97 QX4 Engine Harshness/Vibration???

[cramartin]

Hello again.

Just purchased a 97 Qx4 with 107k. Pretty good vehicle, but it has a fair amount of engine vibration and harshness at mid-level RPMs. Very annoying when going up hills or onto fwy onramps. The previous owner didn't seem to mind the noise, but he never revved the engine very high. He said this engine was also used in the Nissan Z car, which I find hard to believe. I'm used to smooth engines in my BMW, Lexus, and Audis....even our old 96 Grand Cherokee had a smoother engine (inline 6).

Is this harshness common for the early model QX4s?

Is there any sort of remedy for the harshness issue?

Thanks for your help!