New to forum SE-R 05

[USC Justice]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the Altima forum (though I have an 05 Off Road Pathy, and a 93 240SX Vert).

Just picked up a 2005 Altima SE-R. 6MT, Sheer Silver, and the red inserts to the leather. 69K miles, and picked her up for 11,700. I think I did alright on that. Unfortunately all four wheels have been curbed. I have an appointment with Alloy Wheel Repair to get them refinished. Other than that the car is pristine. Everything is so perfect I'm almost afraid to make any real alterations.

I have read about both the Nismo R Tune intake, and the Bully Dog programmer. any thoughts or opinions?

It's storming here in SC tonight, so I'll try to snap some pics and post up tomorrow.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Welcome to the Alti section!

Some of the guys have the bullydog for the later model coupes/sedans and they speak well of them, but I dont think it will have much of an effect unless there are other modifications... I would put intake/exhaust first IMO.

[CoupeVQ35CVT]

Welcome.

I always wanted an 05-06 Altima S-ER but couldn't afford one then, and now I have a coupe, so I guess I kinda got my wish. haha. $11k seems like a good deal to me.

Yeah exhaust would be the first thing I'd also recommend as far as power upgrade goes. I'm sure by now there have to be plenty of options for your model. By that I mean if you feel like dropping some $$$ go Nismo otherwise budget and even ebay (I run an ebay catback myself), also headers and maybe an intake.

The Bulldog GT seems to add some power even without any real mods, as Ranga14 (3.5 coupe) says that was his first real power mod and in a head to head race against him and my coupe, it was clear the GT was something right.

I've heard some SERs on youtube with aftermarket exhaust, and they sound real mean, so go for it!

[USC Justice]

Thanks for the advice. I'm a pretty big fan of the Nismo exhaust (a good friend who is also on here has the Nismo on her Altima). Probably will hold off a little on it time wise. Need to buy tires first, and was thinking about a smaller upgrade first like the Nismo intake or the Bully Dog. The car is so pristine (other than wheels scuffed) that I'm hesitant to start monkeying with it.

Window tint appointment set for Saturday morning. :-)

[USC Justice]

quick update as I got the windows tinted yesterday. Also picked up the stereo I think I'm going to use in it...



Thinking about using the Kenwood DRX 5160 for the radio/Nav/DVD in it. Anyone have experience with this unit? I have always had Pioneers. I'm told that this has an easy tie in so that I can keep the Sirius tuner that came from the factory.

[USC Justice]

20% on the tint for sides and rear. Nothing done to the front windshield.


Here's the specs on the radio that I'm probably going to put in.
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertain ... on/DNX5160

The 05 Pathfinder has the AVIC 910BT. This will be my first experimentation with Kenwood. I have a good friend with the Kenwood step up from this one in his Xterra, and he raves about it.

by the way, what part of N. Florida are you in? I have family in Tallahassee, so running the roads down there a good bit.

[Purichan]

Car looks good! I've got an '06 that's identical (including curbed wheels) but with 'gray' seats instead of red. I payed $12,500 for mine in July with 55k miles.

I'd highly recommend powder coating over just a respray. I don't know if that's already your plan, but the PO of my car had them repaired and resprayed silver (dunno why she didn't keep the gunmetal.) After that she proceeded to curb them again and since they weren't powder coated they're chipping really bad around the lugs and where they're curbed.

[USC Justice]

Thanks. I wasn't sure I would like the red inserts, but I'm becoming more and more fond of them. I also had a Sentra SE-R Spec V with the crazy red and black cloth seats, so maybe it reminds me of them just a bit.

Did the first bit of road tripping in her for work this evening. about 170 miles to the hotel I'm crashing at. amazingly smooth and quiet. Put new Yokohama AVID's on the car yesterday and I'm very pleased. The fuel economy is even pretty good considering the way I drive.

I'm not exactly sure what Alloy Wheel Repair does with the wheels to be honest. I know that I have to drop my car off for the entire day and when the car comes back the wheels are perfect. they have done several wheels for me in the past, and have been awesome.

Hopefully if I get a free minute, the Kenwood unit with Nav is going in on Saturday or Sunday. I need to have my XM or Sirius in the car. the last 60 miles or so with no real radio stations was annoying (haven't bothered to put discs in the car yet).

[Tony Two-Tone]

Good looking car! Congrats on your purchase. Just cut the mufflers off and weld the tips onto straight pipes. That's what I did and I couldn't be happier. Stock look without the stock sound.

[berretta28426]

Great car! I just got mine last month....exact same car except for the red inserts, I have grey. I'm thinking of getting the pop charger from JWT, does anyone have thoughts on these? Also what do people think about a sway bar upgrade? I heard the SE-R already has the Nismo Sway bar, is this true?

[RicerX]

So sharp. I loved the Altima SE-R. Wish they made a coupe version. I'm busy making my own in its absence.

[DrewH]

Great car! I just got mine last month....exact same car except for the red inserts, I have grey. I'm thinking of getting the pop charger from JWT, does anyone have thoughts on these? Also what do people think about a sway bar upgrade? I heard the SE-R already has the Nismo Sway bar, is this true?

Intakes are intakes. The real difference is in the filter that you use so spend the extra money and get a good one. As far as the pop charger goes I had one on my Z and I was happy with it. Theres been a lot of talk over the years about sway bar upgrades on a SER and if I remember correctly the part numbers for Nismo and SERs are different but the diameters are the same. Personally I never plan to change mine. If you want to tighten them up a bit you can look into the adjustable Racingline endlinks.

[berretta28426]

Thanks a lot DrewH

[DrewH]

No problem. Are you lowered berretta? Regardless if you are or aren't probably one of the easiest to install, reasonably priced, and effective handling mods (since you own an SER) is a strut tower bar. Heres a link..

http://racinglineperformance.com/shop/p ... ategory=18

If you aren't lowered thats one of the first things I would do. That would improve handling and get rid of that god awful factory wheel gap in the front. Somebody on another forum once said "I swear a baby dies every time I see that wheel gap." The Racingline springs are pretty drastic up front but if you search you'll find plenty of pictures of other setups.

Sorry for the hijack OP but your car's looking good. I would advise against getting your forged wheels powdercoated since the heating process can overage the metal and actually weaken it. I wanted to get mine powdercoated black but after researching it looks like paint and clear coat is the safe way to go.

[berretta28426]

No problem. Are you lowered berretta? Regardless if you are or aren't probably one of the easiest to install, reasonably priced, and effective handling mods (since you own an SER) is a strut tower bar. Heres a link..

http://racinglineperformance.com/shop/p ... ategory=18

If you aren't lowered thats one of the first things I would do. That would improve handling and get rid of that god awful factory wheel gap in the front. Somebody on another forum once said "I swear a baby dies every time I see that wheel gap." The Racingline springs are pretty drastic up front but if you search you'll find plenty of pictures of other setups.

Sorry for the hijack OP but your car's looking good. I would advise against getting your forged wheels powdercoated since the heating process can overage the metal and actually weaken it. I wanted to get mine powdercoated black but after researching it looks like paint and clear coat is the safe way to go.

I appreciate it! I am going to look into that. The only issue I have with lowering it is the fact that it is a daily driver and I have had a couple clearance issues already. Plus I live in Buffalo, NY so the snow is terrible.