a little help for someone new..

[struthmuffin]

hey everyone. im picking up my altima coupe 3.5 se tomorrow... black on black just the way i want it.. ive never really had a decent car though.. and i've definetely never had one i would like to bother modifying at all.

i need a little help with what i can or cant do.. and what i should or shouldnt do...

here are the things im a bit curous/confused about.. let me know if you can help at all...

body kit - stillen or fox marketing... i like both.. and it pretty well seems like you are looking for about $2000 for the kit/paint (can you buy them already painted)/install. the only things i wasnt sure about was about seeing through the front fender/grille.. i dont want to be able to see the mechanics through either of them.. so do i need to add mesh to them or something? The other thing was how much lower do these things go than your regular bumper and side skirts.. or lack of side skirts.... the roads suck here so i need to be carefull of bad pot holes and speed bumps..

wheels and suspension - i want to put summer rims and tires on.. winter time is no good.. im in nova scotia so winter time has some pretty rough conditions. so the questions about that was with wheel size.. 18 is more economical than 19.. but either or is nice.. its the gap between the tire and the wheel well that worries me.. i want to close that up a bit without making the car too low for the same reasons as i said before.. also with the tire pressure monitors.. are those difficult to interchange between summer and winter sets.. what would be better? to have two seperate sets.. or one set that you switch back and forth..

tint - right now im getting rid of my 03 explorer.. i have become accustomed to the factory tint on the rear windows... (where i am you arent allowed to tint the driver and passenger side windows at all.. i realize where i live kindof sucks).. but wondering if anyone knows the strenght of factory tint.. i like it.. its clean and not too dark.

stereo - the most important thing in my car is my bluetooth.. i made sure my car had it.. so i have bluetooth and satelite and all that.. i was wondering what would happen if i tried to change the console and have a video deck put in... if it has bluetooth and satelite capability will those be plug and play with the existing connections?.. as well as the steering wheel controls?

air intake - almost forgot.. im not a power junkie really.. the 270 hp is quite enough for me.. but the air intakes have a nice tone to them.. wondering what would be the right one to suit me.. and i want to be vvvvery sure it wont effect my warranty.. going to ask when i pick it up as well but just thought i would ask here too..

i know im asking a lot of stuff.. and i hope im not being a pest asking.. in the end i dont want to make it look too crazy.. im not really that young anymore so im way more into the clean classy look than the superlow, supercharged, tinted to the gills look...ive looked around quite a bit i thought and i didnt really find the answers..

thanks everyone!!!

[Marisha]

welcome! there's lots of info around here...hope you have your reading hat on

[08altima35]

hey everyone. im picking up my altima coupe 3.5 se tomorrow... black on black just the way i want it.. ive never really had a decent car though.. and i've definetely never had one i would like to bother modifying at all.

i need a little help with what i can or cant do.. and what i should or shouldnt do...

here are the things im a bit curous/confused about.. let me know if you can help at all...

body kit - stillen or fox marketing... i like both.. and it pretty well seems like you are looking for about $2000 for the kit/paint (can you buy them already painted)/install. the only things i wasnt sure about was about seeing through the front fender/grille.. i dont want to be able to see the mechanics through either of them.. so do i need to add mesh to them or something? The other thing was how much lower do these things go than your regular bumper and side skirts.. or lack of side skirts.... the roads suck here so i need to be carefull of bad pot holes and speed bumps..

wheels and suspension - i want to put summer rims and tires on.. winter time is no good.. im in nova scotia so winter time has some pretty rough conditions. so the questions about that was with wheel size.. 18 is more economical than 19.. but either or is nice.. its the gap between the tire and the wheel well that worries me.. i want to close that up a bit without making the car too low for the same reasons as i said before.. also with the tire pressure monitors.. are those difficult to interchange between summer and winter sets.. what would be better? to have two seperate sets.. or one set that you switch back and forth..

tint - right now im getting rid of my 03 explorer.. i have become accustomed to the factory tint on the rear windows... (where i am you arent allowed to tint the driver and passenger side windows at all.. i realize where i live kindof sucks).. but wondering if anyone knows the strenght of factory tint.. i like it.. its clean and not too dark.

stereo - the most important thing in my car is my bluetooth.. i made sure my car had it.. so i have bluetooth and satelite and all that.. i was wondering what would happen if i tried to change the console and have a video deck put in... if it has bluetooth and satelite capability will those be plug and play with the existing connections?.. as well as the steering wheel controls?

air intake - almost forgot.. im not a power junkie really.. the 270 hp is quite enough for me.. but the air intakes have a nice tone to them.. wondering what would be the right one to suit me.. and i want to be vvvvery sure it wont effect my warranty.. going to ask when i pick it up as well but just thought i would ask here too..

i know im asking a lot of stuff.. and i hope im not being a pest asking.. in the end i dont want to make it look too crazy.. im not really that young anymore so im way more into the clean classy look than the superlow, supercharged, tinted to the gills look...ive looked around quite a bit i thought and i didnt really find the answers..

thanks everyone!!!

welcome to the club. you've landed at the right place if you own a nissan. i'll try to help you the best i can with your questions so you're not searching and digging through old posts all day.

Bodykits - I feel the same way as you and like both the stillen and foxmarketing bodykits. Neither come painted and neither come installed unless for some reason your dealership put it on before selling or your buying used from a seller that got the kit installed. $2000 painted and installed for both kits is a pretty accurate ball park figure. The Fox Marketing body kit and the stillen bodykit both give right at about a 2 inch drop to both your side skirts and front fascia. So far at the mesh goes in the front opening so you can't see the void there are many methods you can use. There's a write-up on this forum where one of the fella's on here drilled and zip tied mesh to the opening. looked like a 45 minute project.

wheels and tires - 18's or 19's. it's really not going to matter in the long run because your going to want to stay as close to factory specs as possible regardless of the wheel size. if the roads are bad where you live you might wanna opt for the 18 as they will offer a bit more profile (larger sidewall) giving you more protection when taking on potholes and such.

suspension - there's a eibach spring kit (prokit) that is availible for purchase on stillen.com that offers a decent drop and allows you to keep the amazing stock ride quality at a pretty cheap price.

Intake - an aftermarket air intake will not void your warranty and is so easy to install and uninstall that the dealership would never know. Also, when you take your car in for regular scheduled service they won't say anything to you about it. i had the injen on my 3.5 and the difference in sound your motor puts out is amazing. a must have and great first mod.

stereo - plenty have put in aftermarket units in their cars and still have use of their steering wheel controls, blue tooth, xm, etc.

hope this helps you out a bit.

[struthmuffin]

thanks for the welcome Marisha and 08altima35!

that was very helpful 08, thank you very much! im curious if you know if putting on a body kit and some eibach springs will be still be high enough for our roads... i realize you dont know our roads.. they are normal like anywhere else i guess.. but definetely not smooth and nice like florida or somewhere like that.. im not sure how much the springs will lower the car.. i just hate that huge gap between the tire and the wheel well. ill definetely take the advice on the 18s and not go any bigger. i dont want the ride to be uncomfortable or anything like that. any suggestions on the intake? like i said.. not looking for maxing out the power id get from one.. just a nice subtle addition to the sound.

ps.. found the thread on the mesh install.. thanks for the tip!

[08altima35]

with an intake you're really not gonna feel power gains as the whp might be improved by 5 or so hp tops. as far as a bodykit goes paired with eibachs you'll still clear everything, but you will definitely have to be more careful not taking on speed bumps fast or driving into curbs when parking.

[alphapig]

Body kit and no exhaust would be strange...