^Excellent point Mike. I don't remember, what was the date they switched from 04 to 04.5?

Also, I'm not bothering to scroll up and look who said it, but the 05/06 oem bumper looks nowhere NEAR as good as the Nismo.
If it did, why would HikkataDori have went through the trouble of building a Nismo replica special to fit the 05/06... and why else would several 05/06 drivers have been willing to pony up the money to switch over?

 

meh, its the same basic idea

better wheels, gauges, brakes, lights, grill, easier to find with existing warranty...unless they can talk that car down 4k i would take an 05 with 50-60k over it

 

not sure of the exact date - mine is July so I know from then on is 04.5 I'd have to look up the VIN series in the FSM for reference - or he can see if the TCU is inside or outside the trans

 

"same basic idea" ?!?!? Whatever dude. Nismo still looks a lot better.

The grill and headlight changes are menial (And for people like me who prefer a painted grill anyway, the darker chrome makes no difference at all)

Also, the 03/04 hood looks better IMO.

I'll give you the 'better gauges' bit... but in some ways that's still debatable. It's much easier to change the 03/04 to something other than the nasty orange color than it is the 05/06.

 

the tails look way better

idk I dont get the hard-on everyone has for that bumper...its not that great, its like the stock bumper with the two strips removed and the bottom painted

 

Hmmm... what would be a good part to look up that would be different from one to the next? If we look up that part on one of these parts websites (or the dealer) it will usually say "before or after xx/xx build date"

 

I've had both. They're very different.

 

Hmm, anyone know?

 

transmission or tcu for sure... there werent many physical changes I dont think - mainly ECU and TCU... also the shift **** changed from the ugly uncomfortable side button to a longer style low profile lever in the front... the ECU went through some serious iterations for the first few versions. Like all computers I guess, they evolve quickly - 04.5 is basically same as 05-06 (ECU and TCU).

There were other changes, I cant remember what exactly, 'cause they arent as significant (to me).

 

I got my 05-06 tails for $276 so that souldnt be a deciding factor. Everything else you mentioned is very insignificant and like NFSP said most enthusiasts paint the grille and also change the wheels anyway

 

The key difference, for me anyway, is there are about a million 05/06s and they all look the same. In comparison, only a handful of 03/04 Nismos. Different = good.

 

You could not pay me to take an 05-06 and the revup oil problems that come with it.

 

Went and looked at that G35 this morning. We aren't sold on it, but haven't completely dismissed it yet. It was in fairly decent shape for an 04, but definately not perfect. The Nismo front bumper had some small scrapes underneath and a 3" long scuff that I might be able to take out with my polisher. No dings, but some key marks on the doors and scratches on the interior panels. The car does look really sharp with this body kit. It's a shame it doesn't seem to be readily available (or is it?)

Loved the power/torque of the V6 (esp. coming from a 4 cyl Accord), but it wasn't as 'smooth/quiet' as I was expecting...especially with only 37K miles on it. I suspect it may have driven pretty hard by the former owners...which, by the way, this car has had 3 previous owners in 6 years...somewhat of a turnoff, but probably not uncommon in these types of vehicles.

Lots of incessent rattling from the interior panels. Even with the radio at a moderate volume, we still couldn't drown it out.

If we do decide we want it (not likely), it will definately be a low ball offer that they won't accept.

 

^^^ based on that description I wouldnt consider it for another minute. DO dismiss it.

Not sure why you think 3 owners in 6 years is common in this car? (seems way unusual to me)... and even though some people have expressed displeasure from rattles in their G, I dont think what you described is normal (and many of us dont have notable rattles anyway).

I suggest finding a better G or something different altogether.

 

A. they are looking for automatic so its not a rev up
B. my 04 had the same problem when I bought it at 67,000, got a new engine I even changed the oil(which I why I stongly advocate warranties..lol)

anyways just out of err um curiosity, where would one get a nismo front bumper or high quality replica anyway?