McShmoopy

Apologies I’ve double posted And not sure how to delete

From what I researched before I bought the car it was said by a few reviewers both UK and American that the pre de lift IS suffered from carbon build up and that this was addressed by Lexus in the facelift models. Truth be told from what I gather I think this only affected American drivers as they have poor quality fuel and I don’t think many people in the UK including the LOC community have an issue with that pre facelift. You are right, the main Achilles heel of the IS is it’s dated infotainment however I have found that with the facelift the Bluetooth music streaming is just about acceptable as far as bare minimum requirements for Infotainment. Whenever I drive my mums IS250C or if my grom is being a pain it’s works nicely enough and the Audi quality is still superb. Android units do however provide more better infotainment but they will ofcourse cost no small amount of money and there is far compatibility with the newer facelift cars. I know this ti be the case as I’ve recently managed to break my OEM stereo for my 2010 F sport and I considered getting an XTRON Android unit as I don’t believe the Teyes CC3 is fully compatible with my car unfortunately! I did manage to get a new one via a beaker so let’s hope I don’t have to haha

Just as a quick update, I managed to get my custom floor mats in for my F Sport so I brought the OEM mats I have and put them in my mums IS250C. Theres no fastening points on her driver side mat but the front mats seem to fit just like the Saloons, the rear mats were not quite the right size but I've shoved those in and they seem to do the job nicely enough.

Facelift is a good shout, aside from adding from new styling choices, it benefits from engine improvements to prevent carbon build up older IS’s in the US suffered from (not an issue here in the UK) and the infotainment is slightly modernised with iPhone / iPod usb connectivity and Bluetooth music. Newer infotainment can be provided via an android replacement or a grom VLINE for wireless apple carplay / android auto, I myself use the GROM and thanks to working with them it does work rather nicely but both of these are expensive options! (£500) that sounds reasonably priced based on todays market for card and the low mileage, id certainly consider it but maybe see if you can negotiate on the price a little 😉

I've had my 2010 IS250 F Sport Since December 2020 and for the price you pay (Mine was £4500) you get a whole bunch of car for the money. The fact that yours is an SE-L top spec model it has even more bells and whistles in which most of our German rivals tend to lack even in 2022. The only concern I have with an IS nowadays is how ridiculous fuel prices are and the car is far from the most economical, that is made up for by its supreme reliability though. If the price is right and the age of a car doesn't concern you then by all means its worth it! WIth it being 2009 is it the facelift model with wing mirror indicators?

I’m hoping that’s the case also, but from what I read on other forum posts some 3IS owners have had similar issues so I suspect it will be an expensive fix to change out an individual part on the head unit. I’ll give Lexus a call but my alternatives are getting a replacement head unit from a breaker or potentially going down the android head unit path.

Hi Guys After some tinkering with my stereo I have it looks like my factory USB connection is broken, this wouldn't be so much of an issue but my GROM VLINE2 works by hijacking the USB connection to access it. From my understanding the USB connection in the facelift IS receives power from the 12 pin connection at the back of the stereo and this goes to a Multimedia interface unit, which then goes to the factory USB port. I'm hoping theres some kind of fuse used for the USB connection that may have gone off but I inspected the fuses listed Radio 1 2 and 3 and they were fine. I'm hoping its not an individual part I need changing, does anyone know what fuse it could be for the USB port? I have referred to the manual and online guides but no such luck.

Cheers for that, they dont look half bad and using your OEM mats on top isnt a bad idea either.

No worries, in that case eBay is a good option also as you can get some fairly nice and cheap rubber or standard mats , genuine OEM ones can be a bit trickier to find so a breaker would be good to get them at a good price

I'm getting similar style mats with a custom F sport Logo put in by a local guy for £140, how do yours look and is the quality decent?

I was actually looking into this for my Mums IS250C, I checked parts direct and I couldn't spot any IS250C mats but from what I've seen of her car I believe the standard IS250 Mats would fit the front passenger and drivers seat. I am unsure about the back but I am due to get some bespoke mats for my car so I may just end up giving my OEM mats to her for her IS250C!

Hi Sean, Congrats on picking up an IS250! The facelift ones were particularly good as they came with Bluetooth music streaming, auto folding wing mirrors with the indicators, as well as addressing some engine issues the car had pre facelift. I've had the car for over a year and I've enjoyed every second of it and have not had any issues aside from regassing my air con and changing my worn out boot struts.

The cars do look eye catching but what always ruins it for me with these international folk (mainly Americans) is the choice in alloys, they just look awful to me almost like something out of need for speed underground!

HI Graeme, The good news is as youre a 2008 vehicle owner most head units will be compatible with your vehicle. Will need some specifics though, do you have the factory touchscreen navi or is it the non touchscreen version? I assume based on the unit you've selected you've got a Navi so youve got quite a few options. First is a similar android head unit like the one you have linked, from what I have seen this should work fine. You can find some much nicer ones on the webs such as the Teyes CC3 but your mileage may vary. The second is a GROM VLINE2 which would integrate into the existing infotainment system (hijacking the DVD / CD disc section to access it) and retain all OEM controls while also providing a full android experience including Wireless Apple Carplay / Android auto. Now for pros and cons, the cheaper android head units like you have linked will work absolutely fine but there sometimes can be an issue with climate control and the audio quality can be seriously degraded due to cheaper Chinese components such as DACs and DSP. The GROM VLINE however is something I myself own, it is incredibly expensive for what it is but especially for pre facelift vehicles, it works wonderfully and is a quality product that does receive regular software updates and my main thing is that the audio quality of the OEM system is preserved and sounds great. Whichever route you chose to go will still radically improve the car infotainment but it comes down to what you put most importance on.

￡320.49 48％ Off | TEYES CC3 For Lexus IS250 XE20 2005 - 2013 Car Radio Multimedia Video Player Navigation stereo GPS Android 10 No 2din 2 din dvd https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKOGdTI Here’s a review and link to purchase the Teyes CC3 for our IS250s.

Hi mate, if you’re planning on getting a pre facelift car the GROM VLINE (LEX5) works without any issues from what I’ve seen. Thankfully for myself I’ve been working with grom for the last few months and for my UK LEX6 it seems to be working wonderfully now, not 100% perfect but well enough for my needs so if you want an easy way to get a fully android experience or carplay / android auto while retaining OEM functions then the GROM is the way. I should make you aware that with GROM they do push our regular updates but their customer support can be hit or miss and sometimes a firmware update can break the unit for you and would need to be restored or a software update introduce a new bug. Now some of the guys have mentioned aftermarket android head units, the good thing is there are quite a few which would work wonderfully particularly for the pre facelift Lexus IS250s.At the time when I was shopping around none seemed to be compatible with facelift versions but they seem to be now compatible apparently. As much as I may have preferred these types of units, the caveat of them is that air conditioning controls will be done solely by the units touch screen and buttons and there can be a degradation of audio quality depending on the type of unit you purchase. For me as a musician audio quality was extremely important to me especially with mark Levinson audio. That being said, the Teyes CC3 seems to be the most high quality one I’ve seen, and like the guys have mentioned Saab unleashed did a very good review for this product. It does seem to include high quality components such as a DAC so perhaps the audio quality could be even better once you play around with the DSP and EQ. At this point you can’t go wrong with either but if you can I’d definitely try out the Teyes because not only is it cheaper, you will encounter less issues than with the GROM.

Yes mate I did end up making a page, it’s not been updated in a while but I’ve got a lot of things to update it with but just have had a crazy few months! Expect some updates in the next 2 weeks

Ah I've only just realised he was referring to the covers, my mistake haha

Best bet would be breakers, facelift vehicles are a little harder to find but scouring breaker yards or Facebook marketplace may be a good place to start! I can’t imagine it being much different between left and right when models perhaps different wiring looms

Good effort Ahmed! Looks great as always, I was actually thinking about doing a mod to the OEM IS steering wheel in order to make it heated, is that a mod you would consider doing in general?

Ah fair enough, yes it will vary depending on what you have in terms of that. Should be absolutely fine then

Yes that looks about right, I assume your IS300h is the one without built in navigation?

I'm inclined to agree with the above, I myself didnt disconnect my battery when installing my GROM. I believe the rationale was to ensure you dont accidentally set off the airbags but if you're using the correct prying tools and are being fairly delicate that shouldn't be a concern. The warranty if you asked Lexus they would almost certainly say yes that it is voided at least infotainment wise, however I suppose if you keep it all stock / OEM looking with a unit like the GROM no one would be none the wiser. The units you by should be plug and play so all you will need to do is plug in and remove certain connectors so no electrical knowledge should be needed. It is worth buying a good vehicle trim removal set to ensure you dont scuff or scratch anything during the removal process. Haha yes you do seem far out but any help you do need I am happy to help

How recently did you get the 220D? Unless you were planning on doing some serious miles you may have been better off getting an IS250 as the 220D's while not awful cars were very unreliable and have a number of issues that are well documented on the forum. The IS250 seems to achieve very comparable MPG to the Diesel without any of the associated issues so I'd consider taking the car back if that is an option at all.

Apologies for the late response Gaurav, I missed out on your first message unfortunately! I would steer clear from Halfords in general, they're absolutely fine for older cars with generic single din and double din radios however for vehicles such as ours with bespoke infotainment systems they wouldn't know the first place to start! You'd be better suited trying to do it yourself. or ask someone from the forum locally to assist. I can try sending you a few videos to help but I believe you're quite far out from me haha. I've just taken a look at Herbie's video and thats a very good example and demo of the GROM for the 3rd gen+ vehicles.