Let's face it, the 350z offers good performance and is a good bargain even today, but it's no spring chicken. It had sort of a timeless design which Nissan tends to be known for I guess, but that can only work for so long…

So that's where this simple guide comes in.

The Z we all love.

The Nissan 350Z is one of those cars that’s aged surprisingly well in terms of performance. It’s got a front-engine layout, rear-wheel drive, and a 3.5 liter V6 that still feels very much alive even by today’s standards.

And while it might not be the fastest thing on the road out there… what it offers is balance. Good power, solid handling, a responsive chassis, and raw driving feel.

But let’s be real. Usually Nissan car designs have a long shelf life but recently its styling is starting to show its age... I mean its been 20 years... In this article however, I'll show you a few mods that will update its design and make it fit on today's roads… hopefully without hurting your wallet all that much.

We're tackling pure aesthetics here… so I'll leave the performance mods up to you. Although I do have a performance-related mod for you by the end of this article, so stay tuned for that, it’s worth it trust me!

Main piece of this puzzle, the front.

The front bumper of any car is like a person’s face. It’s a major part of a car’s identity. That’s where the N4 kit comes in. Starting with the front bumper, it instantly gives the Z33 a more modern, aggressive, planted look that's actually still OEM-looking (or OEM+ at least).

The vents and sharper lines modernize the face of the 350z without going overboard. It looks like it belongs in a newer lineup instead of the mid 2000s.

You can find them online for a decent price, and even with paint, it won’t wreck your budget. Images don’t do it justice, it instantly upgrades the entire look of the car.

Don’t forget the back!

Same deal in the back. Just look at that!

The N4 rear bumper adds that clean, squared-off feel you see in modern sports cars. It’s subtle, but paired with the front, it ties the whole car together. Personally I would say just get the rear bumper, But again this is supposed to be a budget friendly list... But if you decide to get the rear one too, you'll have the option of adding the 370z LED fog light to the back and it really modernizes the car.

The optionals.

However if you wanna keep things low-cost you can also just add any external diffuser to the stock rear bumper and then retrofit any diffuser light onto it... Here are a few links (options 1,2,3) to a basic diffuser and some lights... go wild.

Moving on... Then you’ve got wings… and yes I mean wings not spoilers. Here’s a some quick proof of how a wing can sharpen the 350z’s look, I ran my 350z with the stock spoiler for a long time, but once I got a wing installed on it… I fell in love with it all over again…

Here’s a quick example of the difference

The 350z always had that “Porsche-esque” style design, so let's take some inspiration from our German buddies. if you look at the Porsche 911 or even the Cayman and the kinds of wings they use, you’ll notice a certain style they always go for.

Now the rear of the 350z isn't as low as a Porsche so you could go for a ducktail or something a little bigger that would compliment the car's shape.

But one of the best options you could go for is a Nismo spoiler, particularly the Nismo V3 wing. But you'll be surprised how some much cheaper options work just fine!

One of the best wings that won’t cost you much, is actually a universal wing that goes incredibly well with the shape of the 350z. It looks a lot like the Nismo V1 wing only better somehow! It’s way cheaper, looks good, and fits as if it was made for the car. take a look.

Back to the front.

Getting back to the front of the car, this is one of the biggest upgrades you can do to modernize your 350z. I’m talking headlights!

There are alotta cool options out there when it comes to headlights but many of them just scream 2000’s tuner (orange reflectors, you know what I mean). Now that’s great if it’s what you’re going for, but that’s not the purpose of this guide. Meet the SPEC-D sequential headlights.

The “Performance” mod

Now here’s the “performance-related” mod I saved for last. It doesn’t add horsepower, but it makes your car “faster”. Let me explain.

It’s called an electronic throttle controller, it basically introduces higher voltage to your pedal which results in your throttle body opening faster (removes the drive-by-wire feel in modern cars), and that results in the best driving experience you’ll get out of your car. Smooth power and incredible responsiveness, I can tell you in all seriousness you’ll never drive without it again.

I’ve been using the APEXI controller because I wanted their button feature and keep it flush in the interior (350z doesn’t have a sports mode like many modern cars so this was the best OEM+ option) but there are alotta brands you can choose from. I’d recommend the Injen controller.

There are a lot of mods I didn’t include, I wanted to keep this short and most importantly budget friendly. But there a whole lotta mods out there that would massively improve the car if you’re willing to pay for it, and of course the result would be even more amazing. However the ones I’ve mentioned should be the essentials if nothing at all.

What about you… which mod would you get first?