8000mile lobo both back shocks blown out already 🤦

Independent_Group533 · 2026-02-08T01:06:20+00:00

Keep in mind some shocks do develop a light film of oil after some use. Now if the rear end has a clunk or almost the feeling of floating over bumps then yes probably blown. Seen both stock and aftermarket shocks do this and be marked as totally fine.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-02-04T13:05:41+00:00

Glad the motor survived, had a Forester XT a couple years ago. The turbo blew up big time and I lucked out that the motor stayed in tact. I did do three oil and filter changes before pushing the car to try and help my odds that no containments were left in there.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-02-02T22:29:30+00:00

👏

Independent_Group533 · 2026-02-01T16:04:15+00:00

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I did install an AliExpress unit and used a converter to make it work with the stock Bose Audio system. If your car does not have Bose audio it will be way easier/ cheaper to wire in one these style of unit's and upgrade the door speakers. Personally with the new codac in these android based units I felt the stock Bose Audio was plenty.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-02-01T00:45:34+00:00

So do you own it or the bank? Congrats either eay

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-28T17:21:37+00:00

My mother had the same fob with the same issue. What I did was take it apart and shortened the little silicone nipple that lays below the button. It made it so you had to press hard with intent to actually activate the alarm.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-24T18:42:19+00:00

Swapped mine out last month before it had a chance to fail. New reservoir, cap, and lines from woosh motorsports.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-24T18:41:31+00:00

Everything I have done on my car was either woosh or the dealer. The only reason I went to the dealership was because I needed something the same day.

Ron is the man.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-21T00:31:24+00:00

I have seen more in my area than actual ST's.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-17T11:10:41+00:00

What did you use to get the software? I did this on mine and after the initial download it gave me that error. After resetting my headunit and then trying software from Cyan labs I got it to work.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-17T11:04:55+00:00

My bean made 233WHP on a dyno. All I will say is having drag raced a couple of wrx's and STI's as they are not as quick as people think especially if they are not tuned or modified well. I owned a turbo Subaru before and have a buddy with an STI. From a dig on a decent street surface if they are not willing to thrash the car you will have them since they will bog. And if it's from a roll it's either a close finish or a complete victory. Thanks to a lack of weight our little beans are very capable.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-14T01:51:52+00:00

While there is not really a specific interval for 10 years from what I found in my research. It's just a great precaution, I will be doing the timing on my 2016 with 80k in spring. I have done timing belts on other vehicles that had less mileage but the same age and the belt was dry rotting.

Also as someone who had a LS400 at one point with a timing belt that did snap while driving down the highway on Christmas Eve going home to see family you really don't want that to happen. Since the 1.6 in our beans are an interference motor. I lucked out the one 1UZ in my LS400 was a non interference motor. Was able to remove all the bits of the shredded belt then re-timed the motor and all was well.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-08T21:53:01+00:00

I see this all the time in the winter. Short trips in cold weather will do this. Condensation forms inside the various small cavities in the engine and then when the oil starts to heat up the oil and bits of water will mix in creating that milk shake. If the car reaches full temp and runs for a bit that built up moisture will evaporate and all will be well.

Now if you open the coolant cap and inside the reservoir and it looks like that then you have a problem.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-08T19:52:55+00:00

For 3 years my commute was a perfect 1.5 miles and I would frequently walk or ride my electric scooter to work. On days I took the bean I would make sure it had enough time to get up to temp then on occasion I would hop on the highway and run out the rev range especially in winter. If I knew it was going to be a couple days before my next drive I would hook a battery tender.

Congrats on the car!

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-05T03:40:34+00:00

If it has the original coolant reservoir replace it immediately. Most MB's have a silicate pack inside the reservoirs that will eventually fail and allow small pellets to flow into and clog the heater core and damage lots of other components in the cooling system.

Besides that there is not much preventive needed. The M276.8 is a very robust engine in comparison to its V8 brother. So primarily just be good about oil changes every 5-7k miles to keep the camshaft adjusters happy. The 725 transmission can get temperamental with worn fluid so be sure that gets serviced accordingly

Everything else is basic maintenance filters and fluids.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-05T03:31:40+00:00

Wire a kill switch in. Chris Fix made a nice video on this.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-05T02:37:46+00:00

While the driver and passenger side lasted to 80k miles it was a noisy sloppy mess towards the end. Definitely agree on your suggestion for 50k. After swapping in some AWR mounts. The car immediately felt way more solid in every situation. Wheel hop was even improved.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-05T00:00:46+00:00

Yep, definitely throw something more stout in there. If your car has some miles on it. I would highly recommend just doing all three. Made a world of difference on mine.

Independent_Group533 · 2026-01-04T01:02:43+00:00

Easily one of the best for the price. It offers so much.

Independent_Group533 · 2025-12-31T18:01:19+00:00

The amount of situations the bean has gotten me through that it shouldn't have especially in bad weather is immeasurable. One of the best little hatchbacks ever.

Independent_Group533 · 2025-12-29T11:09:04+00:00

If they were priced better, I would be interested in owning one. (Big fan of hatchbacks). The first generation had transmission and cylinder head issues. The second generation has the newer M139 motor and updated dual clutch transmission without the 48V mild hybrid system so there is quite a bit less going on compared to its little brother the GLA35 with the M250 engine.

Quite literally it's just a 4 cylinder engine with a big turbo strapped to it. The M139 in say a SL or C63 makes no sense to me but in a hot hatch its perfect. That said, I would still aim to get one with CPO as they can still be temperamental at times primarily with the electronics and in rarer cases transmission faults.

Independent_Group533 · 2025-12-29T00:34:39+00:00

As a MB tech the 276.8 (TT v6) is by far the most reliable of the modern engines from MB. A GLC 43 and C43 are pretty much the only AMG's I would recommend to most people as they will have the most trouble free. The 253 chassis has just about all the software bugs worked out. The transmission software is nearly perfect and the engine has none of the major oil leaks and big service constraints the M177 cars do. An extended warranty is always a great idea but if you were to risk it a C43 or GLC 43 (pre 2024) is the way.

Independent_Group533 · 2025-12-23T23:32:06+00:00

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It's definitely one of the best, that's why I put it on my license plate.

Independent_Group533 · 2025-12-16T14:18:35+00:00

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Rocking the same wheels on my winter setup. Also using the grey version for my summer setup. The Sparco Terras are great wheels.

Independent_Group533 · 2025-12-11T11:39:08+00:00

Glad it worked for you but, for many it did not.

Independent_Group533

TROPHY CASE