Hello everyone, after reading through this forum I decided to do the QX80 front end retrofit on my own QX56 and thought I would share my experience with it.
I have a 2012 QX56 with the Theater, Deluxe Touring, and Technology packages.
Let’s start with the grille. I was able to find a used one in excellent condition from a junk yard that was complete with the emblem and camera for a few hundred bucks. The grille was pretty straightforward and was plug and play. The only issue here was the picture doesn’t quite line up with the rest of the cameras in the 360 view and I will have to take it to the dealership to get it calibrated since I have been able to find nothing online as far as how to do this yourself.
Next piece was the bumper. I had a hard time finding a used one that has the headlamp washer cutouts due to the washers that come with the Deluxe Touring package, so I purchased it brand new from infinitipartsdeal.com, as they were the cheapest of the online parts dealers I found and definitely cheaper than the dealership. This came primed so I had the body shop prep and paint it. What I should have realized but didn’t at the time is that the headlamp washer covers are different shapes on the facelifted version and thus my old ones didn’t fit. So I had to purchase new ones, this time from the dealership since my vehicle was taken apart at the body shop and I couldn’t wait around for shipping. Then I discovered the new headlamp washer covers don’t fit on the old headlamp washer nozzles, so those had to be ordered from the dealership too and replaced.
Next, the lower grille. If your vehicle has the Technology package, your lower grille has a cutout for the sensor that controls the Intellegent Cruise Control and Intellegent Brake Assist. The facelifted QX80s however don’t have this cutout in the lower grille, even if the vehicle has those options, because the sensors on the current QX80s now are covered. They actually use a completely different sensor that can detect the vehicle 2 cars ahead. So if you end up doing the retrofit, your ICC and IBA will no longer work, because the old sensor can’t be covered.
As mentioned in other comments, the facelifted QX80s have 4 parking sensors instead of 2. Rather than paying $283 a piece for 2 additional OEM sensors to fill the holes, I was able to find some aftermarket ones on eBay for $20 each. However, the facelifted sensors are slightly smaller, and thus so are the holes in the new bumper. So the holes had to be slightly widened to fit the old and aftermarket sensors.
Then there is the lower turn signals, fog lamps and bezels (the plastic chrome pieces that surround the fog lamps and turn signals). The old fog lamps don’t fit, so the new LED ones have to be used. The foglamps were plug and play and didn’t require additional wiring. The turn signals have to be spliced into the old turn signals, which isn’t a big deal. However, they blink at a slightly different rate (they stay lit up a little longer) than the ones built into the old headlamps, and rather than having the shop try changing the resistance so that they match up perfectly, I had them take the bulbs out of the headlamps and hide them behind the radiator under the hood. I was going to just have them remove them completely, but this would cause an error message to come on the dash if the car thought the turn signal bulb was out.
What I also didn’t realize is that each new part would require additional bolts, screws, grommets, brackets, fasteners, and clips to put everything together since the old ones don’t transfer over. This ended up being an additional $440.
I had plans to also replace the headlamps with the new ones with the LED lights, but decided against it. I read at one point online that they are the same shape and are plug and play, but the ones that were referenced didn’t have the AFS (part of the Technology package). The facelifted QX80s that have AFS also include high beam assist, which the pre-facelifted QX56s don’t have, so even if I purchased the headlamps that have AFS, the high beam assist likely wouldn’t work and would probably give me error codes on the dash, and could possibly even damage some of the components in the headlamps. I don’t know for sure, but didn’t want to spend the money to find out.
I also ended up changing the rear model badge and adding the 5.6 emblems on the side, which Infiniti charges about $130 for those 3 things.
In the end, some things ended up being a bit pricier than I expected, but it looks beautiful and much more modern. I miss having IBA, but I never used the ICC much and the conventional cruise control still works fine. This is probably an easier switch if your vehicle doesn’t have the Deluxe Touring and Technology packages. As luck would have it, about half way through the entire process, I saw complete packages go up for sale on eBay that included everything already pre-assembled and even in the same color I was needing for about $1000 with free shipping. I wish those had been available before I bought everything I did, you may want to scour the internet for deals like this first before buying all the parts brand new. I had actually searched for this previously to buying new parts but none were available at the time. In some cases, I saw individual used parts that showed signs of wear being sold on eBay and at junkyards for more than what brand new parts were selling for at infinitipartsdeal.com, so be mindful of that too.
Below are the part numbers needed and prices from infinitpartsdeal.com
Front bumper: 62022-5ZA1H, $415
Left Fog Lamp: 261554GA0B, $210
Right Fog Lamp: 261504GA0B, $210
Left Turn Signal Lamp: 261355ZA0A, $66
Right Turn Signal Lamp: 261305ZA0A, $66
Left Fog Lamp Bezel: 622575ZA0A, $63
Right Fog Lamp Bezel: 622565ZA0A, $63
Lower Grille: 622565ZA0B, $137
Shipping for all parts: $230
Left Headlamp Washer: 286421LA0A, $156 (dealership)
Right Headlamp Washer: 286411LA0A $156 (dealership)
Left Headlamp Washer Cover: 286591LA0A $100 (dealership)
Right Headlamp Washer Cover: 286581LA0A $100 (dealership)
Badges: $130 (dealership)
Various hardware: $430 (dealership)
Aftermarket parking sensors: $20 each (eBay)
Grille Assembly (used): $300
Paint, Labor, Tax, etc.: $1600
ok i will surely pass this along to the body shop. But I’d pretty much be safe if i choose the ‘14 qx80?
