I would suggest you locate an independent Mercedes-Benz repair facility. Those of us that use a local shop for some repairs and/or service similar to yours, take our cars to a shop the works on M-B cars. I've got a really good one near me and I would imagine you could find one also. These shops won't fix anything Chrysler specific, but the chassis & powertrain is M-B's R170 design and they will be able to handle anything required for that model line.

 

I concur with dedwards.
I think you have got your steering out of balance left to right when you installed the new steering piece on the front. When you get your car to a decent alignment shop TELL them what you have recently installed on the front. As the Crossfire came from the factory the only alignment adjustment in the front or the rear was toe. There are adjustable bolts available from several sources which replace the OEM bolts on the lower control arm to give you some adjustment to the camber and caster on the front. Those adjustable bolts will have a washer on them that is cut on a side so they do not look round like an O. Those are visible when looking at the front lower control arm. There are also available adjustable bushings, but again those are after market items. DO NOT mess with the steering wheel until you are certain ALL the steering links on the front are correctly adjusted and balanced as to left and right. When the shop has that completed they will center the steering wheel and adjust the toe.
The rear also has after market bolts or bushing available that will allow adjustment to the camber. As the Crossfire came from the factory only toe is adjustable in the rear.
It is possible to remove the steering wheel and physically move it in relationship to the steering column, but that really should not be necessary if everything under the car is correct and no one has had the steering wheel off in the past for some other repair.
PS. NEVER, NEVER!!! loosen the lower control arm bolts by twisting the head of the bolt! Loosen those bolts ONLY by twisting the nut. It is the only safe way to get those bolts loosened.
PPS A good shop familiar with Mercedes will also increase the caster by about one degree on the right front hand side (If the caster is adjustable!) to allow for the crown of the road.

 

I believe the steering remedy is another alignment making sure the steering wheel is locked level before doing the alignment. The mechanic used a device to lock the wheel level but he just didn't make sure it was " locked level. The work is guaranteed but I had already told them I was taking them to small claims court and so going back is not a good option for me. I'll just have to take it somewhere else for another alignment. Think court would be too much a hasell for the $230 labor charge I'd be asking refunded to me. Might just chalk it up to "too bad for me" and go on with life. I already rated them on Yelp with the explanation as shown in my post #99 above.

 

Nomad et all....FYI...In Tampa I have used M Complete Auto Repair the 2 years I have owned my Crossfire. Over a 100 years total Mercedes trained experience with the crew there. They are NOT the cheepest. They are NOT the fastest. What they are is trustworthy and Mercedes experts. They also like working on a Crossfire or 2.
For top issues I have used Robert Murphree @ Sunbrite auto works. Same there as M Complete. Professional. Same location for 40 years.

M Complete Auto
4411 N.Lois Ave.
Tampa ,Florida 33614
813.870.1250

Sunbrite auto works
3924 W. Crest Ave.
Tampa ,Florida 33614
813.873.9816

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Anyone have any experience with film wraps on cars? I was thinking of putting a silver wrap on the lower rocker panels, front and rear lower bumpers. I saw a blueish silver done that way it really looked sharp! Any opinions?

 

Early in this link you asked about areas to check ......and I don’t remember seeing any mention of checking your brake fluid moisture. Seeing you don’t have many records of past service this would be good to know.

........brake fluid systems are very complex, especially when equipped with traction control and anti-lock brakes and it’s very important that the fluid be clean and free of moisture and other contamination. Brake fluid is hygroscopic which means it attracts moisture, and when the moisture in the brake fluid boils because of the tremendous amount of heat generated by the brakes, you can actually lose the ability to stop,.......and, moisture can cause corrosion of the wheel cylinders or brake calipers and eventually cause a leak.”

........your garage can give you this quick test or buy a tester yourself. If It fails the test, get an estimate for the fluid change and decide on whether to do it yourself.

 

I've never encountered this with Needswings. I buy almost everything from Rob, and for good reason - I don't waste money on crappy aftermarket parts. I predict that, soon, you will see the light, when parts arrive and don't fit - or when you put parts in and then have odd issues, which you chase your tail trying to figure out - all the while, the cheap assed part is causing you headaches.

While we are talking about parts - what steering stabilizer did you put on when you put the new steering items on the car? You could have ordered the OEM part from Rob for $46 (like I did, it fixed my damn steering issue that I've foolishly been struggling with for a year now. I win "dumbass of the year award" for overlooking one of the top three most common items in our cars. DUH!)

 

If you didn't like the price of those mirrors, there is no way you are going to like the price of a good wrap - even the wrap of just a few items.
Cosmetic mods are not inexpensive - that is why I don't bother with them, most of the time. I could not resist my biggest cosmetic mod - my customized WindRestrictor! Totally worth $600 - and REALLY worth the $300 that I paid - cause I won a 50% off coupon at CAA 2015!




This brings us to our next topic - you have GOT to get to CAA, the Dragon (Tennessee) or Eureka Springs (Ozarks). A guy like you (you obviously have OCD* as bad as any of us) would be in heaven looking over all the modded cars, talking to owners, learning about the car and what others have done, best part is, owners will SHOW you what they have done. There are cheaper ways to mod these cars, and many owners never come to the forum or even post much on Facebook. But in person, they will tell you all they know and have done. Plan for one of the big meets. Keep an eye on THIS part of the forum, make it a bookmark:
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...-events-meets/

The wife will love Eureka Springs, dont' leave her at home even if she is not a 'car girl'....


*OCD - Obsessive Crossfire Disorder

 

My contribution is this: I bought my car from a lady whose husband (a member here) slipped into eternity about 18 month earlier. She had no record of service and the car was 8 years old with 28,000 miles on it.

I set out to bleed brakes, clutch, change differential fluid and trans fluid. The car got a new battery right away. The cooling system got a flush. I never did change steering fluid, but I should.
As I said above, what I SHOULD Have done is replace the steering stabilizer before I did anything else.....

 

I bought the steering stabilizer on ebay for $33 shipped. I also bought the drag steering linkage for $130 shipped. Bought ebay hatch shock/struts for $19.95 shipped. I bought the jack pads from Chrysler Overstock for $55 shipped. I am satisfied with all that I've bought. Took dropping the hatch on my head three times before I realized I should by new struts! LoL

 

My jacking pads, Mopar, arrived yesterday and I just put them on this morning. I didn't realize they hold the rocker panel on in the front and back. It quietened down my plastic rattles coming from the rocker panel. Noticed also the wheel well plastic splash guards are moving around and will have to check that out later. (Pull the wheels.)

 

i'm going to consider this posting closed because it's getting too lengthy. This post, if possible, could be moved to the coupe postings instead of the new member postings.

All my future post will be on the regular coupe forum. Thanks for all the help i've received!

 

yes. It's on the VIN sticker on the inside of the driver's door. It's a 3 letter code at the bottom of the sticker, toward the left lower corner.

 

I think this may be mis-information, I KNOW the paint code is NOT included in the VIN number, and I am pretty sure the paint code is on the rear of the body, you have to remove the rear bumper cover to see it.

 

as he said was closing this i posted at the other so we better follow there

 

 

When I bought the car I was told it was a Machine Grey which I don't see on the above list.

 

The above list is for the 2005 models, machine grey was introduced in 2006

 

The codes above are actually the Sales Codes for the respective Crossfire colors listed. These get used interchangeably with the Color (Paint) Codes which are different & unique.

To distinguish between Graphite & Machine Gray here are the respective codes:

Graphite Gray: Sales Code = PDR; Paint Code = ZDR (Alternate Color Code = PDR/759)
Machine Gray: Sales Code = PDR; Paint Code = DDR (Alternate Color Code = PDR/184)

If you use the PDR code, you will have to include the tint code (3 digit number) to distinguish between the 2 gray colors. That 3 digit number means something to a reputable paint shop.