Almost two months ago I went and bought myself a new to me car. A 2008 Dodge Magnum

My truck was getting a bit long in the tooth, and even tho I could have spent a few bucks and at least kept it mechanically going, it was just getting to be that time unfortunately.

In comes a friend of mine that mentioned he had the car sitting at his shop for a couple years and was looking to get it out of his shop. He drove it for a while but got another vehicle and the Magnum got parked.

He shot me a good price and I took it.

Had to do a little bit of work to it, tires, brakes, battery, passenger side front ball joints and tie rod end. But otherwisw mechanically sound and basically rust free considering it is a Wisconsin car.

Fast forward a bit and I'm looking into things more, mainly various upgrades and such, and come to find out just how "rare" this car is.
Basically it was only made for four years. 2005-2007 were basically the same and most everything was interchangable between them as far as accesory upgrades and interior and most body parts.

2008 they redesigned a bunch of stuff, then promptly discontinued the car. As far as my research goes they only made around 19,000 cars total world wide, Which leads to my issue of trying to find various upgrade parts.


The first thing I wanted to add was fog lights. I needed the bezels and a set of 4" lights. Easy right?.... No...
Digging on google and various forums, I quickly found out that 99% of the posts about most anything Magnum related are only applicable to 2005-2007. 2008 they changed things. '05-'07 fog light bezles you can buy on Amazon for around $50 for the set.

2008 bezels are 2008 Magnum specific and are basically unobtainium. Took a couple weeks but got lucky and managed to find a used set for cheap. The lights themselves were also a bit of a challenge as 98% of the lights on Amazon and Ebay have a "standard" mount style that fits on most everything including the '05-'07 Magnum, but not the '08. Took more digging with different makes and models of vehicles, but I did manage to find a set that fit.
I had also looked into some custom/upgrad headlight housings. '05-'07 loads of options everywhere. 2008 nothing exists and of course nothing '05-'07 will fit my car.

The current upgrade that is now giving me the biggest headach and what I have spent most of my time on over the past month, is adding EVIC.... vehicle information center.... to the car and adding steering wheel controls for the radio and such, and EVIC is needed to make the steering wheel controls function.


I found the controls easy enough as they are the same for '08 Chargers, but the important part is the gauge cluster as EVIC is cluster related. I have the steering wheel buttons installed but they won't work without the cluster.

Trying to find the correct cluster is driving me insane lol. '05-'07 clusters won't work as they have a different CAN BUS. I can technically use a '08-'10 Charger cluster, but it would need to be reprogrammed for a Magnum or a bunch of stuff won't work, like my rear hatch for example, because for whatever reason it is somehow tied to the gauge cluster.... I don't understand that... and I can't find anyone anywhere that can actually do that.

Basically it comes down to me needing to find a EVIC cluster that is specifically from a '08 Magnum and can't use any other cluster from anything else. Piles of '05-'07 Magnum clusters and piles of '08-'10 Charger clusters. A '08 EVIC cluster is turning out to be even more of a unobtainium item than the fog light bezels.

The running joke in my family is that I somehow always seem to end up with the oddball vehicles. Yup, this is just another one of those oddballs.
I am not complaining really, as I do like the car and don't regret at all buying it, but yeah now it's starting to get a little annoying lol.

quote:

Originally posted by PakRatJR:


The current upgrade that is now giving me the biggest headach and what I have spent most of my time on over the past month, is adding EVIC.... vehicle information center.... to the car and adding steering wheel controls for the radio and such, and EVIC is needed to make the steering wheel controls function.


I found the controls easy enough as they are the same for '08 Chargers, but the important part is the gauge cluster as EVIC is cluster related. I have the steering wheel buttons installed but they won't work without the cluster.

Trying to find the correct cluster is driving me insane lol. '05-'07 clusters won't work as they have a different CAN BUS. I can technically use a '08-'10 Charger cluster, but it would need to be reprogrammed for a Magnum or a bunch of stuff won't work, like my rear hatch for example, because for whatever reason it is somehow tied to the gauge cluster.... I don't understand that... and I can't find anyone anywhere that can actually do that.

Basically it comes down to me needing to find a EVIC cluster that is specifically from a '08 Magnum and can't use any other cluster from anything else. Piles of '05-'07 Magnum clusters and piles of '08-'10 Charger clusters. A '08 EVIC cluster is turning out to be even more of a unobtainium item than the fog light bezels.

Chryslers back then don't play nice to swapping parts, you need to understand the CAN/BUS system and have the factory scanner. You really don't want to be messing with it.

Yup, I have found a couple posts in some fourms that mentioned needing Starscan to reprogram the Charger clusters, but they would otherwise work. They are even the same part numbers when you try looking them up, but the CAN/BUS is the reason the '05-'07 won't work as the '08 is a different speed or protocalls or something.

Yeah, been there, done that.

I was able to run the input wire from the buttons, through the clockspring, to the 19th pin on the back of the cluster. I was told it wouldn't work because I had the base model, but ran the wires anyway. Much to my surprise, it worked.

Adding fog lights was a different story. I ran them as a separate circuit using a contact switch I screwed to the back of the head light controls. I can still use the fog lights on hi or low beam, but it was a pain in the rear.

The easiest way to find the clock speed for your CAN/BUS when cross shopping for parts would be the radio. The oval radio models had a different multiplexer and communicated over the white wires in the harness.

The updated architecture was phased in between '06 and '09 depending on when the model was redesigned. Also consider looking for a Town & Country minivan that is being parted out.

Navigation, U-Connect, DVD video, and backup cameras use a separate harness that can be added to your ride independently.

Having a factory shop manual while doing any of this would be a huge plus.

Thankfully your upgrades aren't absolutely necessary for the car running properly.

I'm not crazy about Chrysler products, but I always thought the Magnum was a very unique and desirable design. And I was very surprised when they discontinued it.

Good luck!

IIRC, some of the running gear is related to the W211 [2001-09] Mercedes E-Class

I remember the Magnum redesign, but didnt know it was a 1 year model.
Worked with a guy that had an earlier one [hemi, I think] & he liked to brag about it being his American Mercedes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P250UA5,

If I recall, Dodge made a police version of the Magnum.

Try these guys. OE products. They have your vehicle listed.

https://infotainment.com/cars/2008-dodge-magnum/

We need to see a pic! Sorry to hear it's such a pain to find parts. Hopefully you will succeed in your quest.

A friend had an earlier one. We all called it The Man Wagon.

Pic as requested This is the only one I have at the moment.

Yooper, yup there was a police version. I have seen a couple videos of them and one pic of a retired one so far. Kinda neat.

rangeme, thanks. Just did a quick look and didn't see anything, but will take a better look later

.38supersig, I will have to look into that. I do have them powered up as I did have the correct harness and clockspring, but so far they don't do anything other than light up. I did buy a program for a laptop that I can enable things like the buttons, and on this one they had to be enabled for the horn to work.

P25OUA5, lol Not sure about Merceded off the top of my head but I do see Jeep mentioned a lot when looking for things.

I've never been much of a Dodge guy. Mosly Chevy for me, but some of the older cars... '60s-'70s... wern't too bad. I only vaugly remember hearing aabout these when they came out but don't recall ever actually seeing on in person before this one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PakRatJR,

Chrysler is not the only company that makes restoration/repair difficult.

I have a 2013 Corvette 427 Convertible. While they only made 2551 of these, the components I need are common to the Z06 model C6. Car slipped off a floor jack and damaged the R/F fender, rocker/sill panel and just nicked the door. All three components are discontinued.



The estimate was $12.8K and that was assuming the parts were available.

Adios,

Pizza Bob