When I bought the I35, I really never expected to. I was going for a used 330Ci or a G35 sedan at first. Then I saw a silver on black I35 in perfect condition with 11K on the odo for an amazing price. Drove it, liked it, and bought it.

BUT, now that I've had the car for a good 6 months, there are certain things I wish the car would've been better at. Example:

- wished the car did not roll like a boat through turns
- wished the brakes had more travel and stiffer feel
- wished the steering was tighter and not so boosted (feels loose to me)
- wished the throttle feel is more crisp and not laggy
- wished the car had projectors instead of a reflector headlight
- wished the car had more gears than 4 for an auto

Otherwise, I think the I35 is a GREAT car for the $. What do you guys think about YOUR car?

well you pretty much covered it for me.

One more:

- wished the car was RWD

hey king, how did you wire your HID fogs? I mean, what did you do with the bulb cap? drill a hole in the middle to run the new bulb wires through?

................but on another tip. this is the first car i've bought that i want to keep. i never saw myself driving any of my others cars past 5 years. i plan to keep this ride as long as i possibly can.

thats' basically what i did. to water from getting in there, and it will, i glue the rubber grommet that comes attached to the HID bulb to the inside of the cap where i drilled the hole and used silicone around the edges to keep water from creeping in. if your grommet is the "hat" looking kind not the flat one, then you can secore it to the outside of the cap, over the hole. and used marine silicone the regular stuff will not keep the water out.

OK, that's what I figured as much from previous HID installs. Thanks for the help

- Wish the darn heated seats would heat up without having to sit in them first. What is the point of heated seats if you still have to sit in a cold leather seat? Nissan is the only manufacuturer that has them set up that way.

How would I rate it??? Junk! vct cold start rattle, heard detonation w/200 miles on it, unmistakable 'marbles in exhaust sound', occasionally makes what sounds like a rod knock, I know it's a rod knock, nothing else sounds like that, if I could get it to do it on command, instead of once in a blue moon, I would bring it in to the dealer, but I know it won't do it for them, not to mention the oil consumption during break-in was horrible! It still isn't the greatest. The mpg and hour meter is cool, I personally like the rear window screen thing, the seats wear horrible. But what pisses me off the most (don't get me wrong, I still love it, I'm sure it's 100 times better than the lexus or acura equivelant) NO VLSD!!!!! WTF, we traded in a '99 i30 for this one wheel peel pos! Oh and the only problem I have with the drive-by-wire is the lack of feedback when turning off cruise control.

Do the 6th gen maxima's have limited-slip? because if they do this thing is getting hammered and then traded in.

Why not trade the I35 in for a 02-03 Maxima 6-speed with VLSD?

Allthough my mom has driven sticks in the past, she wants an automatic.

So the I35 is your MOM's car?

Actually it's only 50% hers, it's a lease, which blows, I get to take it though whenever I want, which is almost every day, plus I detail the thing every sunday during the summertime and pimp it around all day. It's cool, she already told me that she doesn't mind if I take it up to new-england dragway this summer (as if she had a choice, lol), I'm going to let my freind take it down the strip against my '96, should be a damn close race. I promised her that if the gas mileage doesn't go up I'll take the intake off, once we get the deductible check back for when that kid hit me I'm going to get an intake, those paradox clear MARKER, drilled & slotted rotors, and ss lines, if not I'll be buying all that stuff on my own for, that's right, my MOMS car. I consider it ours since I get to mod it, drive it alot, and I'm the one that changes the oil.

OK, regardless who actually owns/drives the car, you don't think it's a waste to mod a leased car? I mean everything needs to come off at end of lease and all the $ spent is down the drain.

I take good care of it for her because more than likely she's going to purchase it at the end of the lease, it will have a new motor under warranty also. But even if we don't hang on to it I can always sell everything on flea-bay.

Being my 02 I35 is the first Nissan I have ever owned, I am satisfied with it being my daily driver. I would have to agree with most of the comments you made plus would have loved this if it had a six speed as its Maxima brethen.

One thing I noticed was that any chips I get, it appears to rust quite quickly. Since I do a lot of highway driving, I may have to expect this. I guess that's what touch up paint is for.

I might hang on to mine for another year and wait for the new G35 coupe. If the recent pics from the auto shows are any indication of the next gen, I will be putting down a deposit for one. I am hoping they would add AWD as a option as where I live, it would be helpful.

I know you probably don't care because I'm a 97-99 i30, but I thought I'd chime in concerning the original poster's qualms with the i35.

1) Rolls like a boat? Get a FSTB, Suspension mod (strut/spring), and/or Subframe Connectors.
2) Sluggish brakes? Upgrade your rotors and pads, and install new ss line.
3) Power steering bothers you? Well it would be too much investment to do something about it.
4) Throttle qualm? Manually tighten your throttle wire under the hood.
5) Projectors can be purchased.
6) Automatics grant us foolproof ease of control at an expense.

The fact that a 2002 I35 doesnt have VLSD is shocking, since my 1997 has it, and I got my car from its original owner with 60k on the odometer for $6900. The 97-99 I30 has proven to be the most versatile generation for performance of the I30(5)s. I wouldnt recommend unloading the amenity money for a 02-04 I35, just MHO.

Ya, you're right I can improve all my qualms above. BUT, all of those characteristics can be had in a stock BMW or even a G35. Oh well, I get what I pay for.

Aw man, you need to get the autobahn chip guard, it's AMAZING!!! Unfortunatly, someone just hit me, but the insurance company included it in the apraisal and without a doubt it's getting put on again. When we first bought our I35, they offered it to us for a deal, we declined. 200 miles on the car and I had them put it on and put touch up paint on all the chips that were already there, ever since then, ZERO chips, it's unreal.

okay somebody please explain what VLSD is. i tried looking it up on google and all i seem to understand is that it's good when you're racing or have to take off fast. is there a practical use for it? i just don't seem to be getting all the technical jargon used when describing this thing.

sorry to be ****...but its HLSD not VLSD from the 95-01

How does HLSD work? If it's anything like the BLSD in the G35's it blows, if you shut the vdc off and try to do a brake stand- the light still flashes, while the abs makes weird noises, which woud be ok, if both tires spun.

Thanks for the correction

I thought VLSD was variable limited slip differential. What is HLSD, and how would you check to see if it is present on another vehicle that sports "VLSD"?

VLSD = Viscous
HLSD = Helical

Viscous coupling Limited-Slip Differentials use a viscous fluid to apply power to BOTH wheels when hard tourqe is applied to the differential, but during cornering they still allow the outside wheel to rotate faster. viscous fluids are some pretty crazy stuff, when extreme pressure is applied to them, thus heating the fluid, it actualy turns from a liquid into a solid. Chevy's posi-traction, (aka 'posi', which most people mistakenly think is different than limited-slip) is a clutch-pack limited slip differential. the benefit of any limited-slip dif. is that both wheels can spin during hard acceleration, giving better traction, but still act like an open-differential during cornering. The reason you can't just always have both tires 'locked' togethor, like in a 'live-axle' is because you would spin out while talking a corner. Why? because the inside tire travels a shorter distance through a turn then the outside tire does, so they need to be able to spin at different speeds.

Wow, some of you guys make it seem like you hate your car. Or maybe you just had it for too long and it's time to move on to something more "sporty".

Don't get me wrong, I love the I35, but honestly, my car is WAY more fun to drive and handles better w/blown struts, AND the friggin bose in my car BUMPS compared to the I35, weird huh. My first time driving it I wasn't nearly as suprised and impressed as I was my first time driving an auto three-liter. n3985 hit the nail on the head though with EVERY problem being the exact same things I hate. I think that w/stiffer springs, firmer brakes, headlights that looked as cool at night as an '04 max, a lsd, and the throttle response/unbeleivably snappy tourqe of the VQ30 then it would be the ULTIMATE fwd car. I love the interior at least.

BMW 330i coming after graduating college

Try not to be too dissapointed with the lack of interior space... Still the 3's are nice cars, and I guarantee you wont be dissapointed with the performance.

The thing I love about my I-ride is that it is a great place to start modding.

I didnt particularlylike the way my car handled, so I changed the suspension set-up to fit my driving style.

Thats the fun thing about modding. Just about anything you dont like about your car you can change.

My only complaints:

Turning radius is insane... like 3 lanes for a U turn. Brakes are really great but make me feel nervous. If you don't ease into it off of the line, you will get the blinky slip light coming on and it will spoil the fun way too easily.

My car doesn't roll too much, it will give a little then seems tight enought to me. But it is a marshmallow on the highway. Love the HIDs that came with the car... RWD would be great. 67K miles on it and it still feels solid to me.

Of course, when I want to really scare myself I take the WRX. The I35 isn't a slouch either though.

One thing my I35 is that my WRX is not, low key. Sometimes it isn't fun to have everybody staring at you.

And mod list please...always loved the boxer engine burble with an aftermarket exhaust.

And you know you like the attention

Like I said, sometimes...

Guess I need to get some better pics... here they are in bad lighting and water spots on the lense.

http://binladenisdead.net/wrx/wrx1.jpg
http://binladenisdead.net/wrx/wrx2.jpg
http://binladenisdead.net/wrx/wrx3.jpg

APS Turbo Back 3" Exhaust
APS Intake
APS TGV Deletes
Intercooler Water Spray (button and boost activated)
Cobb Uppipe
VF34 turbo@18.5 psi
STI Pink injectors / walbro 255 / Cobb Street Tuner
Stoptech Stage 2 brakes
=
280 awhp

Sick wrx! And nice house...

Thanks! Check out my new rims... Not sure how much I like them yet but they are growing on me. M45 sport 19x8.5. Hopefully these will eliminate the spin when launching. Sorry for the pic quality.

http://binladenisdead.net/wrx/rims1.jpg
http://binladenisdead.net/wrx/rims2.jpg
http://binladenisdead.net/wrx/rims3.jpg

Ohh...looks nice. I've wondered what those 19s would look like. Have any full-car profile shots?

Did you not have any issues with them fitting? I heard they had a pretty high offset, something like ~50mm.

Here ya go... no problems, seems like there is still plenty of room left. I think I need to invest in the splash guards.

Looks good, now drop it

I was about to say the same thing. It looks a little high...

and cleared out lights would be good as well