Is200 Newbie Questions

[Raymond.]

1. Does the driver side electric seat have memory presets.

2. Can an electric steering column be fitted and if so would this work in conjunction with the seats.

3. Are Xenon headlights available. Mine is advertised but I can't see the projectors inside.

4. Does it have selective locking and/or drive away locking.

Sorry if they are dumb questions but this is my first IS200

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

1. No

2. Sounds like a big job, good luck with that!

3. You can fit a HID kit but in your 2001 halogen bulbs are standard.

4. No

Hope this helps. :)

[Raymond.]

Looks like a lot of no's there...

I've seen somewhere that someone fitted projector lenses in the existing clusters but it seems a fiddly job.

I know the halogen lights in our Celica are a slight improvement over candle light. Are they OK on IS's?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Not that good to be honest that's why a lot of members fit HID's. If not HID kit try the Xenon look gas filled bulbs. There's a bit of debate on what's best. Best to make your own mind up :)

[Raymond.]

I was under the impression that if HIDs were fitted in non projector lights the light would be scattered?

I have a H7 HID kit but I believe I'd need HB4? I take it the headlamps aren't auto levelling either? I know they don't check this at MOT's but I'd like the car to be legal. My headlamps are not auto levelling but it's fitted with SLS on the rear.

Cheers for the advice on this car Chris. It's much appreciated. I know I sound like I haven't got a clue about anything but that's because I haven't I do soak up things like a sponge so I'll be coming out with less daft questions soon!

[sprinter2012]

1. Does the driver side electric seat have memory presets.

2. Can an electric steering column be fitted and if so would this work in conjunction with the seats.

3. Are Xenon headlights available. Mine is advertised but I can't see the projectors inside.

4. Does it have selective locking and/or drive away locking.

Sorry if they are dumb questions but this is my first IS200

1. As above, no memory function but fully electric and heated.

2. I wouldn't bother with that for the hassle it would take, and I'm not even sure it would be possible.

3. Yes, some versions of the IS200 came with HIDs as standard, they still use a reflector in the light unit, not a projector. But the reflector is angled differently to provide a more flat cutoff for the HIDs. They also have the ballast moulded into the bottom of the headlight unit.

4. The boot can be opened independently with the button on the key. When locking the car, the first press of the button will lock the doors and set the alarm. But if you press it again within about 5 seconds, it will disable the alarm and engage a set of deadlocks which cannot be tampered with from either inside or outside the car. So beware, because if your Battery goes flat and the car is deadlocked...you're not getting in easily. lol So just bear that in mind if you ever leave the car sat while you're on holiday or something.

[Raymond.]

Cheers for the update.

I'll have a good look at the lights when I get the car next week. There were so many thing to check yesterday that I haven't really paid attention to the lights.

I know the difference between halogen and Xenon are immense. It's like driving in dark when I use misses's Toyota

[Raymond.]

Does anyone have pictures of the front of the car that has a HID kit fitted?

I'd like to see what they look like in reflector lights.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=79127&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1

This thread is informative and has pictures.

I took my HID kit off, full beam was better on halogen and as I live in the middle of nowhere and drive 80% of the time at night i wanted a good full beam. dip beam however is a million times better with HID's but it's down to what you prefer. I have the Xenon look gas filled halogen bulbs in mine now. Better than standard halogen and the full beam is amazing. They look a lot better than standard halogen as well, bright white and not yellow.

I really like angel eyes and am considering fitting these :)

[Raymond.]

Cheers for that Chris.

I'll be having a read of that now.

Angel eyes are nice. They are standard on my current car and I think they look good! Shame it's in a million bits by next weekend!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

What's wrong with your Beemer then? How come your breaking it into a million pieces?

[Raymond.]

It's done 353000 miles. I think it has done it's job.

There's a fair amount of money in it in bits as I've retrofitted a fair few things to it over the years.

I know I'm going to miss a few things that won't be available for the IS but I'm sure I'll get used to it. And the misses likes the IS and hates the BMW so that's a bonus.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Wow 353k miles! That's seriously impressive. What a good car the 5 series must be! I've never owned one, had a 3 series for a bit but I didn't like it. It had 100k on it and gave me nothing but grief! :( It looked good tho...

I found that everybody thought I was a bit of a nob head just for owning a BMW, I don't have that problem with the Lex. In fact a lot of people compliment me on the car... That never happened with the Beemer! :)

[Raymond.]

They are good cars but expensive to maintain. This car has cost me a fair whack in repairs and bits. I'm not surprised that you didn't like the 3er. Been in loads but never owned one. I've had a 7-Series and now this 5-Series and they both been nice but as I said expensive to run/maintain.

I probably spend the same in a month as what I've spent on our Celica in 6 years, hence the change to a Lexus.

I do get the occasional compliments on how good it looks for a 14 year old car but that's probably because everything has been replaced on it...

The pennies I get for breaking the thing can go nicely to buying new bits for the IS. I just hope that the retrofit possibilities are as good as on the 5.

[jasons]

Hope you broke the bad news to the guys on BMW5 ( I didn't.... )

[matt-c]

4. The boot can be opened independently with the button on the key. When locking the car, the first press of the button will lock the doors and set the alarm. But if you press it again within about 5 seconds, it will disable the alarm and engage a set of deadlocks which cannot be tampered with from either inside or outside the car. So beware, because if your battery goes flat and the car is deadlocked...you're not getting in easily. lol So just bear that in mind if you ever leave the car sat while you're on holiday or something.

Can't the deadlocks be deactivated with the key? So if the Battery goes flat, you can still physically unlock the drivers door with the key, unlocking both the deadlock and regular lock on that door? Or does it need Battery power to disengage the deadlocks?

Also, are you sure the double press disables the alarm? Because I double press mine all the time, but the alarm light still flashes inside?

http://www.lexusowne...l=&fromsearch=1

This thread is informative and has pictures.

I took my HID kit off, full beam was better on halogen and as I live in the middle of nowhere and drive 80% of the time at night i wanted a good full beam. dip beam however is a million times better with HID's but it's down to what you prefer. I have the xenon look gas filled halogen bulbs in mine now. Better than standard halogen and the full beam is amazing. They look a lot better than standard halogen as well, bright white and not yellow.

I really like angel eyes and am considering fitting these :)

Why would your HID kit have any affect on the full beams? Our cars have separate bulbs for dipped and main, so unless you fitted two sets (one for dipped and one for main) you should still have halogen main beams (I have HID in the dipped beam, and standard halogen bulbs in the fogs and main beam)

[Raymond.]

Hope you broke the bad news to the guys on BMW5 ( I didn't.... )

Haha, I'll still be there even though the BMW will be gone. I've put quite a lot of effort into this car and that forum and know an awful lot of people on there. If I can share my knowledge then I will. I just need to get brushed up on the new car now and so far this forum has been excellent too! B)

Are you under the same name there jasons? As in UK and AUS?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

I don't know to be honest Matt. I got a mate to fit it as I'm rubbish at that stuff. Maybe a placebo affect, maybe he did a poor job of setting it up all I know is I wasn't happy with it so I got it took off. Plus all the talk of needing headlamp washers to pass the MOT which I don't have and some members saying their illegal due to scatter etc sort of put me off. I don't want to be pulled by PC Plod at midnight on my way home from work for illegal lights.

So I bought a set of those Xenon looking ones last week. I like them and like I said I'm very happy with the full beam. So that's why I said its best to make your own mind up :)

[sprinter2012]

4. The boot can be opened independently with the button on the key. When locking the car, the first press of the button will lock the doors and set the alarm. But if you press it again within about 5 seconds, it will disable the alarm and engage a set of deadlocks which cannot be tampered with from either inside or outside the car. So beware, because if your battery goes flat and the car is deadlocked...you're not getting in easily. lol So just bear that in mind if you ever leave the car sat while you're on holiday or something.

Can't the deadlocks be deactivated with the key? So if the Battery goes flat, you can still physically unlock the drivers door with the key, unlocking both the deadlock and regular lock on that door? Or does it need Battery power to disengage the deadlocks?

Also, are you sure the double press disables the alarm? Because I double press mine all the time, but the alarm light still flashes inside?

Nope, the deadlocks aren't physically connected to the key holes at all so they can't be fiddled with. They are totally electronic and can only be controlled with the buttons on the key.

I'm not 100% sure on the alarm disengaging, but I thought the little red light was for the immobiliser anyway? Or maybe it's different on some cars.

[matt-c]

Interesting! Didn't know that about the locks. I've been double tapping the remote all the time (force of habit as everything is double tap nowadays) but might think twice about it now. On the one had it'd be nice to have the deadlocks on, just in case someone tries to break in, on the other hand, I don't fancy being locked out of it if the Battery dies!

All I know is the red light has 'Security' written next to it - I just presumed, possibly wrongly, it's to show the alarm is on...

[jasons]

Hope you broke the bad news to the guys on BMW5 ( I didn't.... )

Are you under the same name there jasons? As in UK and AUS?

Yep, but now back inthe UK full time...

[Raymond.]

Hope you broke the bad news to the guys on BMW5 ( I didn't.... )

Are you under the same name there jasons? As in UK and AUS?

Yep, but now back inthe UK full time...

Recognised the name but I thought you had a GS not an IS.

How is the IS compared to the 5. Not that I have any choice as the IS will be on the drive next week and the 5 in bits......

[jasons]

Different.....

The IS is so much easier to chuck around and allthough many bemoan the auto box the 5 speed on the 300 is more suited to it.

That said, perhaps its old age as I dont miss the manual box on the 5 Sport I had.

(I also like the fact that everything (just about) is standard on the IS300 whereas you could spend an arm and leg retro fitting it into the E39).

And they are (touch wood) much eaier/cheaper in temrs of parts and servicing.

Mine will be going in Jan/Feb to make way for an RX though. My wife has just taken delivery of a new Yaris Hybrid which is amazingly good so I'm now thinking of going for a hybrid RX- we shall see!

J

[Raymond.]

That's good to know. I have come from an auto 5 to a manual IS. I really like the auto box in the 5 but it slurps too much on the very short runs I do.

I looked at the standard equipment on the IS and I think it's pretty good but some bits I do not understand. The lack of OBC for instance.

You probably have seen what's retrofitted to mine and I do hope I can start doing some stuff to the IS. Planning the NAV retrofit with RTV in a few months. Done it on a 5 so might be able to do the same on my IS.

You're not breaking the IS in January are you? I need some Xenon lights......

Only joking..