Hello my new family! I have been lurking these forums for a few days now and I've finally built the courage to reveal myself.

About me, well I'm a 27 year old guy from Salt Lake City, Utah. Don't worry though, I learned how to drive stick shift with a Mustang 5.0 in the middle of a blizzard and drove that car for 3 years. RWD is only scary in the snow if you don't have to deal with it 6 months of every year. Plus we have a pretty good snow plow system out here. (I laughed when Texas got an inch of snow and caused a 100+ car pileup). The first day in that 5.0 I learned my lesson. (I wonder what would happen if I floored it...) Yep, ended up in the lane of oncoming traffic with more experienced drivers going into MY lane to dodge me. It was epic!

Now that I'm older, I'm prepared for this car.

So I got the car for 16k with 13.5k miles on it. It's black (I know, some of you guys hate the black ones, it's the only one in Utah afaik!) I got the coupe, no convertible for me. I would die!

About the low miles, it sat on a showroom floor in Ohio for 4 years before anyone bought it! The previous owners bought it and it sat in their garage every winter. He was losing his house and he had to sell the car in order to save it. Win Win!!!

I got a COMPLETE warranty (It's even better than manufacturer's because I can put mods on it, they just won't replace mods or damage from mods) through my credit union (100% refundable if I don't use it) for 4 years or 80k miles, whichever happens first. Pretty sure since I've put almost 1k on it since I bought it two weeks ago, I'll hit 80k before the four years is up!!!

So I took it to a dealership and they did a pre-purchase inspection, everything was good besides the front tires. The previous owners put brand new Eagle F1 All Seasons on the back and on monday I'm getting them put on the front.

I'm ordering the SRT-6 Decals! I love the fact that this is a Mercedes. Pretty much the best deal on the planet, bang for the buck. I couldn't be happier with the car I chose. To think I almost bought an STI for 10k more...

So, I have a few questions.

1. The anti tow away feature. Is something supposed to illuminate when I turn it on? I press it and there is no way of telling whether it worked or not... Hopefully it's not broken.

2. There is a little orange lit device with three buttons up near the window behind the interior light switch. I have no idea what it does and nothing happens when I press the buttons.

3. When I press traction control, is it "on" when the lights come on the tach or off?

4. I seem to lose the ability to accellerate when flooring it while making turns. Kinda scary. It feels like it has some sort of safety device and it does it whether the traction control is turned on or off.

5. I originally noticed it was shifting around 4k rpm's but tonight it seemed to be going all the way up to 6k. I don't know what changed but that's also scary.

6. A guy at the chrysler dealership told me a guy who was in germany had someone download a flash to his ECU in germany for 100 bucks and it basically turned it into a completely different car. It unlocked things that seemed to be turned off from the factory version. Is this cheap or did he get hooked up fat? I noticed needswings does the ecu tune for $1300+ and if it's merely just downloading pre-determined information to the ecu that seems pretty steep for a simple ecu update.

7. I'm installing an alarm soon for this car, I just don't trust this area. I'm going with the 5902 Viper with digital tilt sensor, glass break sensor, viper illumation, backup battery/siren, of course the bypass module and possibly the "VIPER, STAND BACK" customizable voice module with "Arnold Schwarzenegger" or something typically as awesome like a rick roll or something as the warning message. I heard it attracts alot of attention though so I might see if I can get a turn off switch for places like malls, theatre's etc.
What do you guys think? I was gonna go with the Ravelco but then I decided for 500 dollars a few kill switches would be just as good.

8. I wanted to remove the resonator but they said it would be about $1000+ to get it done at the dealership... that seems pretty lame. I could get a Borla installed for cheaper than that!!!

Any other tips or tricks for me? I'm not much of a car guy, this is my first amazing car. Previously I had a 1992 Civic POS edition with "Break in features" like the Hazard switch to turn on the radiator fan etc.
Before that it was a Geo Metro.

I'm glad to be part of this family and I can't wait to show you guys pics!!!

(Sorry for the long post, but I plan on being here for a while. Figured you guys better get to know me now because you won't have much choice here in the future )

 

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new beast.
There are plenty of answers to all your questions in both the Owners Manual and here on this fantastic forum. Take your time searching and you'll be amazed by the wealth of knowledge available here.

 

Welcome to the family!!! I will try to answer your questions, though other people may have additional comments.

I haven't ever seen the 'light' come on when I press the tow toggle on my dash

That is the electronic garage door opener. Check the manual for how to program it.

If the light is on, on the dash...then the traction control is off.

If traction control is on, then you will see yourself losing power pretty quickly when you break traction. Even with the traction control off, the car will pull power when you hit a bit further of an angle off center.

Not sure what this could cause this. Different pressure on the pedal. If you mash the pedal you will stay in the gears longer before shifting compared to just putzing along down the road

There is nothing simple about modifying and tuning the ECU. Eurocharged does great work and you will find a lot of people on the forum with high praises. I definitely suggest them. Check out Eurocharged Performance and Tuning- Exotic and European Tuning Specialists


That's really steep for removing a resonator. I would suggest going to the dealer for as little work as possible. My advice would be to find a good aftermarket shop in your area and go talk to them about doing some of the modifications you want.



....again, welcome to the family. Enjoy the car, be safe, and drive it like you stole it.

 

Thank you very much!!!

This reminds me. Tomorrow I am going to print off the entire manual (It didn't come with one) and put it in a plastic sleeved binder so I can have it handy at all times.

ELECTRIC GARAGE DOOR OPENER!?!?!?

THAT is freaking AWESOME!!!!

Thank you for answering my questions. I am so stoked about this.

Good to know my car isn't broken with the power issue. I guess it's just spinning the tires and I don't know it.

 

Welcome to the perma-in grin family! The shifting could be based on how hard you push it. There is also a W / S button near the shifter. W is winter and it will start in second gear. S is your performance setting. I wouldn't mess with the alarm. These cars have an incredible anit-theft system. A good muffler for the SRT might be a Hooker Aero Chamber (1 in / 2 out) with your stock tips or custom ones.

 

The first way to check to see if it is spnning the tires is to check the dash when you punch it.

If the traction control light is flashing... you are spinning the tires.

 

Well, not to alarm you...but if the "power" thing happens while going straight down the road, they have an IC pump failure that will happen sooner or later. Not a big deal to fix, but will cut your power. Drive it awhile, get use to it, and then ask questions if the power seems to come and go. More than likely the traction control was saving your butt. Time will tell. Show room in OHIO....you shop long distance,, got to love that...and black is a great non-color car...don't let these guys tell you any different...

 

Hey thanks everyone for the replies!!!

The loss of power is definately only happening while turning, like pulling out of a gas station, stomping it to peel out a bit it will spin then lose power then even out. Kinda sucks, I wanna drift!!!

Oh well.

I actually bought the car here in Utah. The previous owner's we're the ones who bought it from a dealership in ohio in 09' with 100 miles on it.

But still, 13.5k miles is pretty sexy imo. I've been wanting a crossfire for SO long and for me to get an srt-6 out of the deal is just amazing. This car is a TRUE sleeper. NOBODY knows about it and all of my friends are like W T F. They swear by souping up nissan 240's, 300zx and if you MUST go newer, get a 370z.

Now that I have this.. I think they are changing their minds.

 

These cars have a very agressive traction control. Turn the traction control off when leaving the gas station but be careful! Even with the traction control off it will kick in again at around 4K rpm. With my V8 I almost have to leave the traction control off because any little jab of the throttle causes it to kick in which makes it feel like the engine quit.

 

yes sir, I agree...definetly the TC is saving your butt. It will over-ride even if you turn it off. There is a way to disable it, but you need to get use to it for awhile before we teach you that trick...then you can drift away...just save your $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

haha!!!

You guys are awesome. I am a level 1 SRT-6 owner for sure!!!

How many speeding tickets before I ding level 2?

 

well, it will get you those if you aren't attentive...my 30 yrs in law enforcement will vouch for that....lol

 

I'm looking to replace my front 18" tires and was wondering if 225/40/z/18 is the only size that would fit or if I could make do with any other sizes?

Trying to find a list somewhere and even big o tells me nothing.

 

I also am "new" had mine for about 3 weeks. You may have got the DEAL of the century! I also have a Viper alarm/remote start system on my Porsche. I really like its features, the remote has a display that shows the status of every interlock switch. The down side is it uses a lot of current when idle, it will drain a new car battery in 30 days.
Our cars have a factory installed alarm, not sure what you hope to gain with an after market system.

 

Remote start is really all there is to gain afaik.

The 5902 is pretty and shiny but other than that, not worth the price of a sidegrade.

 

you can have the resonator deleted at a muffler shop for about $100.... Just find a good shop that does stainless steel and go for it.....

Here is a link to show you what you need and how it should/could be done... I did this same method to mine... love the sound..just the right amount of growl....and loss of weight dosent hurt either.....

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...r-removal.html

 

I think you will find that to make the remote start work, you will have to defeat the cars alarm system and some other interlocks. The wiring system is very complex on these cars.

 

Welcome to the Forum.

Only thing I don't think was covered by other members was the tow switch. You don't need to "turn it on". It's on automatically. You do need to turn it off when getting towed and I believe that is when you use the button and the light illuminates. It's in the manual as well.

Enjoy the ride.

 

Don't even think about defeating the factory anti=theft system. It has to operate to start the car.

You can run 235 40 18 in the front but I would run at least a 265 or 275 tire in the rear. 235's may require you to trim the threads protuding from the the upper ball joint nut.

 

Welcome to the forum.
The 2000rpm shifting difference is definitly is the Summer/winter switch.
As far as the Electric garage door opener you can control up to 3 different home systems forinstance Garage door, additional garage lighting and or interior security lighting.
As far as changing the security antitheft on the car,? Mercedes Benz wrote the book in this field. save your money. It is flawless! removing the resinator for, as Mike R. said about $100. You will like the sound but if loud is what your after that may not be the answer. If you take the money you can save on a additional security system you have a good start on adding enough horse power to get that sound where you'll like it. H/P= sound.
Enjoy your new ride it could very well be the finest automobile you will ever own...
Montana