Well i figure it's time to introduce myself now that I have enough questions to ask you all

I had been lurking on this forum a couple months before i finally picked up the M, and i must say the positive reviews from a lot of you influenced my purchase

It's black on black w/ dark gray inserts (exactly what i wanted),65K miles, no sunroof(don't mind) w/ oem chrome 18's( i could live w/o them). I must say I really did underestimate the power of this beast. Steering response is amazing, and the stiffer suspension is something I was afraid i would not get in a four door(lucky me). I think I got a fair deal for $20K and another $2k for a warranty since it was out of the Manufactures warranty.

Granted that it is an 03 and slightly high in miles i would expect some noises, so let me begin w/ my questions:

#1 The first thing that started to annoy me was the this puttering noise when i would get on the pedal from dead start or even when moderately rolling. szhosain suggested using BG44K, which i should order right about now.

#2 This drives me NUTS every time i drive in reverse there is clicking sound, and immediately when i put it in drive out of reverse. my guess is the axle.

#3 The tranny is not as responsive in manual as i wished it to be, even w/ the VDC off. I read somewhere about disconnecting the battery to reset the ecu, but i can't find that thread.

#4 Another concern that i had is w/ the amount of abuse the tranny can handle. Is it safe to have it in Manual 95% of the time. I tend to leave it in 4th on the streets and in 5th for the hwy. I try not too shift a lot on the streets as if i had a manual, but do i need to be this concerned at 65K miles. Also how bad is it to slow down by downshifting and no brakes?

#5 The other day I was driving to the office when I saw a black Audi coming up behind pretty fast. Once he passed me i realized that it was an S4 so i decided to put the M to it's 1st freeway test . he passed me doing at least 90 so i had to get on it. Long story short i was about 1 1/2 cars behind him for about 2 miles and he could not lose me. That was the day i had to to my M.

The only thing that worried me though is the front felt like it started to slightly hop and shake @ the 125 mark. I thought that it might be an unbalanced tire, but wouldn't i feel that at even 80mph? I have not tried going that fast again since i tend to say below 3 digits but has anyone experienced this?

#6 lastly what kind of spark plugs and wires do you guys recommend? are there any Iridium plugs for the M?

I think that's good for now, tia!


Modified by Teknic73 at 4:59 PM 9/22/2006

oh yah, what's JWT POP Charger?

Welcome to Nico!

The M45 is such a great car!

The JWT popcharger (intake) is one of the first mods people usually do to their car so it's the first title you get. After you get some posts under your beld that will change.

I have never had my M into the 120's long enough to know about any shake/shimmer.

Good luck with your car, and be sure and have a dealer service it soon.

for ur #2 concern...sounds like the axle to bearing contact is dry...there is a bulletin on that for the g35's but i've never heard of an M doing it. i would use factory spark plugs for every car unless its forced induction or has nitrous...

jEzTeR wrote:Welcome to Nico! The JWT popcharger (intake) is one of the first mods people usually do to their car. Good luck with your car, and be sure and have a dealer service it soon.

Thanx! is that filter available for the 03-04? i've gone through mostly all the threads but haven't came across that for some reason. and i'm dying to take it too service and get a nice detail!

infinititech1 wrote:for ur #2 concern...sounds like the axle to bearing contact is dry...there is a bulletin on that for the g35's but i've never heard of an M doing it. i would use factory spark plugs for every car unless its forced induction or has nitrous...

well my friend has a G35 and has the same problem. he's taken it in, but it seems to comeback. hopefully that's not the same case for me.

#5.

It must have been a B5 (2000-2002) S4. A B6 (2004-2005) or B7 (2005.5-2007) S4 does 0-60 in 5.1 and has a top end over 160. Also, real stable to the top. It would have buried you.

I know: I owned a B5 & B6 S4.

Hmmm, as for the shaking at high speeds, I say get it rea alligned and get the wheels re-balanced. My 03 has eibachs and 20's and I've been up to 110 or so and the car is like a missle.

I want to hear more on disconnecting the battery cable to reset the ecu. What are the other benifits for doing this?

And, this JWT pop; what does this look like under the hood? Who has a pic?

CakeDaddy wrote:And, this JWT pop; what does this look like under the hood? Who has a pic?

Its hard to tell but the JWT goes where the stock air box is. To my knowledge they do not make on for the M.

Teknic73 wrote:Well i figure it's time to introduce myself now that I have enough questions to ask you all

Cool!

Teknic73 wrote:I had been lurking on this forum a couple months before i finally picked up the M, and i must say the positive reviews from a lot of you influenced my purchase

Good! The car is an amazing deal for the money. Has some things that you need to watch out for, and I suspect (given my past experience with Infiniti) that some of the repairs will not be inexpensive, but the overall results are still awesome!

Teknic73 wrote:#1 The first thing that started to annoy me was the this puttering noise when i would get on the pedal from dead start or even when moderately rolling. szhosain suggested using BG44K, which i should order right about now.

Probably a good idea! If not successful, then a full injector rail flush to get rid of deposits may be necessary.

Teknic73 wrote:#2 This drives me NUTS every time i drive in reverse there is clicking sound, and immediately when i put it in drive out of reverse. my guess is the axle.

Hmm. That is unusual. I would also suggest to check to make sure that something in the rear brakes are not dragging in reverse. Changing the rear differential fluid is also a good idea.

Teknic73 wrote:#3 The tranny is not as responsive in manual as i wished it to be, even w/ the VDC off. I read somewhere about disconnecting the battery to reset the ecu, but i can't find that thread.

You probably do not need to reset the TCU or ECU. After driving for 15 or 20 miles, the transmission learns your driving habits and will do the right thing from that point on.

There is also a TSB available for the transmission TCU that should be applied - this will improve the responsiveness a lot! I forget the exact TSB number, but you can do a search for it here in this forum.

Teknic73 wrote:#4 Another concern that i had is w/ the amount of abuse the tranny can handle. Is it safe to have it in Manual 95% of the time. I tend to leave it in 4th on the streets and in 5th for the hwy. I try not too shift a lot on the streets as if i had a manual, but do i need to be this concerned at 65K miles. Also how bad is it to slow down by downshifting and no brakes?

First, I do not think that driving it in manual will do any harm - I do the same as you. I drive in M4 all the time on city streets, or going uphill (sometimes even shift down to 3 if it is a long gentle hill) and then only shift to 5 on the highway.

Although I do not downshift instead of braking, I can't see this being a big problem either. Might put a bit more wear and tear on the transmission, I suppose, but this should not be a major issue at all, IMHO.

Teknic73 wrote:#5 The other day I was driving to the office when I saw a black Audi coming up behind pretty fast. Once he passed me i realized that it was an S4 so i decided to put the M to it's 1st freeway test . he passed me doing at least 90 so i had to get on it. Long story short i was about 1 1/2 cars behind him for about 2 miles and he could not lose me. That was the day i had to to my M.

I have to admit that this is a bit surprising, although the M is a surprisingly fast car. It does 0-60 in 5.4 to 5.5 seconds, and I have beaten some interesting cars with it (including a Ferrari 308 of some sort). Loads of fun. The S4 is a very fast car, so it should do better than the M45, but it could depend on traffic too and the driver.

Teknic73 wrote:The only thing that worried me though is the front felt like it started to slightly hop and shake @ the 125 mark. I thought that it might be an unbalanced tire, but wouldn't i feel that at even 80mph? I have not tried going that fast again since i tend to say below 3 digits but has anyone experienced this?

I would strongly suspect an unbalanced tire, and yes, it might show up at 125 and not at 80. In fact, I rarely exceed 100 to 110mph if I am not on freshly balanced tires (which I do every 2000 to 2500 miles regularly).

I would also make sure to see if the lower engine cover and oil cover are properly in place. I doubt this would cause a serious hop and shake problem, but in windy conditions, it may make a bit of unsteadiness.

FWIW, I have taken this car to 130 to 135 mph (on new, freshly balance tires only - no patches) without any problems whatsoever.

Teknic73 wrote:#6 lastly what kind of spark plugs and wires do you guys recommend? are there any Iridium plugs for the M?

Hmm, here I would recommend sticking to OEM plugs religiously! Infiniti and Nissan engines are notorious for problems with other "good" brands. People have seen broken plug parts inside their cylinders with others - Bosch is the one that is highly rated, but unsafe for Nissan and Infiniti engines! The OEM plugs are inexpensive enough compared to other good brands that this is not a risk I would take with my engine.

Z

its not hard to fix the noise from the rear axles...but you need to have a special grease that infiniti has that is like $75 a bottle!

i've done alot of them on the coupes...after i lube that contact point noise is gone