MaxMike93's 2000 Infiniti I30
05-18-2012, 08:44 AM
#1
MaxMike93's 2000 Infiniti I30
Well, the story goes that when my 1st car (Acura CL) was totaled in an accident, it was a necessity to get a new car. Being that at the time (last year), I was 18 and without a car, I ended up going car shopping with my dad. Before we went, he found my car in an ad at a Nissan dealer with the real draw being 22k miles.
This was right before I left the dealership
First thing I did was transfer the radio from my old car to my I30. Instead of sticking with the 11-year old stock CD/tape, I thought it would be better to have flip-out navigation with USB input for pretty good iPod control, as well as adding in a backup camera.
Next thing, albeit small, was just picking up OEM all-weather floor mats from an online store run by an Infiniti dealership. Too bad they weren't the color noted on the website (I was anticipating beige), but it doesn't mismatch my interior all that badly, and it seems like the color has gotten a little better.
A lot of time passed, so then I decided to start putting LEDs in place of my normal bulbs. I don't have any pictures right now, so I will have to take some soon. In the end, I will have the dome light, courtesy lights, map light, vanity lights, trunk light, and glove box light changed to LEDs.
After putting some of those LEDs in, I decided I would take the plunge and order the LED taillights I wanted since I got the car. I definitely like these better, for both the look of the LEDs and how they seem to be a nicer, darker shade of red for the lenses.
I also used chrome-coated bulbs for the blinkers for a nice seamless look. This is with normal amber bulbs
And then with the chrome bulbs
After the taillights, I ended up getting some I35 wheels form someone off another forum, but two ended up being bent. So after getting those cheap, getting two remanufactured wheels off eBay, and a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires off Tire Rack, my car got this look.
After that it was my birthday so I ended up getting a new radio: the Pioneer AVIC-Z140BH. It's the flagship for 2012, and everything is so much nicer than on my old Clarion. And having it installed with a Nissan Cefiro dashboard piece, it gives my interior a much nicer look.
And on this Pioneer, I was able to give it a nice touch inside my car, too
And as of yesterday, here are some pictures I took of my car after I gave it a good wash yesterday afternoon.
I still have some things to do to my car still, like a transmission fluid change next week, having remote start installed, getting some rust on the rear wheel wells fixed, and I also have an OEM rear spoiler in my garage that I will have to get painted, as it is painted black right now (I got it off craigslist, and thought a OEM kit would be better to get rather than some replica spoiler off eBay that will have to get painted anyway). Guess anything else I do to my car will get posted on here, even if I'm not really straying my car too far from being the luxury car it was designed to be.
This was right before I left the dealership
First thing I did was transfer the radio from my old car to my I30. Instead of sticking with the 11-year old stock CD/tape, I thought it would be better to have flip-out navigation with USB input for pretty good iPod control, as well as adding in a backup camera.
Next thing, albeit small, was just picking up OEM all-weather floor mats from an online store run by an Infiniti dealership. Too bad they weren't the color noted on the website (I was anticipating beige), but it doesn't mismatch my interior all that badly, and it seems like the color has gotten a little better.
A lot of time passed, so then I decided to start putting LEDs in place of my normal bulbs. I don't have any pictures right now, so I will have to take some soon. In the end, I will have the dome light, courtesy lights, map light, vanity lights, trunk light, and glove box light changed to LEDs.
After putting some of those LEDs in, I decided I would take the plunge and order the LED taillights I wanted since I got the car. I definitely like these better, for both the look of the LEDs and how they seem to be a nicer, darker shade of red for the lenses.
I also used chrome-coated bulbs for the blinkers for a nice seamless look. This is with normal amber bulbs
And then with the chrome bulbs
After the taillights, I ended up getting some I35 wheels form someone off another forum, but two ended up being bent. So after getting those cheap, getting two remanufactured wheels off eBay, and a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires off Tire Rack, my car got this look.
After that it was my birthday so I ended up getting a new radio: the Pioneer AVIC-Z140BH. It's the flagship for 2012, and everything is so much nicer than on my old Clarion. And having it installed with a Nissan Cefiro dashboard piece, it gives my interior a much nicer look.
And on this Pioneer, I was able to give it a nice touch inside my car, too
And as of yesterday, here are some pictures I took of my car after I gave it a good wash yesterday afternoon.
I still have some things to do to my car still, like a transmission fluid change next week, having remote start installed, getting some rust on the rear wheel wells fixed, and I also have an OEM rear spoiler in my garage that I will have to get painted, as it is painted black right now (I got it off craigslist, and thought a OEM kit would be better to get rather than some replica spoiler off eBay that will have to get painted anyway). Guess anything else I do to my car will get posted on here, even if I'm not really straying my car too far from being the luxury car it was designed to be.
Last edited by MaxMike93; 05-18-2012 at 08:55 AM.
05-18-2012, 09:36 AM
#3
05-18-2012, 11:46 AM
#4
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 229
Nice to see another I30 around since we are surely outnumbered here. The car looks real classy. All you have to do now is get the wood grain a/c panel to match the dash trim and probably a wood kit to get the part that goes near the clock on the top panel and throw on the part that goes beneath the gauges. I envy the amount of miles u have on urs.
05-18-2012, 12:44 PM
#5
Nice to see another I30 around since we are surely outnumbered here. The car looks real classy. All you have to do now is get the wood grain a/c panel to match the dash trim and probably a wood kit to get the part that goes near the clock on the top panel and throw on the part that goes beneath the gauges. I envy the amount of miles u have on urs.
EDIT: Just looked on eBay and someone is selling an entire climate control module with the wood grain sticker on it. Why can't can't find just find the sticker by itself =\
Last edited by MaxMike93; 05-18-2012 at 12:52 PM.
05-20-2012, 04:45 PM
#8
Moving on, even though I posted this in the "Let's See Those I30/I35's" thread, I'll post it here too, and will continue to only post minor updates here, with the more major ones (really only one more left to do) to post in the aforementioned thread. Anyway, I was on a camping trip with my friends this weekend and my dad called me. He said that his friend broke down on a highway, so he went to jump start his car. He followed his friend to his house and there was a 2000 I30t in the driveway, in the same color as my I30. So he ended up giving my dad a set of color-matched OEM splash guards (which I wanted) and a never-installed OEM sunroof wind deflector. So thanks to that, I got $150+ in parts for free
Last edited by MaxMike93; 05-20-2012 at 04:47 PM.
05-20-2012, 11:42 PM
#9
I checked, and didn't see any for sale at the moment. The one I see with the woodgrain on it is ~$40, which isn't bad. But I don't really want to spend $40 on something when I'm only going to be taking a sticker off of it. Guess I could always try to sell the climate control unit itself on here or something.
Moving on, even though I posted this in the "Let's See Those I30/I35's" thread, I'll post it here too, and will continue to only post minor updates here, with the more major ones (really only one more left to do) to post in the aforementioned thread. Anyway, I was on a camping trip with my friends this weekend and my dad called me. He said that his friend broke down on a highway, so he went to jump start his car. He followed his friend to his house and there was a 2000 I30t in the driveway, in the same color as my I30. So he ended up giving my dad a set of color-matched OEM splash guards (which I wanted) and a never-installed OEM sunroof wind deflector. So thanks to that, I got $150+ in parts for free
Moving on, even though I posted this in the "Let's See Those I30/I35's" thread, I'll post it here too, and will continue to only post minor updates here, with the more major ones (really only one more left to do) to post in the aforementioned thread. Anyway, I was on a camping trip with my friends this weekend and my dad called me. He said that his friend broke down on a highway, so he went to jump start his car. He followed his friend to his house and there was a 2000 I30t in the driveway, in the same color as my I30. So he ended up giving my dad a set of color-matched OEM splash guards (which I wanted) and a never-installed OEM sunroof wind deflector. So thanks to that, I got $150+ in parts for free
05-21-2012, 09:26 AM
#10
. Not sure if I want to put in HIDs since I don't wanna hack up my wiring or make the car too 'ricey'. Maybe just use some of those new Silverstar zXe bulbs? 
05-23-2012, 06:27 PM
#12
I'll admit that I was pretty lucky getting those. Now I just need instructions on how to put the guards on since they didn't have any and it looks like a bolt or two is used to secure them to the car. Guess sometime this week it will be time for a trip up to Ramsey Infiniti for a good 14 quarts of Matic D to get some new fluid in the trans too . Not sure if I want to put in HIDs since I don't wanna hack up my wiring or make the car too 'ricey'. Maybe just use some of those new Silverstar zXe bulbs?
. Not sure if I want to put in HIDs since I don't wanna hack up my wiring or make the car too 'ricey'. Maybe just use some of those new Silverstar zXe bulbs?
05-23-2012, 09:42 PM
#13
I'll see how it goes. I just don't feel like screwing around with headlight adjustment because of how bright the HID bulbs would be, or screwing with wiring. But I do admit I'd like some 6000k bulbs to go with the exterior look of my car. But it's been a slightly expensive week since I had to go get 14 quarts of transmission fluid at the dealer yesterday, then ordered some new LED bulbs since the one in my passenger door keeps burning out, and MDW will mean burning plenty premium gas that the VQ30 likes to burn so much on my way to and from my family's house at the Jersey shore. But since my dad (who knows car wiring entirely) is at home much more now, maybe I can get him to install a kit. And to note, I got the wind deflector put on the car, and I like how it looks. Splash guards will go on this weekend so pics of those, the deflector, LED lighting in the car, plus some better ones of the taillights should be up soon.
05-24-2012, 03:23 AM
#14
I'll see how it goes. I just don't feel like screwing around with headlight adjustment because of how bright the HID bulbs would be, or screwing with wiring. But I do admit I'd like some 6000k bulbs to go with the exterior look of my car. But it's been a slightly expensive week since I had to go get 14 quarts of transmission fluid at the dealer yesterday, then ordered some new LED bulbs since the one in my passenger door keeps burning out, and MDW will mean burning plenty premium gas that the VQ30 likes to burn so much on my way to and from my family's house at the Jersey shore. But since my dad (who knows car wiring entirely) is at home much more now, maybe I can get him to install a kit. And to note, I got the wind deflector put on the car, and I like how it looks. Splash guards will go on this weekend so pics of those, the deflector, LED lighting in the car, plus some better ones of the taillights should be up soon.
05-24-2012, 08:20 AM
#15
That's something that I won't do. The last thing I need is to screw up my headlights. And unfortunately, I30s/I35s are extremely scarce in junkyards in my area, so getting spares isn't really possible. I've thought about the headlights you can buy on eBay, but I think they look so out of place on the car. Besides, the I30t and I35 had reflector HIDs 
06-09-2012, 09:57 AM
#16
Well it's been a few weeks now, but I'm excited that my spoiler is finally going for paint this weekend and hopefully will be ready for install next weekend. But in the meantime, I did get some pics of my LEDs about two weeks ago. And since then, I've already gotten more pure white license plate bulbs, and then put the more bluish ones in my doors, since my dome and map lights are the same color.
Taillights
Brake Lights
Trunk
Courtesy Light
Dome and Map Light
Map Light
And the ones my friends all hate the most: the vanity lights (iPhone pic). I'll admit, they are extremely bright, but it's not like I use them constantly, or when moving
As of now, I'm just waiting for my spoiler, and to get my splash guards put on since I've been pretty busy lately. Then I'll also try to get my trans fluid changed, but I'll definitely get that done before the end of the summer.
Taillights
Brake Lights
Trunk
Courtesy Light
Dome and Map Light
Map Light
And the ones my friends all hate the most: the vanity lights (iPhone pic). I'll admit, they are extremely bright, but it's not like I use them constantly, or when moving
As of now, I'm just waiting for my spoiler, and to get my splash guards put on since I've been pretty busy lately. Then I'll also try to get my trans fluid changed, but I'll definitely get that done before the end of the summer.
06-09-2012, 03:15 PM
#18
Just go to infiniti.sewellparts.com and order the ones they have for the 2000 I30. It may show and say that they are tan, but when I got them they were grey. Another member ordered them and it was the same situation. I just figured that they actually don't mismatch that badly so it isn't a total deal breaker for me. But I definitely like having these mats since they won't get totally destroyed like my carpet ones would
06-09-2012, 08:44 PM
#19
Hmm that scares me a bit.. watch em fix the glitch in their system as soon as i make the order lol. Out of curiousity, mind if i ask how much you paid? Meh better yet ill check that link out when i get a chance...
06-10-2012, 08:11 PM
#20
im lookin to upgrade to the avhp 2400 bt pioneer this week!!! how's the interface with the ipod, does it run smooth? also, do you have serius satellite?? cant wait to sit back and watch a movie in the car!!! 
06-10-2012, 08:22 PM
#21
Compared to my old Clarion (which I have up for sale), this blows it out of the water. The Z140 can be a little laggy when it first turns on, but it has so much stuff it kinda needs the time lol. But once you use it for a while, it's perfectly fine. The iPod interface is great, I love the swiping through everything, and the animations make everything look modern. I haven't really played with it much, so I never really got the video to work on the screen (and I don't keep any videos on the iPod I keep in my center console). The Pandora implementation on my iPhone is very nice, and the App Mode was pretty easy to figure out, although I wouldn't use many of the apps that it supports. I like how the navigation has the traffic tuner too and asked if I wanted to change my route. And going back to your question, I don't have the Sirius radio, I don't really see me paying for radio when I mostly just update my iPod every week. My biggest annoyance, though, is that to watch video (obviously), and even to change a lot of settings or enter a destination, you need to have the e-brake on.
Last edited by MaxMike93; 06-10-2012 at 08:24 PM.
06-10-2012, 08:33 PM
#22
i was told that as long as you have it in park the dvd works. at least on the 2400 model im looking at. if i gotta have the ebrake on, i'm not doing it unless i can get the shop to do that bypass module. also, what did you use to get the custom wallpaper on the screen??? download from ipod, iphone?? i have a droid and their still taking forever to get stereo's to interface with them, i have the pandora app, but its touch and go with connectivity. dammit!!!!!
Last edited by max ride 41; 06-10-2012 at 08:38 PM.
06-10-2012, 08:39 PM
#23
06-12-2012, 12:44 AM
#25
are all frickin pioneer double din hu's designed to **** you off?? christ man, cant use my android for pandora cause it doesnt stream music w/o lag and so i decide to keep sirius and they charge a fee when you switch hu's of 15.00. not to mention the fricking hand brake jams into my knee when its pulled up, and apparently you need it pulled up for movies and bluetooth as well as scrolling through the touchscreen??? just the fact that you need 2 boxes just to make sirius work that cost $150.00 is ridiculous!!!!
06-20-2012, 06:50 PM
#28
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 229
are all frickin pioneer double din hu's designed to **** you off?? christ man, cant use my android for pandora cause it doesnt stream music w/o lag and so i decide to keep sirius and they charge a fee when you switch hu's of 15.00. not to mention the fricking hand brake jams into my knee when its pulled up, and apparently you need it pulled up for movies and bluetooth as well as scrolling through the touchscreen??? just the fact that you need 2 boxes just to make sirius work that cost $150.00 is ridiculous!!!!
06-21-2012, 10:06 AM
#29
are all frickin pioneer double din hu's designed to **** you off?? christ man, cant use my android for pandora cause it doesnt stream music w/o lag and so i decide to keep sirius and they charge a fee when you switch hu's of 15.00. not to mention the fricking hand brake jams into my knee when its pulled up, and apparently you need it pulled up for movies and bluetooth as well as scrolling through the touchscreen??? just the fact that you need 2 boxes just to make sirius work that cost $150.00 is ridiculous!!!!
Let me share a secret with you.The last time I checked you could still use the "one box" adapters with the newer models. I recycled mine through couple newer pioneer decks that "required" the two separate boxes. Infact right now I'm suing a SIR-JVC1 with my JVC AVX640, which according to everywhere is not supposed to be compatible.
06-26-2012, 10:30 PM
#30
Well, I finally got those freebie accessories put on the car. The wind deflector, which has been on for a few weeks, works very well and makes a big difference in how much wind noise there is with the sunroof opens. I just had the guards installed today so I guess I will see how well those work to keep stuff off the body (mainly tire shine since I was able to wash my car again in anticipation that it will be nice and rain won't ruin the 3 hours or so I put in today.
With wind deflector on (sorry it is not more of a closeup). I think from a side profile, the spoiler will help tie in the look more. Still waiting for that to come back from paint.
Splash guards are a perfect match
And then my typical need to be a picture ***** lol
Instagram really made the sunset stand out on this one with my friend's Scion tC
With wind deflector on (sorry it is not more of a closeup). I think from a side profile, the spoiler will help tie in the look more. Still waiting for that to come back from paint.
Splash guards are a perfect match
And then my typical need to be a picture ***** lol
Instagram really made the sunset stand out on this one with my friend's Scion tC
Last edited by MaxMike93; 06-26-2012 at 10:35 PM.
06-29-2012, 05:37 PM
#31
Ended up getting more done today. What had happened is my dad got a call from his friend yesterday saying my spoiler is ready. So we drive down to his shop (about an hour away) and find out that a special pigment for the Aspen White Pearl paint had to be ordered two days ago, and they had just got it. So while we were there the spoiler was sprayed and dried in a little more than an hour. Paint is a perfect match, and I got a good price to have it done (no way is this a crappy Maaco job). And for what I payed, we got the extra paint (base and mid coats, just not clear) to get rid of the rust from my rear wheel wells. Now all that's is left is that rust, a trans fluid change (still waiting for a chance to get that done), and then maybe remote start, but I'm not all that concerned with that at this point.
I'll have to get some actually good shots of my car one night (day) instead of just snapping a few in my driveway with my iPhone.
I'll have to get some actually good shots of my car one night (day) instead of just snapping a few in my driveway with my iPhone.
06-30-2012, 08:40 AM
#34
I'm gonna see it later my friend will help me out with that. There's apparently a huge parking lot at a campground in Mahwah, NJ so maybe I'll get my friend to take some shots with his Nikon D60 (old DSLR but my friend knows how to make it work out pretty well).
Last edited by MaxMike93; 07-29-2012 at 10:44 PM.
07-29-2012, 10:43 PM
#35
Unfortunately, I really haven't done much to my car lately, besides getting the piece that covers the hole for the third brake light when the light on the spoiler replaces it. Only real change that I'll be doing soon is swapping out all the LEDs in the interior since I think warm white will compliment the tan leather better than the xenon white that I have now. Possibly will get pure white ones eventually, but I think for $16 for duplicated of all I need, the warm white will look better. And over the weekend, I was at the shore and it was a nice scene at one of the local boat ramps, even as a huge thunderstorm started to roll in. Unfortunately, I didn't have my good camera, so I only have some pics I took on my iPhone. And I still have to get my rust and transmission fluid taken care of, which hopefully will get done before the end of the summer before I have to drive my car to college classes every day. But anyway, here's the shots I got.
Ran out of patience with this one, so I could unfortunately only get the sky lit up from lightning, not an actual crack since I guess my reflexes aren't good enough to take a picture as it flashes in the sky.
And then the cover for the third brake light (posted this in a thread over in the I30/I35 section)
Ran out of patience with this one, so I could unfortunately only get the sky lit up from lightning, not an actual crack since I guess my reflexes aren't good enough to take a picture as it flashes in the sky.
And then the cover for the third brake light (posted this in a thread over in the I30/I35 section)
10-09-2012, 08:32 PM
#37
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Posts: 37
I have to say the transformation of your I30 is amazing. I love those LED tail lights. Could you possibly post a link to the seller of the led tail lights? Sharp looking car man, you should consider getting some Xenons about 4300 Kelvins as it's a perfect color and doesn't look ricey.
10-09-2012, 08:52 PM
#38
I have to say the transformation of your I30 is amazing. I love those LED tail lights. Could you possibly post a link to the seller of the led tail lights? Sharp looking car man, you should consider getting some Xenons about 4300 Kelvins as it's a perfect color and doesn't look ricey.
11-22-2012, 04:51 PM
#39
Well, I had the itch for something new.....so I got an I35 grille. I really like how it looks compared to the stock I30 grille, and it's a bright chrome as opposed to the grey that the I35 really had. It's better that way since I don't have the smoked headlight housings the I30t and I35 had, so this grille goes a lot better with the headlights I have and the rest of the chrome on the car. Along with that, I also ordered Philips CrystalVision Ultra bulbs for my low beams. Then I decided to go all pure white LEDs for the interior, so I'll have to wait for them to come in now. Maybe next year I'll end up getting those Cefiro mirrors with the turn signals and puddle lights, but probably without the power folding as that will just be a mess to wire all together. And fortunately, the computer reprogramming fixed the P0420 code I kept getting since it's been over a month since I got the code, and it seems like it also helped with shift quality somehow. So for now I just have a picture of the grille installed (sorry for quality, its time for me to bring a real camera with me or at least get a new iPhone to up the quality a bit).
Grille looks a lot better than the other one