matt-c

Exhaust system change will net you no noticeable gains, you can't chip it and air filters only add noise (in most cases, a cone filter replacing the original air box will lose you power). Force induction is your only real answer - but finding a complete supercharger kit is next to impossible. And if you do, you're looking between £1800 an £2100 for it. Personally, I'd go for a turbo conversion, which will cost similar money (usually a touch more) but get you more power - 240, 250, even 280 is not uncommon for a good turbo conversion on a good engine.

Raymond - if on the off chance you still frequent here (I suspect you do not) any chance of getting the pics up again? Links are dead

Couldn't tell you, as they were only done a couple months ago. Don't look any different yet though. Bearing in mind they have probably never been polished in over 10 years, they shouldn't change very quickly. It's advised to top up the UV protectant every 8-12 months.

Gtechniq P1 polish Gtechniq C2v3 (UV protector) Newspaper Microfibre cloth 15-20mins per headlight I don't agree that it's primarily the sun which yellows plastic headlamp lenses - not over 9-10 years anyway. It's mainly UV from headlight bulbs which don't have a UV filter (typically cheap high power ones). And I guess the yellowing is more intense on the insides, which means that to restore them properly you need to get the lenses off the light units and reseal them afterwards. Good luck with both of those. Always use branded quality bulbs of standard correct power rating incorporating a UV filter. There was no yellowing inside these lenses at all. In fact the only reason they were off the housings is because I was modifying the headlights. (and just FYI - toothpaste did not remove that, and the UV damage was not on the inside. It's simply about using the correct tools, in this case products, for the job)

It's a stupid design, which makes replacement a PITA- which is why I do not recommend fitting cheap LED replacements, as they typically don't last as long as regular bulbs, so you'll need to change them more often

Let's be perfectly clear - it's not about the fitter damaging parts; If a fitter breaks something on the car, then the company the fitter works for is liable to replace it. If the part is something that would normally be replaced anyway, such as clips or trims, then it's irrelevant because those parts would be supplied at the time of fitting anyway. However, if a part that shouldn't need to be replaced has to be because it's old and worn, or refitted badly from a previous fitment, then this is not the fitters fault. We can only work with the car, and it's condition, we have at that moment. You're very lucky that your insurance company is linked to a windscreen replacement company that has some of the best technicians in the field, and also probably the best resources and product supply. So less of the emphasis on fitters breaking or damaging things, when 9 times out of ten it's unavoidable and is down to the condition of the car/parts

Are these factory fitted xenons or aftermarket HIDs? Because factory xenons light up MUCH more quickly than aftermarket ones, because factory ballasts (typically Denso) are properly made an costs between £300-£600 to replace, and aftermarket ones are typically non-branded Chinese copy's that cost £15 to replace. There's your difference

The TM button is for TrafficMaster - http://www.lrseries.com/shop/product/listing/17266/LRSNAV-TRAFFICMASTER-SMART-NAV-SYSTEM-GPS.html As Chris says, the module on the dash with a wire in it is a GPS receiver. Quite possibly from the TraffiMaster install. And also as Chris says, the standard sat nav is not worth the time or money to fit. You'll end up having to strip the entire inside of the vehicle, change the entire wiring loom, quite possibly the stereo and/or amplifier, and at the end of it you'll have a 10+ year out of date, non touch screen, non 3D sat nav.

But you'd have to take your steering wheel off if you planned to swap it anyway....?

Gotta love a Daily Mail type headline, eh! And yeah, all that money spent on a Ferrari. Why not double it, and you probably still haven't reached the amount it cost to build that "little Volvo" in order for it to beat a Ferrari ;)

As Chris said, the mirrors don't close on lock as standard, so you will have an aftermarket box fitted to control this. I expect that the wiring wasn't done very well, and has been left exposed and either shorted against the metal inside the door, or get wet when you washed it and that's why your locks aren't working on remote.

Well, after a few days with them in, I think I can say I'm really happy with them. Sure, they aren't top-quality ones like the TRS Mori's, but compared to the HID bulbs in the stock reflectors, they're much nicer to love with. On unlit motorways, all three lanes are lit with a smooth, white, glow, country lanes are bright, and it looks great in the fog (well, mist anyway, will have to see what it's like in proper fog when we get some) with the cut off! Definitely worth doing I've decided not to run these in "bi" mode (both dipped and high beam), and just run them as dipped beam instead, 1) because the halogen big beams throw slightly further, 2) because with the halogens on, you don't really see the xenon high beam anyway, and 3) because they are from the cheap end of the scale, I don't want the cut-off shields (that flip down when high beam is activated, to allow the whole projector lens to output light) to get stuck or give up or anything. Thankfully when I wired these in, I did it using some spare HB3 harnesses, so I didn't cut into my standard wiring, so it was a simple case of unplugging the harnesses, plugging the stock connector directly back into the halogen HB3 bulbs, and tucking the solenoid/actuator wiring for the projectors out the way.

You should find the wiring diagrams on http://lexus.solar3.eu (you need to open it in Internet Explorer, not Mozilla, Safari, Chrome, etc)

I would tiger seal them on, myself. Unless you plan to remove them for any reason, of course

Finally got round to doing a projector retrofit to a spare pair of headlights today, and fitted to the car. The projectors are Chinese knock off's of the much more expensive TRS Mini-Mori's, and whilst I'm sure they're not as good as the TRS items, they cost but a fraction of the price, so worth a punt. Anyway, I deliberated for a while about what route I was going with these lights - do I paint the inserts, do I fit halos for sidelights, do I just fit LED T10s for sidelights, do I rig up some kind of DRL, etc. Then I remembered that I think DRL's are pretty much pointless, and I couldn't be bothered to fit halos in place of the sidelights, so I decided to just throw the projectors in place of the HB4 dip beams, keep the standard HB3 halogens for main beams, and the LED T10's I had for side lights. So into the oven at 110-120º C for 5 mins, turning halfway though, and they pulled apart nice and easily. Fitting the projectors are easy; first thing you need to do is remove the rubber boot/dust cover from the rear, and then remove the bulb shield. These tabs (top and bottom) are what hold the shield to the reflector Lever them up with a pick, and then straighten them with a pair of pliers. The bulb holder will simply pull out from the front. Then, with the reflector bare, simply put your projector in (I used the supplied large silicone donut between the projector and the reflector) and tighten the supplied nut down behind it. The nut fits perfectly in the locking ring for the HB4 bulb, so no need to remove it. You'll need a pair of bent-nosed pliers or circlip pliers to hold and tighten it. Do it up pretty tight, but bear in mind you have to be able to rotate the projector by hand later on, to do the alignment. So with that done, thread the wires for the high beam solenoid through the bottom hole for the bulb shield. make a tiny hole in the rubber boot/dust cover and push it through, and reseat the boot/cover. Then fit your bulb, and go out the the car and fit the headlight (without the chrome insert or front lens. You don't need to "fit it" fit it, just clip the bottom into place and make sure the bolts thread through the wing, so it's sitting in the right place. With this done, connect them up and you can begin aligning and rotating. Alignment "should" be fine if you haven't messed around with the adjuster screws or motors, as you don't need to take them apart or fiddle with them. The rotation is actually rotation the projector so the cut off is equal across them both - each one has a "step" in the beam, and you the two highest "lines" to be at the same height, and straight. I think I got mine pretty sport on, especially considering my car was parked on the slant and I didn't have a nice flat white wall to shine onto. Once you're happy with the rotation, remove the headlights from the car, and crank the nut down if need be (I did mine up pretty tight, so they needed two hands to rotate them. Hopefully this way, the silicone donuts keep them in place, so they won't move later on). If you're going to paint the inserts, now's the time to do it, as the next step is to bake them (again, 110-120º for 4-5 mins) and then press the front lens and grey body together tightly, and hold for a while. You could also tape them with masking tape to keep them tight - I just held them for a min or so, then took outside to cool off. With them completely sealed (hopefully - time will tell!) it's back out to the car for final refitting. I found it easier to fit all the bulbs in first, and just plug them in after, as there's not a lot of room on the passenger side once it's in, and it's just a bit less mucking around. Then just wait till it gets dark, and go for a drive around like I did to see how they are! I did a good hour or so on country lanes, A and B roads, and one junction of the motorway too, just to see how they faired in all environments, and I'm really pleased with them. I think they could be a touch higher, just to get a bit more throw from them, so at some point I'm gonna take them into an MOT station and see if I can get them on the beam level meter to see if I'm at max height or can manually adjust them up a bit. But the main thing for me was I've got rid of all the scatter and "jaggies" you get with HID bulbs in normal reflector headlights, nearly all the bright spots and now have a beautifully even spread of light across the road. Parked up facing a wall you get a lovely straight line cut off, and pull up behind a car at the lights or in traffic, and you get this pretty blue-ish hue across the top of the cut off. Neat! (plus I think these look loads better with the orange filters removed for the indicators. If you're doing this, use a pair of T20 silvatec bulbs, that look chrome but flash orange, as you'll be able to see the bulb from the outside once it's all fitted). Link for the projectors I used is http://www.ebay.co.uk/…/2x-2-5-Mini-HID-Bi-xe…/261598102796… - there are other types, with "angel eyes" and/or "demon eyes" incorporated, but I didn't fancy them. Most are bi-xenon, meaning there's an actuator inside that flips the shield down, making them high beam. To use this, you need to thread the two wires (cut the plug off first - it's useless and you won't have anything to plug it into on the car anyway) through the bottom bulb shield slot, make a small hole in the dustcover and poke it through. Then you need to tap into the wiring for the high beam, and join the new wires to it. Then when you flash your lights or put the stalk into "high beam on", not only will your halogen HB3's come on, but your projectors will also go high beam too. Nice smooth light spread, with next to no bright spots Brickwork makes it look less straight than it is, but it's nice and clean, with no scatter or jaggy "flares" shining all over the place.

Just bear in mind you won't make any more power, and if going down the decat route, you'll likely lose power through lessened back-pressure.

Ahhh, I see. Yes, various cars (many if not most actually) these days have foam between the dash edge and the glass - 1) to stop you losing things down the back of it, and 2) so the dash isn't touching the screen which can cause squeaking, and most cars have some kind of height block along the glue line along the bottom to seat the glass at the right height so there isn't too much or too little pressure between the screen and the dash. Can't say I've ever had this problem with a 250 myself, mind. Most of the times I've been to a 220/250 for a rework has been because someone was too lazy to fit the tiny rubber flap-trim that goes along the top of the screen, but instead left the glass "floating" (which is how most cars come these days anyway)

To reseal them you need to heat as you did before (110ish for 5 mins) and press them back together and hold while they cool. How to make what not show?

I literally just did it. Very easy - 110-120º (fan oven) for 5 mins, turning halfway through. Soon as timer goes off, remove, and lift the tabs around the headlight, and begin pulling from the front corner (the bit that would meet the grille), spreading the tabs as you go. Just make sure no part of the headlight touches the top back or sides of the oven. I put mine directly on the rack shelf, close to the bottom, making sure no part of the headlight touched the sides or top of the oven.

No idea what that fitter was doing, but I've never had a 2nd gen IS have any clips come loose from behind the dash. The side trim clips are blue plastic, that fit over pegs that are fitted to the bodywork.

Some say the grilles are still available from Lexus/Toyota, however some say they are all sold out. So contact lexus breakers or keep an eye on ebay as they often come up for sale. Expect to pay between £50 and £100. Lights are easy. Remove from car, place (one at a time) in the oven at 110-120º for 4-6 mins, and pull the clear lens from the grey housing. The chrome shroud simply lifts out, rub down with a scotch pad, and paint in the colour of your choice. Put back together by heating in the oven again and pressing the lens into the sealant on the housing. My advice - if you're painting the chrome shroud black, firstly do it satin black, and secondly, get some tint spray and tint the orange filter for the indicator bulb too.

If you mean, would they pay for it if I contact their recommended replacement company, then yes. If you mean, if I phone the insurance company directly and tell them my screen has suffered "wear and tear", isn't broken but I want it replaced anyway, then probably not. But then, no one in their right mind would execute the second scenario ;)

^ What he said. We call it "peppered" (not a technical term, haha). Optical grade glass that you get in windscreens doesn't really respond too well to polishing these days. You could spend a LONG time and a LOT of money having it polished professionally, but it won't get rid of it all, and it will end up hazing/dulling anyway. So as said above, your only real option is replacement. Don't believe all the faff on forums like this that it MUST be dealer supplied glass, etc. I've fitted probably hundreds of 2nd Gen IS screens and never had a problem with any. The only real stipulation is having new clips for the side trims - if you're really really patient, and with some luck thrown in, you might be able to get the side trims off without damaging either the clips or the trims themselves, but generally the clips are designed to break off so as not to break the trims, and go back on with new clips. I need to do my own screen as it's very peppered, and in the low winter sun especially, it's really noticeable. Annoyingly, my insurance company want me to use another windscreen company to have it replaced! Yeah, as if that's gonna happen!!!

I'm the same as you - as I know how much of a PITA getting a flat is, I make sure to clean up anything I might have dropped, such as rivet anvils, screws etc. and if I spot one that someone else has dropped when I pull in somewhere, I'll pick that up to - which can have two benefits; reduces the chances of someone else getting a puncture, and sometimes you find just the type of screw you were looking for, for that one off job you didn't want to buy a whole pack for, haha

By the sounds of it, you do.