Bmw Guy Swapping Sides, Looking At A 350Gt/370Gt Sedan

[kniggit]

Greetings all,

My name is Mark and as you can ascertain from my post count, I'm the new guy!

Been a die-hard BMW 5 series guy for the last 15 years, just recently sold my 1995 E34 540i in Techno Violet (a stunning purple) which had a 9psi ESS Supercharger, an auto to manual conversion, LWFW, Huge 280mm M5 clutch, a Brembo BBK and many other mods which depleted my bank account of many thousands of dollars but thoroughly enjoyed it. A 380KW BMW V8 will put hairs on your chest that's for sure!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was looking to buy a newer BMW, given my advancing years (north of 40) and wanting a nice GT sedan with some oomph, an E60 V8, 545i or 550i, circa 2005-2007, seemed to be a logical choice and after at least 10 test drives of various iterations and differently optioned cars, every car I drove had some sort of drama. Oil leaks, jerky transmissions, various and numerous error codes, wonky control arms, leaking sunroofs etc etc etc ad nauseum. As much as I love BMWs and love the look of and feel of an E60 V8, I've decided I am not going to buy one because, from all accounts, they are one of the poorest quality BMWs, in terms of longevity and reliability, ever made which brings me here.

I accidentally stumbled onto a V36 350GT when doing a Carsales search and absolutely loved the look of it, I've always had a soft spot for Skylines as my first new car was a Series III Skyline Silhouette in the early 1990s from the old City Nissan on the Elizabeth St roundabout in Melbourne, I think they were also the first dealership to stock the Godzilla GT-R which I absolutely loved.

I own a Car Detailing business and detailed a freshly imported 350GT sedan for one of my customers about 6 months ago and was really impressed with it but completely forgot about it till recently (I see so many cars, they all become a blur) but since my carsales find, I've done some serious research over the last week or so and I'm really liking what I'm seeing and reading, I am 99% sold on a PV36 or KV36 sedan but have a few nagging questions I'm hoping some of the Gurus here can help me out with:

What's with huge price discrepancies on Carsales? For example a 2007 PV36 350GT can range from 14K to 32K with no obvious reasons why, can anyone shed some light on this for me?

I would get a Type S or a Type SP could someone confirm if the following are standard features or were an option on these models?

-AFS (Active Front lighting System)
- VDC (stability control)
- BOSE stereo system

- Dual xenon headlights

- 4 Wheel Advanced Steering (4WAS)

- Big(ger) Brake Kit

Any general tips or advice when looking at these cars.

Thanks very much in advance, I've been a big participant in the BMW forum world as my mods were ground-breaking at the time and I helped a lot of people afterwards so I'm hoping the internet version of karma is alive and well!

PS Huge Monty Python fan so any and all references will be warmly applauded.

My first Skyline

My recently departed BMW

I noted that one of 350GT stock rims are very simillar to the BMW E39 M5 (Style 65s) which I love.

Thanks again guys.

[Sikahalv]

E34 BMW's FTW! There are the best model built, period

Owned 2x 1989 525i Executive's and loved them

This website is very useful - the page is specific to the 370GT Coupe, but as far as I'm aware (aside from wheel differences) the Type S / P / SP features where the same between Coupe and Sedan

http://gocar.com.au/nissan-skyline-v36-coupe-guide/2

I'm currently selling my awesome V35 350GT Premium Coupe to upgrade to a V36 350GT Type SP Sedan myself

Edited December 6, 2014 by Sikahalv

[sonicii]

What's with huge price discrepancies on Carsales? For example a 2007 PV36 350GT can range from 14K to 32K with no obvious reasons why, can anyone shed some light on this for me?

People on carsales often have no idea how much their car is worth.

$32k is just silly for a 350GT V36. $14k is quite cheap, I would say with high km, poor condition, or the owner just found out it had the odo would back or had accident history in Japan and just wants to offload it.

That said, the 350GT does often go for quite a bit less than the 370GT. You should be able to import a clean example with low genuine km for around $20k or less, depending on you colour and option wishes.

[-Jimmy-]

Welcome, Mark.

Loved your E34! I have also owned 2x E34's myself.

Enjoy the Skyline.

[bluenoir]

http://history.nissan.co.jp/SKYLINE/V36/0611/XML/eq4isr000000j3ux.html

http://history.nissan.co.jp/SKYLINE/V36/0611/XML/eq4isr000000j3h4.html

If you can read Japanese like I do, always refer to history.nissan.co.jp for manufacturer spec lists. Somehow they did not put v36 350GT in this page but as far as I know the options/features are similar across 3.5 and 3.7L engines.

If you cannot read, here are the answers for your enquiries (note that standard on all grades means those shown in the table, so 370GT & 250GT only - again I reckon 350GT should share similar features.

-AFS (Active Front lighting System)

Standard on all grades.

- VDC (stability control)

Not on 250GT/250GT four, otherwise standard on all other grades.

- BOSE stereo system

Maker option on all grades.

- Dual xenon headlights

Standard on all grades.

- 4 Wheel Advanced Steering (4WAS)

Maker option (manufacturer option, as opposed to dealer option) on 370GT S/SP.

- Big(ger) Brake Kit

Sports brake system is standard on all type S/SP models.

I only had a quick browse though, let me know if anyone disagrees or has any further questions please.

Lastly:

GET A V36 COUPE THEY ARE AWESOME MATE

[bluenoir]

BTW, in regards to the Carsales price, use them as reference only, and always check the mileage before you put down deposit for any car. Grey import is a grey zone and people take advantages in many ways.

Use this site to get a general impression of how much cars are sold in Japan:

http://exportcar.jp/en

[GTR-N1]

Welcome Mark to SAU.

Quality control in Japanese cars is remarkably good.

V36 Coupe is a nice car!

Over the yrs, my wife and I have had E36, E46 and 2x E39 bimmers.

Our main problems were Vanos and water pumps/side tanks.

I still love the E39 M5!

[Whoa Black Boaty]

Didn't read full post but the 370gt's are such a nice car.

[kniggit]

Thank you to all for your posts and detailed response to my questions, and thanks for making me feel welcome.

It seems going from a BMW E34 to a Skyline is somewhat of a natural progression with all the ex E34 owners here!

I've tried to do as much research as I can and I've read a fair bit about odometer wind backs and the like. I need to ask to see a "auction" sheet and/or a Japanese "dereg" certificate, is that correct?

I've considered importing however time restraints may prevent me from doing this, I require a second car, in addition to my work car, ASAP as I often leave my work car at jobs and therefore have no means of transport during the day. I did however sign up to have the auction lisitings emailed to me with Prestige Motorsports, Geoff, I think it was, was also kind enough to send me an email.

Thanks very much for the info on the options and specs, if you type the last 7 digits of a BMW VIN into an online VIN decoder, it will show you all the options that vehicle had along with manufacture dates etc. Is there a Nissan equivalent of this?

Lastly what's the word on ECU flashes/tunes on these cars, can an extra 15-20KWs be coaxed out with a good tune?

Thanks again.

Edited December 6, 2014 by kniggit

[Nightcrawler]

As great as V36s are, if you are not hard up for coin then skip the V36 and go straight for a V37 .... that is what I am doing. Every bit the spec and build quality of BMWs twice the price or more. Luxury 268kw Hybrid with 7l/100km. Yes please.

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/58171/2014-infiniti-q50-australian-road-test-review

[Nightcrawler]

And then you chuck this kit on it

http://www.impul.co.jp/products/model/V37_SKYLINE_E.html

[Sikahalv]

And then you chuck this kit on it

http://www.impul.co.jp/products/model/V37_SKYLINE_E.html

So C63 imo... LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bluenoir]

Thank you to all for your posts and detailed response to my questions, and thanks for making me feel welcome.

It seems going from a BMW E34 to a Skyline is somewhat of a natural progression with all the ex E34 owners here!

I've tried to do as much research as I can and I've read a fair bit about odometer wind backs and the like. I need to ask to see a "auction" sheet and/or a Japanese "dereg" certificate, is that correct?

I've considered importing however time restraints may prevent me from doing this, I require a second car, in addition to my work car, ASAP as I often leave my work car at jobs and therefore have no means of transport during the day. I did however sign up to have the auction lisitings emailed to me with Prestige Motorsports, Geoff, I think it was, was also kind enough to send me an email.

Thanks very much for the info on the options and specs, if you type the last 7 digits of a BMW VIN into an online VIN decoder, it will show you all the options that vehicle had along with manufacture dates etc. Is there a Nissan equivalent of this?

Lastly what's the word on ECU flashes/tunes on these cars, can an extra 15-20KWs be coaxed out with a good tune?

Thanks again.

Auction sheet - tells you how the car was like when it was sold in auction

Dereg cert - tells you how the Jap authority described the car when it deregs. Take extra caution here as recently some dodgy guys will dereg the car, repair it/do works on it, then re-reg it in Japan, and dereg again. So always make sure the dereg and auction sheet agree with each other!

Short and easy way: approach Iron Chef / J-spec / Prestige / JLM / whatever other reputable import guys and they will sort this out for you.

VIN search - yes, it's called Nissan FAST I think - not sure if V35/36s are covered though.

Soft-tune - yes, a lot of guys here had used Uprev or something else. Better check with them in terms of how much power can be gained.

[GTR-N1]

And on the Plate, there's a line called "Model No."

This tells you what the car came with, at Nissan.

It's an alphanumeric code that can be sorted out via Iron Chef / J-Spec / Prestige/ JLM as Francis said above.

[kniggit]

Thanks guys,

I think I am going to import, as you say, that way I get an expert to help me and know exactly what I'm getting as opposed to possible shonkies that are already here and to sweeten the deal I will likely have some spare change so I can get some go-fast goodies on as well!

Cheers

[Whoa Black Boaty]

If you worried about getting a lemon go and check a car out and pay someone a couple hundred who is smart and knows a lot about cars.

[Whoa Black Boaty]

and get him to test drive it for you so he can feel if something isn't right. don't let the salesman play the radio to try and cover noises up and tell him to call a workshop up and put it on the jack.

[rawzz_v35]

Thanks guys,

I think I am going to import, as you say, that way I get an expert to help me and know exactly what I'm getting as opposed to possible shonkies that are already here and to sweeten the deal I will likely have some spare change so I can get some go-fast goodies on as well!

Cheers

Hi Mark,

I have just bought one from Japan and in the process of getting it down here. Went through Jspec and Ben was very helpful and I have dealt with Geoff from prestige to import my V35 few years back and he was pretty good too. Hear Iron chef is pretty recommended too if you are looking to import.

v36 Cars on car sales is over priced most of the time because there arent many here so if you have time, importing is the best option IMHO if you have 3 moths at least in hand. You could find the car of your choice ( color, options. KMs etc..) but then again you wont know how it is until you get it here even though your import broker will provide lot of info...

Option S or SP would be good and it comes with peddle shifts and sport suspensions (stiffer than base model and typeP apparently). SP also had full leather seats with heating.. J Spec website has lot of info.. how ever BOSE is an option as said above and only way to find is the BOSE markings in door speaker grills and there supposed to be a BOSE subwoofer in the middle of the rear deck. Type SP doesnt not gurantee you a BOSE as many said... And also coupe type S/SP gets Akibono big brake kit but sedan does not unless it is a 50th Anniversary model even though they get a sports brake kit than the type P, as far as I am aware..

Im sure the broker you decide to go through would give you lot of info but feel free to ask/PM me if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Raween

[rawzz_v35]

As great as V36s are, if you are not hard up for coin then skip the V36 and go straight for a V37 .... that is what I am doing. Every bit the spec and build quality of BMWs twice the price or more. Luxury 268kw Hybrid with 7l/100km. Yes please.

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/58171/2014-infiniti-q50-australian-road-test-review

I could be wrong but you cant import that model can you? unless you are planning to buy the ADM Infiniti Q50..

[Nightcrawler]

Yes, you are right - I was talking about the ADM one. Then your stereo, GPS etc actually works too .....