Hey everyone, my name is Benoit and I previously owned a 95' mazda protege for 3 years- she's now dead with more than 300k km of operation.

I am from Montreal, CA. My native language is french and it's also the purpose of my subscription on this board- to improve my writing/understanding. Feel free to correct me at any time as my goal is to reach a higher level of writing and choosing the right word for the right context.

As I was on mazda's forum for ~2ish years, I'm very familar with the search function and how things work on a board (word interpretation, e-conflicts, guess / member being cocky, etc...)

Pictures of my maxima (As of July 09' - day of purchase) :





Aftermarket wheels ( 2 weeks later) :



About the car :

Year : 2000 - GLE
Odometer : 120k km (143k as of now (~86k miles)
Transmission : A/T
Interior : Fully loaded (no navigation) - leather

Previous and only owner purchased the car for ~$47k. They've put $7k of reparation (obviously made at dealer). It has never been beaten and I've got to say that the car is in mint condition as the the guy who owned it was a 70' yrd old grand-pa.

On the other hand, summer is coming soon and I want to improve brake/suspension/esthetic/audio .

I've read tons of info in there and ended up with my wish list :

Brakes (to do & to buy)
Disc : Raybestos Advence (F/R)
Pads: Hawk HPS (F/R)

Suspension (to do & to buy)
Strut: KYB GR2 / Tokico blues / Tokico Illuminas (not decided yet)
Springs: H-Tech or H&R (not decided yet)
4 new strut mounts
4 new boots
Energy bushing

Esthetic (to do & to buy)
02-03 Headlight swap
Tinted windows (35F / 80R)
HID (headlight (4.3k) / fog (3k)

Audio (to do- from my old protege's setup)
HU : Eclipse CD4000
Amp : Elemental Design 9.2x (2 x 200wRMS @ 4ohm)
Component (front) : CDT HD62 (180wRMS)
Wire : 12GA (speakers) / 4GA (amp)

A lot more reading about suspension and spring combos need to be made in order to make a clear decision of what I need.

Thanks for any advices,

Best regards,
Ben

 

nice pickup, welcome to the org

 

Nice rims. Two weeks later? You're definitely on a mission lol.

Welcome to the org

 

Welcome, good looking max. Let the mods begins!

 

wow thats a nice wish list.

unfortunate for me the previous owner had hacked up the suspension and neglected it ( mechanically wise )

 

Attractive rims, Ben. Far better than the GLE originals. And it looks like you're doing some fine research for mods.

As to your English skills, I certainly wouldn't use the Org as a guide. From this post alone, it looks like you have better command of your second language than most here do of their only one.

Welcome to the Org!

 

Tinted windows (35F / 80R)

that would look silly. dark in the front light in the rear.

tint shade is darker the lower the number.

 

Nice Max. Welcome to the forum. I see that you are off to a good start on your English.

As for your Brakes mod, try R1concept.com they have outstanding brakes at great prices. I just got off the phone with them, pricing out brake parts for my other car, and they beat the dealer cost by a long shot and the quality is far superior!!

 

Salut Ben, je crois qu'on est pas mal dans la meme situation! loll Bienvenue sur le forum et si tu as besoin d'aide, laisse moi le savoir! sa fais un petit bout que je suis sur le org donc...

So Welcome...

 

I vote 6th gen BBK
(the thread is somewhere still on pg1 as of right now)

 

Looks good.. Look into a drop though, either struts/springs or full coilovers

the maxima is a 4x4 stock

 

Nice find. Love the rims!

Welcome to the org.!!

 

I definitely recommend the 5.5 headlight swap!

 

For the brakes...I suggest the 6th gen BBK you can do it for pretty cheap and worth every penny

 

I think he means

65F 20R

opposite what your thinking

 

As stock rims were mounted w/ winter tires I feel it'd be a great opportunity to jump in the 18" world =)

Thanks, I'm still puzzled to which struts / springs combos I should pick for the upcoming summer- stay tuned =)

Bonjour Audio, merci de ton accueil et si j'ai des questions je n'hésite pas à te faire signe!

I'll do some research about that topic, thanks for the tip!

Exactly. As the law allows a maximum of 70% shade for the front doors I wouldn't be confident to go way below that %. I had the same tint setup on my previous car and it was perfect.

Best regards,
-Ben

 

Welcome Ben,

figured this would help you,.. http://shiftice.com/how_to.html click on the how to section and then scroll down.. should keep you busy for quite some time, Also, great job on the english, could have fooled me that it is your second language

-mark

 

Take your time, there is WAY more information available here than you will ever be able to disseminate. After about a year of anecdotal research, without benefit of hands-on comparisons, I think this is a pretty safe assessment:Good luck, man.

-john

 

and then there is progress springs.. ebiach springs.. to name a few that are good ones..

also..nice work selection, you used disseminate, anecdotal, and albeit,..way to make him bust out the french to english translator...

 

So considerate John

So considerate John.....

But hey OP what about engine performance, anything?

 

I stay away from google translator- instead I prefer using an English dictionnary.

So far I've replaced plugs (with NGK iridium) and Air filter (k&n). Maybe I'd go with a CAI this summer but not sure yet since the car is A/T I don't really care about performance

 

(heh heh) Well, among other things, he did say he wanted to use this forum to improve his English. So I threw him a few curve *****

OP... in this context, "curve ball" is a colloquialism, derived from American baseball.

Oh, and a colloquialism is a... never mind. Look it up.

 

Nice GLE! Nice rims for starters!

 

Hey guys little update!

After several hours of searching and reading on the org here's what I plan for the next 2 months :

Brake
**6th BBK front caliper swap
Raybestos advence rotors
Hawk hps pads

**I've read that my 16" oem wheels won't clear anymore the 6th BBK-not a significant issue so far. On the other hand I am very concerned about my current wheel which are Rota Torque 18 x 8 with a 48 offset. Will they clear the bbk caliper?

Suspension
Kyb gr2 - sruts
**H&R or h-tech - springs
4 strut mounts
4 dust boots

**Still not decided (I don't go to track but I am a spirited driver)

Esthetic
tinted windows (waiting for warmer temperature)
still seeking 02-03' headlight ($_$)
Hid will be bought when I found a reasonable price for 02-03 headlight
Lubrify window's rubber

Thanks for the help!
-Ben

 

Ah let the mods begin! Nice list and rims

 

im confused, the previous owner bought the car for $47,000? or did you mean that he bought it when it had 47k miles on it?

 

Nice list, OP.

I'm pretty sure you won't need the rear strut mounts. Look into that some more before buying something unnecessary. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong about that. Don't think I am, though.

 

Welcome to the Org

 

yes $47,000. I even have the original invoice with everything on it... crazy shiat

 

In 2000, the exchange rate averaged 1.5, meaning $1.50 Canadian for every $1.00 US. Add to that Canadian pricing, which is silly high regardless of exchange rate.

So if the Maxima were fully loaded at over $30K US, then it's entirely possible the original owner paid $47K Canadian.

 

ahhhh canandian dollars....now THAT makes sense. i just can't imagine why someone would've paid $47,000 AMERICAN dollars for a GLE maxima.

 

Hello guys, monthly update!

So I've purchased couple of things...

6th gen BBK front swap (w/ hawk HPs)


Caliper w/ Raybestos Advence [plain]


Still waiting for springs / shocks / mount / boot - they're on their way, purchased from Justin Import Car Plus [great to do business with!]


Putting new tires on tomorrow morning - Potenzas RE760 Sport 235-40-18 [I'll post pics as soon as their weared on!]


I'll keep you posted, can't wait to get everything installed!

Later!
-Ben

 

Looks great Benoit... I especially love the 6th gen BBK

Something I will eventually do on mine... Right now though, my stock calipers are in such great shape I just don't care as much

P.S... Been to Montreal numerous times.... I love it there!

 

damn op, you're going all out !! nice

 

Welcome to the forum, Ben. I think Rochester said it best. There is SO much information on this forum that you're always bound to find the information you need.

You should buy one of my spare tire covers to resolve the terribly saggy trunk cover you have now

See my sig. Good luck with the modding!

 

welcome to the org bro. let the modding begin

 

Very well done, Ben! Those wheels are gorgeous, and will look fantastic over the BBK. Your project is off to an impressive start. I'm looking forward to reading more.

 

sweet rims, go light on the window tint. dark tint= I can't see anything at night.

 

DARKER IS BETTER!!!!

 

Nice ride and rims those OEM's ones are the worst they put on Maxima's it just makes the Maxima looks cheap but not no more with your rims me I would do 5% rear tint 15% front for legal stats but me I just say F**k It 5%all around