Awhile back I adjusted the hood stoppers on my 03 Max to try to solve the hood flutter problem. Is it just me or is this compromising the seal of the hood? I looked under there today and it's filthy with salt residue and stuff. Some exposed metal has bits of rust on them too. I plan to keep this car for a long time and I hate to think what it will look like in 4 years. Any similar observations/solutions?? Thanks for reading.

 

I was looking at my engine bay today too. It's a bit dirty, but doesn't seem as bad as yours. I live in central NY state, so we have quite a bit of salt too. Mine's a 2k2, so I'm bit surprised yours is that bad. I haven't made any hood adjustments, so maybe that's contributing to your dirt build-up (or you just have a lot of miles). Is the underside of your hood dirty too?

If you're concerned about long-term effects then just be sure to clean the engine bay regularly. I haven't cleaned mine yet, so I can't make any recommendations on what to use. Here's a current related thread that talks about it. I'm sure there's also good info in the Detailing forum.

 

get a underbody wash..