I've had my 2k2 GLE for ten days now, and while I really like the car, there are a couple of minor design flaws whose nits I need to pick:

1. Although the manual warns that the rearview mirror's autodim feature should be used only at night, the feature automatically comes on whenever the car is started, so that I have to turn it off every time I get going during the day (which is most of the time). Why did Nissan make this the default mode, and is there any way to reverse it so that it comes on only when the auto button is pushed?

2. The manual says that a single CD can be played in the Bose CD changer without going through the loading process, but this isn't the case. The load button has to be pushed in order to insert the CD, and the CD slot number has to be selected after insertion. On ejection, the slot number again must be selected. I know this is only a few extra steps, but when you're driving and trying to insert a CD at the same time (I know, the manual says this is a capital offense), it'd be nice just to be able to insert or eject in one step.

 

1. Why do you want it off during the day? You won't notice anything. Have had my AE for a year now and never turned it off and have seen perfectly well around the clock and had no problems with it being on all the time. They made it default so at night if you have a bright source of light behind you you don't get blinded before you would have the chance to manually turn the dim feature on.

2. Not sure about the 2002 in-dash changers...

 

I never switch my auto-dim rearview mirror. I haven't noticed it dimming during the day. As for the CD, when you eject a slot it automatically waits for a new CD. This is perhaps what the manual meant by not having to "load" a CD. Hope this helps.

 

No need to turn the auto dim mirror off during the day. When on, it only starts doing anything at night. It works like a normal mirror during the day even in the on position

 

Yeah, I had the same issues. You really don't need to turn it off during the day (as many others have posted). You won't even notice a difference. At night, I'll grant you that if you're not used to it then it can be a little scary, noit being able to see as much as you could see on your old car's normal setting. But after about 2000 miles, I got used to it, and now I like the fact that I don't have to wince at the pickup truck that wants to kiss my a** and make bright-lihgted-eyes at me.

As to the point about the manual saying you should turn it on only when necessary: The Maxima designers decided (quite rightly, I think) that most people would prefer it left on all the time, so they made that the default. But the Nissan lawyers probably decided that this might mean lawsuits when some jerk crashes into the next lane because they didn't look carefully while the auto was on. Hence the manual gibberish.

[This is a bit like the car designer making sure that your audio and climate controls are ergonomically situated (or even situated on the wheel) so you can use them while driving, but the manual says you should stop the car before using them. Them lawyers drive me crazy! ]

 

I leave the auto dim on all the time.

With the loading of CDs, it will ask for what disc to eject or load. If you wait a couple seconds it will eject the current disc, or load the current slot.

I do have a problem where random 1CD play will play the same sequences of songs.