Chrysler 300M

wire2

If you wanted it to handle the same there's front 22mm sway bar, 4 struts. And interior wise, there's the I.P. and door "carbon fibre" trim, and last, (I think) the exhaust to change.
I tend to agree, it would be cheaper to buy one.

fastdriver

clpurnell-

Sorry it didn't work out for you. Sounds like the good people in Auburn Hills bailed when Daimler took over. I got excellent results when I called them about certain items Christine came without that should have been standard on her. They could not have been more helpful.

I think that Jergen, or whatever his name is, has his friend in Auburn Hills now, so maybe all return phone calls are "banned"??

fastdriver

300michael

just duct tape another stock swaybar to the one you have, that should do the job. What do you think?

lonestarsled

Actually.....all you need to do is wrap your sway bar in duct tape to make it a 22mm sway bar. At least thats what that Red Green character would do.

Camcruzr

For those of you contemplating buying new tires, the current issue of Consumer Reports will be of interest. They discuss and test All -Season,Performance/Touring tires with an "H" rating,which would be more than adequate for all but the most aggressive drivers.They even discuss a tire's" rolling resistance" properties, which can make up to 2 mpg. difference in gas milage obtained.

lflowers

Sure, I could meet you sometime soon. (I have lots of spare time right now!).
What part of Dallas do you work in? Maybe we could meet for lunch one day in the next week or two.
The job search is proceeding quite slowly. I have a number of "irons in the fire", but none seem to be heating up very fast.
The email address in my profile is correct, but I didn't receive your email. I'll send myself one to see if it works for me.

Lynn Flowers

wire2

>...wrap your sway bar in duct tape to make it a 22mm sway bar. A la Red Green ...

Either that or tape a wooden 1x2 to it.

300michael

I gives me ideas for my M, (don't panic) I usually upgrade the quality of the execution though. Although thank god he has his possium van and not a 300M, to get its mirrors knocked off every week.

prudhoes

Does the 300M have side air bags?

Tim in Arid-Zona USA

fastdriver

prudhoes-

I believe they are a $400.00 option on the new models.

fastdriver

300michael

They have been an option for the past 2 years. I too am from AZ.

scottjohnson

Up here in my neck of the woods (central western Oregon) 300M's are few and far between. I can go weeks without seeing another driving around town and our dealership has never had a special in stock.

So it took a moment to realize that I was seeing one. I guess the difference is more subtle than I expected. Must have seen 3 others today, too. Guess it helps to have a football game in town.

silverbullet4

Thanks for the response. I am also looking for a job, but am strongly considering a career change.
As far as meeting you, I live in N. Dallas (University Park). How about you? Seems like you previously were up in McKinney or Plano. Sometime in the middle of the week looks good for me to meet somewhere convenient for you. You probably know where the donut shops are in your area. ;>)

I'm painting my garage tomorrow. Just had it reframed and a new roof installed to keep my M cozy.

Regards, Silver

sdmike2

I just got back from Plano (stayed at the westin stonebriar resort up there). My guess is that I'll be making that trip frequently (we have a facility there), so next time I'll shoot you off an e-mail.

silverbullet4

Mike, please let me know next time you are heading this way. I'd like to meet you. My regular email is wreed6211@aol.com

Silver

lflowers

silver......As you remembered, I do live in McKinney. Perhaps we could meet somewhere in between along Central Expressway (such as the Richardson area possibly?). I think the latter part of the week would be best for me, and not too early (between jobs, I'm not too good at rising early).

sdmike........Yes, let us know the next time you're in Plano. Plano is just in between silver and I. Too bad you won't have Big Red with you though! Still, it would be fun to get together.

Lynn Flowers

silverbullet4

Lynn, Thursday at 10 AM OK for you? Rain should be all dried up by then. We can take this off-topic item to regular e-mail. What is the status of your profile e-mail address? Mine is:
wreed6211@aol.com

sdmike-come on down,guy.

Silver

wire2

The "M" is my only now, sold my pearl white '95 Stealth turbo today, (with 29,000 mi.)
But that's not a complaint. I'll miss the performance a bit but not the extra insurance, winter storage and expensive tires. And wow! look at all the room in my garage!

mikeyjohn

Sorry to hear about your loss, my heart goes out to your garage!!!!!! LOL

ruski

was your Stealth AWD? Why the need for winter tires?

wire2

>was your Stealth AWD?

Yes, all R/T turbos are.

>Why the need for winter tires?

Not winter, summer. 245-40ZR-18 performance tires are USELESS in snow. They fill up and are like slicks. Cars like that are stored winters here.

bigmike5

Hey Jeff-- Are you guys back to work yet? Just trying to figure out when DC will go to 0% financing for 60 months. They went to 2.9% last week,and I made an immediate call to the local dealer for a quote on an order for a Graphite special. No call back yet. I may hold for 0% if you guys are still on furlough.

How was Talladega? My man 24 had an engine blow after leading early. Well, little E is ok too. Hope you had an uneventful trip.

Got my M back from the body shop today. Paint looks good. Hopefully no leaks where the light was replaced. Added some more graphics and will send some pics to the usual crew to see if they will post them on the net for me.

ottowrkr

Hi Y'all
Mike - Yes we got back last night at 2 am.
The trip started last Wed just after midnight and drove to Memphis TN ,checked out Graceland and a ate at a great BBQ place called Rendezvous( if your ever in Memphis check this place out). Then Fri morning it was off to Birmingham AL . We really enjoyed the Nascar race in Talladega , and it was great to see JR win -YES!! . We meet a lot of great people on the trip , we even hooked up with Dustin (the 300 clubs VP) and he told us a few great places eat and drink near our hotel and also let us follow him to the track on Sunday. It was great to meet him and his father in-law and see his slate 300. We left Monday morning for home, it was 945 miles from our hotel in Birmingham AL to my front door in Brampton . The drive took us 14 hours and we did a total of 2609.76 miles in our rented Dodge caravan(wait till they see that LOL) over 5 days.Sorry we did not get a chance to stop and see you , maybe next year. I have a bunch of pics I took ,when I get them posted I will post the link.
Dustin , thanks for everything . Hope to see you again next year.

smittyd

At 25,000 miles, I've experienced my first, and hopefully last, major problem with my 2001 300M. I was a mile or so from home on Sunday when it started "free wheeling" like I had shifted into neutral. I coasted off the road and when I shifted into any gear, including reverse, it would only rev up and not pull at all. I had it hauled to the 5* and they took out the transmission finding the torque converter had failed. They also "opened up the transmission and saw nothing wrong." It is supposed to be ready to go on Friday and they are providing a Dodge Stratus for me to drive until then. The transmission had shown no signs of any problems and this deal happened suddenly with no noise or warning.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I'll keep you guys posted when I pick it up and drive it after the repair.

Still in love with my M. MOPAR or no car!

http://dodgeboy.cjb.net

300michael

With only two months to go I need all that are interested on comming to e-mail me (300M@eboxmail.net) so I can make arragements. The Meet will be at the Firebird Raceway (located just south of Tempe Phoenix area) off of I 17, during the Route 2002 Test Drive. If you are interested in test driving some of the Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep's you better sign up soon. I would like the attendies to sign up for the Saturday December 7, 2002 test drives, but it is your choice. That way we and drive and talk together and afterwards have time to show off our cars. Each test drive is at the respective makers websites. You can find them at www.(chrysler, dodge, or jeep).com/route2002/events_(chrysler, dodge, or jeep).html , just leave out the brackets and use the same (brand) name to register. Good luck and hope to see you soon.

300michael

just wondering if it is sensor related.

davenpa

I was wondering if anyone has used engine / trans mount spacers and if they stopped the vibrations as claimed? I see a pair on e-bay (#1867367793) and wondered if they worked? Thanks

lonestarsled

I believe those are made by or for a person that actually posts here. I beleive that the reference is to H&R spring spacers that may require purchasing a different trans mount.

300michael

Those look like the spacers I made for my car (but, they are not). H&R have a different tranny spacer that requires you to purchase a different Chrysler tranny mount (and even then the bolts are still too short) This person did what I did in making the mount for the bottom of the tranny mount, instead of the top of the mount (H&R). As for stopping the Vibrations, it depends on the Springs used. The Lower the car sits the less effect the spacers will have. So for H&R (1.4" lower) springs they will work great. On my Intrax (1.8" clamed 2"front, 3"rear) they lessen the vibration except for a little at around 60-65 mph. I would try additional spacers but, the engine is already making contact with my scoop duct work. It seems that for every inch lowered you need to raise the engine 6mm. Calspeed shop raised it 15mm. The spacers are simple to make if you use 3mm stock and make three to sandwitch together.

bigmike5

Got my 99M back from the body shop yesterday in the a.m. They did a good job on the paint on the back end and changed out the left rear tail light module which had a broken lower edge. Only problem is that they reversed some of the plug ins and screwed up the brake light and turn signal. Took it back this a.m. and they reverse the plugs and it is working ok now.

It goes into the shop, hopefully on Friday, for the duals. Got my fingers crossed here. Looks like it will be the T-813 tips from Ractive. Hopefully they will fit the cut-outs with no additional cutting of the fascia.

Had some additional graphics put on, and am happy with some but not all of what they did. I had given them some general guidance but never set it in concrete, but they did their thing when the M was in to their shop to have the racing stripe re-done on the trunk and bumper after it came from the body shop. They are going to do some more work on the graphics trying to get some 3-D depth using a darker color than the Platinum on the forward edge and then a charcoal color on the trailing edge. Will get some pics up when it gets done. Oh yeah, the graphic is "shark gills" just forward of the front wheels. If I can't get it just right or it looks tacky I will just have them pull em off. But I am hopeful they can get it right on the next try. My Ziebart guy is putting on some smoke-tinted window edges tomorrow if it doesn't rain. He said they want dry weather to make them adhere correctly.

lflowers

I sent a couple of emails to you about getting together tomorrow. Did you receive either of them?
I haven't received any emails (or bounced mails) from you. Try mailing me at lrflowers@earthlink.net

Hope to see you soon,

Lynn Flowers

fastdriver

LOOK! Nice!! ALMOST as nice as that DC convertible they're not going to build. I think it's expensive. At least the ones in the Neiman-Marcus catalog are! LOL..

http://cadillac.com/cadillacjsp/futuremodels/xlr/launch.html

Just saw something last night in Motor Trend about HID lights from Sylvania. I think it's http://www.sylvania.com/cars or something like that.

fastdriver

bigmike5

Fast--That Caddy XLR will be built at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY. It is supposed to retail about $70K or maybe just a teensy bit more. One dealer in Chicago area has website for preordering with $2K deposit. I think it is a great looking car, and I have lusted over it since I saw it a few years ago, but I would have to wait for a lease turn-in a couple of years after intro to be able to afford one, assuming that the depreciation takes it down about $25K in that timeframe. Meanwhile I charge everything on my GM credit card in the hopes of having $3K there to help out in reducing the price. Just hope it does not become another Allante.

lonestarsled

For my money I would pick the Corvette, much better looking car. XLR is a plastic car and to much Avalanche type styling, UGLY!!! Just my 02 cents.

silverbullet4

Lynn-I just replied to both. I was away working on a rental property. We're still on for tomorrow.

Silver

lflowers

I think the XLR and, in fact, most all the newer Cadillac offerings are just plain UGLY!!!
Their so-called "edgy" styling just makes me edgy, I guess!
I agree with you lonestarsled, the XLR and most other new Caddies look way too much like the Avalanche for my taste. I like my M MUCH better!

Lynn Flowers
McKinney, Texas

glennbp

Well, I love 'em both! The M is and always will be one of the most beautiful automotive designs ever produced, but that XLR is simply gorgeous in a very aggressive way; and if it performs the way it's hyped to perform, WOW!

fastdriver

bigmike5-

The "violet" one in the Neiman-Marcus catalog is about $80,000!! LOL.... I'm using my GM card too! I have $3,000 in credit for a GM car. I ALMOST used it by getting a 2001 Buick Regal with the supercharged engine, BUT I accidentally ended up at an Acura dealer with a friend who was looking for a used car when I saw the CL-S up close and personal! The rest is history. Love the CL, but don't want that GM money to go to waste. I couldn't afford the XLR either, but I like the looks of the CTS. They're coming out with a bigger engine soon. Also, like the new Infiniti G35 coupe, but can't use my GM points for that! LOL... unless...... GM and Lutz buy Nissan! ;-)))) Oh well- time will tell.

lonestarsled-

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How you can like the looks of the 300M and not the XLR or CTS is puzzling to me. C'est la vie. Lots of good looking cars out there today to choose from.

fastdriver

300michael

It is easy. The CTS is ugly, the back makes it look very tall and narrow. It has one of the few rear ends that makes the 300M look great. Except for the sheet metal I like it. The XLR is a better design, not the best but better then the CTS. I still like the STS design the best of the Caddys. Waiting to see what they will do with it.

300michael

I like the shark gills on the Calspeed shop M. Would like to see your pics.

fastdriver

300michael-

LOL... THIS is ugly-

http://www.geocities.com/fastdriver2_99/Ugly_img/dodgehemi.jpg

fastdriver

bigmike5

I agree with you on that Dodge hemi vehicle that is supposed to be coming soon. Hemi or not, it is ugly with that pick-up truck grill and the creases everywhere. It reminds me of the Family Queen Truckster from the original Vacation movie with Chevy Chase. And speaking of ugly, I finally put 2 + 2 together and figured out why no one likes the Aztek style. It happended when I pulled behind a garbage truck. The rear of the Aztek looks just like the rear of one of those compacting garbage trucks.

On the CTS and XLR. Viewpoints can differ because of the radical style change for the Caddy line. I am not sold on the CTS looks, but the XLR just hit a sweet spot with me. Wish I could afford one now. The upgraded CTS won't hit the street for at least another year or two, and at a greatly increased price tag. [On the other hand, I am still thinking of an 03 Special in Graphite too. That tells you that I have not tired of the great design of the M. Only drawback on the Special is the need to run high test for another 3-5 horsepower. That was a ridiculous decision by DC, along with no front window tint line and a couple of other de-content decisions. Now if they had slipped about 275 hp into the Special I would already have one.] The dealer where I got my wife's Eldo is having a big cocktail hour opening celebration for the 03s in two weeks. I may take that in and test drive a CTS. I've been told by the service manager that they actually do have some zip despite the engine size and he swears it is really quiet in the cabin even at 100 mph. Don't know where you could run that speed around here and still be alive or unticketed. This dealer also sell Chevys now and they are also featuring the new Corvette Zo6 which would be nice to try, but I found it short on headroom when I sat in one at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.

bigmike5

I loved that look on the SoCal Speed shop M too and Avalanche had once said a hood could be cut no problem to give it the gill effect. Never took him up on that, and now because of the racing stripe I have on one side of the hood I can't see doing it on there even with graphics rather than actual cuts. It would be just too "busy" on a car that is already getting too busy with all the stuff I have done to the exterior. But I did like that look. If I can get the gill effect right I will make a post.

ruski

At least the Caddillac has the right amount of HP. Too bad Crossfire got castrated.

ottowrkr

We are getting laid off again for two weeks . The lay-off starts Oct 21 and we are to go back Nov 4.We also hear a roumor that with our two week holiday at Christmas ,we will aso be getting a two week lay-off added on ,one month off . Man with 10 months to go before we retool for the LX car , we could be off more than we work.

bigmike5

Sorry to hear that Jeff, but...I think you just convinced me to hold out for a future 0% for 60 month financing offer from DC. If you guys are not working then they have got to give better incentives to keep up with GM. My wife's Caddy dealer sent us a card yesterday announcing a social event in two weeks for the coming out of their 03 models, and in the same envelop was a certificate for a $7,500 rebate on any 02 on their lot, on top of their alleged "year-end discounts." Now if Caddy is doing that after already running a 0%/60 deal the last few months, DC will have to come up with a 0%/60 deal pretty soon to stay with them. Here's hoping.

blonda

I've seen that several Chrysler dealers in San Diego are advertising $7k rebates on 02 M's this past week.

mrl859

Which dealer? I saw McCune has $7,500 off Town and Country Ltd. I didn't see 300m being mentioned.

bigmike5

Muff shop told me that they got the T813 tips in today, so the M goes into the shop at 0800 tomorrow. I will be pacing the waiting room like an "expectant" father while they do their thing. I just hope it comes out reasonably quiet. They did not have that 2nd collector available so I am gonna try it without and see how it sounds.

silverbullet4

Today I had an opportunity to meet with Lynn and see and hear his new dual exhaust system. Sweet purr, Lynn! Also his bright silver '01 has a very tasteful pin striping, great looking wheels, and a snazzy wind deflector. The rear wing completed the custom look.

Silver