Hello! My wife and I just bought a Crossfire last night after shopping around for the past week looking for just the right car. We also considered a Porsche Boxster and a BMW Z4, because I'm a big fan of German cars (the Crossfire is for my wife, I'm still driving my BMW 330Ci). Well, last night we finally found a 2004 6-speed with only 7k miles on it for a pretty good price, so her BMW Z3 went away and we brought it home.

I do have a few questions though:

1) The FSS (I think that's what it's called, after reading this board for the past few days) is showing a small clock, one wrench, and the number -642. Is this the number of days passed when the car should have had an oil change? The car was originally purchased in June '05 and as I mentioned, has about 7k on it. The sticker on the windshield says the oil change is due at 10k or 11/15/06. Should I wait until the car gets to this point, or be on the safe side and go ahead and change the oil this weekend? I would normally do that on a car that I don't know the history of, but because of the little sticker on the windshield I wasn't sure if it was safe to wait. What about the -642? That seems like it would have placed the needed service around the time the car was sold.

2) How difficult is it to change out the stereo head unit in the car? I'm not looking for some high-powered show-winning stereo setup, but I do like my iPod interface in my BMW and was disappointed to see that there wasn't one available besides the FM version. I want to be able to control it from the stereo itself, to keep from having to look down at the iPod while I drive (especially because I have an iPod Nano, so the controls and screen are even smaller). My wife also wants XM radio, so I'm looking for a decent stereo with XM, iPod interface, and (this is mandatory) a silver face plate and green display to match the existing dash lights. Anyone know of anything like this? How difficult is removal of the factory head unit?

Well, I guess that about covers it. Thanks for any help, and I'll keep an eye out for any other Crossfire owners in the Dallas, TX area.

Grant

 

I can answer question 2. Changing the head unit is simple and painless. Just ensure that that you use a suitable wiring and antenna adapter (search the forum for details). Do not cut into the wiring loom as this will potentially void the warrantee. This activity was pain free for me. The Factory Amp is truly awesome once you change the Head Unit.

 

The 642 is the number of days beyond when the vehicle should have the oil changed. Maybe the oil was changed (hence the sticker) and the FSS wasn't reset. Hopefully the correct synthetic oil was used. Anyway, I would spend the bucks and have the dealer change the oil and reset the FSS.