Dave_McC

SOLD

After 3.5 years of fun, I'm moving on - was planning on keeping it another year, but I got an offer on my next car which I couldn't refuse. Full details on Pistonheads - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1649019.htm

That doesn't look too badly damaged from the pics - but presumably it's worse than it looks. If you're after another 350z roadster, I've just put mine up for sale after 3.5 years of fun. It's on Pistonheads - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1649019.htm. Dave

I've run a roadster as my main car for the last 3.5 years. I wanted a convertible when I bought it, and the roof has been down whenever it's not been raining. I've not had any problem with other people being jealous or shouting anything at me. Roof down is so much better for hearing the glorious V6 engine howl, and you get all the smells and noises from around you. For me the only downsides have been occasional paranoia when parking in a dodgy area, rear (especially rear 3/4) visibility is pretty crap, and it is slightly noisy at motorway speeds with the roof up - it's only a single skin roog whereas some others - Audi, Porsche - are multi layer and do a better job of insulating the noise. I've loved every minute of it - though having said that I'm now selling mine as it's time to move on. Dave

Likely to be either toe setting's wrong or you've been straddling the speed cushions - I was taking an alternative route home for a while when they were doing some roadworks near me for 6 months, which involved a series of these speed cushions - I always straddled them. My tyres wore in exactly the way you described. Dave

I've been using Yellow Stuff pads with EBC grooved disks and find they stand up to spirited driving very well - good cold bite but also no fade, and they feel much more powerful than the OEM setup. I can't compare to DS2500 as I've never tried them. I have used Green Stuff pads on a previous car (Nissan GTiR) and they were crap - they crumbled within a thousand miles and ended in the bin. Also used Pagids on a Caterham and found their cold bite was crap - sold them on in the end as I couldn't get on with them - though they might be better in the heavier 350z. Dave

I've been running EBC grooved disks and Yellow stuff pads on the front of mine for the last year. They were recommended on here when I asked a similar question, and were quite a bit cheaper than OEM parts. I've been very impressed with them - much more powerful than the OEM setup and no fade at all. The only (very slight) downside is the grooved disks do create a little bit of noise, but you soon get used to it. Dave

or if you want to be flash, fit one of the Kenwood double din units - I put a DNX5240BT in mine - gives full sat nav, ipod control, bluetooth hands free and looks the dogs. Prices at the moment are about £640 from the internet, and you need an adaptor to get it to work with the Bose amlifier (or bypass the amp and use the head unit to power the speakers). Dave

I've just booked mine into Car Hood Warehouse at Chessington - they will glue a patch on inside the roof for £30. Takes about an hour while you wait. I'll post up results when it's done end of next week. Dave

QS Mine's not the glue come away - have read about that before on here. Mine is actually about an inch below the lower seam stitching - and is a split / tear. I'm guessing the mechanism must somehow rub here when the roof's folded down, as there's nothing touching this point with the roof up. Dave

OK - cheers all, repair it is. Anyone recommend any car trimmers in West Sussex for this, before I play "pin the tail on the donkey" with the Yellow Pages! Cheers Dave

H5 - yeah, that's what I thought too. The car's trying to tell me something. I've had it 3.5 years now and TBH still love it. Was going to keep it another year - but next car I'm planning is an Audi RS4, and I've just got the opportunity to buy one next month off a colleague at work who's selling it to a dealer - and has offered it to me at the same price he's been offered. As he's not buying a car from the dealer, the price is a pure "trade" price - and so about £3k below what it will retail at. It's immaculate, fairly low mileage and has the right spec. If I was changing for a 370, I would try to cut a deal with the dealer on it. Dilemmas, dilemmas! Dave

I noticed at the weekend that there's a small split appeared in my roof - it's about 1cm long and is on the drivers side near the top of what would be the B / C pillar - ie just behind the side window, and just below the seam. It looks like it's just worn through - it's not a "sharp" cut that vandalism would cause. Anyone else had this? And what's a new roof going to cost from Nissan (or are there any recommended aftermarket suppliers)? Car's an Apr 06 - so only just under 4 years old - so I'm not very impressed...... And I only noticed it as I was cleaning it as I'm thinking of selling . Cheers Dave

Think I'm stuffed on taking it elsewhere - because it failed the MoT the garage have said I can't drive the car away - given the noise the brakes were making when I took it in I'm not overly surprised at that. The outer rear pad still seemed to have quite a bit of meat on it when I looked last weekend - so the pads would seem to have worn very unevenly, which seems odd if it's not a sliding caliper - unless the inner piston was sticking. They've said the front pads are also pretty low - are going to check tomorrow whether they'll last til next service (4k miles off) - but from other threads I've just searched I think I'll do them myself with aftermarket pads. Dave

Took my Z in for its first MoT today - it's about to run out of warranty as well and I recently noticed a rubbing noise from nearside rear so asked for that to be checked at the same time. Car has done only 32k miles. When I went to collect it, was told it had failed the MoT due to the rear brakes - the nearside inner rear pad had worn through to the metal and wrecked the disk. Service guy suggested the sliding caliper had probably stuck. I've said I'll be looking for a contribution from Nissan as this shouldn't happen at such a low mileage on a car serviced by the same dealer at the right intervals. Response was they won't know cause til they strip down tomorrow - they didn't have rear disks in stock so had to order them in - but if it's dirt / muck which has caused the caliper to stick then warranty won't pay. Has anyone else had this problem - and any luck claiming under warranty? Thanks Dave

To answer the original question, I've just been quoted £730 all in for new rear disks and pads fitted. Can't remember exact breakdown, but disks were about £185 each, pads were about £145 for the set, there was some sort of shim set at £45 odd and 1.5 hours labout to fit at about £80 an hour. Pretty shocked by that really - car has only done 32k miles - suspicion is that one of the calipers stuck as it was only the inner nearside pad which had worn down to the metal and wrecked the disk. Worst bit is it failed the MoT as a result - and Nissan now won't let me drive the car away. Dave

So for the ipod is it just a line in - ie you still have to use the ipod itself to access tracks etc? Or is the ipod controlled from this unit? Thanks Dave

Nurrish I love the look of this - and how it looks OEM. However, one question I have is can I connect an ipod to this? From your original thread I assume the SD card holds the satnav software - is this also where the music playlists are stored - in which case how do you update music as the SD card is not accessible once installed. Cheers Dave

Adam I did exactly the same as you - new Falken 452s on the rear with the original Bridgestones still on the front - still with probably 4mm tread left - and my car did exactly the same thing you're describing. Did it first time on a long sweeping slip road between M25 and M23. Then did it again on a long sweeping 60mph bend on an A road (which I know you can comfortably take a lot faster than that). Certainly scared me on both occasions - unsettled the car - and on both occasions there was no sensation of slipping before the TC kicked in - feeling like it grabbed a front brake. Anyway, I put some Falkens on the front as well and the car feels so much better - and no TC issues since. Afraid you're gonna have to bite the bullet and replace the fronts. Dave

Has anyone fitted bluetooth to their roadster - is it usable? I'm toying with fitting a Kenwood 5220 with the BT adaptor - but if all the person on the other end will hear is wind noise there may not be much point... I was thinking of mounting the mic at the top of the A pillar. Dave

Cheers guys. Would never have thought the nissan loom wouldn't have an earth running in it.... Dave

My PAC ROEM arrived from the US last week and I bought a Nissan Micra 4 speaker adaptor cable (PC2-76-4). I've wired these together this afternoon, with the aerial amp wire from the PAC connected to the remote power pin in the ISO connector, and the amp power on wire left as a flylead to be attached direct to the head unit's amp control wire (I'll be fitting a Kenwood 5220). My question is that I've read on a number of posts that an earth lead needs to be connected to the chassis. Can someone explain if this is require and if so where - looking at the loom I've made up, it picks up the original ground wire from the Z's loom, through the PAC ROEM and then up into the ISO connector (presumably via there it's the head unit's main earth point). Thanks Dave

H5 It was never an option for the ragtops - or not according to my dealer when I bought the car. Anyone able to help? Dave

I'm going to bite the bullet soon and order a Kenwood 5220 with the bluetooth adaptor. I intend to fit this myself, but one query is where to mount the microphone and how. My z is a roadster so I am concerned about not picking up too much wind noise - and it would be good if it was still usable with the roof down. I have seen a photo a while ago of the microphone mounted on the drivers side of the centre console - which would make the wiring easy as the wire could presumbly be run out of the join between the centre console and the dash. Alternatively I guess is to run the wiring up the A pillar and mount the microphone at the top of the A pillar. Is this position better, and if so how do I run the wiring? Any photos greatly appreciated . Cheers Dave

Shire Have a BTT on me - and if you find one and want rid of your skipping player, I'm after a dead one - as long as it's for peanuts . I want to gut the innards to just keep the faceplate to use as a dummy - mail me if you can help. Dave