Chrysler 300M

illini4

The growl noise is from the belts. Mine does it and probably all the rest too. It will go away temporarily if you tighten the belts, but will come back shortly after. I don't even notice it after almost 6 years. The dealer is probably grasping at straws with the converter theory.

scotian

Should I be able to tighten the belts myself?

bigmike5

My gosh it is good to see your name again. It has been a long time since I have seen a post from you on the M board. Do you still make the designer clock faces? That is about the only mod I was afraid to try for fear of breaking something or causing rattles in the dash. Wish I had the dexterity to have tried it. My latest mod is louvers on the rear window. Got the proto-type from Visus since they decided not to produce it in mass. Maybe I can get Pat to post a pic if I can get the darn film out of my 35mm. Got some sweet shots but not enough to pull the roll. Going digital one of these days. Anyway, welcome back. :shades:

tayl0rd

Since there were no takers I'll field the question to ALL 300M owners. Does anybody know how much the factory California walnut wood trim kit costs? With and without the steering wheel?

scotian

Thanks! I've been pumping a bunch of $$$ into my car so I can keep it for a few more years, so my interest has perked up lately. Also, if I need to ever sell it, it should at least work. It doesn't look like it's 5 years old, so I see no need to replace it. Unless something really exceptional comes out in terms of price, looks, performance, which hasn't happened yet. There are newer, faster cars out there, but the only ones I would feel better behind the wheel than my 300M are really expensive. I often find myself thinking of other cars, "Yes, that car is really fast and all, but just _look_ at it! Ugh!"

illini4

Check the belt replacement instructions in the service manual. The adjustment screw for the serpentine belt is hard to reach. You need a long 3/8 extesion and a universal joint to get to it (I believe it's 13mm).

javidogg

To answer your question, I own a 2003 Special M, I think the Carbon Fiber Interior really looks nice in there, plus it gives it a sporty look and feel.

Adding the wood interior would make it look less sporty, simply because you have a body kit, chrome door sills, dual chrome exhaust pipes an a Special M, I think all that makes the Special M unique and sporty, by taking away the CBI and adding wood it would just make it a luxury sedan.

I like better the Special M.

tayl0rd

I agree with everything you just said, but I'm at the point where I would really like to see some wood when I hop in the car. I used to see a different kind, but now I want actual wood! :P (Sorry, I just couldn't resist.)

Now that I've added an '05 Mustang GT to the stable, I don't need so much sport appeal in my M. (Speaking of M, the Infiniti M Sport offers wood so I don't think it would really take too much away from my Special to have wood.)

easyrider300m

I also was considering adding wood trim to my Special..The easiest route would be to use the moulded trim offered by Joshua Tree. Is is not real wood, but from what I have heard, looks almost as good. And you have lots of color choices. It goes right over the long dash piece and the door trim. It's a 16 piece kit so it may not cover some areas you want covered.

pat

I had to remove some posts - we can't use the Forums to buy sell or trade stuff. Thanks for your understanding.

patg2

HI,

i was wondering if anyone is having problems with the inside molding around the windows...mine is pulling away...the black molding, which is pliable and the thin "plastic-like" molding...? thanks...pat

uniguy

I just joined. I bought a 2000 300M about 6 weeks ago and it has those beautiful chrome rims. I live in Iowa and winter is fast approaching. I was wondering if I should take any preventive measures to ensure that the road salt doesn't damage the finish. As far as I know, this car has always been in Iowa, so it's not like it has never seen snow before, but I'm curious.

easyrider300m

The solution to your weatherstrip shrinking problem can be found here:

shrinking weatherstrip

uniguy

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on avoiding swirl marks and scratches when washing my 300m. I generally take my it to the car wash and wash it by hand with the pressure washer. Sometimes I will wipe more dirty areas with a clean wash mitt after the area has been thoroughly sprayed to remove dirt and grit. I dry the car with "The Absorber", a synthetic chamois that is supposed to produce much less surface tension than a leather chamois, and therefore, should produce less swirl marks and scratches. You can also wring water out of more thoroughly than a leather chamois as well. Even though I am incredibly careful, I will occasionally get swirl marks or a light scratch in the clear coat. Any advice on how to better avoid this? In case you could not tell, I'm kind of OCD when it comes to my car, lol.

Bret

intrepidspirit

Go to zainobros.com for information on avoiding and removing swirl marks.

In a nutshell, American made 100% cotton towels with all stitching removed is best for preventing swirl marks. Zaino has excellent products for removing swirl marks and producing the shiniest finish available. I always use their products!

uniguy

Use a terry cloth towel? That totally goes against everything I have been told for years by very reputable sources. Terry cloth towels easily trap dirt and grit in their fibers which will scratch the paint. Towels also produce quite a bit more surface tension when run across the paint than a chamois will, causing more swirl marks. They are also not effective to dry a car because it is impossible to wring out all the water.

uniguy

I have owned my silver 2000 Chrysler 300M for about 2 months now. Although I do like it overall, I do have a few complaints. The biggest is that I feel a car that cost over $30,000 when new should have a smoother ride. I would expect the suspension to absorb bumps better than it does. With only 63,000 miles, the ride should not be remarkably different than it was when new. Also annoying is how easy it is to scrape the front end when going up or down even the slightest incline at slow speed. Even my stock splash guards scrape sometimes! A few nitpicks about the interior...rear floormats are way to small, analog clock would be more attractive without set buttons immediately to the left and right, what's the point of a cd changer if it will only play one disc at a time, poor placement and design of cupholders, driver's window squeaks when going up/down (I understand this is a common problem). These are small complaints and I do like the car, especially the looks! An adapter cable is available to directly connect an MP3 player to the stock headunit through the cd changer jack. Trouble is, you must disconnect the cd changer to do this.

tayl0rd

Different strokes for different folks.

I've never had any luck with a natural chamois. I can't get it to dry the car worth crap and it leaves swirls. The Absorber, OTOH, is a great product. Always had good results with it, but I have pretty much sworn off using anything other than my leaf blower to dry my cars now.

The best way to avoid swirl marks is to not wash or dry in swirl patterns. Go back and forth or up and down, not round and round. Choose your method wisely because once you choose a direction, you have to stick with it permanently! Otherwise, you'll end up with the swirl marks you're trying to avoid.

I just overhauled the finish on my '02 Special this past weekend. I thought the finish was finished. :P Nasty swirls galore! I gave it a good body scrub with Meguiar's Clearcoat Body Scrub and one coat of Zaino Z2 Show Car Polish and it looks fabulous! I can't even believe my own eyes! It looks nearly as good as the day it rolled off the assembly line.

I accomplished this by going just back and forth over the entire car. Turns out for me that it's actually more efficient and effective to go in one direction. I'm the type of guy who takes HOURS to detail my cars because I have to hit every square millimeter. :sick: It's like I go into OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) mode when I'm doing cars.

Concerning your other post:

Sounds like you got one with the Performance Handling Package. The ride is a good bit more firm than the Luxury Package suspension. Nothing you can do about that except swap out your struts and springs for some softer ones. You'll be sacrificing handling for a soft ride, but the 300M is a great handling car to begin with so it's not like you'd be rolling over on the rocker panels when you come to a fast curve.

As far as hitting curbs and stuff, you need to just approach them much slower and at an angle. There's really nothing you can do about that unless you want to swap out your entire suspension. Imagine how we Special owners feel. We've only got 4.5" of ground clearance in the front! I have to back out of my driveway really slowly and approach it at an angle coming or going. I could back in easily enough, but it's a pain trying to get backed in properly into a double door garage.

scotian

"With only 63,000 miles, the ride should not be remarkably different than it was when new"

Do you know what it felt like when new? Maybe that's how it always felt. As for it being smooth or not, that's very subjective. I like feeling the road, myself. Unless you are talking about fighting to keep the car driving straight.

"what's the point of a cd changer if it will only play one disc at a time"

You want to play two CDs at a time?

"An adapter cable is available to directly connect an MP3 player to the stock headunit through the cd changer jack."

Do you have more information on this? Sounds interesting.

I also have the front end scraping, window noise, etc. problems, but you get used to them. A different car would have different problems.

uniguy

I apologize if came off a bit...harsh. I really do like like the car overall. I could come up with faults in almost any vehicle. I have no idea how the car road when new. What I meant, was I wish the suspension would soak up bumps and potholes better. In regard to the cd changer, I meant I wish it would randomly play one song some from disc 1, then another from disc 3, then another from disc 2, etc....but it will only automatically switch to another cd when it has played all songs on a previous disc. In regard to the mp3 adapter cable, here is a link to some info about it link title It costs $70 and connects to the cd changer input on the back of the headunit. You will not be able to use the cd changer if you connect this cable, but that would not be a big deal for me because my mp3 player has a capacity of 30 gigs and has every song in my collection on it.

scotian

Thanks for the link! With a 30G mp3, I don't know why you're complaining about the CD changer! :-)

Do you have the performance handling package version? If you do, sounds like you would prefer the normal suspension. Offhand, I do not know how to tell if you have it or not, but the VIN# probably can be decoded.

uniguy

I don't know if I have the performance handling package. I might, because it handle the twists and curves with very little body lean. But my last car was a Buick, so an improvement in that area wouldn't take much, lol. I do have the window sticker, so I will have to look at it see if it gives any indication as to what handling package the car has.

Bret

uniguy

The driver's seat in my 2000 M has some minor cracking. I was wondering if anyone has ever used a product to make the cracking less obvious. I don't know if something like this would be available from a Chrysler dealership. If not, I would think a closely matched shoe polish would probably do well, but I'm a bit hesitant to try it. Anyone have a suggestion?

tayl0rd

Yeah. I suggest NOT using shoe polish unless you want some ruined clothes! :P

By cracking, do you mean just wrinkles or actual cracks in the leather? If it's just wrinkles, get a good quality leather cleaner/conditioner and you'll be fine. NOT Armor All wipes or some other vinyl protectant, but actual leather care products. Three that I have used and can recommend are Lexol, Meguiar's, and Zaino. Lexol is probably the best of those 3, followed by Zaino then Meguiar's, but you can't go wrong with any one of them. Lexol and Zaino have a nice, rich leather smell to them. Meguiar's is odorless for the most part and allows the leather's own natural smell to come through.

uniguy

They're just wrinkles in the leather, not deep cracks, but my seats are black and and they're really noticable. I'd take a pic and post it, but it's snowing really hard in my neck of the woods right now. I would think shoe polish would dry in a day or so? I use Meguiar's leather conditioner. It will help to prevent future damage, but will do nothing to hide or repair damage that is already done.

tayl0rd

The shoe polish'll dry in less than a day, but it's still going to be on your seats and it will still scrub off onto your clothes.

Just throw on an overcoat, get out there, snap a picture, post it, and let me see if I/we have any advice for you.

Worst case scenario, get some leather dye and go to town on the seats.

scotian

Here are my seats at 5-1/2 years:

http://public.fotki.com/Scotian/300m/interior/seats-1/seats/

uniguy

Check out http://home.mchsi.com/~m.novotny/300m/300m.html
It's a website that the previous owner of my car put together to advertise the car when it was for sale. Last, I checked, it was still online. It has a TON of pics.

itachromethang

I got 2 different sets of the chrome 17in. rims myself! interested?

tayl0rd

That's a great looking M you have there! But, dude, come on! I thought you had something terrible going on with the wrinkling. Those seats look fabulous for being 5 years old! There's nothing that can be done about that. That's actually just "character lines" of the leather. It makes the seats look more distinctive and it happens to every single car that has leather, from the cheapest car all the way up to a Bentley. If it doesn't wrinkle, it's not real leather. That's the way natural hides are.

Don't worry about it. The seats look great and no one that knows anything about leather is going to say otherwise.

On another note, it was interesting looking at the interior shots. I had forgotten about some of the decontenting that Chrysler did. I have an '02 300M Special and mine doesn't have the little red stickers on the locks or the directional arrows on the seat controls. I had forgotten that those were ever on the Ms.

Ahh, memories... :shades:

javidogg

Nice 300M, I like the chrome window switches, wish my 03 Special M had them, if you get bored of them, I be willing to trade you for my black ones. :shades:

scotian

Yeah, the condition of those front seats looks better than mine (but it could just be the lighting in the pictures), and the condition of my seats don't bother me.

Chrome switches? Blech! I bought a set of black switches off of a guy who had put a set of chromes in his Intrepid. I still have my old chromes, and while I tend to keep my old car parts "just in case", I really don't see myself ever using them. A set of black switches "just in case" would be better, so if you give me your address, I'll send them to you (I think I know where they are), and then you can send me your black ones whenever you're ready.

http://public.fotki.com/Scotian/300m/interior/power_switches/

uniguy

I like the chrome power window switches. I think they add a touch of class and elegance.

300mspecial

I have an 04 300M Special with 18 inch Michelin 3-season tires. I live in Michigan so, there's gonna be lots of snow soon. My question: what should I do about these tires during the winter? Should I definitely replace them? What about your experiences, people? Thank you.

uniguy

Anyone know how to program a keyless entry remote? I bought my car used and only got one remote. I can get a new OEM remote for only $15 or so on ebay.

scotian

As I said long ago when Chrysler put chrome around the windows and elsewhere, it made the car look like a painted whore. Or a BMW.

naatz1

I have the basic 04 300M (not special) with "all" season 17" Michelins which do just OK in winter here in Minnesota, especially the few times we get 4-6" of snow. I gotta think you'll need something better than 3 season tires.
However finding them in 18's without spending > $200 each for winter tires will be tough. I suggest you go to tirerack.com to do some research, best tire internet site I have found.

When my Michelin's wear out I plan to put on BFGoodrich Traction TAs. My son had them on our old Grand Prix which unfortunately we traded since the engine konked out. But with a smaller 2 door ZX2 and Coopers this winter, he misses the TAs. My daughter just put them on her Prizm (Corolla) so we'll have to see how good they treat her on a lighter car. They seem to be one of the better true winter driving all season and fairly high mileage radials around, I know they make them in 17s, just not sure about 18s.

Good luck!

javidogg

The remote has to be programmed into your cars computer and a Chrysler dealer is the only place that can do that, they charge some where around $55.00 to do that.

You need to go that route first.

quietflyer

The keyless remotes can be programmed without going to the Dealer. Your owners manual has the procedure for programming a new remote.
Here are the basics: Up to four remotes can be programmed into the car. With vehicle in Park, turn the ignition switch to the ON position.
2) Using a previously programmed remote, press the Unlock button on the remote. Continue to hold the Unlock button, wait at least 4 seconds but no longer than 10 seconds, then press and hold the Panic button for at least 1 second. Release both buttons simultaneously. You will hear a chime to signal that you can proceed with programming the new remote.
3) Press and release ANY button on each new transmitter to be programmed as well as the previously programmed remote. You will hear a chime when a remote has been successfully programmed. You will have 30 seconds to finish programming all new remotes. A chime will sound when the 30 seconds is over or the ignition switch is turned to the Lock position.
I hope this is a help.

scotian

Ah, so the panic button does have a use. I have an aftermarket alarm which does its thing including driving the factory alarm and uses a panic-less remote. The few times I had to use the factory remote when the aftermarket was deactivated I ended up hitting the panic button. An annoying, embarassing, and utterly worthless "feature". I opened it up and cut the lead to the panic button -- problem solved. Now, if the transmitter had a range of at least a half mile it could be used to locate your car in a parking lot, I suppose. Of course, if someone quietly stole your keys and remote at a mall, they could use it, too.

The panic button is as useful as the "caps lock" key on IBM compatibles. First, its name is completely wrong -- it is a "caps toggle" key. Second, I would often unknowingly hit the damn thing, furiously type a bunch of stuff, only to discover the capitalization was toggled. Infuriating. At least there's little software macros out there to deactivate it -- problem solved.

Who dreams up these things?

uniguy

Thanks for the info. I knew there was a way to program it myself.

Bret

uniguy

My two back tires seem to have a slow leak. In about two weeks, they will lose about 10 pounds of air. I find it hard to believe that both have a puncture. Do you think it could be a problem with the tires sealing around the wheels? I will have it checked out in the next week or so.

Bret

alcatrazt2

Just wanted to drop by and say hi.
It's been a while. As some of you may know, I switched to an 05 Audi A4 but I still have the 300M in my garage. Even though it's not my daily driver, I pretty much love the car and it's a great feeling to drive it once in a while.
Just recently, we pushed an A4 engine to a safe 400HP. I was wondering, what you all old timers think about the 300M engine. Is it capable of high end power/quality/what's the entire durability. Do the 3.5 gives major problems are is it the transmission that is to be worried about.

kylito

Hi everybody I have a 2000 m which originally had eagle ls tires which went straight off the car they were terrible. I am now trying the bfgoodrich traction ta's. They are terrible for hydroplaning and in the winter my M just wants to swing around. Any suggestions on any other tires be it either winter or all season. Driving this FWD car is worse than driving another car of mine with RWD and having cheap tires.

laurasdada

If you have the chrome rims, it probably is a wheel deterioration/rust/wheel fit issue. I was told by my tire shop (and read on these forums) that it is a common problem with chrome rims. They see lots of Chryslers and Caddys with this issue. I think your tire shop can fix, but not prevent it from continuing.

Good luck.

uniguy

I do have the chrome rims. Is there something that can be done to fix the problem or will I just have to put some air in once a week?

Bret

laurasdada

I think your tire shop can repair the existing rust, but I don't think you can prevent if from continuing to happen. That was my impression from my shop. You probably want to repair the rust you have and keep an eye on the psi in all the tires regularly. Or get new, non-chrome rims. Which I didn't want to do as I think the chrome Razorstars looked great! I did, however, trade for an Acura TL before I HAD to buy new rims...

scotian

http://public.fotki.com/Scotian/300m/lighting/projector_foglights/

tayl0rd

Based on what I've read at www.allpar.com about this 3.5L V6, it's over-built and can no doubt handle 400HP with little fuss. The transmission is definitely the thing to worry about. Afterall, that transmission is the reason the Specials didn't receive the promised 300HP even though the engine was tested to handle 300HP with ease.

naatz1

Very strange, the BFG traction TAs are highly rated for all around and winter driving (see tirerack.com). I have planned on switching to them on my M in a few years when my OEM Michelins wore out. I had used them on my sons old Grand Prix (before the engine konked out) the past two years and they wore well and handled about as well in winter Minnesota rural roads as the radial snow tires I used to use! Where do you live? You may need to switch to dedicated snow tires (at ~$150 ea. There are quite a few writeups of people on these 300M forums using different brand tires on their Ms with good success and while I would not rate the OEM Michelins as great, they do handle well in 3-5 inches of snow.