BigBoomer

It's a very individual thing choosing a car. When I went looking for mine, I tested the 400/430/460 and wanted to test a 600 but couldn't find any in my area.. I found that the 400 was superb, but every example I saw was a bit more worn than I wanted. The 460 had the most voooom, but it felt less connected to the road, and of course £500 VED. The 430 was, for me, the best of the bunch. Not as pokey as the 460 but a drivers car with adequate voom.

WhoopWhoop! Congrats Bob, smooth looking car and sounds like she has won over your In-Laws 😎 Welcome to LS ownership.

Did you copper grease the backs of the pads? Sounds to me like the pads are vibrating in the caliper. Sometimes they only screech at extreme turn angles as the turn changes the lean of the wheel, especially on the LSs as they have quite tight turning circles.

From what I have seen all the Tein systems seem to lower the car by 2" (5cm) so it looks to me like you bought the wrong system if you want to keep the ride height normal. However, you should have enough adjustment to be able to raise the car back to standard ride height according to their documentation. All the writeups I see about the Tein systems on LS430s scream "Do not use". Did you research it fully before buying?

Would be better if the kit replaced all the existing wood as well, as then at least it would all match in colour. As for the car, for someone who loves the LS400 and is mechanically competent, I'd say it's superb.

US Site, many of them block access from the EU due to GDPR issues.

The first one on your initial post is also a facelift model. Just look for the rectangular foglights (facelift) as opposed to the "oval" ones (non-facelift).

Just removed my Sub using the cut method and whilst not easy, much easier than disassembling the back seat. Getting it back in is gonna be FUN!! My sub died from a broken wire where the suspension wire joins the coil wire, so pretty much irreparable.☹️ On the plus side the amp appears to be fine, so now to wait for the replacement Dayton Audio SD215-88 DVC Sub to arrive. Watch this space. 😎

What are peoples experiences of the Hybrid versions of the LS with respect to the battery pack and hybrid drive-train reliability? I know there are not many on here with LS600h models but would be interesting to hear their experiences as that may be my next move once I've worn out my 430. 😀

Yup, the cone is not moving at all even with the volume at the level of starting to be painful. On some speakers when the support goes, the cone can push too far out and break the wires that connect to the voice coil. I'm hoping it's that, and not a dead sub channel on the amp. I'll be taking it out this weekend, so I guess we will see 😎

Personally I could care less if my car is "British". I care more that it fits me and is reliable, comfortable, and affordable, something that none of the British made cars are. The engineering excellence is still here, but these days it is designing and making components of cars and motorcycles amongst other things, rather than assembling those components. Clarkson et al put it quite clearly in one of their many "tributes" to the British car industry. The problem is the phrase.... "That'll do". In Japan/Korea anyone who even thought that would immediately run out and top themselves. In Germany if someone said it all their co-workers would frown, and tut, and there would be management and worker council meetings and the offender would be "re-educated". That phrase killed off almost all of the British car and motorcycle industries and a great many other industries too. Triumph motorcycles are doing quite nicely these days as they make what the market wants, mostly, but I don't know of another British owned motoring company of the same scale or bigger. However, even they are moving some of their production overseas along with Dyson and so many others. I don't blame the government, I blame the British peoples attitude. We now live in a Global economy so the idea of "buy British" is mostly bollox and belongs back in the dark ages along with most other aspects of tribalism. Very little of what you buy is wholly British and most people will buy an equivalent item at half the price even though it's Made in China which is why Amazon, Ebay, Aldi, and Lidl are thriving. We still have a manufacturing industry, but we now mostly make small volume high value items for export such as Rolls Royces, Bentleys, McLarens, Ariels, Nobles, etc. and yes they are mostly foreign owned but are manufactured in the UK. Bespoke engineering and innovation is what we are good at, not mass production.

I'm going to cut around the Sub under the cover and get the old speaker out that way. Details are on the US forum here. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-3rd-gen-2001-2006/883244-diy-3rd-gen-ls430-subwoofer-repair-without-rear-seat-removal.html The Polk 842 is 8ohm (4+4) whereas the ML amp needs 16ohm, so be wary if you crank up the volume as the 8ohm sub will cause the ML Amp to overheat and blow. The Dayton Audio is 16ohm (8+8) and the power rating exceeds the output of the ML amp (70W), so yer not going to blow the amp or the speaker. Be aware that on both speakers you MUST wire the 2 speaker coils in series to get the 16ohms.

Ok, so my Sub has died, and it looks like LexusSparesDirect no longer have any of their replacement Subs for the ML equipped LS430s. I found out that several people on the US Forum have used a Dayton Audio SD215A-88 speaker to replace the OEM one to great effect and it seems to be reliable too. You can get this here in the UK from https://wallofsound.co.uk/p/sd215a-88-dvc-subwoofer/ and it's substantially cheaper than the £140 LexusSparesDirect were charging via Ebay, although this will require more effort to fit it into the frame that mounts it to the LS. It's a dual coil 8ohm+8ohm speaker so can be wired in series to give the 16ohms needed for the ML amp. I've just ordered mine and it came to £56 delivered. Now to wait and see how long it takes to be delivered, and then pray that it was just the Sub that died and not the Sub output of the Amp. 😊

I do 400+ miles per week in mine. It's what I bought it for. 3 days a week I commute from Wickford to Crawley and back and the rest is incidental running around, so I spend around 12hrs per week in the LS. The LS is a very nice place to be, even when stuck in the traffic queueing for the Dartford Tunnel. 😎 I average about 24Mpg which is better than my 98 Honda Legend that never got over 22Mpg so cost is about £85 per week on petrol. I also spend £12 per week on the crossing tolls. So, you should get a months motoring out of your LS at a cost of £85 per month. LPG conversion would have to be super cheap to compete with that.

Did the UK models ever get the Laser/Radar cruise control? My Feb 2004 facelift doesn't have it. Just regular cruise control.

How to was very helpful, thanks Mark. In the end I glued in a new rubber ring rather than fix the existing one. Sounds great but on cranking it up, I noticed my Sub was doing nothing. The sub is torn, but is not even trying to move. Has the amp died or do I just need a new speaker?

Thanks Brian. Have ordered a 5001 from Hongkong at under £5 delivered. 😀 Then when it gets here I get to see if I can get at it from the front wheelarch. I'll buy some 8p8 touch up paint so it matches close enough.

I guess it depends on the sizing of the wheels you mentioned and if they are available in LS sizes. From what I can find the following sizes fit the 98 LS400 without any mods to body or suspension. Tyre Rim PCD 225/60R16 97V 7JJx16 ET45 5x114.3 245/50R17 97V 7.5JJx17 ET45 5x114.3 245/45R18 97V 8JJx18 ET41 5x114.3 I test drove a couple of 400s before I bought my 430 and one of them had 18s fitted, and to be honest I couldn't tell much difference to the one that was on 16s. All three 430s I tested had the 18s, including the one I bought, and I don't consider it even mildly uncomfortable. Yes, you can feel the road surface a little, but only if you concentrate.

I have a tape player that works, a 6 disc CD-changer that works, and a radio that works. I can also play MP3s from a USB key or from a MicroSD card, and I can play any audio sent from any Bluetooth or 3.5mm headphone jack fitted device. As for the music, not a huge fan of Hendrix mostly because I've heard it all so much over the years. From that era I prefer Floyd/Genesis/Who/Zeppelin/Yes and especially Hawkwind as they are still making new music. On the noisier side it's Nile, Bolt Thrower, Obituary, etc.

Old topic I know but thought that this list of paint-codes would come in handy: http://www.toyotareference.com/lexusls/2001-2006

I need to replace my front left parking sensor. Does anybody know which model I need for my early 2004 facelift model. The options seem to be 89341-50011 89341-50020 89341-5001 89341-50050

I feel sorry for your parents in-law as they are missing out on so many things if they let what "other people" think rule their decisions. My experience of Germans is that some can be quite willing to try something new, but many of them live in a fantasy world of "ordnung" and are terrified of anything that stands out. If you want to fit in then the Lexus is not for you. If you want to be your own man, then the Lexus is for you. :-) My father-in-law loved the Honda Legend I had when he was still alive as at 6'3" and 90 years old he could get in and out of it quite easily. He would have loved the LS too.

Some useful stuff on this webpage. http://www.lextreme.com/misc.html The "Electrical Compartment Locator" looks like what you need.

Yup, as for power drain, there won't be any unless you are actually moving the seat or belt adjuster. As for other circuits that are always live, the interior and boot lights, mirror and door lights, as well as the Smartkey circuitry. The system is designed for these but be aware that if you are leaving your LS parked for more than a month, either plug it into an Optimate or else disconnect the battery. It'll be flat when you come back if you don't. I have a friend who works on the rigs and can be away for months. He fitted a 20Watt solar cell to the parcel shelf of his car and that produces enough to maintain the battery when parked.

LS430 (2004-2006) is every 90,000 miles or 72 months (6 years) according to the manuals. Mine was done at 75k miles so I plan on getting it done again at 150k miles.