• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

2005 Dodge Magum with 103,000 for 10,000

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Love the SRT seats.

I have a 2005 300 3.5L with just under 63k miles. My thoughts are similar to mwmorph, although I find the interior to be lacking in some areas, but not as bad as people claim.
 
Vic Vega said:
Fairbanks? Yikes. Always wanted to visit there. Something about being so far away from everything else.
Click to expand...

It's not my choice of somewhere to live, I would have actually preferred anywhere else (even overseas like Germany, Korea or Italy) but the Army told me to come here so it wasn't a choice.

As for snow traction, I have an addenum, I noticed before traction seems better with stability control off. I tried it today and while driving in a parking lot with packed snow, driving with stability control off seemed much better.

I think the stability control off just turns up the limit for degrees drift and then makes the system less zealous in applying brakes to get the vehicle on line, instead of a truly off mode.

I think with ESP on, the system reacts to the slightest bit of wheel spin too over-zealously and applies the brakes with too much force, locking the wheels and breaking traction on slippery surfaces. This is evident by the slip and then sudden stop (along with an annoying sound) while ESP light is flashing. With the system off, it probably lets the wheels slip a bit and then when traction is lost applies the brakes much more gently, easing the vehicle back on line.

I tried some power on mid corner oversteering and while it does exist with ESP on, with ESP off, the car just tracked on line and with too much power (1/2 throttle or more), it was just a very gentle 4 wheel slide outsides towards the corner as the diffs re-routed power and then going straight again.

I have yet to do it on ice yet sine the parking lots are still packed snow and I'm not willing to power oversteer deliberately corners on public roads, but on snow, ESP:Off seems like the setting to go.

Edit: woith VSC on, it turns to understeer on ice, still no go. Oversteer or Understeer, pick your poison, guess you really need studded snow tires in the ice.
 
Last edited:
That thing is hideous ... then again I absolutely hate wagons in general.

That car looks like it has a lot of blind spots too.
 
i've always thought the magnums were good looking cars. If you like it, why the hell not buy it (assuming it's a reasonable price)?
 
ViviTheMage said:
That thing is hideous ... then again I absolutely hate wagons in general.

That car looks like it has a lot of blind spots too.
Click to expand...

I think the car looks pretty good, only issue i have is chrome headlights on a dark grey car, luckily the SRT8 lights are direct drop in replacements and they're black.

The rear visibility is pretty bad, the D pillars are quite big, but nothing I haven't been able to adjust to, not Jag XJS flying buttress pillar problems. The forward visibility is okay, the low windshield can cut off visibility with traffic lights, so no command seating here, you have to keep your head from scraping the headliner to see the red lights.
 
Magnum and Marauder are "luxury like"? I guess you just like big boats?

That Mercury would be great until everybody started slowing down in front of you on the freeway.
 
I have a 2006 3.5 H.O. with 50,000 miles in RED. I bought it brand new. I love it still and it has been very reliable. I had a motor mount go and 2 tie rod ends and the OEM rotors shit out at 30000 miles. I put in aftermarket lifetimers and now I am good to go. Buy the car, fun as hell, plenty of power, plenty of room and it has a Gangster kinda feel. That is Gangster, not gansta 😉 fwiw, I get 20mpg consitantly.
 
exdeath said:
Wut? :awe:
Click to expand...

When you talk to people about cars, you really have to cut through the massive amount of BS and snake oil claims to get to the core of it. I've heard everything from nitrogen fills are beneficial for normal street driving tires to OHC makes more power than OHV to a BMW dealership once telling me a 64k miles 2004 BMW M3 with the S54 engine needed a $1700 valve adjustment job as scheduled maintenance. When I mentioned all modern BMWs use no maintenance hydraulic lifters, the line suddenly went dead.
 
mwmorph said:
When you talk to people about cars, you really have to cut through the massive amount of BS and snake oil claims to get to the core of it. I've heard everything from nitrogen fills are beneficial for normal street driving tires to OHC makes more power than OHV to a BMW dealership once telling me a 64k miles 2004 BMW M3 with the S54 engine needed a $1700 valve adjustment job as scheduled maintenance. When I mentioned all modern BMWs use no maintenance hydraulic lifters, the line suddenly went dead.
Click to expand...

Isnt a valve adjustment part of service II? I distinctly remember seeing that on the sheet when I was looking into buying one of those.
 
Unique valve mechanism. All current BMW double-overhead-camshaft (DOHC) engines employ "bucket-type" hydraulic lifters, actuating the valves directly with minimum noise and no periodic adjustment. For the S54’s rpm potential, BMW M needed a valve train with less reciprocating mass.

To achieve this, they created a different actuating mechanism, using finger-type rocker arms. Pivoting on their own shafts (one on the intake side, one on the exhaust), these small – one could almost say dainty– arms reach out to provide the actuating surface between camshaft and valve. As the entire arm does not move the distance of valve lift, its effective reciprocating mass is less than its actual mass – and it weighs less than the "bucket tappets" in the first place. When all is said and done, the effective mass is 30%less; in turn, this allows lighter valve springs, which also reduce inertia. The lower valve train inertia helps the engine attain its 8000-rpmcapability.

As the system involves no hydraulic maintenance of valve clearance, it does have to be inspected periodically. Lead engine engineer Helmut Himmel asserts that it is unlikely that clearance will actually require adjustment, but if so it is done with shims (tiny metal discs of various thickness) without removal of the camshafts.
The rocker-arm arrangement also results in less friction. Unlike the rocker arms of BMW’s V-12 engine, however, these do not incorporate rollers, which would add too much mass for such a high-revving engine.

Where the regular-production6-cylinder engines have a simplex (single) primary chain driving the exhaust camshaft and a smaller secondary chain driving the intake camshaft from there, the S54 has a full duplex (double) chain driving both cam shafts directly. As usual with BMW engines, the chain is hydraulically tensioned and needs no periodic adjustment or replacement.
Click to expand...

http://www.rfdm.com/S54/intro.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top