New to the site and have questions (2007 Infiniti M35X)

[noname007]

Just picked up my 07 M35x Diamond Graphite on Bourbon and absolutely love it. I will post pictures as soon as the weather clears.

Anyway, I went with the standard vehicle because of the reviews of some of the outrageously expensive packages and in some cases not worth the money, i.e. navi.

So, the only thing I really want is the xenon headlights. Is it a direct plug in play with the ballasts and bulbs or would I have to retrofit the halogen headlight casing for the correct cutoff and level?

If I were to find the HID headlights, bulbs, and ballasts, would it be a direct swap as far as wiring is concerned?

Lastly, whats the going rate on a set of used standard 18" wheels and tires on the M35x, these really detract from the beauty and I must get something else.

Thanks for the advice and I will definitely be here sharing the experiences.

Regards, Ryan

[szh]

Welcome to NICO, Ryan!

Just picked up my 07 M35x Diamond Graphite on Bourbon and absolutely love it. I will post pictures as soon as the weather clears.

Great!

Anyway, I went with the standard vehicle because of the reviews of some of the outrageously expensive packages and in some cases not worth the money, i.e. navi.

I did the same in this last purchase (2003 M45) ... don't even have a sunroof because I hardly ever use one! I got a great deal on it (at the time, it was less than the price of a G35 Coupe) and that clinched the deal.

Though I am a bit of a gadget freak, and may get some of the toys for next time.

So, the only thing I really want is the xenon headlights. Is it a direct plug in play with the ballasts and bulbs or would I have to retrofit the halogen headlight casing for the correct cutoff and level?

If I were to find the HID headlights, bulbs, and ballasts, would it be a direct swap as far as wiring is concerned?

A darn tough question! I will take a look at the Service Manual and see if I can find more information about this ... will not be till Monday, since my electronic copy of the Manual is on my work computer.

Lastly, whats the going rate on a set of used standard 18" wheels and tires on the M35x, these really detract from the beauty and I must get something else.

I hope somebody else comments on this because I am not sure of the answer. You may want to see if these wheels and tires are being sold on eBay (or also look at the past sales using the advanced search options there) to get a feeling for the price.

Note that 19" or 20" inch wheels and tires tend to be expensive, particularly ones good enough for the weight of the car. Plus, unless you get some very good wheel vendors (Rays, Volks, etc.), you might end up with weak wheels. And these might break or bend too easily. So, please do be careful with your selection.

Also, I think the M35/45 Sport wheels (the 19" ones) may be an option for you if you like their looks better ... these occasionally pop up on eBay. Plus Joe Tsensky at http://www.everythinginfiniti.com will provide the best possible prices on new ones (but not as good as eBay most likely) - he is an Infiniti dealer and sells Nissan and Infiniti parts to NICO folks for excellent prices and with great support.

Z

[noname007]

Thanks Z,

Look forward to hearing what you have to say about the headlights.

Ryan

[szh]

Look forward to hearing what you have to say about the headlights.

Oh, boy. I just took a quick look at the manual and the amount of work involved is pretty high - with a very cursory look admittedly!

The mechanics of the bulb holders are different (different plastic moulding?), the electronics are different (I have not quantified this fully ... lots of pages of reading in the manual), the control functions from the CAN-bus electronics may be different (all lighting is electronically controlled by a computer and relays), etc.

My initial take is that this is a lot of possible effort. It might certainly be possible to swap out the halogens for the Xenons and/or HID, but would take a lot of work to make sure that the system did not mess up somehow. If I were truly motivated to do this change, I think it is possible, but this would take more time than it is worth perhaps (IMHO, of course!).

If you want to get a copy of the Service Manual to research this further, it is available for a cost of spending $20 for a single day access to a Nissan Infiniti web site ... I forget the exact URL, but will post it shortly.

EDIT: okay, here is the URL: http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/infiniti.

Z

[noname007]

Thanks for your help so. So from your knowledge it isn't just a simple swap of the complete halogen headlight unit with the xenon headlight unit?

Regards.

[szh]

Thanks for your help so. So from your knowledge it isn't just a simple swap of the complete halogen headlight unit with the xenon headlight unit?

If you replace the whole unit, it may well work just fine. But I have not dived into the electrical details and whether the CAN programming would work, etc. ... it would probably work, but I am just not certain of that without looking at the schematics. I would recommend getting the Service Manual from the site and looking at it for the details if you want to!

(I'd love to help dive into the Service Manual to help, but work does not permit me much extensive research time at the moment ... am preparing to present at a Board meeting this Friday. )

Z

[noname007]

Szhosain,

Thanks for the help so far, I have located a pair of xenon headlights and may just take the plunge as far as ordering them. With the infiniti publication for 1 day use, can you print these pages out? Or would I have to order the printed version?

Best of luck with the meeting.

Regards

[szh]

Thanks for the help so far, I have located a pair of xenon headlights and may just take the plunge as far as ordering them. With the infiniti publication for 1 day use, can you print these pages out? Or would I have to order the printed version?

The web site access gives you all the files in PDF form (do remember to get all the TSB's too!) so that you can print any page(s) you need later. It is a bit of a pain to have to download each file individually, so do make sure that you have time on your hands to get them downloaded within that 24 hour period. And a decent-speed Internet connection ... you will need to download many tens of Megabytes of files.

Best of luck with the meeting.

Thanks! It should go okay ... just a full long day of making sure that our company investors are happy with our results so far.

Z

[bamaSAAB]

...just watched a set on ebay...sold for $565. Claimed to less than10k on the rubber, I believe. I was considering them as mine needed to be refinished...car wash damage. I ended up having them done today for $400. They look good. BTW, I hated the Goodyears...gone now!