Lexi the Daily Driver - Lexus IS250 SE 6MT

[BkS]

Hello fellas, it's probably about time I started one of these build threads, I have been delaying it as there wasn't much to show until quite recently and I personally detest FB groups 😂

The car:
- 2006 Lexus IS250 SE, Manual
- Smoky Graphite Mica (1G0) exterior
- Black on Black leather interior with heated & ventilated seats, no nav, no ML system.
- Purchased back in August/Sept 2022, when I had just 109k miles on it.

The car when I originally purchased it was in very good condition minus the original alloys looking like some flaky goodness you'd find on a Greggs stake bake. So the first port of call was to sort out the wheels, and get some fresh rubber on. I wanted to keep the OEM vibe, as that's very much preference, so I got the wheels stripped and powder-coated in a nice OE hyper silver.

Before:


After:


After doing the wheels, and putting on some fresh Toyo Proxies Sport rubber, I just enjoyed the car for a year in it's standard form. Then in December of 2023, I decided that my exhaust wasn't loud enough, and wanted a little more volume and more importantly, I wanted to keep the nice refined, low burbly tone of the 4GR. Raspy, farty, trumpet-sounding VQ noises were not allowed. So I did some research, and also spoke to @H3XME about his HKS Hi-Power setup. Then I got in touch with Billy at Complete Auto Solutions (for those of you in Scotland like me) to fab me up a nice back-box delete with 4.5 inch "dark chrome" tips, and HOOOH boy, fell in love was an understatement. Completely woke up the car in terms of personality, especially when my heavy lead foot did some B-road bashing around the Midland/Highlands.

The exhaust setup as it is currently:
- Secondary cat delete
- Backbox delete
- OE resonator

I would like to add an X-pipe, which may happen fairly soon, more on that later.

A video of the current exhaust setup:

A nice lil rear-end shot:


After the exhaust, I found myself spurred on to modify the car, so January 2024 I purchased some Tein Flex-Z coilovers with fully adjustable damping, I wanted the car to sit low in preparation for my new wheel setup (coming soon™). Whilst I was in there, I also did:

- A complete front brake caliper rebuild including the all important new slides & boots

- Replaced ALL the bolts connecting both RLCAs to the subframe & rear knuckles with genuine OE hardware ordered straight from Japan (thanks Amayama!)

- Replaced the RLCA bushing inside of both rear knuckles with FIGS Engineering spherical bushing

- I also replaced the RLCA with OE arms (though adjustable arms are in the future plans)

- I replaced the FLCA bushing with the RC-F bushing, and I also replaced both track rods + ends.

Note to anyone tackling any of the rear arms/subframe on a UK car, prepare for pain & suffering for many hours. It took me & a friend almost half a day to be able to get the bolts out & replace the RLCA + bushings.

With a nice suspension overhaul done (just in time for MOT this year), the car currently sits as is:







Current Mods:
- 225/45/17 Hankook Ventus S1 tyres all-round (highly rate them over the Toyo Proxies Sport I was previously on)
- Tein Flex-Z fully adjustable coilovers
- K&N Panel filter, with modified K&N Typhoon aluminium intake pipe + F-Sport Airbox mod
- FIGS engineering RLCA knuckle bushings
- RC-F FLCA bushings
- Secondary cat & muffler delete, with 4.5" slanted "dark chrome" tips
- TRD 6-speed Shift Knob
- TRD/F-Sport Pedal Covers
- 20mm Driftworks spacers on the rear wheels
- Katur H11 55W LED bulbs for low beam headlights

Mods not yet installed:
- 5Zigen FN01R-C 18x9 ET35/ET15 wheels
- VLand V2 Rear Tail-lights
- LED reflectors
- RGB Ambient Lighting interior kit (thanks to @ahmed24)
- Headlight Eyelids
- JDM Import plate for front bumper (what's needed for a UK long plate delete?)

Mods wanted:
- Sport/SR/GFX OE Rear Bumper Lip
- Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ (ZN6) Y38 4.10 Diff
- GS350/GS450h/IS350 caliper upgrade, with slotted discs, braided lines & new pads
- Front Bumper Lip
- Side Skirts
- Whiteline anti-roll bars
- 2012+ OEM facelift headlights
- OEM illuminated door trim panels
- New Foglights + yellow tint
- Works Bell Steering Wheel quick release
- Nardi Personal 350mm Steering Wheel
- Bucket seats, Recaros/Sparco's?
- Add a subwoofer

Current issues to fix:
- Major exhaust leak (sounds horrendous and way too loud)
- Standard amplifier has stopped working
- Paintwork needs a good decontamination, polish & sealed. Front bumper & bonnet could do with a respray especially.
- Valve cover gaskets need doing
- Minor misfire on cold starts (ignition coils/fuel pressure reg, I assume but no codes registered)

[RichGS11]

Nice build and good to see the maintenance parts being addressed early on.

Regarding the front plate conversion to JDM, the main issue you'll have is the large, square holes either side that the UK sized plate covers. The mounting bracket fits into them and when you remove the mounting bracket you'll see them. They'll need filling and painting.

[BkS]

Cheers @RichGS11, maintenance was always the goal before going silly with it. Replaced a bunch of stuff preemptively just didn't talk about it as it's not the most glamorous part.

I figured those square holes would be the issue, same with the pins on the boot lid for the badges. Not too worry, I'll get round to those once I get paint sorted.
Been following your IS-F for the longest time on IG, so cool to see you in here!

 

[RichGS11]

Thanks man. Very kind of you to say 🙏🏽