Mk4 Ls400 - Anyone On Here Fitted Diy Parking Sensors?

[Yoda400]

Hi chaps

I fitted rear parking sensors to our last car with a DIY kit and they worked brilliantly. It was a huge faff fitting them though, bumper removal etc. The bumper had a large foam insert inside which I had to drill out chunks so the parking sensors could be pushed all the way into the bumper.

Our newly acquired LS400 is in dire need of some rear parking sensors too as it's pretty big and the other half won't be keen on driving it without sensors!

I've been researching and found a couple of threads on the subject and one suggests that you don't need to remove the bumper in order to fit parking sensors. I had a quick peek under the back end today and there doesn't appear to be a gap in the bumper where you can thread the wires/sensors through etc though?! Not only this, but even if you could fit the sensors without taking the bumper off, surely you can't push on the clip behind the sensor (the bit that sticks through the bumper) which secures it from falling out?

Has anyone fitted their own parking sensors to their LS400 and do you have any comments?

If I have to take the bumper off then that isn't a huge issue I guess (hoping its not too complex!)

Thanks in advance chaps!

Yoda400

[hihihi]

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[Yoda400]

I remember being rather apprehensive about fitting individual sensors into the bumper, so looked around for alternatives.

Finally I settled on and bought from Amazon reverse parking sensors that were pre-fitted in a black plastic bar-shaped thingy (I'll link and add photos when I return home). They were more expensive but looked simpler (ie idiot proof). Having drilled just one hole above the number plate for the wire, I stuck the bar on, connected the wire to reversing light, placed the beeper next to the woofer speaker and I was done.

It turned out to be an easy job, looked very 'stealth like' and worked fantastically well.

PS I now prefer using a reversing camera. It's even better. Just have a try...

Thanks for the reply, i'm not keen on one of those bar type things though as I like things that look factory. I've already bought the kit too which I know looks great when installed, I just need some more info from those that have fitted the sensor kits to their LS400s.

The camera sounds great - already bought my sensors though. Maybe for the next car! :)

Many thanks

Yoda400

[cruisermark]

hi

i have fitted them twice to my mark 4 s- no need to remove the bumper

once you have drilled the holes you will find there is a channel running in the foam behind the bumper - just use a stiff wire to feed the wires through

[cruisermark]

have a read here :

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/93616-rear-parking-sensors/

[Yoda400]

Many thanks Mark, do the holes have to be drilled at the same height as on the green LS400 in that link? Just worried in case I miss the channel in the foam!

Cheers

Yoda400

[cruisermark]

i used to do it so that the edge of the hole is about 8mm from the chrome bumper trim - on the mark 3 they are too far down

[Yoda400]

Thanks for the Help Mark :)

Had a good go at this and very nearly finished, just got the bleeper/distance display to mount now. I'm going to pop it on the parcel shelf so it is discrete and out the way, I don't think it would look right on the dashboard. I might use some blutack (so its removable without making a mess!) to attach it to the plastic trim where the seatbelt goes into the parcelshelf on the offside.

I ran masking tape all the way along the bottom of the chrome edge on the bumper, then drilled the outer holes at 12" from the beginning of the chrome bit on each side. Then the two middle holes were spaced evenly. I drilled on the very edge of the masking tape.

I did hit the foam (more so on the outer holes), but it wasn't a huge issue as the foam isn't that rigid so use of a long drill bit and a flathead screwdriver to punch through it was fine. I then fed the wires through the small hole (remove the small grommet) under the main hole for the outer light cluster wiring. I did two wires one side, two the other side. Once the wires were threaded through, I put some plastic sheath around the wires in the hole to stop any potential chafing, and sealed the hole with some Stixall.

The two wires to the nearside were placed under the boot lock trim to the control box which i've placed in the offside cubbyhole bit as there is loads of space in there. Positive and earth were run from the offside reverse light on the bootlid, cable run down the hinge under the plastic trim on it.

The sensors come in different colours so I bought the colour nearest to mine. This isn't a very good match, so i'll get some proper paint mixed up at some point to colour code them :)

[cruisermark]

looking good - that more or less how ive done in the past. - the scariest part is the first hole! - but once fitted they do look very neat - well done!

[mikeyv]

Yoda400, can you say where you got them from, and how much they cost please?

Also, once the job is finished, how they perform.

Thanks in advance.

[Yoda400]

Yoda400, can you say where you got them from, and how much they cost please?

Also, once the job is finished, how they perform.

Thanks in advance.

No problem, it's these ones here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Parking-Rear-Reverse-4-Sensors-Kit-Buzzer-Radar-LED-Display-Alarm-System-/251574826107?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

I've bought them before for a different car and they work perfectly a year on, will report back when i've finished these current ones. I figured that if they were rubbish then at least the holes were drilled and I could replace with a different set. At the end of the day, they are quite simple electronics so it just shows what a mark up they make on the branded sets you can buy!

At £13 it would be rude not to :)

[mikeyv]

Excellent, thanks.

One other question, I have the same colour car, so would guess ocean blue or purple blue would be the nearest match, but wondered what colour you have fitted, bearing in mind I'm colour blind, though usually not bad with dark blues.

[Yoda400]

Excellent, thanks.

One other question, I have the same colour car, so would guess ocean blue or purple blue would be the nearest match, but wondered what colour you have fitted, bearing in mind I'm colour blind, though usually not bad with dark blues.

No problem. I went for the Navy blue as I thought that looked the most similar to the Chichester blue on our cars, however the navy blue sensors are lighter than they show on that eBay page which is a bit annoying. Both those colours you mention look fine I think. Out of the two i'd probably choose the ocean blue. Let us know how you get on too :)

[mikeyv]

Excellent, thanks.

One other question, I have the same colour car, so would guess ocean blue or purple blue would be the nearest match, but wondered what colour you have fitted, bearing in mind I'm colour blind, though usually not bad with dark blues.

No problem. I went for the Navy blue as I thought that looked the most similar to the Chichester blue on our cars, however the navy blue sensors are lighter than they show on that eBay page which is a bit annoying. Both those colours you mention look fine I think. Out of the two i'd probably choose the ocean blue. Let us know how you get on too :)

Yep, that was my choice too, hopefully it's as close as it looks on the page.

Just ordered a set, will add to this thread when I've fitted them.

Thanks again.

[mikeyv]

As promised, job now done, and almost exactly as above.

I've mounted the unit on the dash top though, running the wires down the edge of the dash, then under the sill plates,

I then removed the rear seat back (7 bolts) and ran through an existing hole in to the boot space.

I did the same method removing both rear lights, but kept the grommet, having drilled the centre out to accept the cables.... I did need to trim the plastic on the cable end to get both through the hole in the body though, rather than enlarging the holes.

The colour seems ok to my eyes, as close as I could hope for really.

Thanks again Yoda, as you say, for 13 quid it would be rude not to.

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[Yoda400]

Looks great Mikeyv. No problem at all :) Still haven't had chance to wire in the display unit yet. Do yours work well then? They certainly did on the other car I put them on.

How did you get the seat back off? Does the lower cushion have to come off first?

[mikeyv]

They seem fine, based on a fairly limited test, will post here if things change, but hopefully not.

The seat is a little fiddly, you need to remove 7 bolts, one near each headrest (3), hidden behind flaps.

Then four accessed through the gap between back and base.... I used a 12mm socket with long extension and ratchet, wrapped in a plastic bag to protect the seat.

There's one each end, and one either side of centre, near the belts.

No need to disturb the base.......have fun.

[cruisermark]

you dont need to remove the seat - just push the side isto create some some space between car body and seat and you will see a plastic plug at shoulder height - just drill hole in there and feed the wire through

[mikeyv]

you dont need to remove the seat - just push the side isto create some some space between car body and seat and you will see a plastic plug at shoulder height - just drill hole in there and feed the wire through

You got me wondering there Mark, so when Mrs V just got back from town I went out and checked.

There is virtually no wriggle room on mine, it won't even move enough to see behind, let alone get a drill in there.

In retrospect though, I could maybe have got enough movement by just undoing the two leftmost bolts, worth a try I suppose.

[cruisermark]

Yes i agree it is difficult but do-able - ive done it twice on my own