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Chrysler 300M

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Comments

  • beach15beach15 Member Posts: 1,305
    What is the differences in sound and/or performance with either the Rhino or Dynomax mufflers? They both do basically same job but which is better--or are they the same?

    What do you guys use to clean the interior dash and doors of your M's? As I mentioned before, the dark Agate shows a lot of the dust but I have just ran into another problem. This morning when rounding a curve and the sun was out, the dash reflection on the windshield was the worst I've ever noticed and I couldn't see a thing. I felt the car hit the grass on the burm a little but after continuing to turn the reflection disipated. I'm not sure what can be done about this but it's kind of a safety hazard.
  • rogor2krogor2k Member Posts: 385
    I guess we won't know until we can compare them side by side. I'm very happy with my Rhino and sdmike is very happy with his Dynomax, and that's what it's all about. I suspect they will sound very similar in comparison testing. Come to Monterey in August and judge for yourself. I'll be there and I hope sdmike can make it too.
  • bobhex40bobhex40 Member Posts: 63
    Is there s newer design or will the replacements at least fit better?
  • ir2k300mir2k300m Member Posts: 26
    beach15

    The dash reflection was one of the first things that my wife mentioned to me after driving our 300M. She said it was hard to see in bright sunlight. Not sure what the solution is. Anyone have any suggestions?

    Dave
  • pjyoungpjyoung Member Posts: 885
    Polarized sunglasses. It takes the reflection completly away.
  • ir2k300mir2k300m Member Posts: 26
    beach15

    The dash reflection was one of the first things that my wife mentioned to me after driving our 300M. She said it was hard to see in bright sunlight. Not sure what the solution is. Anyone have any suggestions?

    Dave
  • fuzzywuzzyfuzzywuzzy Member Posts: 958
    The reflections don't bother me at all. Sometimes I notice it, & most times I don't. I have to wear sunglasses most of the time in South FL, because the sun is so bright all day long. Even without them, I still don't notice it very much. What is a pain thought is the sunroof. Sometimes I want it open, but the sun shines right through it, & is too bright. Then I have to close it. That's a problem for me.

    I bought the Bosh spark plugs yesterday. They do have 300M specific ones. I went to their website, & got the right part #. I will install them this weekend, & might have time to do the next series of G-tech runs.
  • brianw300brianw300 Member Posts: 30
    The new design is better.

    I had mine done just last week, and they are %100 better. I asked the service manager if these are the same or a new design. He told me because it began to happen allot they redesigned for replacements. Hopefully they won't shrink.

    Brian
  • brianw300brianw300 Member Posts: 30
    I just attempted to attempt some sound deadening, and have decided that this wasn't the day to try. I got about 1/100th of what I wanted to do. It was a disaster. The first can of foam decided to spew aimlessly before I could get the tip/straw on all the way, and of course before I had the gloves on. The second can although the tip/straw went on with no problems promptly broke when I tried to bend it a little so I could get the foam to go up into the area behind the front wheel well.

    The only lessons I learned is what gets the foam off your hands and out of hair. For hands I (eventually) used nail polish remover and soilax. For hair I used the old buble gum trick peanut butter and a few finger nails.

    So I got about 2 square inches of foam in, almost two full cans of foam in the garbage, and an incredible stress level!!!

    I was hoping to do this before putting on splash gurds, but this is one that I will have to try some other day.
  • brianw300brianw300 Member Posts: 30
    DOes anyone else out there have pin stripes on there M? My M is steel blue and came with ugly brown pin stripes. I have read that some of you are taking off your lettering. I see the pin stripes as more a a nuisance while zaino-ing and a problem down the road as they'll probably begin to fray on the ends. anybody else out there have pin stripes and/or have taken them off?

    Brian
  • fuzzywuzzyfuzzywuzzy Member Posts: 958
    I have light black ones on my 00 silver 300M. I love them. Very happy the dealer included them. They are painted on, so fraying at the ends is not a problem. On my car they look good. Did you have no choice in the color of the pinstripe?
  • sdmike2sdmike2 Member Posts: 2,909
    All. Well, Ed is being a bit protective about those tips. All he would tell me through his phone monkey is that they are model LX2145. Maybe that's a lexus part number, but I'm not sure. He always calls them "lexus tips". Maybe someone here can dig around in a Lexus parts catalog and see if they can find a hit on this. I'm going to try to talk Ed into giving up the information at least on the manufacturer, as I doubt I'll get his supplier. Worst case scenario I'm sure you can order them from Ed. Here's his info:

    Ed Hanson Muffler
    3916 North Barcelona St.
    Spring Valley, CA 91977
    619-698-7030
  • 300mlover300mlover Member Posts: 132
    Well, I put them in a week ago. And if you all think you get some nice looks now try putting these in. I decided to do all six lights. High's Low's and the driving lamps. I can't express how nice they look. In just the past week I had two people ask me what kind of car it is. I removed all three Chrysler nameplates so I can't make too much fun of them..don't you just love non automotive enthusiasts? And if you are wondering about how well they light rest easy they work great. They are much brighter close, but don't seam to reach as far with the brights. That doesn't bother me since I hardly ever use my brights any way. Install was kinda fun. You have to almost remove the whole front fascia. Kinda daunting, but fun none the less!
  • ajpiiiajpiii Member Posts: 260
    I ended up doing them too... At first the install scared the heck out of me... But it was worth it... Wouldnt really want to do it again though... (Did all 6 too)

    I like the way the Highs look in the day with the lights off as well.. You can see the blue from the bulb reflecting throughout light... Looks nice...
  • scotianscotian Member Posts: 1,064
    Is there a web site for these? These aren't blue-coated bulbs, right, they are clear and filled with Xenon and Halogen? Why does one have to remove the front fascia if they aren't a true aftermarket HID system?
  • fuzzywuzzyfuzzywuzzy Member Posts: 958
    See peoples.... There not so bad. Now I feel alot better not being the only one who put them in.
  • brianw300brianw300 Member Posts: 30
    I got my M as a demo with 800 miles on it. I really didn't have a choice. I can tell my stripes were not painted on, because I already see a tiny part of an end at the door peeling off. sigh!

    Brian
  • jedi_knightjedi_knight Member Posts: 89
    No I have not heard anything from H&R, I was supposed to follow up with Steve at H&R but just have not had the time to do it. I sent email to TireRack but they failed to reply at all.

    Keith
  • racefan009racefan009 Member Posts: 47
    you dudes talking about the bulbs off eBay???
  • rklassrklass Member Posts: 133
    Go with hand painted pinstripes. Check with new car dealers in your area, they probably have an independent striper come in weekly.

    Here is what I had done to mine:

    http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1501794&a=11408326&f=0
  • rklassrklass Member Posts: 133
    Here's an e-mail message I received today following an inquiry about 300M clothing:

    Hi! My name is Amy. I am the Parts and Accessories Rep for the Jeep Warehouse. I do have offerings for some items with the 300M logo, or name, or car imprinted on them. Here is what I have o offer:

    White Adult T-shirt sizes M-2XL 300 Millennium Muscle with picture of black 300M
    $19.98
    Neck Tie Light Gray in color at bottom of tie the logo 300 m, also has more Chrysler type name plates floating all over tie (nice looking, not gaudy, or over powering.)
    $35.00
    Also, quit a few T's and sweatshirts, and polo style shirts with the Chrysler Wings logo, also, have hats with Chrysler wings logo

    If there is something particular you are looking for let me know, I may be able to help.

    Thank you for your inquiry. I can be reached Monday thru Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern standard time at 1-800-339-7708.

    Or at the parts@jeepwarehouse.com
  • rogor2krogor2k Member Posts: 385
    If you're interested in getting the bulbs from the Ebay seller but don't want to mess with the auction, go to www.midnightmoose.com. The 9005XS and 9006XS are $19 per set and the H3 are $17. You can order all three with only one shipping charge. I've only installed the fog lights so far, wanted to see how they looked and be sure they wouldn't explode. They look OK and haven't exploded (so far).

    The rest of you guys have given me the courage to proceed with installing the lows and highs. I always wanted to take my front end apart anyway. You just never know when you're going to have to do that for an emergency!
  • seeburg222seeburg222 Member Posts: 24
    My inferno red 2000 just turned a year old and was also beginning to get grimey under the hood. I have always used Simple Green cleaner with great success for cleaning engine compartments on newer cars.

    When I had the car at the dealer for inpection, I asked the service writer about it and told him I was concerned about all the electronics under the hood. He recomended covering the rectangular plastic box on the drivers side that has fuses and relays in it. I covered mine with alum. foil and sprayed everything under the hood with Simple Green (engine was cool). I then hosed it down with high pressure water and then blew it off with compressed air. We have hard water here in PA, if you dont blow the water off thoroughly, you end up with water spots all over. I also dab everything I can with a towel to make it look as good as possible. Needless to say, this is sloppy; you must then wash the rest of car as well. Once the whole car is washed and dried, start up the engine and run for a while to warm it up and drive off the remaining moisture.

    Simple Green is a very mild cleaner, its no good for a 10 year old car with baked on areas of hard black oil residue. What I really like about it is that is rinses off with absolutely no remaining residue. My engine now looks every bit as good as it did a year ago and by doing this once a year I'm sure it will stay this nice.

    -Frank
  • sdmike2sdmike2 Member Posts: 2,909
    That's about what we've been finding on the 300M gear. Lots of stuff with the chrysler wings, but not much at all with 300M.
  • sdmike2sdmike2 Member Posts: 2,909
    In my search for information on my tips I found the following article. Pretty interesting read on how exhaust systems work and what you can do to improve yours. They mention the Dynomax as one of the least restrictive on the market (yay!).

    Exhaust Information

    Big Red's new dual exhaust
  • 300mlover300mlover Member Posts: 132
    scotian- for some reason Chrysler decided to make it a complicated process to replace/exchange headlamp bulbs on th M. Regardless if you are installing HID-like or regular replacment bulbs you have to for lack of a better word "peel" the front fascia back a little to get the headlamp housing out of the bracket. The owners manual give you a very generic look at the process.


    Roger- I recommend midnightmoose also. They are the ones I bought mine from. These are the proper type to buy. They are optically dyed glass. Not the cheap coated bulbs. They are currently having a dutch aution on Ebay as we speak. You can get High's and Low's for $34.95 plus shipping here is the auction site. There are only 2 sets available. don't bid against each other they offer them every week. I bought my H3's for only $11.99 in a seperate auction


    http://cgi.ebay.aol.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=580805186

  • 300mlover300mlover Member Posts: 132
    again don't bid against each other this guy starts another auction almost daily


    http://cgi.ebay.aol.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=581085046

  • jedi_knightjedi_knight Member Posts: 89
    OK, since so many of you guys have these and seem to swear they are ok, I'm bidding on the hi/lo package and a set of H3's for the fog lamps. I sure don't look forward to removing the front bumper cover for replacement but.......oh well.

    Keith
  • hayneldanhayneldan Member Posts: 657
    Before installing lights check out this site, http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/
  • lalarrylalarry Member Posts: 56
    Looks awesome!! I'm sure you wouldn't mind if your baby wasn't the only one in So. Cal. with that exhaust system.. Next time I'm in San Diego, I'll be dropping in to see your friend.. I'll be in touch to find out all the details before I come down. Won't be for awhile though, just got my registration renewal. YIKES!!!
  • luvmylxiluvmylxi Member Posts: 3
    hi there all, I am here to BASH the 300M. I am a chrysler owner as well (2000 Chrysler Concord LEI) and beleive my LEI is a much better deal all around than a 300M. My Concord has the following features:
    leather
    DC changer (4 disc)
    9 infinity speakers
    Chrome aluminum wheels
    and all of those other creature comforts (climate control etc.)
    and the 300M has only 4 more options than the concorde:
    2 more infinity speakers (which you cannot hear)
    Bun warmers (which are useless anywhere but antarctica)
    a constantly malfunctioning seat memory
    and an all but imperceptible 25 extra horses under the hood.
    I paid $28,000 for more than well equipped concorde, after looking at the $33,000 price tag on the 300M. why pay some $5,000 more for 3 largely useless options?
  • mykemmykem Member Posts: 203
    Bun warmers (which are useless anywhere but antarctica)

    You must not be from Chicago ... or anywhere where it snows.

    But wait, there's more!

    My seat memories have always worked.

    and an all but imperceptible 25 extra horses under the hood

    I guess 0.5s better 0-60 times are imperceptible. Tell that to the rush hour traffic behind you when you're merging.

    2 more infinity speakers (which you cannot hear)

    By that logic, why do I have DTS-EX in my house when mono will do just as well?

    And who says we paid $33,000? I got my 300M fully loaded, minus PHP for less than $28,000.

    Options useless to you, of course. I guess we should all become you.

    -m

    To everyone: I know, I know... leave the trolls alone. This Sarcastic Scarf and Cynical Cap just won't come off quite that easily today.
  • denvermdenverm Member Posts: 358
    To luvmylxi, I'm not knocking your Concord; I owned a '93 and liked it a lot. My 2000 300M has a sunroof, upgraded stereo, chrome wheels, and PHG handling package, and I bought it new for $28,800 in July ($1,500 rebate). The extra power, seat heaters (in Denver) and memory are much appreciated. Beyond that, the M just looks great; it excites me to drive it and to see others on the street. The front end of the Concord is OK, but the rear is dowdy, IMHO.
  • dustinnewtondustinnewton Member Posts: 242
    Pinstripes are merely plain old vinyl and peel off easily. I recommend that you do it now. I had a black 85 Wolfsburg VW Scirocco that came with red ones. I liked them at first, but by the time I got ready to remove them, the vinyl had become brittle and it was a pain to get them off. On top of that, the paint had faded everywhere except where the pin stripes were! No clearcoats back then, so I doubt you'll hav ethat problem on the M, but pull those puppies off while it's still easy. No offense to those here who have and love them, but on the 2 M's that I have seen that have them, I think it detracts from the appearance of the car. That's just my opinion and yours can differ!

    All-I just noticed something about my M as I was washing the engine last night after it's bath. Has anyone else noticed the bubble levels for the headlights like the Viper has? If you haven't, pop the hood and look at the headlight pod from above. You'll see a small 1/2" by 1 1/2" slot between the two bulbs cut into the black plastic over the radiator. Look closely and you'll see two high precision bubble levels for headlight aiming! Cool! Never have noticed them.

    BTW-What kind of idiot who got a REALLY bad deal on a Concorde comes here to attempt to bash the M? That's like saying "My Yugo is almost as good as your Lexus and costs less!". He needs a bit more chlorine in his gene pool, and that's quite a putdown coming from an Alabama resident!! ;-)
  • mykemmykem Member Posts: 203
    you got me to reading the book on how to adjust 'em.. wow!

    Executive summary: full tank of gas, level surface, proper tire inflation.

    It is cool, nonetheless! Want more cool? The book says there are reference marks on the lenses to assist in locating lamp centers.

    We've come a long way since sealed beam headlights, baby!

    -m
  • easyrider300measyrider300m Member Posts: 1,116
    i think you way overpaid--you paid almost full list if you paid 28k. I bought my y2k in march 2000 with , chrome wheels, sunroof, full spare, wheel locks, gas lock, upgraded 4 Cd player stereo. I paid 28,600 for a 32,300 list vehicle and thats without any incentives. Instead of rebate, I took the 1.9% financing for a full 5 years on the full vehicle price.

    The M has better looks and more features and is more performance oriented. Bigger wheels are a plus and xtra horsepower can be the difference between surviving or being run over by an 18 wheeler when entering the highway.

    They give me a free loaner whenever i bring it in for any repairs.

    so much for your bargain--but enjoy your Concorde--they're both fine automobiles.

    Easyrider300M
  • 300mlover300mlover Member Posts: 132
    It is unfortunate that you can't tell the difference between the Concord and the 300M. It is so obvious to so many others. In my opinion the Concord is a little granfatherly. I mean when I see one it reminds me of my granfather's old Chryslers. Stylish, but not awe inspriring good looks like the 300M. You must be the kind of person that buys sirloin instead of filet because it's $4 a pound cheaper. Even though the filet is so much more flavorful. Oh, buy the way if you really paid 28K for the Concord you just paid for your salespersons Carribeen cruise vacation! I bet he sent you a fruit basket didn't he.
  • 300michael300michael Member Posts: 1,815
    About the cans of foam. A good trick is to add and extension using a piece of flexable tubeing. I usually add another 12 inches, that way the can, can be turned upside down and still get into the hard to reach places. Replace the extension after you use about half a can or they will begin to clog and the connection will let go foaming you in the process.
    Second wear gloves and a facemask (full face) like the wood workers uses in wood shops. I like you learned this the hard way. I still have a couple of carrage supports to do. Am spraying under coating near the exhaust humps to reduce more noise.
  • 300michael300michael Member Posts: 1,815
    I we went to look at the LXi's even before the 300M's came out. I think they are the best looking LH vehicles. (remind me of an Jag XKR om of my favorate vehicles) But they were to large. If it had the 3.5 and the auto stick, I probably be driving one today. But alas, it didn't so I forked out the 27K for my 300M back in 99. To me the price differance was 2k at the time. I do like the extra power and it is much better handling car on the twestys. Yours is better for carrying 6 people (more rear leg room and a bigger trunk). Both are fine cars depending on what you want the vehicle for.
  • 300michael300michael Member Posts: 1,815
    That is the great thing about this group. Many of us are changing to dual exhausts, but doing it in slightly different ways. We each of different goals and demands on what we want our systems to do. Plus what we are willing to spend to achieve those goals. I am happy with mine and have enjoyed it for well over a year now. Some of you are just getting into it and have the benefit of hind site. People who are thinking of getting this done will have the advantage of looking at all the posibilitys that are avalibile at different price ranges. Viva a Difference!
    One question, has anyone put just a plain Y in place of the front collector as my Midas shop wanted to do?
    I have not seen a bad dual exhaust system yet, from you guys.
  • sdmike2sdmike2 Member Posts: 2,909
    Nope! The more the merrier. If you want we can make arrangements for you to listen to mine before you have yours done. That way you'll know just what you're getting and can make any changes you may want. Drop me an email if you're interested. I've already posted the name/address of the muffler shop on here, but if you need it again let me know. I can also tell you exactly what I paid so you can make sure you're getting at least as good of a deal. Ed should recognize the diagram that I posted on my site.

    Big Red's Lungs
  • sdmike2sdmike2 Member Posts: 2,909
    Interesting concept. It would be cool to hear it, although I think it would detract from the "tact and luxury" of the M by making it sound like a pickup truck that dropped its muffler... but you never know! Worst case you can always cut the Y out and put a collector in there if it was too loud.

    I agree with you on the value of this group. I never considered putting duals on my M until I read, saw, and heard about it in this forum (I'm not typically a tinkerer). I truly appreciate the effort put forth by those before me that documented, diagramed and photographed what they have done with their cars so we can all see what's possible and make our own informed decisions. This is why I documented what I had done too...giving some back to the group.

    Mike
  • sled1sled1 Member Posts: 6
    As a fellow Auto Enthusiast I am looking for some feedback and am coming to the 300M site, with questions for all regarding the 3.5 motor... I purchased a 2000 LHS 11 months ago. At approx. 3000 miles the car started to have a rough idle almost like it has a miss. No check engine light and no variation in the tack! The dealership has had the car in 7 times now.. TO at the have installed a No pilot and down loaded the info to Chrysler who says no problems the car runs with in factory acceptable tollerences. The dealership and oh area re ark. that the car idles rough. They have checked each coil pack, injector, plugs the timing and for TSB's. Last week they decided to try a TOP ENGINE CLEANING, thought maybe there was carbon build up causing it. Well, as I suspected the car still runs with a rough idle now with 17,000 miles on it NO there telling me the cars all run that way. I asked them where inmy owners manual does it say that the car comes with a rough idle. Also does any one experience what is referred to as bump shift.. This is when the car slows down and then when you start to accelerate it feels like the car is tapped from behind this is most noticeable below 20 mph.
  • sdmike2sdmike2 Member Posts: 2,909
    Did they check the vacuum tubes? Also, I've noticed a 'bump shift" with my car as well. That's why in bumper to bumper traffice under 10mph I like to use my autostick.
  • 99_300m_ric_va99_300m_ric_va Member Posts: 377
    Try the Bosch Platinum +4 spark plugs. They make the idle a little smoother. Maybe they will help you.

    The 42LE transmission seems to like to stay in high gear too long after deccelerating and there is a delay in moving to a lower gear when reaccelerating. The dealer may be able to program this out. The quick fix is to use autostick and downshift it yourself just before accelerating. Of course, there is a slight delay is when you move the stick and when the tranny actually shifts.

    Yeah, I agree with sdmike2 in that I use autostick in bumper to bumper slow traffic. I like to stay in 2nd gear, rather than have every little momentary short burst of speed above 10-20mph put the tranny in 3rd or 4th gear. Saves the brakes a lot in slow traffic. Let the tranny control vehicle speed by feathering the accelerator accordingly.
  • pjyoungpjyoung Member Posts: 885
    I considered a Concorde. THen I drove an M. lots of "intangibles" there. Plus, the M is considerably shorter. I must have one of those European garages, because a Concorde would have been a tight fit. I've never had the seat memory fail, heated seats do quite well in America's heartland - trust me, once you've tried them you'll wonder how you ever got along without them. And since I got a model year closeout on my 1999 M, I paid $3,000 LESS than you did.
  • fuzzywuzzyfuzzywuzzy Member Posts: 958
    I have a brand new pair of the HIGH BEAM BULBS. I'm not using them. I will give them away to the first person who emails me for $5.00! This will cover the cost of shipping.

    JTalbot@BroadwayTrading.com
  • fuzzywuzzyfuzzywuzzy Member Posts: 958
    Seems you are suffering from a case of I over paid for my car, so I'm mad & now I will bash the car I really wanted. The 300M is a way better car then the concord will ever be.
  • fuzzywuzzyfuzzywuzzy Member Posts: 958
    Mine were painted on. I know because I watched the guy at the dealer do it.
  • beach15beach15 Member Posts: 1,305
    Are you absolutely nuts? The Concorde LXI is better than a 300M huh? First of all if you paid anywhere near $28,000 for you Concorde (I'm not so sure that's what you meant though because you mention the MSRP of both cars before any discounts) you are nuts. The Concorde is a nice car but is too commonplace on the highway and it needs some major lipo to remedy that big ugly butt. The 300M is much nicer with a very aggressive front end (the main reason we liked and bought the car) with a very short and sporty knife-cut rear. This car is very European-like--not big and boaty like an old American car.

    As for the features, I have a 2000 deep slate/agate 300M with the sunroof, full spare, great-looking 17" chrome wheels, and that big 11-speaker stereo with a CD Changer. I never heard the standard stereo before--the one you only have as an upgrade--but mine is superb, almost like being in a concert. And those magnificent 17" chrome wheels just make the car look even better--not at all like those ugly 16" Medallion things on your car. I love those bun warmers no matter what the day is like--they just sooth your back--and while the memory is nice it can be a little wacky sometimes when it doesn't work.

    Performance is a whole other issue. I have never thought the 300M is quick or even nearly as fast as that 253-horsepwer suggests (note, none of that power comes on fully until your at 6400 RPM, come on Chrysler!) but with 20 less horses I can't imagine how slow your car is.

    Price wise, I again have a little bit of an issue. The 300M drives very much like the gussied up Intrepid that it is--that's not all bad but could be better. As for the Concorde I just don't see why its price is kind of high also. Solution, lower the 300M's price to the Concorde level and then drop the Concorde itself down a bit. But then again why bother? With all the incentives and dealing dealers, you can get a great 300M for a pretty good price. My dealer's price was simple: $32,360 MSRP - $3,000 rebate - $2,000 dealer incentive = $27,360. This was offered over the phone in about two minutes without haggling. The same dealer also had fully-optioned LXI Concordes at the same time for $22,600.

    I hope you like your Concorde but just remember, each of us 300M owners LOVES our cars ten times more!!
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