I've used both the Ragg Topp and the 303 and I prefer the 303. I think the 303 lasts a little longer and repels water a little better.

 

Took the XF to a car meet at the local Kmart shopping centre in southeast Queensland Australia . It always attracts a lot of attention. Like what make is it, how old it is, and neat car mate, I have never seen one before, these are the types of comments that it gets.


On the way to the Kmart car meet

 

Yesterday was not a good day, change oil (with my new Topsider MVP), 1st time used loved it. New filter and O-rings, new air filters, and new tie rod assembly. The tie rod assembly was a lot easier than I thought it would be, didn't even have to take of the pan on the front end. I was on my way to have front end alignment, 3 lane hwy. I'm in middle lane, see my turn coming looked in my rear view mirror, one vehicle in left lane a ways back, turn signal on and preceded to move over, right into the side of a Chevy Equinox. It caught the side of the drivers door and part of the rear fender. Some damage to the Chevy. Police came, wrote up paper work and we exchanged it and I got a ticket. $166,
basically failure to yield. Came home and was depressed and pissed at myself. My top was up, it was setting in my blind spot. Got the alignment this morning and have an appointment at the collision shop Friday morning. No one was hurt and they isn't much damage to the car, mostly door and beginning of the rear fender. It is repairable, I just feel so stupid. 1st accident with any of my vehicles in 30 years.

I tried to attach a picture, would go, acted like it was stuck. Try later. Keeps showing only 10% completed? Finally got it loaded.

 

I have a coupe and with the mirrors adjusted just so, there is no blind spot. I can watch a car in the rear view mirror and follow it into a side mirror and then see it beside me in the window. The other car can be seen in two mirrors or mirror and window all the time.
The mirrors do not show the side of my car at all unless I lean to that side.
My wife can always can see the side of her car, I always ask her if she needs reminding what colour it is.
It takes a bit of confidence to drive like this but you can work your way up to it.

 

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure it sucks. Hope you can get things fixed up with out too much trouble.

 

Very sorry to hear about that. Stuff happens...even every 30 years....Glad they're going to get everything fixed.

 

Hi D John 14296
Sorry to hear about your misfortune with your car.....Hope you get it sorted out quickly.

FITH

 

Thanks for the information, my mirrors are set the same, I guess I was into big of a hurry. BTW, truck driver for a number of years, so using the mirrors should be 2nd nature to me, just my stupid mistake.

 

Only a big man will admit such a mistake, good on you.
For the info for others here is the mirror setup suggested. CLICK

 

I got my leather handle covers and fitted them to my door handles
Very nice fit and good look with quality leather

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=815241069026

 

I installed the new Alarm Siren which also chirps with the remote door Lock and Unlock
I needed a gear puller tool to remove the wiper arm from the posts
I also needed a nut to secure this new alarm siren as it has a threaded stud to attach to the existing bracket
The nut that hold the wiper arm is the same one you will need for the siren to attach it to the bracket
I didn't have a Torx bit to remove the Torx security screw that held the OEM siren so I simply turned the siren itself to loosen it from the bracket.
A photo below shows the "Torx Security Screw" in the old siren

Link to purchase >>Mercedes Alarm Siren - Genuine Mercedes 2198203226


Alarm Siren








Gear puller tool used to remove the wiper arms

 

I'm wondering if there is a date code on these "new" modules.
I'd hate paying that price only to find out it's been sitting on a shelf somewhere for 10 years.

 

Sort of interested in this since it chirps when locking car. Our 2006 VW New Beetle does that when it locks & it's a nice feature to confirm the car locked. Thanks for the link.

 

Seemingly there are two alarms that fit our car, one uses a nut and one uses the bolt that we use now.
CLICK

 

I have found (through cross-references) that there are many sirens that fit/work in the place of the listed part number. Check the OEM number and then look for cross-references, you'll be surprised at the price differences when put in a lower priced vehicle. Good luck!

.

 

But do they beep? The listed replacement for the OEM one in our car does not.

 

Finally got around to installing the DS wiper arm grommet today. Had to cut the opening a little as the wiper arm shaft was clear over to one side of the opening. Probably why Karmann didn't bother installing the grommet on the driver-side. Poor design and/or manufacturing of the cowl.

 

I wrote a post about this a few years back.
What I think is it was poor QC, some idiot with a hangover did the computer drawing, then another idiot in procurement bypassed QC and went ahead and ordered 100,000 of them from a supplier. When they came in, they all just scratched their collective heads and decided that no one would notice, after all it's just a $45,000 car

 

The newer ones do beep. They seem to be (through cross-references) in jeeps, and a line of Chryslers, as well as MB's. But the MB prices are very high. If you find a compatable Chrysler siren from a newer vehicle on fleabay you could have a good price range. Takes a lot of research.

.

 

I had mine go bad about 3 years back and I ended up taking it to a band saw and cutting it open to see why it failed. It ended up being a NI-MH rechargeable battery that started to leak over the board causing it to short and make the alarm go off at random times while I was driving (that was fun). I removed the battery then soaked the board in a simple green/water solution in an ultrasonic tank for about a half hour. This removed all of the corrosion and cleaned the board up. After this, I soldered a new battery in and conformal coated the board to protect it if it ever happens again. It has been working perfectly ever since. If anyone is good with a soldering iron, you should be able to do this as well. The battery was only about about 10 bucks and I used JB weld Marine to seal it back up. Im testing my memory but I believe the battery was a Varta V150H like the one in the picture below. Just be sure if you do try to do this, you only cut through the outer layer of the plastic and not into the board. I just rotated the blade around the spot where it was plastic welded together little by little until it opened up. I like this method better because I could guarantee it has a new battery to survive the many years to come.