Chrysler 300M

blonda · June 2002

...what the engine compartment looks like. Who's gonna be impressed, the guy at Jiffy Lube? Let's see if I can use an example you men can relate to: Have you seen that cardio vascular system on Pam Anderson?...it's soo ugly...well, nevermind, you know what i'm getting at. (and let's not even get into the amount of $$ she's spent "enhancing" her chest, which wasn't necessary was it?)

sdmike2 · June 2002

pretty strong words from a woman with viagra ads all over her computer. lol!

blonda · June 2002

See...Viagra does have side effects.

scotian · June 2002

My two complaints about the K&N Aircharger are its price and that it is not completely sealed off from the hot engine air.

At least my Franken-Intake is completely sealed off from the engine air (except for the small drain hole that the OEM airbox also has) and gets only cooler air from the fender and the edge of the hood.

And I'm sure I spent over $240 in making it, so I'm not really the one to complain about price.

While I would call Franken-Intake a true cold air system (although slightly restricted in the number of cold air channels available to it), I am sure there are some who require the air filter to be practically dragging on the ground sucking up water or stuffed directly into a fender to be labeled as such. To that I say poppycock, but it can be done with the 300M, sort of, by relocating the battery to the trunk and directing the pipe down there.

http://public.fotki.com/Scotian/300m/engine/air_intake/airbox/

http://public.fotki.com/Scotian/300m/engine/air_intake/plumbing_plenum_tb_bend/

scotian · June 2002

I'm thinking of doing this. Is Brown Bread sound deadener good stuff?

http://wcbd.hypermart.net/autores/brownbread1.html

pjyoung · June 2002

When my speed sensor went (ain't this site great for being able to tell the dealer what's wrong), my dealer called Chrysler and they paid for labor - I payed for parts. Sounds like they reversed that for you (gave you the part). Total costs would have been about $100 for the job, although my dealer sold me the parts at cost. My 99 still has the original battery, and it's still going strong, although I always manually turn off the lights when parking at night since I'm a little leery of letting the headlights run at all with the engine turned off.

99_300m_ric_va · June 2002

Scott, what did Tony (ajpiii) use? I thought it looked like Brown Bread. Anything has got to help. My easy solution is to turn up the stereo and JAM!

sdmike2 · June 2002

I have a bread maker. Maybe I'll try sourdough bread. On second thought, it may lead to the infamous "chipmonk problem"

toms99 · June 2002

Well, I actualy bought mine primarily for how it LOOKS! It replaces three separate ugly boxes of rippled plastic with a smooth black tube. I don't know about performance, and I'm not even going to do a G-Tech run until I do the dualies later this summer. Yeah, I agree the $240 is expensive for what you get, but who says enthusiasts have to be rational???

blonda has a point...but if there were chrome engine add-on goodies for the M I would be tempted...I don't look upon opening the hood as going into pamela anderson's internal organs....I look upon it as peeling off her bikini :-)

AND...hey, I give K&N credit for at least producing a direct bolt-on after-market add-on for the 300M/LHS. Name 5 other companies that make bolt-on aftermarket parts for the M....

let's see: the interior extra wood-trim companies; the prowler-pro gear set; and, uh....uh....hmmmm...See what I mean??

Even Borla has discontinued its cat-back system for the M.

Look at all the trouble scotian had to go through to create his own intake before K&N came out with the Air-Charger. All this when your neighbor's 17 year-old kid can bolt on a supercharger or turbochrager on his Honda Civic, right out of the box!!

denverm · June 2002

1. How things look under the hood is worth some consideration, but not as much as exterior looks;

2. Aircharger looks better than the stock system (I still have stock and have no plans to buy aircharger);

3. Pam looked better before "enhancement."

toms99 · June 2002

I don't see how Tony's (ajpiii) 20's "fill those huge gaps in the wheel wells." Don't get me wrong...Tony's wheels look terrific, and if I had the extra cash, I'd be tempted. But as far as "filling the wheel wells", let's do the math:

STOCK:225/55/17 = 26.7 inch dia. and 84 inch circum.

AJPIII's 20's: 245/35/20 = 26.7 inch dia. and 84 inch circum.

Yeah, you see more "wheel", but the amount of wheel well showing is exactly the same.

toms99 · June 2002

I'm at a little over 40K and just waiting to "join the club"!! Do you think it would be worth it to just replace both the input and the output sensor when one of them goes??

toms99 · June 2002

Thanks for the tip on the paste glaz. The only problem is I want to do my car (Champagne Biege...a light color) and my wife's Concorde (Deep Saphire Blue...a dark color.) Don't you have to buy 2 separate Pinnacle products...one for light colored cars and one for dark paint???

mrl859 · June 2002

Let me begin by stating that I neither work for, nor am affiliated with Poway Chrysler. That being said, I have leased three new vehicles from them (including my M) and know the Service Manager personally from other business dealings (he was my service customer). The gentlemen who greet you in the drive at dealerships are not actually the managers. They have many different titles, but the service managers do not write tickets on a daily basis. I know Chuck (the manager) would be very disappointed to know of your difficulty. Due to proximity to your work and ease of dropping off/picking up your vehicle, I would be glad to make a call for you in the future if you should choose to bring the M back to Poway. I'm curious if you got the advisor's name (Gene?). Overall, they have very good people who work there. Again, I have no personal interest in it. It just sounded like a lot less of a hassle, logistics-wise.

smittyd · June 2002

Why can't we all just get along?

I love mine, both the look and the sound, much better than the stock setup.

http://dodgeboy.cjb.net

MOPAR or no car!

ajpiii · June 2002

The stuff kicks [non-permissible content removed] but is both expensive (to do correclty), and a real pain to install... just imagine taking EVERYTHING out of the car... down to bare metal... if you have the patience and about $600, go for it.... Check these pics out.. http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=175340&page=8

When I first purchased it I thought 140sq ft of the stuff would be enough, but it only covered the trunk and under the rear seats... You need about 280 sq ft to cover everything...

I bought mine from http://www.b-quiet.com/brownbread.html

Let me tell you, before my trunk used to rattle and vibrate when I turned up the system... Now nothing... It also made the amplifiers seem more powerfull... Road Noise was greatly reduced as well...

ajpiii · June 2002

Well the 20's do fill the wheel well better than my 245/45-17's did... and with the H&R Springs lowering the car a bit the wheel wells look better... I think the extra little bit of lowering the Intrax springs give you would have made it look much better though... but after my vibration woes, Im not touching a thing...

pjyoung · June 2002

My dealer told me that they recommend replacing both of them. The total cost for both should run about a hundred bucks.

ezaircon4jc · June 2002

Something has come up on Friday. Could we do it tomorrow (same time) or next week? Whatever works best for you guys.

easyrider300m · June 2002

Be Dere or else we'll send da big guy after yas!

Here's Da Address: http://www.300mclub.org/

glennbp · June 2002

Tom - Yes, Pinnacle recommends the Paste Glaz for light colors and Souveran for reds and darker colors. The stuff isn't cheap, but it's absolutely awesome! Try the Paste Glaz on your car first (if wife will allow) and you'll be hooked. Then go for the Souveran on the dark blue! Just be sure and do the Zaino first!

sdmike2 - Since EZ can't make it this Friday, how about next Friday the 28th at 2:00p?

Finally, for those of you that are as crazy as I am, I bought the 3D "Cotton Candy" engine lettering kit from Goldcoast Autotronics. The "Cotton Candy" looks like the shiny side of a CD; sort of a rainbow prism effect. It comes in many other colors and patterns. The kit sells for $140.00 which includes next day air shipping, but it's still rather pricey IMO. Anyway, it went on easily and looks, well you decide:

http://glennbp.bizland.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/engletr01.jpg

The prism effect is not nearly as pronounced as in the photo, guess the camera sees things differently. It looks much better in person. If you're interested, here's the website. The guy's name is Jay Harris and is a super nice person to deal with!
http://www.prowleronline.com/goldcoast.html

ajpiii · June 2002

Your going to make me spend more money !! Ive been thinking about dressing up the engine, and now I have to...

Looks Sweet !

ezaircon4jc · June 2002

Next Friday works for me! I'll have the Borla replaced by the Magnaflow by then.

jab02lhs · June 2002

Glenn That looks awesome well worth the price. You gotta spend it so you have a reason to go back and make more.

Doc Tried to chat with you tonite but kept getting blown out each time I started to type ???
Hope you are mending fast so you can put some miles on. I know how tough it was to sit and wait to mend. But hopefully time will go fast and you will be out cruising soon. Now just try to stay healthy!

lonestarsled · June 2002

Glen, looks great!

I have been looking all over the prowler sites for pics of the kit but have never found any, but yours looks great! Curious, what kind of adhesive is used. I have noticed that not very many things stick to the air plenum, including the 3.5L badge.
But I do have engine dressing on it. I would hate to hose down the engine and have the letters wash down the driveway.

silverbullet4 · June 2002

Just got back from a short fishing vacation in the Galveston area with my 12 year old son . One of his little buddies joined us for the fishing and rode back with us. I got up early this AM and washed the 'ol bullet (five days of seagull bombing practice)for the trip back. We caught some truckers that were really in a hurry to get to Dallas and convoyed with them at 75-80 MPH. Looks like I averaged about 29 mpg. Linkun Park CD's make me edgy, though.

Great road car!

Regards, Silver

sdmike2 · June 2002

ez & glenn - the 28th works better for me than this friday anyway. See you there.

silver - if it wasn't for linkin park you would have been doing 65-70

glennbp - looks great. Does that stuff stay stuck (say it fast 3 times)

scotian · June 2002

It looks like you removed the upper rear seats from the frame that connects to the unibody.

What did the 280 sq.ft. cover -- the trunk and the entire floorboard? Did you remove the front seats?

Why did you cover the rear window deck if, I assume, you have large bass speakers in the trunk?

300michael · June 2002

The lettering looks great. I may just try cutting up some old cd's and ....... just kidding.

300michael · June 2002

After adding the spacers you still getting the vibration?
The lowering springs make the wheels feel up the wheel well better. The larger wheels give the appearance of filling it up more. The combination magnafies the effect.

300michael · June 2002

Well I got the car back and the after market warranty paid it in full, except for the alinement which the dealer wanted $100 for. I told them to forget the alinement (just had it done 3 weeks ago, and they only worked on the front wheels) So tomorrow it goes to Discount to have the tires rotated and balanced and alined. The problem turned out to be the front struts. So I just signed for the work and didn't have to pay a cent.

300michael · June 2002

I made my own air box. The K@N came out a little too late for me and besides having the hood scoop kind of limits your options. My air box was done at basicly no cost except for the filter. If you have the money the K&N is a nice system. For us on a budget it is more like Junk Yard Wars intakes. Not pretty but functional. All I can say is thank god for toilets.

300michael · June 2002

sold in home centers and roofing supply centers for sound deadening material. The stuff is used for preventing ice damage. It is peel and stick and cuts with heavy sissors or rasor blade. The best stuff runs about $80 for 300sq feet.

ceikost · June 2002

I was in Phoenix for a few days and Got in touch with 300michael to look at his M.

Nice work Mike. You have me tinking now. I really enjoyed our meeting. I hope the next time I'm in PHX we can get together again.

Monday afternoon my son and I were in the Cosco parking lot on 27th street and saw a Inferno Red M that is a twin of mine,interior, PHP the whole thing but also the same spoiler like yours with out the LEDs also wood interior trim. I'm going to order those this week.

Then Monday evening went to Mimi's for dinner and saw an '01M, Champagne with a fake convertible top. Oh well, to each his own.

glennbp · June 2002

When I called Jay to order, he ran through the entire placement process. The kit also has very explicit instructions. Jay swore that he hasn't lost a letter yet if you follow the instructions. Start with a cold engine! Basically, the key is to degrease the raised letters on the plenum using Simple Green or whatever else you like. I actually sanded the lettering very lightly with 800 sandpaper and then used isopropyl rubbing alcohol to clean. After it's totally dry, you put on a coat of 3M adhesion enhancer. (Comes with the kit). The Shimmers are pre-adhesived; you just peel and stick. You can move them a little to line them up and then firmly press down. After all the letters are on, go for a drive and heat up the engine and then firmly press the letters again. Jay recommends doing this "hot & cold" regimen several times. My guess is the adhesive on the Shimmers is heat activated. (although it's pretty sticky when cold as well) The engine heating and then cooling "sets" the adhesive. Anyway, all of this is explained very clearly on the instruction sheet. The whole process only took about an hour.

guesswho1 · June 2002

looks great!!! anything to take away from that ugly aircharger...

glennbp · June 2002

What if I have the aircharger tube chrome plated?

300michael · June 2002

Anytime, Glad you made it back safely. Enjoy your new mods.

300michael · June 2002

If we keep up with all these neat and expensive new mods =I

rstilp · June 2002

Just returned from a 2000 mile trip in the M and am noticing a vibration when braking. Is it okay to just get the rotors turned (with new pads) or get new rotors?
Also, @ 41k am ready to buy the Yoko Avids. Those of you that have them; how do you feel about them? Good, mediocre, ?
Thanks in advance.
Rick/Geezer300M

ajpiii · June 2002

The 280 sq ft covers everything twice... Front to rear including (only 1 layer on the doors though)... I took out the entire center console, both seats, the carpet, and all trim...

I did the rear deck because I thought it was what was vibrating loudly... Turns out that it was some tubing that they run wires through around the base of the back window, and up into the trim panels on the sides of the back window... Before I did the soundeading my rear seat passengers would complain all they could hear is something vibrating loudly... Now nothing vibrates, all you hear is pure sound quality comming from the system...

The sound deading on the rear deck doesnt hurt the bass at all... It comes straight through the seats with no problem at all... I have the box facing forward with about a foot between the speakers and the seats...

ajpiii · June 2002

Nope no vibrations after the spacers... I just dont want to change anything to cause them to come back... If it aint broke, dont fix it..

ajpiii · June 2002

I basically chose the Brown Bread because of a review that was done that tested different products against each other... Brown Bread came out on top... Check it out...

http://www.b-quiet.com/brownbread.html

Look to the right of the page for the review...

ajpiii · June 2002

Chrome plate it ! yes now that would rule..

intrepidspirit · June 2002

I have been very happy with the Avids. They are the only tire on our 2 300M's that have not had even a slight left pull or drift. (Stock Badyears were the worst; Stock Michelins have a very slight drift on my wifes 2001 M).

Cornering and noise levels are good. Most of all, they are a bargain compared to alternatives and have a treadwear warranty. They also seem to have a finish on the them that looks like tire dressing -- I've had them for 10,000 miles (close to a year) and they still look new.

One issue I have is I had a slight wobble in the steering wheel at about 60-65 mph a few months ago. I had both front tires re-balanced, but they were rotated at the same time. With these tires on the back, the ride was perfect. I have since had them rotated again and the slight wobble is back. Could be they rebalanced the wrong tires since they were being rotated or they didn't rebalance them at all. Or, maybe one of the tires is slightly out of round.

All that having been said, I think they are great tires for the money and I intend to purchase them again as replacements in the future.

Hope this helps...

muskateer3 · June 2002

Which extended warranty do you have?

blonda · June 2002

I did get the guy's card at Poway, but I can't remember if I kept it. I'll look in the car today and let you know who it was I talked with. Jack Powell had my car fixed in less than an hour, although I just left it there all day. They only charged me $49 and change which isn't bad. They are also now putting a large gold sticker on their invoices saying if I cannot answer "very satisfied" with any part of my experience then I should call the manager (his name and number was listed) ASAP. I guess they are really pumping up the customer service thing.

blonda · June 2002

You know I thought about that initially, having them replace the output sensor as well. Unfortunately, because of the hassle with the first dealer attempt, etc. I completely forgot about it. I also had a nagging feeling there was something else I wanted them to do and of course I finally remembered just after I picked the car up yesterday. I wanted to see what they would charge me to replace my front brake pads with the stock ones. I have the carbon metallic and hate them. They are noisey and dirty.

blonda · June 2002

I had the same problem a couple months ago. They turned the rotors and replaced the pads no problem. I won't consider buying new rotors until these become warped again. Just don't get the carbon metallic pads...as you can see from my post above, they aren't as good as the stock ones.

scotian · June 2002

I am now using semi-metallic carbon fibre pads without any noise or excessive dust:

http://public.fotki.com/Scotian/300m/exterior/razorstar_wheels/slotted_rotors/dcp_0285.html

If you want more gripping power, no matter what rotors you use, you have to use pads other than OEM with a higher friction reading. If you want your rotors to last longer, freeze them. Slotting seems to be the best to keep everything nice and flat and clean. Cross drilling can have a similar effect if the pattern is good.

Chrysler 300M

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