Chrysler 300M

easyrider300m

excellent taste in wheels--how much do our 17 inchers weigh---all that added weight takes power from the M---but they sho do look good!

Only reason I wouldnt consider them is the have the words "Steal Me" written all over them---In some areas around Boston they would attract the wrong people---

Toms: what can I say---they gave it their all and came up short---But this is THE YEAR for the Red Sox!

Lakers King game is close. Should be an interesting final series

sdmike2

I was just up at the local grocery store and spied a brand new silver Special and driver sitting in front of the store waiting for someone. I walked up and gave him the "roll down the window" symbol and the conversation began. He's had the car for 3 weeks and absolutely loves it. I gave him a club card and he seemed genuinly interested. He started talking about the handling improvements over his typical SUV fare and wondered out loud if there was any aftermarket intake system for the car. Tada! I had him pull over two aisles away and we spent about 10 minutes crawling around inside Big Red looking at the Aircharger and other things. Just then his wife (the one he had been waiting for) walked up carring a case of wine and looking miffed that Buddy (they guy's name) wasn't waiting in front anymore. lol! Actually, she was nice too. They also indicated that they had seen glennbp's silver '01 around the neighborhood too.

Glenn...if you see the special, give them a wave. Nice folks.

M

ottowrkr

Kosh- nope we have no clue what our next cars look like. Only our union have seen them(why?)we get small hints from time to time, but nothing that anybody else does not know.Like RWD and V8 option that kind of thing

jab02lhs -PVO is like SVO at ford. It is a new division that hops up production cars and trucks.like the SRT-10 RAM

So much is being said how Lutz is bringing a car from Australia to be the next GTO, I for one think its a slap in the face of the whole GM division. Sure its a nice car ,but cant the GM team in North Americans build or design it.What makes GM think they can sell a RWD V8 2 door car from Australia any more then a RWD V8 2 door car built in Quebec( The Camaro or Firebird)

sdmike2

hear hear! Now if that sucker had 4 doors and could fit 3 car seats across the back...and didn't cost as much as a flippin 540i I might be interested.

glennbp

I saw it twice during the past week, but neither time was I in a position to flag em down. Nice lookin Special - love that silver!

300michael

That is why I went with the three thinner spacers to get the same 11mm thickness. The bolts went on all the way so I do not have to worry about checking them. I did take out the car to test drive it the feel is the same, but something can be said for knowing their there. I also had to grind (inlarge the one opening for the rear bolts) down the engine mount spacers to get them on. That mount must be a special mount, as I have not seen that part number before.
I will shop tomorrow for a suitable box for my air box, and then it is the job of narrowing down the hood scoop duct. The engine bay is getting a little short of head room.
I guess I will not be doing my valve lettering this weekend.

300michael

And will see what makes it tick. I would like to be able to add some more guages in it (Trans temp and volts, and such to it, if possible. Plus I did like the idea of the radar dector lights in the cluster. Another toy to play with.

sdmike2

The interior is a nice two-tone scheme with the dash and trim a charcoal color and the seats light. Looks real nice. I told him I'd trade him my tires for his if he's the type to go to the mountains in the winter. He didn't bite.

easyrider300m

it sure has some nice wheels and tires--sure wish they did that on the regular M---18" 235x40 tires on the Monaro--notice how nice it fills the wheel well area and is almost flush with the outside edge of the wheel opening---reminds me of the BMW tire look----But $40g's? I would have to check out the Infinity G35 first..

jrease

I ordered new Yokohama Avid T4s from Tirerack.com for my 99 Deep Slate M. A noticeable difference in handling and noise to the better. I also had windows tinted with Llumar film (PT-38). Next mod may be burlwood dash kit or rear spoiler. Don't plan to go beyond that.

glennbp

That's exactly what I said. "I don't plan on going beyond that". Well, since then I have added about 6 more and counting. But I wish you the best of luck holding back! LOL!!!

easyrider300m

keep us posted on how you like the Avids---I am considering them for my next tire---how are they on exit ramps on the highway? How are they on wet roads? I wonder how they would stack up against the YOkohama 420's that someone mentioned on this board.

How much does tirerack charge for shipping---did you have them shipped to your installer or to yourself?

EasyRider300M

xxkhbxx

hey guys/girls im new here, got a 2000m and im dying to know if anyone else knows where i can get me a pair of those euro tail lights for my car. pleaseeeeeeee let me know ~

easyrider300m

maybe you mean the clear lens tailights--they are available for the 2001 and 2002 M's at your dealer

kosh_2258

I agree with your point. It think the resources exist at GM to do a vehicle like that here. But Lutz is in a hurry to turn things around in the US so he's going after existing vehicles anywhere in GM to do it.

IMHO the Holden line of cars is the type of vehicle they should be selling here. I think what happened is that GM corporate just ignored Australia as insignificant. Therefore they were free to design and build vehicles that weren't committeed and brand managed into mediocrity like their US counterparts.

Will the GTO cost $41k when it arrives here? Probably not. I suspect they'll target it in the low to mid $30's

Will DC be able to field something comparable with the new LX cars? I guess we'll have to wait and see. At least the talk of RWD, a coupe, and an honest to god manual brings hope.

kosh_2258

I assume your referring to those trendy chrome back, clear lens, red/amber/white tail lamps.

So far I haven't seen anyone offering aftermarket assemblies like that for the M.

300michael

Good Luck, on your "only two mods" commitment. For me it is in my blood, I can not seem to leave a vehicle alone. 40 and counting here, lots of LOL.

300michael

new Mercury Marauder. They really hyped up this car, and to find out it does only 0 to 60 in 6.89 seconds. That puts my M in good company, in keeping up with a 4.6L engine. The stats are equally unimpressive. I was kind of hopeing that it would help light a fire under DC's LH vehicles.

kimies

Will Do!! Though am not sure what you look like but could have had customer service page you over the intercom..something like this "Could the owner of the awesome modded out M, please come to the parking lot. There's another M owner who needs to be put to shame." hahaha. Just kidding..am sure we will meet for the next local get together.

blonda

I'm starting to see them around. Saw the dark blue on the freeway a couple weeks ago and my husband has a customer in Escondido that just bought one. Also silver. I woman in her late 40's maybe 50. She said she was looking at the Acura TLS and chose the special instead. My hubby's opinion of the special -- he doesn't like the way it looks. Likes my M much better (he liked the Michelen Pilots though).

cmyers300m

I'm with you on the Mercury Marauder...I believe the 0-60 I saw was 7.2 or 7.1, the M gets that with a 3.5L. What a disappointment for Ford owners. I read it has 302HP?? Now we all know that if DC would of put that HP in the M(and we all wish they would have), the 0-60 would be at least 6.4!!

glennbp

Just curious, but if one had the tools, could one install his own H&R sport springs and spacer kit? How complex is this and roughly how long should it take? Do you need a car lift?
Thanks for the help; this is going to be my next mod and I was wondering if I could do this and save the several hundred dollars in installation charges.

lonestarsled

You guys must realize, that car weighs in at 4200 lbs. LH platform is about 600 lbs lighter. Also with RWD and V8 the Mercury will have tons of bolt on engine goodies available at cheap prices, and the drive train will easily handle more HP. Consider the car a starting platform for mods.

As far as looks though, I do not care for the high roof line, thats old school.

guesswho1

don't know much about installing springs, but heard it's a good way to loose a hand...Ouch! i would put out the $$$ on that one.

lflowers

Well, I've completed my 1800+ mile journey from Dallas to Petaluma, California and started work at my new contract position here. My M made the trip in fine style, averaged 24.5 mpg with the cruise on 80 or 85 most of the way.
That's the good news, I guess. The bad news is I've never been so homesick in my life. I've worked on contract jobs away from home many times before, but I suppose I'm just getting too old for it (I'll be 63 next September). I really want to be home, but there are just no jobs there right now in my field (I'm a printed circuit board designer). I'm close to retirement age, but I have to work a couple more years to finish preparing for retirement. So homesick or not, I'm stuck here for a few months anyway. I haven't seen many 300Ms in this area yet (I've been here for almost a week so far).
Lynn Flowers
wishin' I was in McKinney, Texas

toms99

If you get bored with it let me know...I have been looking for one for my wife's 2001 Concorde. It looks like a direct swap-out. Whenever I drive her car (which isn't too often,) I can't stand the black guages!!

kimies

How 'bout this one fella's!!!! No RESERVE!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1833608299&r=0&t=0

ajpiii

I would pay to have it done... I know they have to pull apart the interior of the car to get at the bolts for the rear springs.... I also heard that transmission spacer is a royal pain to get done...

ottowrkr

As of May 2 we have built 34331 300M's, and 8091 specials. . Not sure who asked , but this is what I found out.

ottowrkr

http://www.detnews.com/2002/autosinsider/0206/01/b01-502833.htm to see how they all did

300michael

It takes a special tool to remove the struts, along with spring commpressor tools. It is a lot of work better part of a day, it took the shop guys 7 hours. So figure it will take a person like us longer since we do not have their tools.
I put on the spacers early yesterday. it should have been a simple job raising the engine, but it took an hour grinding (10mm is very thick metal) down the engine spacers to get them to fit. The rear was another story. I have the 28mm (you would need at least 35mm bolts to use the spacers) trans mount bolts and when I put on the spacer only 3mm of bolt was left, not enough thread for the nut. So I took some sheet metal (3.3mm) and make three spacers two for the bottom of the mount and one for the top of the mount (I used the H&R one as a guide) and they worked perfectly. The job (if the spacers were designed right would have taken an half hour to do insted of the two hours because of the rear spacers and the regrinding of the front engine spacers. A faast test would be to see if you have any thread left over when you lay the spacer on the tranny mount bolts. If they are flush with the top of the spacer you are good to go if you don't bad news.
I would do it all over again, I like this look and improved handling. Sorry I haven't skid pad tested yet.

300michael

sorry tom, the 300M/LHS guage cluster doesn't fit the Intrepid/Concorde cluster. Besides it will be my test mule to see if I can move the instruments around a little. I do like the white guages during the day, but always like the electroluminesent ones at night.

ruski

also it has a solid rear axle and a body on frame construction.

300michael

Glad to hear you guys are getting your act together,LOL, but I like to go with the longer term ones like the one or two year. They tell a little more on how the car really does, over the long haul.

ottowrkr

Yeah I know , the best test of quality is a two to three year car and how it holds up .

What do you mean the the 300 cluster wont fit a Intrepid,it sure will I have seen it done.

bmadden1

Hey otto keep up the good work! I feel the build quality of the M is as good as any and that DC just needs to work on the quality of vendor supplied items i.e. "window regulators" and such.

Hats off to all you guys in the plant putting all these pieces together though!

jona57

lflowers-

Hang in there! Glad to hear the M took care of you on the trip. I'm convinced there is no better pure highway cruiser than the 300. I remember how hard those temporary assignments can be from my years in the service. At least you can look forward to returning to Texas. I loved the Hill Country, but my better half is a confirmed Midwesterner.

Jon

dukeofdallas

Can anyone explain why most aftermarket rims skip from 18" to 20". I'd like to go with 19s but nothing I like seems to come in this size. Also, can someone tell me how much rub they're getting with the Twinkies (20s)?

dogit2

Got a phone call today from someone I know who works at the Chrysler dealership where I originally purchased my Special and where I just picked up my replacement after recall three weeks ago. He told me that the dealership was informed on Friday that this new car was also being recalled due to engine concerns. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? I was very patient and understanding with the first recall, but if this turns out to be true when I check with the dealer tomorrow, the car goes back to Chrysler and I look elsewhere for a new car. Once is enough!

dukeofdallas

I found a good selection of 19" at http://www.superbuytires.com/

My rub question still stands for the 20s.

dubbed

i've had 20's on my car for about three years now. i have 99 non php 300m lowered 2 inches with 20X8.5" KMC UNITS on Nitto NT555 tires 245/35/20. i have never had any rub, lowered or at stock height. the rear rubbed once when i had too many people in the car after i lowered it. hope this helped

tom
(dubson300m)

dukeofdallas

Thanks for the info. Do you have any pictures up anywhere?

ruski

the other way to look at this is that Chrysler is taking care of you by recalling the car to fix something.

I wish Acura already issued a recall for the breaking transmissions in TL-S, but I guess they don't know how to fix them and there is no recall.

silverbee

Finally got one to our dealer.the first one I seen in Northern Wi.I'll keep my 2001 with the mods.Talked to the salesman for a while and he said there were 9 dealers trying to get a hold of it,so there must be a demand somewhere.
Later

blonda

That JD Powers survey says DC includes buyers of Mercedes. If that's the case, from what I've heard about MB initial quality, I bet you guys would have come out on top of GM if they hadn't counted the MB's.

sdmike2

what's the URL for your tip pictures? There's a guy on the club board that's dying to see them.

dubbed

i think theres some pictures of my car all over the internet. try www.customrides.net or www.20inches.org thats a couple of the sites.

tom
(dubson300m)

ottowrkr

blonda - yes, I also saw that and thought the same thing.

sdmike2

ahem....*snicker*

300michael

I have a picture of tom's (dubbs) 300M. Go to http://community.webshots.com/user/my300m_ , it is under (second page) Arizona 300M meet it is the one AZtom.