Linas.P

By the way - pictures of 2023 LM have been just released (I think it was available on TopGear since Monday or Tuesday)... and it seems it is just facelift. Now to be fair I think it looks better than 2019 deal, some of the most jarring angles were smoothed over and it looks little bit more classy. I would not call it pretty, but I don't think it is as offensively ugly as before. Interior was tidied-up a little bit as well... but all in all it still has all the issues as before. It is small minivan and not proper passenger van, which looks silly with those two massive throne chairs inside and it is cramped on 2+4 configuration. If anything it seems third row is even more cramped now with slightly more priority given to middle row. What it needed instead was good 30-40CM in length - I would still consider it a bit stupid, but at least then Lexus could say it is competitor to V-Class. I would question some of the specs as well as there seems to be mistake. They state that overall length is 5,130mm (the 2019 model was 5,030mm, yet they look identical in length), now that may indeed be true and it gained 100mm (not very clear where), but then if you go to wheelbase it says 3,000mm... and scale it based on that, it works out exactly 5,030mm. Still quite surprised there are 2 metres of overhang... would not be able to tell it from the pictures.

No... it is indeed a little bit intimidating at first. After doing it twice now (yes... once turns out was not enough!)... I reckon I can do it in 15 min. As well you mentioned power source ECU... just to expand on that - yes that could be cause, but again that is not much more than a guess. Reaching it in UK car - you would need to remove glovebox (and then be quite agile with plugs and wiring). Ohhh... and you only need to match the part-number, it may require ECU reset to work, but it is NOT like ID Box which is linked with other modules and must be matching pair. The circumstances makes me question diagnostics even more. As David said - most electricians are numpties (in my experience as well), but you may call one of those "no repair no fee guys"... yes they are kind of useless, but they work on cars everyday and they might be able to give you second opinion. The thing is - if you sell it not running, then you can be sure to get less than £500 for it... and if it turns out to be something simple like fuse it will be pity (and that is often the case). I honestly spend more time than it was worth on my car, just because I could not accept selling it for scraps for few hundred £100.

That is possibility, especially if you ask somebody else to do it. I did it myself and paid ~£200 for the parts and countless hours doing it, because dash has to come out to get to ID Code Box. Now again - I am not convinced your issue is ID Code Box, although it seems David had similar problem which turned out to be it, so likewise I can't rule it out. Check fuses for Power Source ECU as well... it won't be start button fuse, because you said the button itself lights-up, so it seems it gets power.

Almost forgotten this one as the discussion we had were mostly performance related. Check if you have "valet mode" on - should be small button in glove box. Although that should disable it for key fob as well.

Had to do the same - It is called ID Code box and full list of parts requires is: the ID Code Box, steering lock (column removal not required, one can simply replace PCB inside the lock) and keys. They have to match smart key module part number and power source ECU. Then they need to be programmed to main ECU. That said my issue was slightly different - my car would start and straight away die. I would start from investigating the button itself. Replacement buttons are not expensive (~£20). I don't believe ID Code box actually controls whenever key is initially recognised or not, it is literally an immobiliser for the engine... so it should allow you to cycle trough the OFF>ACC>IG ON, but just prevents engine from starting... or like in my case - kills it right after the start.

@mmladenov21 - the only things which are not DPF related I can think off... check fuel pump and fuel filter.

Happy to hear it helped!

Smell itself could be due to bad reading.. ECU get's wrong reading, send wrong air/fuel ratio, for example when engine is cold ECU uses richer mix to heat-up cats, but if reading is wrong it may be dumping fuel all the time (perhaps related to your higher than normal revs)... cat does not work optimally and you get smell... The way to further diagnose this would be to look at "live data" e.g. if you have bad sensor it would likely show like just stable 14V or 0V (open or short circuit, whereas normal would be fluctuating ~1V). So for example if issue is caused by the leak, you would see O2 sensor output fluctuating as you rev the engine, but in wrong range... whereas if it is dead, then it will simply going to be stuck to most likely 0V. Anyway - I am speculating a lot here... In short what I am trying to say - smell may indicate that cat isn't working efficiently, but not necessary that it is actually bad. It may not work efficiently due to many reasons. I am quite surprised it shows C1201 (which is comms error), nasty to diagnose on it's own, but sometimes shows it's ugly face together with other codes like for example bad O2 sensor... so most likely will disappear when you fix P0420. The other funny code is B1421... it just means when you were reading codes car was inside the garage or it was dark, so ambient light sensor gives a fault code for that... very picky... if you shine the shop light at the sensor the code would dissapear 😄 Good luck with the fix and let's us know how it went...

O2 faults can 100% be caused by leaks in exhaust... So definitely fix any leaks before spending money on cats or sensors. So the way I see it - leak causes wrong O2 reading > wrong O2 reading inevitably causes cat fault code. Now sure - it could be that O2 sensor itself is bad and that will also cause cat not to function properly (because remember - the only reason for O2 sensor to exist is to monitor cat function, and "below threshold" that means o2 sensor reading is wrong), or it could be just a leak... or it could be cat. I mean it is not impossible that cat (1 of 4) has failed after 100k miles. However, the way to diagnose would be to first ensure there are no leaks, then check the sensor and only then start thinking about the cat.

Some news... so after plugin in spare pump the DTC1201 is gone... meaning it was the pump which was causing comms error, which is good news! But the replacement pump, to surprise of no one is dead on arrival, so I now getting code U0102 - "communication lost with ABS module". So this one is going back and I am looking for good tested one now. It is like a story with throttle body - bought like 4 cheapest ones, all of them were dead. Returned them showing testing results to the guys who sold them to me and that they are dead... few days later they just relisted them... waste of time with scrappers - they never check if parts are working.

It may be extra, but not much... I have paid like £13 or £17 for key cut.

It is indeed custom interior "finish" (by which I mean the layout is standard, but white leather and granite tops with £5 Aliexpress RGB LED controller is custom)... the point was the space you get and what you can do with it i.e. I am saying V-Class outclasses LM for what it meant to do. For people who are willing to spend £110k on Lexus LM, I am sure it is ok to spend £65k for bog standard V-Class and put another £65k to customise it to their needs. If you not going for granite table tops and pattern on the leather I am sure you can get everything close to LM price.

As I said - any locksmith can do it for ~£80-£150, so £114 is bang right in the middle of the range. Go for it - you will be hard pressed to find anyone who can do it for less.

Whatever it is - good luck with that... In mean time I will toy with idea of getting cheap GS300 and transfer half of the goodies over into IS250. Not quite 306HP as in IS350, but 252HP should be noticeable improvement... if only I had garage I would have done it already.

Don't say you planning to put 3GR into IS250... I if so you will beat me to it 😄

Great review... agree with most of what you said... especially about it being great balance overall. I think this is best all-rounder car I ever had, which is very difficult to replace. It doesn't do anything perfectly, but it does everything well... going for any other car you always have sacrifice something significant, but not on these. I guess hence I am on my 4th IS250 now. Gearbox can be modified to be fully "manualised", but there is no real benefit of doing it in IS250 (many people do it to IS350 with similar a760e gearbox in US). I found that myself I mostly use S and manual shifting for engine breaking and it does it rather well, as long as you use it as a "limit" rather than expecting full sequential it does what it meant to do well. If I would be really looking for something to improve on this car - then it would be slightly more powerful engine (sadly we didn't get neither 300, nor 350 here) and folding rear seats for practicality. I can't really thing of anything else. ML is indeed great system, but even "standard" 13 speaker system was very good on these cars. Overall, infotainment was kind of outdated compared to contemporaries, but nowadays can be replaced by android unit for ~£200-400.

That is what 4 seat version suppose to compete with (S-Class). Remember 4 seat means only 2 passengers (as per picture below). And as for 6 sear version (4 passengers) it is simply too small - that is why V-Class exists and it can have 4 seat option in the back where they are all extremely luxurious. 6-seat LM would feel just like any 3-row MPV - kind of cramped (look at rear seats... they maybe ok for "servants"). Compare that to what you could get in V-Class because it is much larger: Not sure about Chinese Money in UK, but Middle-East are very sensitive about the appearance and will not be seen getting out of the van... even local Chinese understands that nobody appreciates it in UK. Remember - being driven around in limousine is as much about outward appearance as much as it is about comfort. They project their "success"... LM just doesn't work this way in UK. They do have massive sales in Southern/Eastern Asia, even thought competition - S-Class sells like 80k in China and LM is quite close 67k, so not exactly "cannot be expected to sale in large number", I think Lexus is bringing it here only because they do expect large number of sales. Check out Kia as well - I think they get luxury right in their Carnival 4 seat version. I think it will remains to be seen if this thing will sell... after all that is the only metrics which matters, regardless of what we think about it.

Car without DPF cannot be driven on public road, so there is not much help that can be offered. You need to make the car road legal first then start looking for solution. And I am not saying that just because I hate cancer spreading cars, but as well because it may be related with the issue you describing.

Not my experience, but I do believe it is possible. They as well generally refuse parts from outside in case they counterfeit or simply wrong model... all goes into that liability. For keys I guess it is extra difficult as it is considered security feature. As well what it depends what is definition of new and how they ensure it is new... who is to say the key from open bag is new?

I do get it is not car one will buy for themselves to drive, but considering the price I just can't see it appealing to "executive taxis either", buying S-Class or even E-Class will always be better purchase in this segment. People will pay extra for being driven around in Merc, but they won't pay extra for micro-Van, at least not in UK. So despite getting where you coming from I think everything has to change around how we look at the cars... people in UK have to start viewing this as being equal to S-Class and that is simply isn't the case and car like Lexus LM is unlikely to change it. As well I would note that environment/setting matters... if I go to China and one of these would pull-up to pick me-up I would be rather happy, because of different customs, different country, exotics of experience etc. Knowing that locally they have high regard for such cars would be bonus as well... But UK isn't China and all the things which makes LM acceptable there makes it unacceptable here. Again I may be proven wrong, but seems Lexus again is entering the market with sub-par car and aims for the class above themselves. They did that with ES... comparing to BMW 5-Series and MB E-Class, which competed poorly, except of the lowest end of those classes and now they going against V-Class despite being way smaller and more niche (LM is 40cm shorter and has like 60cm less interior room, yet they find it somehow comparable). This is how it looks to scale (5390mm for V-Class, 5270mm for R-Class and 5,030mm for Lexus LM, even then 100mm of that is just angry grille):

That would be unusual, I don't know any Lexus dealer that would allow it, but smaller shops may do it.

That is clear, but for the same price would you rather be chauffeured in LS (that is western style executive car) or LM? I know which one it would be and it wouldn't be LM. As well BMW got a lot of slack for their new ugly cars, but I would rather be in any of them or RZ/RX than in this thing. Honestly XM is beauty contest winner if LM deserves to be called a car. Revulsion is not about Japanese MPVs, I do find them ugly, but I do not hate them because I kind of understand where they coming from. It is basically taking place of SUV, before the SUVs were the fashion, so basically family in japan would own MPV to take their kids around and go shopping... like a basic practical car to take family from A to B. Obviously, times have changed and MPVs were all but replaced by SUVs which are better in any objective way... and I do hate SUVs, but at the same time I do think that SUV is an upgrade over MPV. So revulsion is not about just MPVs, but about idea that MPV ca be luxurious and that it could be replacement for limousine/executive transport. I just do not find these two concepts compatible. MPV is meant to be cheap and practical, if it happens to be ugly... well so be it. Nobody goes on farm and says "this tractor is ugly"... it does it's job, leave it alone. But when you want something luxurious the looks becomes important. And by the way I don't just think Japanese MPVs are ugly, remember MB R-Class - Hideous! BMW 5GT is similar concept, again - hideous... That is exactly what they saying i.e. competitor with V-Class.... problem is V-Class is nice looking Passenger Van, I have no issues with it, it's has it's purpose and it can be luxurious and it is fine. Basically if you have 1-2 important people to carry around, then you get S-Class, but you if you have let's say 3, 4 or 5 then you get V-Class van. It is almost like a "tour-bus" just smaller. But if you only planning to carry 2 passengers then why get van, just get S-Class or equivalent... So Lexus LM is this sort of sub-class of Van... it is not even real Van... This looks good, that how luxury van should look like: To explain how bad it looks one needs to imagine MB making Luxury version of Vaneo/Citan: And again - Merc already tried it, they had R-Class and it was universally hated and considered ugliest car ever made (and as result MB no longer makes it and probably tries to forget they ever did):

Yes, but that includes brand new key for £450+VAT. You can't bring your own part to dealership, hence the price. I do think it is stupid that they want so much for old car keys... the price was fine when cars were brand new, but by now I think they should include keys in "Lexus Essential" plan (which I believe they have discontinued now), for something like £250 all in. Because when cars are £4000 it is stupid to believe anyone will be paying £693 for key.

Then you can do it yourself with Techstream, only other option is to call lock-smith, or pay Lexus £600.

I think before we can conclude that this thing have to sell first... if it does sell I will be appalled and you will be right! Apparently chinese (and few other countries in that region) don't have taste for the cars... and it isn't about being rich and spoiled, it is simply because they don't have car culture and they really only got first cars in early 90s... so whereas we in the west had 100 years to create culture, rules etc. on car design and use, they literally in their infancy when it comes to forming opinions... add some political systems in place and it really develops into the beast. Even in our "free" society we developed some wacky cars in 1920s, so imagine the result communist state has on cultural development of motoring.