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New Member IntroductionsWelcome new members !!
This is the place to post a new thread and introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself and what model Crossfire you just bought or are looking to buy.
Threads created for anything other than introductions are subject to be moved to the appropriate section in the forum for the topic being posted.
So, I was looking for a new (to me), sporty, fun car and was looking for some specific models but not having much success. I did a broad search for cars with manual transmissions in my price range and this little beauty came up. I had completely forgot about Crossfires, probably because I haven’t seen one in yeeeears! It was an hour drive away, but I had to check it out. Totally worth the trip. With only 44K miles on the speedometer, it was obviously a well-loved car. The owner was asking $9K for it and my “budget” was about $7K. I didn’t know much about Crossfires, but I do know about internet forums. I discovered CrossfireForum, did some research, and learned that the issues with these cars are few and manageable. I offered $8K and it was accepted! My commute is only about 10 miles so I plan on daily driving it in dry weather. As you can see from the photos (in my album), it is super clean (really, look at the door jamb). The brakes and rotors appear to have only a couple of thousand miles on them, if that. The front tires were original! I had them replaced with some Perelli’s. The rear tires (Toyo Proxes) are relatively new, with maybe a couple thousand miles on them. I also repaired an oil leak from the passenger side breather cover, thanks to the 12 year old post by MikeR. The oil looks clean but is about a year and a half old so will change it. Is it worthwhile to change out trans, diff, brake & steering fluids? Any advice about preventative maintenance is welcome! 2006 Limited, Machine Gray
Last edited by KowalaGT; Aug 10, 2021 at 05:57 PM.
Welcome...Your in Michigan ??
In just 2 weeks you should stop by and see us at the Woodward Dream Cruise in Royal Oak, Michigan
24 Crossfire owners will be there with our Crossfires - A great way to find out everything about your Crossfire and meet the designer of the concept car in person for a signature.
Dont miss this opportunity in just 2 weeks from now
Thanks for the invite! Believe me, I am well aware of the Dream Cruise. In fact, there is pretty much cruising every weekend nite on Woodward during the summer, with the crescendo being the Dream Cruise. Sadly, I might be out of town on some family business that weekend. If plans change, how late can I register for parking and still get a spot?
Thanks for the invite! Believe me, I am well aware of the Dream Cruise. In fact, there is pretty much cruising every weekend nite on Woodward during the summer, with the crescendo being the Dream Cruise. Sadly, I might be out of town on some family business that weekend. If plans change, how late can I register for parking and still get a spot?
Registration has already ended for the parking permit but if you think you can come join us send me a PM here and I'll contact our person to try to get ya a last minute parking pass
We gather in Memorial Park at the NE corner of 13 mile and Woodward every year in Royal Oak, Mi.
We arrive at the park lined up together no later than 8am on Saturday to get parked together
Congrats on your recent Machine Gray Crossfire purchase & welcome to our Forum. Not being prejudicial by any means (yeah, right), I think the color is one of the better looking ones used on the Crossfire. My 2007 Limited Coupe has just turned 28k on the ODO.
If you can't make the Woodward Dream Cruise Crossfire event, look at the possibility of joining us at Fontana Lodge in North Carolina for our annual Fall Tail of the Dragon GTG (Get Together) during the 1st weekend in October. It is always one of our largest gatherings of Crossfires with many roadways in the area to enjoy & "stretch the Crossfire's legs". There are already 70+ Crossfire enthusiasts planning to attend. You won't see that many Crossfires (with a few other similar marques scattered in the group) together in one place anywhere! The knowledge among the attendees on Crossfire issues will be amazing & "face-to-face" discussions are always an upside. Here's a link to the thread on the Forum: Crossfire ToD Weekend GTG
Last edited by dedwards0323; Aug 9, 2021 at 01:18 PM.
The oil looks clean but is about a year and a half old so will change it. Is it worthwhile to change out trans, diff, brake & steering fluids? Any advice about preventative maintenance is welcome!
All those services are worthwhile to do since you don't know specifically how the car was cared for (other than its overall appearance). (Note: While the exterior & interior of the car look really nice in your photo album, the engine bay is somewhat dirty & looks like the previous owners didn't give it much attention. Always makes me wonder when I see that.) I would also recommend you change the steering stabilizer on the front suspension. It is a cheaply made shock that M-B included with the R170 chassis. Easy to get to and easy to change. I consider it a routine service just like changing the oil. No more than I drive my car, an oil change is every 2 years on my 2007 & while I'm under the car (I'm old school when it comes to draining oil), I change the steering stabilzer. More often than not, you will feel a difference in the steering when you do this service.
Again - Your 2006 Coupe is a nice looking car! Great find & at a great price!
Last edited by dedwards0323; Aug 9, 2021 at 08:46 AM.
So, I was looking for a new (to me), sporty, fun car and was looking for some specific models but not having much success. I did a broad search for cars with manual transmissions in my price range and this little beauty came up. I had completely forgot about Crossfires, probably because I haven’t seen one in yeeeears! It was an hour drive away, but I had to check it out. Totally worth the trip. With only 44K miles on the speedometer, it was obviously a well-loved car. The owner was asking $9K for it and my “budget” was about $7K. I didn’t know much about Crossfires, but I do know about internet forums. I discovered CrossfireForum, did some research, and learned that the issues with these cars are few and manageable. I offered $8K and it was accepted! My commute is only about 10 miles so I plan on daily driving it in dry weather. As you can see from the photos (in my album), it is super clean (really, look at the door jamb). The brakes and rotors appear to have only a couple of thousand miles on them, if that. The front tires were original! I had them replaced with some Perelli’s. The rear tires (Toyo Proxes) are relatively new, with maybe a couple thousand miles on them. I also repaired an oil leak from the passenger side breather cover, thanks to the 12 year old post by MikeR. The oil looks clean but is about a year and a half old so will change it. Is it worthwhile to change out trans, diff, brake & steering fluids? Any advice about preventative maintenance is welcome! 2006 Limited, Sapphire Silver Blue
How can ya beat that for $8K? Crossfires turn more heads than your typical Porsche... They are SPECIAL and RARE! I'd change the brake fluid and the engine coolant. Brake fluid attracts water and these cars have all kinds of things tied into the ABS & Stability Control System. Engine coolant's anti corrosion additives break down over time so change that. I wouldn't worry about the engine oil (you can check and see how many miles are left on that oil on the dash - see the owner's manual), transmission fluid, diff or the power steering fluid at this point (I haven't on mine and it is a 2004 with about 55K miles on it) but I have replaced my brake fluid and engine coolant. Of course, easy changes are the engine and cabin air filters for kicks. You'll probably want to order a replacement RCM by Standard Motor Products, Bosch Crankshaft Position Sensor and Bosch Camshaft position sensor to either keep on hand or replace them all and keep the working replacements in the trunk as a precaution. Total price for all 3 on Amazon is about $181. The replacement RCM just dropped in price big time... I paid $143 for mine and it can now be had for $95!
I have seen comments and YouTube videos about the sensors and now that you are reinforcing that issue I will get those sensors just to have on-hand. I've also seen a few YouTube videos about re-soldering the RCM as a repair or precaution, I might attempt it, but it wouldn't hurt to get an extra one just in case, if they're only $95 (and my soldering skills are amateurish at best!) . Thanks for the reply!
The RCM in my 2007 Coupe failed & I was lucky because the "no start" condition occurred while it was parked in my driveway. I too purchased a new RCM from Standard Motor Products and swapped out the defective RCM once the new RCM arrived. Now the best part comes afterwards! I took the old RCM and shipped it to tighed1. He definitely has the most experience and is well skilled at not only restoring the RCM but improving its performance. Here is what he does to the RCMs that are sent to him for repair:
"I'll inspect, bench test, redo bad solder joints, perform the Me So Horny mod (horn works w/o key) and replace the Air Pump, Fuel, Engine and Traction Control relays.
I will then test your RCM in one of my cars before mailing it back to you via USPS Priority Mail (2-3 days).
In most cases, I get the RCM back in the mail the day I receive it so you're looking at about a week total. If you want the package insured please include an additional $5."
His cost for all this is extremely fair and quite a few of us send our defective RCMs to him for repair. If your soldering skills are the little bit questionable, sending your defective RCM to him is a very wise decision! Just send him a private message reqesting his support & he will respond. My $0.02.
Once you get the repaired RCM back from tighed1, you can decide to install it right away or wait until you need to install it. Considering all tighed1 does to repair the defective RCM, it might be better to keep the Standard Motor Products RCM as your spare. Again - My $0.02
Here's a link to his post on the RCM repair: RCM Repair
Last edited by dedwards0323; Aug 10, 2021 at 09:12 AM.
You are correct! It is Machine Gray and it is the best color!
I could not find the paint code on the car so I did a VIN search and found a site with all the info on this car (apparently it's loaded!) and listed the color. I edited my post.
I think it’s a good idea to change all fluids and filters. When we bought our 2004 Limited coupe with 36,050 miles on it last fall we gave it the full treatment. Mobile one synthetic oil with Napa platinum filter, synthetic transmission fluid with MAN and filter, flushed brake system, resurface rotors and installed new BOSCH ceramic pads. We also changed the spark plugs fuel filter and flushed the coolant. Replaced cabin air filter and installed K & N intake air filters. Sent our RCM out to be rebuilt for $50 but may buy a new one as a spare if the price has really dropped as mentioned earlier in this thread. I also replaced the camshaft and crankshaft position sensors and saved the original ones for spares. I would recommend documenting all work performed on the car in a vehicle maintenance log. Whether you intend to keep the car forever or sell it someday it can be helpful to easily find what work has been done and when.
I think it’s a good idea to change all fluids and filters. When we bought our 2004 Limited coupe with 36,050 miles on it last fall we gave it the full treatment. Mobile one synthetic oil with Napa platinum filter, synthetic transmission fluid with MAN and filter, flushed brake system, resurface rotors and installed new BOSCH ceramic pads. We also changed the spark plugs fuel filter and flushed the coolant. Replaced cabin air filter and installed K & N intake air filters. Sent our RCM out to be rebuilt for $50 but may buy a new one as a spare if the price has really dropped as mentioned earlier in this thread. I also replaced the camshaft and crankshaft position sensors and saved the original ones for spares. I would recommend documenting all work performed on the car in a vehicle maintenance log. Whether you intend to keep the car forever or sell it someday it can be helpful to easily find what work has been done and when.
I don't know Captain... One can easily start down a rabbit hole reading and watching these forums. I'm on this Crossfire forum, the F150 forum and the Crown Vic forum (my 3 cars and none are newer than 2005!). My crossfire has 55K on it, F150 has 185K on it and CV has about 155K on it. I haven't spent much money on my American cars other than basic scheduled maintenance and a few things here and there that went bad over the 15-20 years I've owned them. Granted, there have been millions of F150's and Crown Vics/Grand Marquis produced and only a hand full of Crossfires but these are basically SLK's and the 320 engine is a tough one, supercharged or not. It's all the overdone electronic crap and endless sensors and relays on the Crossfire that are Mercedes that seem to cause problems from what I can tell. I don't see a need start replacing components, every fluid, etc. unless a problem presents. Having read this forum I think I know the most common components/problems that can go wrong and I have spares or have replaced them and kept the functioning spares. If you bought an '04 with 36K miles I wouldn't have done anything other than change the brake fluid and engine coolant. For me, the spookiest thing about owning one of these cars is you can put a pile of $ into them and trick them out and do whatever but if the car takes a hit insurance ain't gonna make whole and you'll have a mess on your hands. It is for this reason that I won't spend a cent on dressing my Crossfire and turning it into eye candy. What rolled off the line at Karmann in Germany is good enough for me and I keep mine stock all the way.
I don't know Captain... One can easily start down a rabbit hole reading and watching these forums. I'm on this Crossfire forum, the F150 forum and the Crown Vic forum (my 3 cars and none are newer than 2005!). My crossfire has 55K on it, F150 has 185K on it and CV has about 155K on it. I haven't spent much money on my American cars other than basic scheduled maintenance and a few things here and there that went bad over the 15-20 years I've owned them. Granted, there have been millions of F150's and Crown Vics/Grand Marquis produced and only a hand full of Crossfires but these are basically SLK's and the 320 engine is a tough one, supercharged or not. It's all the overdone electronic crap and endless sensors and relays on the Crossfire that are Mercedes that seem to cause problems from what I can tell. I don't see a need start replacing components, every fluid, etc. unless a problem presents. Having read this forum I think I know the most common components/problems that can go wrong and I have spares or have replaced them and kept the functioning spares. If you bought an '04 with 36K miles I wouldn't have done anything other than change the brake fluid and engine coolant. For me, the spookiest thing about owning one of these cars is you can put a pile of $ into them and trick them out and do whatever but if the car takes a hit insurance ain't gonna make whole and you'll have a mess on your hands. It is for this reason that I won't spend a cent on dressing my Crossfire and turning it into eye candy. What rolled off the line at Karmann in Germany is good enough for me and I keep mine stock all the way.
I spent some time researching BMW's before this purchase because they seem so reasonably priced and look great. There's a reason they are so low priced on the used market, it's because after a couple years ownership you will end up spending more on repairs than you bought it for! They are over-engineered and too many critical parts made of plastic. I find the Crossfire to be fairly straight forward and easy to work on (with a few "special" tools of course). Since this car has been around 16 years we have a historical record of known weak spots, which are surprisingly few. For a couple hundred bucks I don't mind keeping some spare parts for just-in-case scenarios. Other than that, I'm a regular, common sense maintenance kind of guy. But, I might send my RCM in to tighed1 for a rebuild this winter when I'm not driving it much.
Say hello to my little friend!
