Yeah, got rid of my 05Z4 2.5 and bought the new 350z its got a new motor the HR its fast looks good and was pretty cheap 27k. Thought I post a pic as I used to post here back in my Z4 days.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i288/Edvin328/sideways.jpg

not bad ha!!

Enjoy! Be safe. Black is a mean color.

Thanks guy's a lot of the people on E46fanatics bashed the new Z. Not sure why the old one is even faster than everything that is not M. And this new one keeps up on the 1/4 with the E46 M3 low 13's.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Why do we bash? there is a hell of a lot more than a car than straight line speed. But it is your car, if you like it that's all that matters. I shouldn't be giving you a hard time over your choice.

Thanks guy's a lot of the people on E46fanatics bashed the new Z. Not sure why the old one is even faster than everything that is not M. And this new one keeps up on the 1/4 with the E46 M3 low 13's.

It's E46Fanatics. What do you expect.

I had an '04 350Z before the MZ4 coupe. It's a fun car for street use. It's a fast car overall, just not exactly track friendly but I doubt the crowd Nissan is going after takes these to the track anyway. I always :rolleyes at some of the people in the kill forum talking about how 350Zs shouldn't be a match even to the E36 M3. Really, these guys have no clue, they've probably never driven the 350Z and when you have no solid knowledge of something to back up what you say, you BASH.

Enjoy the car. Screw everyone else, what do they know anyway.

Here's what used to be my 350Z:

http://www.freshalloy.com/site/cars/nissan/2004/z/projectcar/default.asp

I went the other way around... my 03 350z was a great car, I dont think theres another car in its pricerange that really competes (new)

My 350z was the first car I took to the track, and I still passed a lot of people :)

My main issue with the 350Z is the brakes. Yeah, it was fast. For a few laps. It was almost predictable on when I'm going to go off track because I had no brakes. What finally cured it was a set of RacingBrake big brake kit with larger rotors and 4 piston calipers. The 350Z was DANGEROUS on track due to the lack of cooling in the brake system.

The very first time I took the 350Z to the track, I had 3,000 miles on the car. Bone stock. By the end of the first day I had wore through ALL of my rear brake pads. Found out about it on the first session on Sunday when the rear was making a weird grindy noise and going into a 120+mph braking zone I was surprised to find that the car's not slowing down like I had intended. Straight off of the track in a brand new car.

Came back into the pit to find the rear pad's backing plate had been griding against the rotors for the entire first session. Imagine the dealership's surprise when I pull in with the rear pads grinding against the rotors at 3,200 miles on the car. Had to act "dumb" to get them to replace the pads and rotors for free.

Hot car, best of luck with it. Have fun and drive carefully!

My main issue with the 350Z is the brakes. Yeah, it was fast. For a few laps. It was almost predictable on when I'm going to go off track because I had no brakes. What finally cured it was a set of RacingBrake big brake kit with larger rotors and 4 piston calipers. The 350Z was DANGEROUS on track due to the lack of cooling in the brake system.

Yes! the brakes are the weakest link! I had a touring model and with hawk pads I was experiencing brake fade after just a few laps. I knocked it up to inexperience in knowing how to brake, and going in to light and heating them up...

I think most of the Z's come with brembo's now....

My main issue with the 350Z is the brakes. Yeah, it was fast. For a few laps. It was almost predictable on when I'm going to go off track because I had no brakes. What finally cured it was a set of RacingBrake big brake kit with larger rotors and 4 piston calipers. The 350Z was DANGEROUS on track due to the lack of cooling in the brake system.

The very first time I took the 350Z to the track, I had 3,000 miles on the car. Bone stock. By the end of the first day I had wore through ALL of my rear brake pads. Found out about it on the first session on Sunday when the rear was making a weird grindy noise and going into a 120+mph braking zone I was surprised to find that the car's not slowing down like I had intended. Straight off of the track in a brand new car.

Came back into the pit to find the rear pad's backing plate had been griding against the rotors for the entire first session. Imagine the dealership's surprise when I pull in with the rear pads grinding against the rotors at 3,200 miles on the car. Had to act "dumb" to get them to replace the pads and rotors for free.

can't you get the upgraded brembro brakes for these cars ?

can't you get the upgraded brembro brakes for these cars ?

They're no better. I had a friend with the Track model that was suffering basically the same problem I had. The heat built-up from the tiny rotors were vaporizing his brake fluid.

The so-called upgraded "Brembo" brake system installed on the majority of the cars today are no better than BMW's sliding caliper, single piston design. Of all the car's I've ever driven, only the Porsche had better brakes from the factory.

Brembo != better.

Nice buy. I was tempted to wait and see what the updated Z in the next year or two was going to be, but couldn't resist the deal I got on my M coupe last week as well as trying something from another continent!

The raw numbers for the 350Z isn't bad. The driving dynamics and overall man-machine factors are not in the same class as the Z4M. I owned the 2007 model for 3-months before giving it to my brother.

The raw numbers for the 350Z isn't bad. The driving dynamics and overall man-machine factors are not in the same class as the Z4M. I owned the 2007 model for 3-months before giving it to my brother.

That is 100% ture, but if you take the 20k gap in price and put it into the Z the M would look like a go cart next to the Z. I think the big misconception about the Z is its looks, it looks like big bucks but its a cheap car. I wanted a new car and nothing used and this was my best ticket out. I am still in College and this is the best I can afford with out drowning in car payments and I still am pushing it real hard now.

I just made my own choice.

Bought a Z4 yesterday, while I at first was looking for a 350Z.
Because I live in the Netherlands fuel efficientcy is one big issue and the 350Z just isn't affordable (we pay aprox. 8 !!! dollars a gallon). And the 3.0 Z4 has the same 0-62 Mp/h specs and far better fuel efficientcy.

Nevertheless the car is just gorgeous, drove with it once and the sound is just incredible. Looks are amazing from the outside, however I didn't like the interior.

Like The HACK said
Srew everybody who thinks different, you've got one sexi car.
I would defenatelly reconsider my choice if I lived in the US. (But I think I would've gone M hehe)

Edvin1984 - Don't get me wrong. I do like the 350Z - a lot - I bought it. LOL. I also have a soft-spot for the Z because the 280ZX was the first car I bought on my own, and it was used too. Likewise in (starting) college at the time.

Congrats and you'll have loads of fun...

That is 100% ture, but if you take the 20k gap in price and put it into the Z the M would look like a go cart next to the Z.

Not really. I had a ton of mods in my 350Z before I sold it and got the MZ4 Coupe. Header, exhaust, intake, software, supercharger, suspension (full coil over kit), swaybars, lighter wheels, better tires (R-comps), big brake kit...you name it, I had it on the 350Z. Probably about $15,000 worth of mods put into the Nissan.

The MZ4 Coupe, fresh out of the box, makes the 350Z look and feel like an Yugo (a bit of an exaggeration, of course) fresh out of the box. Handling, brakes, power delivery on track...It just does everything better, even after all that work. The 350Z does have more usable low-end torque and was a better daily driver (stock, not after all the work I put into it).

But there IS that $20,000+ price tag. Is it worth $20K more? It is for me, not certain if it is for anyone else. There's nothing much more I can do to the 350Z that could make it compete and drive better than the MZ4 coupe, short of stripping the interior, gutting the car, and putting in a cage, that's for certain.

What's funny is that you could hit a 350 forum and there would be people there that would testify to how they spent half the money difference and now have a 350 that is a far better machine than their old Zm and that the proper suspension and Brake kit (an upgrade beyond a brembo sticker) transformed the car. (yet I would not agree that simple mods to the Z can make it a better car than the M when driven with balls)


I drove both the new 350 and the Si coupe and just bought the Z because I liked the handling and looks better and I can fit a bicycle in the back of the Coupe with no trouble at all...

If I did what Hack does, I would have paid the extra money and gone M... But that's less relevant...

A more relative question might be...

Is the new 350 an upgrade to your old 2.5 in a large number of general measures?

The answere would be a simple Yes...

Unless things are stressed to the limits (which few of us do), the differences between your car and the a new Z4 are far smaller than the cost differences.


Looks sweet, loads cheaper than a comperable z4-3.0, nice lump of an engine...


And the next time someone tells you that their car (if other than a used 2.5) has some advantages on your new 350, tell em "well, the new Nissan GTR has a few advantages compared to your XYZ", but that's not really relative to your conditions... :D

They're no better. I had a friend with the Track model that was suffering basically the same problem I had. The heat built-up from the tiny rotors were vaporizing his brake fluid.

The so-called upgraded "Brembo" brake system installed on the majority of the cars today are no better than BMW's sliding caliper, single piston design. Of all the car's I've ever driven, only the Porsche had better brakes from the factory.

Brembo != better.


I highly doubt that bro. I've had 3 or 4 track days on my Stock Brembo brakes and pads in my G35 coupe. And I still have probably half the pad left. Maybe a little less now actually. I inspected them before and after every track day. I admit I did feel a little less braking power after a few hot laps, but honestly who's brakes wouldn't. But there was never any problem, or something that would feel weak, or like I couldn't carry on. My Brembo's are fabulous! I'm so happy I have them on the car. Braking power is remarkable IMO. My G coupe which weighs much more then my S2000, will stop faster on the road, no questions asked. Even when it's wet, they are nice and strong.

I highly doubt that bro. I've had 3 or 4 track days on my Stock Brembo brakes and pads in my G35 coupe. And I still have probably half the pad left. Maybe a little less now actually. I inspected them before and after every track day. I admit I did feel a little less braking power after a few hot laps, but honestly who's brakes wouldn't. But there was never any problem, or something that would feel weak, or like I couldn't carry on. My Brembo's are fabulous! I'm so happy I have them on the car. Braking power is remarkable IMO. My G coupe which weighs much more then my S2000, will stop faster on the road, no questions asked. Even when it's wet, they are nice and strong.


Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

My friend who had the 350Z Track model was an advanced driver with about 15 or so events under his belt at the time. I've got about 60 track days under my belt. Not saying experience makes a huge difference, and it probably doesn't...But in the intense California summer heat (ambient temperature was in the high 90s, track temp probably in the 110s) on a very brake intensive track (Buttonwillow has 3 heavy braking zones that goes from ~100+ mph down to a low 2nd or 3rd gear turn), if problems will show up it's here. The fact that on a brand new 350Z I managed to vaporize an OE set of pads isn't in dispute here, I have the repair order and a set of scored rotors I can show you.

Take the same car to a different track, say, Willow Springs, and the brakes probably would have been fine. But the three closest tracks to me, California Speedway, Buttonwillow, and Willow Springs, two are the hardest tracks on brakes in the Western United States.

By the way, I've never had a problem with the MZ4 Coupes brakes like I had on the 350Z.

Just throwing this out there, but I think the Nissan looks very feminine with the chrome door handles and Asian looking front and rear lights.

After driving both a new 350ZX and Z4, I bought the Z4. I think the Z4 drives better, looks better and you can get more than a gymbag in the trunk when the top is down. YMMV :)

One of the reasons I did not like it is just the huge stone and dirt and debris front facia. Talk about stone chips. That car is like a whale eating plankton with all the front painted area just waiting to be pock marked. Nice engine though.

Enjoy your new ride.

I almost bought a 350Z. I called my friend who has one (he drove it stock, then with mild upgrades, then with a built bottom end, engine management, TTs, etc); his exact words were "to be quite honest it's not worth it, keep your bimmer." I talked to him a couple more times trying to get him to change his tune, he stuck with his initial response, only changing it slightly to "it's your call man, but if I were in your shoes I wouldn't buy the 350." Now every single time I get into the Z4 I thank him.

350 is a good upgrade from Z4 2.5. I alwasy like Nissan's cars look. G35/37 or 350Z look so awesome. 350 only loses in details in closer look. Unfortunately, I gave a promise never buy Japanese cars.

Sorry. But you'll be back.
People always stray and then realize the error in their ways.

You should have gotten a 3.0si coupe ;)

Enjoy the 350Z (i almost bought one, but I need a sunroof or in my case now, a drop top)