McShmoopy

19 minutes ago, funkykebab said:

The guy i brought it from already changed the sat nav section but not the radio, and as i have the ML i know need the extra connections. 

Not a fan of the Android fitments that i have seen on the is250s 

But would be interested in the radio though if its the right one 

No problem I could part with the bottom section if needed as its spare, I take it your infotainment has a white screen when youre on the climate control section like this? Thatll indicate its facelift Infotainment 

Congrats on bagging an IS350 she looks like a beaut!

You'll need a facelift radio which I happen to have if you wanted to see if it works / buy it off me but if youre going through the effort to change that out I'd recommend getting an Android Head unit instead like a Teyes CC3, itll replace the screen section of the radio and modernise the car in general with wireless apple CarPlay as theres no guarantee a UK facelift radio has the same wiring necessarily til you compare them. 

If you can take a photo of the back of the radio and show how the interface looks (white or black for climate control) you can tell if its facelift infotainment or pre facelift 

A fairly straight forward solution is an android head unit which supports SWC out of the box, with some easy splicing I've got everything wired up to accept and decline calls, Siri, and skip track in apple CarPlay quite successfully. Same would be applicable to Android Auto 

I contemplated this issue myself and tend to agree largely with what Linus says, if it aint broke dont fix it. That being said my car is on 155k miles roughly and because I do plan to keep it for a while I may give the oil catch can a go, you do get some aggressive cleaners in the US that can clean carbon build up when you have an issue but I may stock up on some cheap Mannol intake valve cleaner and put it in every few fill ups when the oil catch can goes in. No harm in it I suppose as well as changing the PCV valve!

The frequent oil changes do make the biggest difference, the logic being the more often you change the fuel the less contaminants are in it therefore no need for things such as engine flush and oil additives, Im cheap and cheerful and keep them to a year irregardless of the miles I do 

On the contrary they’ve been absolutely fine and look great (was dropping a car off at the garage with my brother driving my car) 

This is a support video I sent out to XTRONS to get my climate control functions working, it shows you how to change the canbus type and the two different ones for our Lexus vehicles (Lexus LZ 205 for pre facelift and Lexus High Version 328 LZ for facelift)

Hi Don I myself have VLAND Headlights and Smoked HC Motion Tail lights providing me with sequential indicators and quite outstanding modern lights. They're on the pricey side but going used or waiting for a deal on eBay is a good shout. 

Depending on who you got the head unit from it could be that the Canbus settings need to be changed to accommodate your specific vehicle (pre facelift or facelift), I had to do this with my XTRONS and even when I did some functionality of the AC wasnt fully working. I had to contact there support team for them to get it working (Front demist and pollen feature), these non TEYES ones arent the most refined so your mileage can vary. I'd advise getting dropping me a DM and I can go through stuff with you as I'm very familiar with alot of the Lexus android head unit options 

11 hours ago, Linas.P said:

A lot of speculated about F-Sport vs. "Standard" suspension, but actually all the parts are identical. Apart of perhaps spring that is 10mm shorter and likely little bit stiffer. Was SE-L on standard 17" wheels? If anything - that will make 90% of the difference, spring making maybe last 10%. You have already addressed the tyres, which can make a huge difference. 

I have SE-L as a project car and if you interested you can come and swap out all the suspension components if you interested, I wouldn't mind F-Sport suspension upgrade 🙂 

Kind of side note - I have discovered by accident that stretched tyres are ridiculously comfortable, even if they look dumb in my opinion and I am not sure how safe they are. Basically I got 19" AM wheels with tyres and the tyres on them were rubber-bands basically. 215/35 in the front and 225/30 in the rear, I kind of wanted to get last breath of them (Falken Azenis FK510) and I thought the ride will be atrocious, not to mention based on load required I had to pump them to 40PSI to hold the weight of the car (max rating on the tyres is 50PSI). And the car rides extremely soft! My assumption that is because side wall is at angle. It probably isn't safe, it probably does not help handling, I do not recommend it, but it is unbelievably comfortable! 

Jokes aside - I don't believe there is that huge of a difference between F-Sport and SE-L, provided they are both on identical wheels and tyres. Seems like you have addressed the tyres, so perhaps next time consider downsizing to 17" wheels. 

Thats good insight Linus! Interestingly enough its a 2011 IS250 SE-L with the 18" wheels, I borrowed it while my car exhaust was out of commission off my mum and have to say it was an incredibly smooth journey overall. The mileage was similar to my own car so I just assumed its down to the softer suspension, truth be told the ECO Contacts were put on for fuel efficiency primarily not necessarily comfort so maybe swapping the tyres again could be a good shout. If I recall I think my bushing did show some cracking so I would consider replacing those, I have seen Ahmed use LCA bushings from an RCF quite successfully to counteract inner tyre wear, would they be a comfier ride I wonder! I'd consider taking you up on your offer of swapped suspension thank you! Where about are you based? 

11 hours ago, CarlDiggins said:

I have a Lexus IS250 2007 with a Marklevinson Oem nav system

i have bought the Teyes CC3 model B and I have installed 

everything is working well apart from the OEM reverse cam is not showing an image when car is in reverse.

the until flicks over to reverse screen when in reverse but it’s a black screen with just guide lines. 
 

Is there some settings to adjust or wire splicing I need to do as I thought it was a plug and play with the model B option?

any advise, pictures, videos would be very much appreciated 

 

It should be plug and play but I struggled to help a fellow member get it working. Apparently plugging in the OBD cable helps with reverse detection , in the end we just ran a new reverse camera instead 

Hi everyone

I was wanting to get some ideas and thoughts on how to improve the ride quality of my IS250, being an f sport the ride was quite firm but this was majorly improved with my Continental eco contact tyres, I recently have tried out a SE-L 250 and the ride quality was vastly superior, is it worth trying to get a hold of stock IS250 suspension used or getting after market coilovers, I have heard the springs used in the f sport suspension are very stiff so could changing those make a difference?

There is a place in Leeds that apparently do a bespoke stainless steel full exhaust fitted for £700 when I contacted then might be worth looking into them!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174152384512?hash=item288c4a8000:g:2DUAAOSwvR5Z6RlY&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8F9cQ56TjQbo10HEckN565mU6CvGAf9x4oul40ct3kscIh0J4rLaR5QfktkyG%2F2JLuNB4Z5MEzlUkLyKgMxYQnhsN%2BUV6NaDJTXkUV1XtFHyS5CER8Hty6049MMP9yL0KAw4H4SeDj6%2FYzCq368w2e50SNg4Nwey5uMNy89Ycjr1fVGkYZgkViD0f245op9%2FE6DrwdqTByujDgQkuxzDCCKMPJc0tz%2BaKyl3guqDWQc97l2dkqztUchp08A61GSB8TZglSVkootPyE6sd%2B5wirNUY5kpdTUvT3b8g%2FsgJ4xWwSxvFcEIiyKzlHl1LshKJQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5Cgo__eYg

45 minutes ago, Domin007 said:

Nice, good to hear!

I went for the one i linked, getting it fitted on Friday!

fingers crossed it turns out well! Keep us posted mate

On 9/29/2023 at 2:39 PM, Domin007 said:

Hi guys, 

So after replacing the rear exhaust very recently, the car decided it doesn't want its center piece either!

Its now breaking off at the resonator, clamp side. I just wondered if anyone has any links to decent replacements or knows any quirks associated with a aftermarket replacement? Like issues with o2 sensors etc?

(Lexus quoted £1800 LOL, but 700 for the rear piece...)

I found this on Ebay and it looks decent https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144955219203?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjw69moBhBgEiwAUFCx2K_6O--7Bj9wJ7zOCpWrlo-pRmKNhonYiU94dcKJeHhe9usEZgvyZRoCmd4QAvD_BwE

 

Any feedback is much appreciated

Dom

Exact same thing happened to me, when you replace the exhaust back boxes the mid pipe if far enough along tend to go aswell. I ended up getting this and it turned out to be a perfect fit and replacement, it has a higher purity in the metals and the car has been running beautifully smooth since I had this fitted. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234890664854

EDIT: Found a post on the web and someone else had the same issue, turns out I've installed the motor incorrectly and you have to clock it back before installation. Will give this another crack tomorrow or have a garage do it

Hi Guys

A while back I swapped out the rear driver side door after a collision but I never got around to changing the window motor as for some odd reason Lexus changed the pre facelift and facelifted window motors. I managed to tackle this and get it all wired up however I've noticed an odd thing where if I continue to hold the window close button it decides to just start opening it again, I feel as though maybe it needs calibrating but wanted to see if any of you guys know about this? 

5 minutes ago, Danas said:

i bought this :

But it the usb lead doesnt seem to fit the optical cable that i have in the car, which is a bit annoying, and xtrons don`t seem to have good customer service 😄

I did create a rough wiring diagram for the XTRONS head unit which I'll post down below as well as the one XTRON have provided, yeah the USB cable was a no go for me so I ended up buying an aftermarket toyota retention cable from eBay. 

1 minute ago, Danas said:

Hi Bilal,

 

do you have any instalation videos? I have bought the xtrons head unit and MOST, but i cant get it to work, screen works, but sound and climate controls doens`t. did you need to modify the iso harness at all? i have loads of conectors left loose from the original screen. mine is the original navi from 2007 with mark levinson, can`t seem to find any info online at all

 

thanks 

Did you buy the additional fibre optic unit with your XTRONS head unit? You will need that to make the head unit work with a Navi vehicle 

1 hour ago, J Henderson said:

That'll explain why they're broken! Don't worry, I made the same mistake...hence why I know those part numbers. 😀

For future reference, have the parking brake OFF. And, also remove the rubber plug on the disc to reveal the adjustment cog for the parking brake. You can turn it with a flathead screwdriver. You need to loosen it off a little so the disc comes off without grabbing the shoes.

You can drive the car fine until you get it repaired. Just avoid using the parking brake.

That'll explain it then! Thanks for that John thats put my mind at ease haha 

5 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

Looks like the hold down pins have broken off.

In the top picture, that hole in the middle of the brake shoe...there should be a small pin protruding there. Upon which, a small coil spring and a cap fit over it and keep the shoes snug against the backing plate.

These are the part numbers to replace them.

Pin - 47447-10020

Spring - 90501-16118

Spring cap - 47449-30030 

Did you slacken off the parking brake before removing the disc?

That seems like better names than what I came with, thanks for sharing the part numbers and advising mate! By slacken do you mean disengaging the parking brake? I left it on while taking off the disc so I imagine I didnt 

EDIT: Would this be anything to be concerned about and should I avoid driving the car til I get the hold down pins replaced? 

Hi everyone, I've changed up my brake discs and pads and re-greased my calliper pins however with the old seized up brake pads I manage to get them off using the M8 Bolts. Upon yanking them off I noticed that two springs , 2 clips faces came flying out and the handbrake shoes seemed to be just loosely hanging behind the rotors. 

From what I can tell there seems to be some riveted long clip and the clip face goes over it but for the life of me I was unable to get them back on. Getting the brake disc on as a result was a nightmare as I had to reshuffle the position of the loose hanging shoes for both the left and right rear brakes. I just wanted to know is this a common issue and is this a major safety issue? I'm thinking to take the car to the garage to get these parking shoes looked at and fitted properly but don't know if this warrants a replacement. I've stuck two photos in of how it's looking and how it should look when I've pressed it in. One of the riveted long clips has been pushed back somewhere into the void but I've retained all the other bits for this in a box. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 

On 7/21/2023 at 10:24 PM, McShmoopy said:

Bit late but I managed to finally get my new exhaust fitted from eBay, for the most part the fitter was very pleased with it as it was a perfect fit however t did need two clamps as it didn’t come with one! Bit sportier and sounds a bit meaner so can’t complain and looks good, got that placebo effect where the car feels faster but that could just be me!

linked the exhaust I ended up with, figured chrome tips looks more OEM

 

 

 

Sorry guys just realised that’s the wrong exhaust I got! This is the one I actually ended up buying 

On 7/25/2023 at 4:26 PM, Domin007 said:

@McShmoopy

Do you have a video of the sound with this exhaust? 

My right back box fell off the other day and its either one of them, £770 OEM or custom made, so I just wondered how loud this one is? Louder is fine, droney is not!

I don’t think it’s too droney it’s definitely more pronounced and louder in the cabin but as an f sport vehicle I think this was always the case comparing it to my mums SE-L 

Bit late but I managed to finally get my new exhaust fitted from eBay, for the most part the fitter was very pleased with it as it was a perfect fit however t did need two clamps as it didn’t come with one! Bit sportier and sounds a bit meaner so can’t complain and looks good, got that placebo effect where the car feels faster but that could just be me!

linked the exhaust I ended up with, figured chrome tips looks more OEM

Can't speak to costs but I think the general rule of thumb is to use OEM parts, usually Denso. They last the longest and have the most reliability and cheaper aftermarket parts can be a false economy with a Lexus