I received an unexpected call this morning from a 350Z specialist at Nissan. He had read my comments on the service questionnaire after the BOSE TSB install and was very interested in my hearing my thoughts about the radio and the Z in general. I shared some of the comments that forum members have made and I got the feeling that Nissan is working on a fix. He made it clear that Nissan will be going out of their way to please Z owners and even suggested that if I still had issues to return to the dealer with the car and ask that they call the engineering dept. to discuss it. I was impressed! I'll repost if I hear more.

 

Are you saying they read the post here? I know we've had a few lurkers and participants in the past.

If they are out there, I'll add my disappointment to the pile. This is the worst Bose system I've heard. It has muddy bass, and the tweeters sound nearly as bad as speakers wired out of phase. I'm disappointed in the value of the system overall.

There, said my piece

 

Exactly what I told him. He seemed aware of this site but the call came as a response to comments I made in the questionnaire after the TSB amp replacement.

 

I say just replace it................been down this road..........Nissan will not replace the system............That is the only fix.

 

My Touring model came with the new amp so I never had the strange Audio Pilot problems. The sound is adequate but not up to the level of the rest of the car. CD's that are sharp and distinct on the Bose in my 3.2TL are flat and lifeless in the Z. Going to a higher volume helps a bit on the CD's, but makes the base too boomy on the FM.

My wife only listens to the radio during her 15 minute commute to work and has no complaints about the system. I have not registered a complaint with Nissan North America, but will do so if folks think that will help make Nissan do something.

 

I told him that the radio is inferior to the one in my daughter's Sentra and considering that the Z is the Nissan flagship it is an embarrassment. I think he got the picture and seemed genuinely interested in my comments.

I also suggested he get in a Touring Model Z and move the fader to the rearmost position. There is no bass or presence and no evidence of a sub-woofer. My guess is that Nissan will eventually figure this out and fix it. My hope is that they extend the fix to all Touring owners.

I suspect that their overall take is still that the TSB fixed the problem when in reality there is still something very wrong with the system. The more who complain the more likely they are to do the right thing. So letting them know that you are disappointed can't hurt.

 

I emailed both Nissan and Bose about their substandard sound system. I got the standard "we're looking into it" reply. I'll be surprised if anything positive comes out of this. I sure wish I would have been able to listen to the system before I ordered mine...live and learn.

 

One up for Nissan! I hope when I get my Z this will be fixed. I am actually waiting for the convertible to see which one to get!

 

Good work ZEyeDoc. I too filled out the Nissan survey, and I'm hoping they will contact me. I was also mailed a JD Powers survey to fill out and I equally expressed my disappointment. I can only think that Nissan will do right by the Bose problem.