) is only temporary till I can get my aluminum piece made for the center. The aluminum piece will stretch from the shifter to the hazard lights and will house the AC controls, screen, volume controls, USB 2.0 Hub, and the shifter trim. They will all flow into each other. Here is a rough diagram of what the final laser cut piece should look like.

 

now are you going to make it? i always wanted to build a custom center piece with gauges in it. what is it going to be made out of and how are you going to make it fit?thanks

 

Well it is going to be laser cut with a CAD drawing. The material will be aluminum that I of course will brush out, but it won't be very thick at all. I need it to be thin because of the buttons. A buddy of mine works for a metal shop that can laser cut it for free (I think it might be the five finger discount). But this is good considering the holes probably won't be perfect on the first go round. I plan on attaching some fins to the sides of it that will lock onto some screws for support, but I am still debating how I should attach the pieces to the metal. Might have to bring out the ol' welder for that!