I love how the M30's look. Though the interior is well beyond ancient, I can live with that as long as there's potential for the suspension, and engine tuning options.

* I'm curious to know what type of suspension they come with.

* Is the suspension interchangeable with any other Nissan/Infiniti?

I didn't search before posting this because I'm sure I'm not the only one that has questions about this car. I'm actually considering purchasing one and maybe doing a 5 speed swap. I believe if the M30 came with a 5 speed in the first place, the 240sx wouldn't be as popular as it is today.

Hopefully people that own M30's can chime in. Also people that find out some info, find pics, etc. please post it. Hopefully this can shed some life on the nearly forgotten Infiniti.

------

"Pros
power, safety, reliability.

Cons
conservative styling

I have a 1992 Infiniti M30 convertible. It's the best car I've ever owned. I bought it in late 92 after they announced that they were going to discontinue the car. The car dealers were making great deals to get rid of their stock. Sticker price 36k (with options) and I drove it off the lot for 25K. I've owned it now for nearly eight years and it's still showroom condition and it just turned 40,000 miles. The car is still as tight and smooth as the day I bought it. Virtually no problems except for a leaky rear adjustable shock. Out in Los Angeles, you see quite a few M30 coupes and convertibles and they all seem to be really well taken care of. It's like there's a loyal fan club out here. The engine displacement is a perfect fit for this car. Nice power and handling. (Same engine as in the 300z - late eighties. It has a natural throaty sound when accelerating, kinda like an American V-8) It's funny, when I first bought the car, friends joked that the styling was too bland and conservative. It seems to have aged well, like a fine wine, because now when I pull up somewhere, (still looking new) people always approach and say, "What a great looking car -- when did Infiniti start making a convertible?" I would suggest this car to anyone who can find a clean one. It's a nice size, not bad on gas, very safe. In 1992 it was one of the top ten safest cars in head on crash tests. It also is chalk full of parts from the Nissan bins, especially the engine, so it will be easy to find parts, even though it was only built for three years. I think the M30 is a well kept secret.

Recommended
Yes

Condition: New
Model Year: 1992
Model and Options: convertible
-------------------
"Pros
Everything about the car

Cons
Cannot think of any

Full Review
I own a '92 M30 Convertible. It is honestly the best car I have ever owned. My faithful car just turned over 100,000 miles and is still running like new. I bought the car used two years ago...Normally, I would have been apprehensive about buying a used car, but this car seemed to be in immaculate condition. Since I have had the car, I have done the following repairs:
4 new tires
front brake pads (once since I bought it)

That is IT. I have not had to do ANYTHING else with it. This car is AMAZING. Although it's almost 9 years old and has over 100,000 miles on it, it still has a lot of power. It's a luxury car and a sports car at the same time. The drive is very smooth, yet it has no problem accelerating to high speeds when necessary. I LOVE this car! I get compliments on it all the time. Infiniti used the best of materials to make this car - the leather is still like new and the engine hasn't leaked on my driveway yet. It is a very solid car, it's very quiet - sometimes I can't tell whether the engine is on or not. I would highly recommend the M30 to anyone who has the opportunity to purchase one.

Recommended
Yes

Condition: Used
Model Year: 1992
Model and Options: Convertable "
-----------

"Pros
Automatic Roof, Responsive Engine, Comfortable Seats

Cons
Hard to get in and out of back seats with top up (like I care), paltry 18 mpg on average

Full Review
There were only 8,000 cars (approximately) of this model produced by Infiniti in 1991 & 1992, which begs the question, "why did they stop making them?" These are great little cars. I test drove the car my husband bought and liked it so much, I had to find one of my own. I ended up having mine shipped from Long Island all the way to Arizona and it was worth it.

They are fairly zippy with a V6 engine and they handle the road quite nicely. They don't feel as tight or heavy as a BMW or Mercedes, but they don't carry the price tags of those cars either. What they do offer that goes head to head with the best of them is the simplicity of taking the top up and down. Everything is automatic. With one button, the front panel unscrews, all the windows retract and the roof lowers into place. The same is true for raising it back up, no levers to snap and no need to reach over into the passenger seat if you're alone.

I also love my M30 because in a world filled with "bubble" cars, the sharp lines of the Infiniti stand out. I know that I'm not alone in this belief because there are at least a half dozen M30 convertibles in my Bay Area town, all of them in great condition (on the outside at least). The gas mileage could be a little better, but I suppose Japanese cars are no longer synonymous with energy efficient.

Recommended
Yes

Condition: Used
Model Year: 1992"
--------------

Quote, originally posted by J-Spec Tuner »

The 240sx has more in common with the Z32 300ZX, the M30 shares most of its driveline and suspention with the Z31 300ZX. Looks incredibly similar, but is a totally different platform. Part of the reason nissan almost went out of buisness in the 90's was having too many different non-related chassies and engines in production at once.

Some very informative threads found archived:
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=82239
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=14531

"yeah i did i 5speed conversion and it was actually pretty simple if you know what youre doing. it took me like 3 days but thats because i took a week off from work so i was just going really slow cleaning everything including my tranny and polishing my shifter and alot of other nonsense stuff=) if youve ever done a 240 5speed swap then u can 99% do it in a day or less depending if u have everthing ready. 4 the driveshaft question i had 2 options. 1 which i did but dont really recomend is grind down about a 1/4 inch off of your auto m30 d/s and tranny or 2 you can use the 3z front half and weld it to the front of the m30 d/s. it has to be cut about 1/2-3/4 inch shorter than stock. the easiest way would be to cut the front of an auto d/s off measure the piece that you cut and cut the 3z one a little shorter. but mines worke perfectly fine at drift session the mountain the freeway and the dirt so i guess grinding it down is good enough and i drive my car everywhere. other info for the 5speed.
1)youre going to need the plate that the tranny starter and engine bolt up to. onthe z 2 bolts go to the engine and 2 go between the tranny and the starter. youre going to have to cut off from where it bends and not use the bolts for the motor. youre going to need to use that plate as a spacer or else your flywheel will grind your starter.
2) use the 3z tranny mount and bolt it to the m30 crossmember.
3)my clutch pedal i bent straight so that there is clearence for the brake pedal and i cut the brake in half. if anyone knows what brake pedal is hould use that would be really helpful. but for now the stock one works just fine its just spaced a little more than normal so it messes me up sometime on the heel toe so when initiating the drift ihave to be really careful or use the e-brake.
4) NOW THIS IS THE HARDEST PART of MAKING YOUR LEOPARD 5SPEED
i had to wait 2 weeks to BREAK IN THE CLUTCH.
I hope this info will be helpful to u guys cuz i know if this info was up sooner i would have bought a m30 ealrier and it would be 5 speed in like the first week.
i just wanna see sum sik m31s on the road and hopfully at the track sideways."

I used to have an S13, then I got really bored with the car and started visiting this forum. I took a lot of info posted here and transeferred most of the parts from the S13 to the M30.

The car is pretty much stock with the exception of the suspension. I used a 4 to 5 lug adaptors to accomodate the 5 lug wheels in the rears and I am working on installing the rear sub-frame from an s13. Soon after, I hope to get the manual swap done and freshen up the engine a bit. The reason I am doing the manual swap last is to make sure I know what length drive shaft to run.

My goal is to modify the car with parts that are sold here in the states. With the exception of emblems and other Leopard parts I think we can really create something cool.

Here is what is in the car right now.

Front

S13 Lower control arm
S14 5 lug hub and spindle
Battle version tension rods
Tein Inner/outer tie rod ends
S13 coilover
Enkei 17x8 wheels (+35 offset)

Rear

S13 rear coilovers
Tomei 2-way LSD in the R200 diff.
Enkei 17x9 wheels (+35 offset)

"I will get some better pictures of the tires soon.

I thought I would share something I found out today. The momo steering wheel hub for the S13 fits our car. I just installed this today."

"It is the Momo hub adaptor with the last 4 numbers ending in 3508.

If you go to upgrademotoring.com where I bought the hub, it shows that the hub for the 89+ 300zx and 240sx (without Hicas) share the same part number. "

----------

And more...

"I decided to put an SR20 into my car. So far, with the help of my friend Alex, we have figured out the motor placement and other issue regarding the swap. I owe a lot to the article that was posted in the forum.....

Here is a pic of my car with the motor..... "

--------------

"The 5 speed lines up pretty well... Here is the shot of the interior with the 5 speed"

-------------------

"I am plan to do a write up after I am done with project. I would hate to give information without fully testing the car at a few of my events...

But to answer some of your questions....

Motor mounts had to be custom made. I even bought a sheet of polyurethane to make my own bushing.

The long rubber hose is for the heater core. It still needs to be cut to size and attached to the lines properly...

The reasons why I chose to stick with the stock radiator are to minimize custom mounts and it is also bigger than the stock SR20 radiator. But I did use the SR20 fan shroud. You can make the SR20 radiator fit, but we preferred to minimize extra work.

One thing I thought was cool was the pre drilled holes that were already there for the power steering reservoir.

Surprisingly, the down pipe did line up with the stock exhaust... "

That is all absolutely BACKWARD of the direction I would take an M30.
The guy talks about how bored he was with the S13, and then he goes and turns his M30 into one...

Seems like a ton of work for very little--if any--gain.

Those are some of the first interior shots I've seen of an M30. They're really "old" looking inside--at least compared to contemporary Nissan models. Not a bad thing, just an observation.

I'd love an M30. Great looking car with an excellent powerplant. Of course, I swore I'd never buy another auto trans car again (and I meant it!) so I'd have to swap it post haste.

Sans steering wheel, thats one of the best looking Leopard coupes I've seen. I'd probably just go with BBS wheels and toss in some wood trim in the center stack, then call it good. I might also see if I could add automatic climate control to a topless M30.

I was looking for the answer to your question in the thread you created on this but I can't seem to find anything that explains why drop tops didn't have automatic climate control. Especially considering that they were ALL brought over here as coupes and the only thing that was changed (supposedly) was the drop top, and as it's been mentioned this was done by ASC, not Nissan.

I doubt I'd take it as far as this guy did and do the whole sr and s13 suspension swap. Yeah there's really no point. It would make a lot more sense to just turbo the VG30E or drop in a jdm VG30DET (not tt).

I don't like the steering wheel that guy had either but I don't think he intends on keeping the interior the stock color either. So eventually it might match up.

For me, I'd like to just do the 5 speed tranny swap, add some stiffer shocks and lowering springs, and call it a day. I'm just trying to confirm which shocks and springs are a direct fit onto the M30 since there's absolutely no aftermarket world for the M30 whatsoever (in the US that is). I noticed SCO Parts sells Stanza lowering springs, but I'm trying to confirm if they're the same for the M30 or not.

Before someone says it, I KNOW this is an ancient thread.

But how about a plain 'ol garden-variety VG30ET, like out of a Z31 Turbo? Why go JDM when the simplest engine to swap in was sold here in the first place? It has to be a simple-as-cake swap.

Granted, the DET might be capable of a *bit* more power, but being able to just find VG30ET's lying around for super-cheap here in the states would more than make up for that, IMO.

I only ask because I've always thought it a 5spd VG30ET-powered M30 coupe would make a beastly ride. Wondering how feasible it is.

http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=93075

How 'bout a Nissan Leopard F31 : yesnod ... Was brought over as an Infiniti M30.

yeah its a car that people dont really pay attention too.

anyways, naoki (sr20 powered) and J (5spd conversion) are US pioneers with the cars. Not to mention a few other peeps on there have done some trick stuff.

M30s from what I understand are rare cars. 5000 made.

As for suspension, there is a thread, but z31, s13/14, s30, and r31 parts work. Infact, R31 skyline front end bolts right up (quoted by Fergy from velocityisfaster).

There is no aftermarket at all for the ride here in the US, but in Japan, another story.

I believe the reason why Naoki did the SR20det conversion... well, there is endless potential with the Sr20 motor. As for the VG30E..i'm guessin there is too, just not as much.

It might seem backwards, but it has been done to many cars. Alot of guys in Japan swap sr20dets in to A31 cefiros and even skylines.

why is turbo vg30det an issue, well even wit the sohc vg30et motor, the turbo hits the steering column. I also believe the guy that did the M30 swap was a admin on this site.

f31club.com is probaby the only m30 site (besides this site) that has content.

driftkaztik aka Nissanrules on f31club.com

Modified by driftkaztik at 11:24 AM 1/18/2006

My cars!!!! yeah, I'm a ricer..

86 FC3S RX7
89 RPS13 180
90 F31 infiniti m30
93 EG civic hb
98 Honda CRV
2k EK civic hb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infiniti_M30

Nyeark made one since there wasnt one. I looked at the J page and its very minimal. I think someone needs to drop some knowledge on there.

the s13 suspension thing is true just to clarify that for those who wonder. s13/s14 lower control arms and tie rods needed. rear is straight swap if u can get a hold of JIC m30 top hats. if not then u need to redrill the s13 2 bolt. easy sweezy.

thats my 2 zents.
brandon

I ended up putting them back in again. I just don't have the dough nor the priority level to make this car be what it could. I bought it used with 119K miles on it and put about 10K on it since then with Zero issues.

I have several vehicles. Ok I have too many vehicles! Fine I said it! and one of them needs to go. This car runs great and the tops goes up and down and doesn't leak. It needs a paint job, the passenger door sticks and it has a small almost un-noticeable hole in the exhaust pipe. The leather is a little old too. But it runs like a dream. If you're interested email me at admin@honestsql.net I'm in zip code 11950 in Long Island NY. yes I have pics I can email.

I know that cat brian with the rewinds, real cool guy.

are you f31roger from cardomain?

chek my myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/roger211

it has more pix from the M30 meet we had. Brian is a really kool kat.
I had to drive from seattle to the bay area to meet up wid them m30 guys and i also got a vip exhaust put on.. like brians... but a lil more uppage.

the Sr20det'd M30 that is showed in this thread was on MTV's Fast INC. Naoki didnt drive it, but one of his staff members did.

he is also in the drifting mag with a profile and he runs driftday.com

we exchanged a few pleasantries, I checked out your myspace previously
when you linked me on cardomain, lot of cool pics from your japan trip.

good to know you're on here man! if you're ever headed back down here LMK.

- Micah

p.s. you should post pics of your boso exhaust in this thread!

haha, funny. yeah, maybe in Nov i'll roll down there again. i gotta lower my car first.. then the bozo exhuast will look okay. hahah.

my page is hella boring, I haven't worked on it much. I pretty much just made it
cause my girlfriend and some of my friends have pages.

I think your car already looks tight, will be sick when its dumped... you getting
some megans like fro has?

hahaha, small world bro.

here are some pix of our m30 meet this past weekend (nov 18th)
http://www.f31club.com/meets/111806/index.html

I'd let it go for $800 even. Its got 127K miles and runs fine. Top is good goes up and down a little slow sometimes but seals well. I've put 10K miles on it in the last year, just replaced the front brake calipers and pads. Shocks are kaput. No dents but it could use a paint job. The previous owner let it sit for 2 years then changed the timing chain fluids and drove to NY. It was a Florida car.

The exhaust has a small hole somewhere I can't find it but I can hear it.

The stereo/cd works but I would rip it all out and replace it, they are all cheap components.

I love the car but I need to gather $ for a new truck and I have two many vehicles already.

Oh yeah the passenger door is stuck closed and I think the previous owner changed the starter with a used one that skips once in awhile -especially when its cold.

Wish I had to $ and time to really make it a show peice. I get questions everytime I drive it, they're becoming more and more unique everyday.

I have more pics, they are about a year old I don't think the car ever looked as good in person as these pics but with some elbow grease and paint it would.

Attachment: 00000.jpg (116513 bytes, downloaded 3693 times)

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...t=501

In case the link doesn't work anymore:

UGLY! UGLY! UGLY! I KNOW WHEN SELLING CARS YOU GOT TO TALK POSITIVE. WELL, IT HAS LOW MILES, SUPER LOW MILES FOR THE YEAR, BUT THIS LITTLE CAR IS UGLY. I MEAN UGLY. YA EITHER LOVE IT, OR YA HATE IT. I DON'T HATE IT, BUT I DON'T LOVE IT EITHER. YA GOTTA SEE IT.

Driver Air Bag; Anti-Lock Brakes; Air Conditioning; Alloy Wheels; Cruise Control; Passenger Air Bag; Power Seats; Leather Seats; Power Door Locks; Power Mirrors; Power Windows; Power Steering; Tilt Wheel;

i have always had a fondness for this car...i know there was someone on this forum doing a vg30dett swap w/5speed...not sure what happened but last i heard hes almost finished....personally id love to do the same thing to a vert m30....im not sure what else you hope to learn but im sure if you post a topic w/ whatever questions you might have you will most likely get the answers you are looking for....good luck either way

these car's are killers on the road, ride really smooth(luckily my shocks/struts are still functional). only down side is the trailing arm rear end shared with the Z31. squat is ridiculous when accelerating or sliding. another aspect of them is its rumored that a few have vlsd equipped. i've personally seen ones that doo, but mine i believe does, but i'm guessing the plates are worn out because sometimes i'll get the pass. side going, others i'll been on the crown of a road and the car slides off to the side then stops..but after i peel out and come back i see two lines starting and only one leaving(depressing i know).

i've put a digital cluster from a z31 in mine; worked lovely now after a little fandangling. another drivetrain note, 6/88+ turbo clutch rear ends can go right in as long as you swap internals, then you'll have a bomb-proof rear end. the rear wheel wells can handle around an 10 inch wide tire with offsets in the single digits with just a roll. 240 coilovers(s13 only) fit but HAVE to be adjusted as high as they can go. it may not look like it, but these cars can not get much lower. M30 shares the same e-brake setup as a Z32, so Z brakes are a bolt on affair.

engine wise, going to an sr20 only helps with steering shaft clearance and general upgrade support. you thought 240's have bad clearance, you can't even get a paint stick between the exhaust mani and shaft on these cars. 240 crossmembers even bolt up w/ two bolts with drilling/sleeving for the rear two; then you have nearly 6 inches behind the head along with a mile in front of it. there's tons of room for a mid-mount IC setup too which i'd do. but personally i'd rather build the 3.0 block and supercharge it. also, late pathfinder 3.3litre motors just bolt right in, gives you more ponies, lower mileage and the intake its 100 times better. however just like z31 guys, the hood will need to be propped in the back.

and the VG30DET issue. i'd love to find one, i've got to ask a fellow member on CN thats living in japan to allocate on for me. at max boost that motor makes near 280hp; pretty impressive(same as auto 300TT). can find them in a Laurel, Leopard XS, and i think one more. the M30 even has a Clutch master cylinder block off plate, like it was MEANT to be 5 speed haha. the 240 provides EVERYTHING to swap the car over with. once i finish my sil-coupe, i'll probably sell it and dedicate what i get to this car. they have SOO much potential that its not funny; hell even strut bars from a 240 fit. such a shame that people just throw them away when they break down, little do they know it just requires parts from Z31's, early maximas, and a few from a J30. i bought mine for 900 bucks, and it just kicked over 181k today...runs better than anything i've ever owned. i have a t-5 z31 turbo trans, clutch lsd, 3.3litre motor, every replaceable body panel, and stock s13 shocks/springs and front conversion lined up for it(good for a 1 inch drop).

Modified by crash n' burn at 12:12 AM 5/1/2009

its a labor of love

for instance, to mount the s13 crossmember, the rear holes are the ones that line up, and the fronts have to be drilled. it also requires you to use s13 rack, and there really isnt anymore room behind the firewall then an s13 or s14.

etc etc.

s13 coilovers go in, with drilling holes in the rear and using full s13 front suspension.

they dont have to be adjusted all the way up, and m30's can go very low.

z brakes are not a bolt on affair. you have to space the calipers, and the backing plate has to be modified for the rotor to fit.

pathfinder engine does not "bolt right in" there is the issue of the m30 being front sump vrs rear sump in the trucks. the trucks use to split exhaust manifolds, not the crossover setup of the m30. the m30 manifold will not go right on though as the vg33 uses 10mm exhaust studs, not the 8mm of the 30. then you have all the accesories that youd have to figure out, either by making a custom crank pulley, using a 30 crank, or getting the 33 accesories to work with the m30 chassis.

the s13 does not provide EVERYTHING to conver the m30 to manual. the pedals are not a direct fit, and the clutch pedal will be higher off the floor then it should be. the z31 pedal also fits, but is closer to the floor. a middle ground has not been found yet.

you also will need a custom driveshaft, as of now there has been found a direct bolt in driveshaft from nissan.

strut bars from a 240 do not fit. the front is to wide for the m30 chassis, and the rear doesnt even come close.
a acura bar does work as a c pillar bar though.

etc etc

when i say bolt in, i mean basic "adjustment" of the parts are the only thing required. but i've never heard of having to space the calipers. the driveshaft i've seen some do a hybrid z31 front/m30 rear with the z31 shaft being slightly shortened; however that's not too big of a problem since i had a SS DSS shaft made for it. the front strut bar i made fit, i had to take out the little adjustment nuts and then screwed the end plates as far in as they go and it took a little muscling it in there but i have the front strut bar installed(cheap a** megan). along with the c-pillar bar as you mentioned.

this car is definitely unique in the fact that it uses all of these shared parts but that they've ben slightly modified to be specific to this chassis.

you stated in your other post that the 3.3 is bolt in, thats whay i was making some points.

the z31 hybrid driveshaft is not a bolt in deal, as you see in the pic, the m30 shaft has a carrier bearing on the front half, z31 does not.

what some have done is brought the driveshaft to a local shop and have the front yoke of the z31 shaft welded to the m30 shaft

personally, i would rather have a 1 piece, and i recomend the nico sponsor shaftmasters.com, i have worked with them before and they are very helpfull, and prices are much better then dss. (and they dont make them in ss, that would be really heavy)

i dont know what you mean about the first runner hitting the steering shaft and the 2 piece manifold deal. the first runner is at the front of the engine, and no where near the steering shaft. also the 3.3 exhaust ports are in the same location as the 3.0 so yeah, not sure what you mean, some pictures would help.

as for the z32 rear calipers, they have to be spaced in order to be centered on the rotor. every m30 that has them is setup like that, or the rotor will rub on the caliper and not allow the rotor to spin, or the pad to fit in.

this person has used shims

i used washers on mine to get the same end result.