Bringing my 2008 IS250 into up to date

[Bongo]

So in September last year I became the proud owner of a 2008 IS250, I love the car, it is a joy to drive and puts a smile on my face every time I travel in it.

Over the last few months I have set about modifying and replacing parts here and there, so this is a description of what I have done so far

Replaced all the LED's in the interior, going to replace the door mirror puddle bulbs when the weather is a little warmer

Replaced the boot gas struts as they were on the way out

Installed the Vland rear lights, what a difference they make to the car, brings the rear end bang up to date

Replaced the door puddle lights with LED Lexus logo

Finally, I had my interior trim pieces hydro dipped from the red/brown look to a black woodgrain the film is "Lexus woodgrain" which is supposed to be based on the modern Lexus cars, I really like the look it has given the car, it goes nicely with the black leather and trim, I have attached a few pictures of some of the work, let me know what you think.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Bongo
Need to alter images

[scudney]

Looking pretty good well done,what do you think of the rear LED lights?their long term durability has so far put me off as you would have to replace the whole unit when the diodes begin to fail

[Farqui]

Well done, the woodgrain looks very smart [emoji106] As do the rear lights.

[Guest]

Great mods the wood trims are a big improvement.

[Bongo]

20 minutes ago, scudney said:

Looking pretty good well done,what do you think of the rear led lights?their long term durability has so far put me off as you would have to replace the whole unit when the diodes begin to fail

Thanks, the durability did cross my mind, there are a few people that have had theirs for a while with no issues, I have kept the old ones just in case, time will tell, luckily they are not too expensive, but I have to say, they are a really good addition the rear end,

[Bongo]

13 minutes ago, Eame64 said:

Great mods the wood trims are a big improvement.

Thank you, yes, brings the car up to date, nothing over the top

[Bongo]

25 minutes ago, Farqui said:

Well done, the woodgrain looks very smart As do the rear lights.

Thank you, I think they call it tasteful mods 😀

[Linas.P]

Love the wood effect, the original Lexus was just to red-ish/brown - later model have nicer darker wood and you one is even better, reminds me maybe of "open" wood of CLS. Cannot cay I am fan of the tail lights, but it is thing of the personal taste - have seen them on several cars, but never liked them, nor in fact the "l-finesse" design from newer model. My favourites are the IS-F rear lights with white indicators.

[Mrconwaytwitty]

Looks great 

[Bongo]

On 1/30/2019 at 10:48 PM, Linas.P said:

Love the wood effect, the original Lexus was just to red-ish/brown - later model have nicer darker wood and you one is even better, reminds me maybe of "open" wood of CLS. Cannot cay I am fan of the tail lights, but it is thing of the personal taste - have seen them on several cars, but never liked them, nor in fact the "l-finesse" design from newer model. My favourites are the IS-F rear lights with white indicators.

Yes, the wood effect has made a massive difference in my opinion to the look of the interior, ref the the tail lights if we all liked the same thing the world would be a dull and boring place, haven't really looked at the IS-F lights will check them out.

 

[Bongo]

On 1/31/2019 at 8:14 PM, Mrconwaytwitty said:

Looks great 

Thank you!

 

[Texas]

I do like the look of that trim covering but is it robust and durable for those high 'finger nail' traffic areas? And is it permanent ie no going back? I do like options!

I realise it is quite easy to remove all these trim parts ( having fitted a PO-40 and a VLine unit in mine) but was it straight forward stripping each piece down to the bare trim as I can see the cup holder wasn't? I have seen some use vinyl wrap ( carbon fibre effect) and cut it around the metal chrome trim on the gear selector gate with a scalpel, but it looks like you have managed to remove this?

so many questions but TIA

paul m

[Bongo]

26 minutes ago, Texas said:

I do like the look of that trim covering but is it robust and durable for those high 'finger nail' traffic areas? And is it permanent ie no going back? I do like options!

I realise it is quite easy to remove all these trim parts ( having fitted a PO-40 and a VLine unit in mine) but was it straight forward stripping each piece down to the bare trim as I can see the cup holder wasn't?

so many questions but TIA

paul m

Hi Paul, I have only had the trim back in the car for just under a week now, so can't give you a durability answer, but I did buy a good quality lacquer and gave the trim about three coats, time will tell, if it is permanent, but I thought, if it all went pear shaped I could buy used trim from a breakers yard if needed be, or just spray it black and then lacquer it

As for stripping down the parts, yes it was easy, I am no way an expert, and I found it very easy, all crosshead screws apart from the gearshift chrome surround which is held on by small plastic dome caps which you have to snap off, I was going to super glue them back on when the trim was finished, but I used strong double sided tape, and it has worked really well, the cup holder gave me no issues at all, again very easy to take apart, I did take some pictures before I started just to remind me of how all parts fitted back in the trim, which helped. 

All I can say is, if you are thinking of doing it, go for it, it has made the interior of my car look so much better.

I have looking for the PO-40 module for my car, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere, where did you pick up yours from? and I am looking at getting the Vline, but I just cannot pull the trigger at £500 for it, how are you finding it, is it worth getting?

[Texas]

Nice come back.

gonna do some homework on getting the HydroDipping as it looks the Buisness 

I managed to get the PO-40 from a member on here for a great price and as for the VLine I haven't had time to use the car since fitted 'cause of all the snow/ice around me at the moment and I think the Battery would take a pounding if I played with it on the drive!

paul m.

[Mauler]

That interior trim looks fantastic!  How/where did you get that done and was the cost, please?

[Sir Park]

Looks very nice. Can anybody tell me what about MOT with this kind of lights?

[Bongo]

On 3/21/2019 at 9:35 PM, Sir Park said:

Looks very nice. Can anybody tell me what about MOT with this kind of lights?

Will let you know, my car has it's MOT in a couple of weeks, I think it will be fine though (fingers crossed)

[Sir Park]

20 minutes ago, Bongo said:

Will let you know, my car has it's MOT in a couple of weeks, I think it will be fine though (fingers crossed)

Good luck but should be fine, im waiting for further info 

[Jstar25]

That looks awesome. How much did the hydro dipping cost?

[Bongo]

8 hours ago, Jstar25 said:

That looks awesome. How much did the hydro dipping cost?

Hi, it cost £130, but I did remove all the trim and strip them all down, ready for them to be dipped, the name of the film is Lexus woodgrain.

[Texas]

Nice one.. Seriously tempted here.

paul m.

[Bongo]

9 hours ago, Texas said:

Nice one.. Seriously tempted here.

paul m.

Really pleased with mine, just wasn't a fan of the reddish trim, the Lexus woodgrain film really compliments the black trim and leather, looks so much more modern.

[Bongo]

So, after months of putting off the fitting the LED bulbs in my puddle lights, I decided today was the day to take the plunge, well all I can say is, it went a lot easier than I thought, It only took me about 20 mins to do both sides, the most worrying part was the removal of the the glass, which went without a hitch, but the longest part, was getting the top two lugs on the mirror to line up with the housing in the mirror, apart from that a very easy job, I don't why I put it off for so long, probably the thought of possibly breaking the mirrors, all the bulbs are now LED, job done!!

[BillNick]

@BongoCould you do a 'how to' for the puddle lights please?

And do you have contact for the hydro dip please?

Thanks

[Bongo]

18 minutes ago, Billnick said:

@BongoCould you do a 'how to' for the puddle lights please?

And do you have contact for the hydro dip please?

Thanks

To change the puddle light bulbs, I just watched loads of youTube videos, but I found this one to be one of the best 

Ref the hydro dipping, the guy i used, isn't doing it anymore, but there are people all over the country doing it, the film I used is from Hydro Style UK, and the film I used was Lexus Woodgrain

Hope this helps