Hello everyone. My wife and I purchased a 2006 G35 yesterday. Hopefully it makes up to my wife for totaling her 2006 Jetta that she's had since brand new, in a stupid minor commuting accident.

While it's not the best deal, I felt I got a more than fair price for our G35 considering the local market in Phoenix. Paid $7,900 for a black standard base G35 sedan with 100k on the clock. Previous owner was a retired aerospace engineer that bought it from the Infinity dealership that used it as a pickup/drop off car. The car has some exterior cosmetic flaws but nothing glaringly bad. The interior shows the typical wear on the finishes of a nearly 10 year old car. Had the Infinity dealership inspect it and they said it was mechanically solid other than a couple of minor things such as the front ball joint knuckle grease leaking and the rear shocks showing signs of being nearly blown out (hitting the bump stops). I figured those were easy fixes that I could do. Wife loved driving the car and I really enjoyed the power output, so we pulled the trigger.

As I mentioned, it may not have been the best G35 deal, but it was the BEST/FUN car for sale in our price range that didn't have insane miles and/or major issues. I plan to address the rear shocks tomorrow so my wife can start driving it as soon as I get it titled, registered, and insured. I feel the car is already nearly too low. My primary focus will be on handling, as I love a tight handling car. For how cheap the Jetta was, it had some amazing handling that kinda spoiled us.

I'll definitely browse the forum for some suspension how-to's and attempt to decide if I'll stay with OEM sedan shocks or go something different. Can't afford to do anything too crazy right now as we need the absorb the costs of purchasing a vehicle first. I'll also need to look into audio options, as I'm disappointed there's no aux input or bluetooth. Thank you for having me and I hope to provide some helpful contributions to the forum.

 

The G is a great handling car and, with the right suspension mods will bring years of enjoyment (I know mine does). If you search the private classified, you may find someone selling a suspension setup that may be within your new budget. If you plan on giving it a mild drop. I went with Tanabe lowering springs (NF210's), not sure what the drop will be for a sedan but, for a coupe it's 1 inch in the front and .6 inches in the rear. You can get Tokico struts and shocks for under $400 for a complete set and those that use them say they are great. With the miles you have on it, I'd check all the bushing to see if they were ever replaced.

 

Thanks Brooks,

I'm gonna save the suspension modding for later. For now I ordered some KYG shocks per the recommendations on this forum. I'll put those on the rear tomorrow to hold us over for a while. They're cheap enough to swap out for quality units later on down the road.

Bushings are ok. I do have a leaking knuckle though that I have to figure out what to do about. I'm not too familiar with these cars, yet. So I need to find a shop manual so I know what I'm doing. Searching this forum constantly provides an overwhelming source of information that it's hard to narrow things down. Is there a shop manual for a 2006 sedan available via pdf?

I don't know why, but while I love the HIDs headlights, I hate the yellow indicator lens in the housing, and I hate that there are no LED strips as DTL. Way to not make this car look more modern... I tried searching to see what my options were but wow, that was almost instant overload. Any suggestions?

I pretty much got the audio options figured out. This inform has so much info. too much, infact. lol. Looking forward to getting insurance, title, registration, and new rear shocks tomorrow. Can't wait to drive this thing.

 

Steering knuckle joints can be had for $40/ea @ conceptzperformance.com. all you need for install is a free rental balljoint press kit from your local autozone/O'Reilly/carquest, a friend and some imagination (on how to make it work. All the tools are a bit 'off' from the car part sizes, but it is indeed possible).

 

Welcome to the G community. These cars are fun to drive. hope you don't get bit by the mod bug.

 

Thanks! Sadly, it's a bit too late for that. The car looks great and all, just needs to be updated a bit and brought into more modern times. There are so many kits and information available that it's kind of difficult NOT to mod things. I'm resisting the urge as much as I can. Mostly because I need to absorb the costs of purchasing a vehicle first. I don't know how long that excuse will last for me

 

Hi, I have a general grip on quality lighting mods on these cars (so I think), and I see an eBay headlight purchase in your future.

Consider a projector upgrade if you want bright HID lights that come with the benefit of working best where you want them too, along with a new mini lens to replace that ugly turn signal amber thing that comes OEM.

As for the lens being yellowed, consider calling a local body shop that specializes in this kind of thing. There is one near me that removes them from the car, sands them down and then they re clear. This offers a permanent solution for the yellowing problem.

 

Thanks Urbanengineer,

So far, the factory lights seem to be working pretty good. They're HIDs that seem to have held up well. I was just hoping for a more modern look with leds lining the headlight edge and serve as DTL.

I tried searching and see so many variations on the forums/google that it was just overwhelming. Don't know here to start. Any guidance?

 

check out theretrofit source or one eighty customs for ideas on light retrofitting for the G35 coupe. They have examples of work they have done.

 

Hi Scraggle, are you talking about these: https://conceptzperformance.com/Cart...n.php?II=10321 ??

If so, what else should I look at when I replace the knuckles? Would that be a good time to replace the compression rod bushings?

Also, I keep reading about this "plenthura spacer" but can't find any info when I search other than "should I?" types of threads. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

No, these https://conceptzperformance.com/Cart...n.php?II=12275.

But yeah, any suspension upgrades you can get done at once will save you a lot of headache later, cuz you have to tear apart all the same stuff over and over again if you do it one at a time. Then you gotta get it aligned each time..pain.

Comp rod bushings, LCA bushings, upper control arms (switch to adjustable), knuckle joints...hell, even brakes if they're due.

 

Thanks! Since I have the 06 Sedan, I assume I'll need these in lieu of what you posted: https://conceptzperformance.com/Cart...n.php?II=20887 ?

I read that the comp rod bushings should be pressed and another brand pressed in, is that correct? or is that LCA? I can't remember, too much information lol.

Also, why the switch to adjustable upper control arms? What would you recommend? While I can't afford top dollar, I would like to get bang for my buck.

 

So I can confirm, I have the HID reflector headlight. Good enough for me, as headlights are far too costly.

Next step is looking at audio equipment. My wife is getting on my case about it since the factory 6 dic changer is not working well and there's no aux input. Thinking of a few options. So much information that its nearly overload. Thinking of this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PIONEER-AVH-...9UXV2a&vxp=mtrWhat else would I need?

I plan to replace the rear shocks this weekend. Front suspension can wait for now while I work on collecting all the parts needed through the next couple of months. Awfully tempted to do a bolt on or 2, considering how cheap they are such as a Planeum, what brand or kit would be the best bang for the buck? Also thinking about what to do with intakes. Should I just do the rev-up box with z-tube? or what's the best bang for the buck?

 

Mostly just taking notes for myself:

-Comp rod bushings (polyurethane)
-Inner and outer lower control arm bushings (polyurethane)
-steering knuckle ball joints
-all new shocks and shock mounts (assuming its not lowered on Coilovers - post a pic of your shocks as well as your wheel/fender gap so we can see how low it is)

You would also need SPC eccentric toe bolts for the rear spring buckets. You can do adjustable control arms in back (SPC or eibach) and adjustable upper control arms up front (SPC or Kinetix).

 

I would like to start planning for intake mods while I slowly build up the front suspension components. I'm thinking of doing the MD 5/16 Spacer Iso Thermal & Stillen Z-tube combo for the intake. Or are there other, better suggestions? I have an 06 5/at sedan.