McShmoopy

2 hours ago, Nawaz said:

Hi guys.

 

New to the forum. Yet not new to the lexus IS models. I have owned a 2002 IS200 Sport which sadly was hit and written off. So upgraded to IS250 F Sport on a 2012 year. With 54k miles and 2 previous owners. 

I haven't had to long and am somewhat in need of help and or advice. The car makes a click / knock noise when at slow speed and turning left only. I have gone back to the dealer. Not a Lexus dealer. Who has said "all new Lexus vehicles make this noise as it it electronic steering" I think that is a load of BS as my 02 never made this noise yet it was a proper steering pump with oil. 

Can anyone confirm this or tell me otherwise? The click noise is that a trait of the 2nd gen IS or is that bull? 

Any info would be greatly appreciated and would help me massively. I thank you guys for your time in advance. Thanks.

Pic of my IS250 F Sport as well.

Congrats on the 2012 IS, shes a beaut! Im a 2010 F Sport owner myself and there definitely isnt a clicking noise as standard. Would indicate a lose part or something amiss, may be worth taking to a Lexus specialist as the dealerships vary largely in quality depending on your location. 

Sorry to revive a very old thread, but thought it may be worth people knowing. Fitted VLAND headlights and the HCMotion tail lights to my vehicle last year and its now gone for its first MOT with these on and it seems to have flown on by without issue. I have actually adjusted these ever so slightly higher than the OEM Lexus HID Headlights (compared against my mums IS250C with auto levelling) and it seems to have gone through fine. No modifications have been made to the VLANDS, they've been wired in as you'd expect them to be as the instructions dictate.  

While the VLANDS may technically fail due to the DRL not dimming, if you take your car to a decent garage who take a pragmatic approach to MOT's you shouldn't have an issue really getting these through. 

4 hours ago, SteL said:

Hi, thank you that’s extremely helpful.

I’ll go with the T’eyes CC3 unit (128GB-B) + a few of the add on’s (tyre pressure and DAB+ USB monitors).  Hopefully that will enhance the entertainment and functionality systems to what I would like the car to provide.

As you rightly point out, the Amazon Echo Auto, should work from the aux if I can’t connect it directly to the unit, but it works from a USB port so again I can’t see any issue.

Not too sure on the splicing, never attempted that before, as I said I am a total novice.  If need be I’ll give it a go 😬.

Thanks again, greatly appreciated.

No worries mate, let me know how you get on! I'd say get the Teyes branded stuff as it will integrate nicely with the headunit, you can get any aftermarket android one but it will need its own App and the main selling point of the Teyes is that their own software is very intuitive and integrates nicely.  

Splicing isnt too difficult but having the right tools and connectors makes it a doddle, If I get around to doing this myself I shall document the process. I need to get around to adding TPMS , sort out my 360 reverse camera system and possibly DAB also still. 

5 hours ago, SteL said:

Hi, I recently read and watched McShmoopy’s review of the Xtrons head unit for the IS250 and found it really informative as I’m thinking of also replacing my stock head unit. However, reading down the thread I became aware of the T’eyes CC3 which I think is more suited to my needs.  
I’m no expert, basic novice is more akin to my electronic know how, but I’d appreciate advice from any CC3 owners concerning compatibility of the Mark Levinson sound system, original rear view camera and Amazon Echo Auto  and what version of the CC3 I require. 
I’ve contacted T’eyes support who have reassured me of the Mark Levinson sound system, but not the rear view camera or Echo Auto.
I have a 2007 pre-facelift model with Navigation and I’m reasonably comfortable that the CC3 128GB-B is the unit I require but without removing the head unit and inspecting the rear as T’eyes suggest, I’m still a little unsure if anyone can help.

Hi Steve, I spoke to Ahmed alot about the Teyes on Instagram and vice versa with my headunit. Unlike my XTRONS the Teyes team provide a handy harness specific to your year of vehicle and if its a NAVI or not. I am unsure if like mine the Teyes can access the original Mark Levinson settings (Such as EQ, surround sound, sound leveller) as it is a CANBUS profile setting but failing this the Teyes has much  parametric EQ controls and compression options anyways so I wouldnt be particularly concerned. Your reverse camera will be able to be fitted by using a specific harness which I believe theyll include. I've had a look on the Teyes website and it looks like it will be the B option you need as that is pre facelift, if you had a 2010 like myself you'd opt for the A option.

The only thing you will probably need to do is splice one of the Steering wheel control cables if you want to program them as they are fixed and can't be changed. I haven't gotten around to this but Ahmed has done this quite successfully, there are two different SWC cables but you only need to splice one which controls MODE, Hang Up, Answer Call, and Voice Control as Volume Up / Down, Skip Track and Previous track work as expected. 

Only thing I think you may have an issue with this head unit, you will not be able to access the OEM parking assist settings like adjusting the distance of your parking sensors or the Parallel park assist as you have to press the touch screen on the reverse camera input but don't quote me on that. I'd get your OEM settings to the following before you swap the head units incase these options are no longer accessible. 

Audio Settings for all channels set to default. 

Volume to 30.

Reverse camera sensor distance. 

Reverse camera setup as you like it, (type of lines and view etc).

EDIT: Never used an Echo Auto however you should be able to retain the AUX connection and the Teyes has a Bluetooth connection built in, I'd probably suggest you get one of the faclifted USB / AUX connector and replace your standard AUX connector with that as well as a USB cable so that you can conveniently have a USB port that goes direct to the head unit in the centre console storage. My facelift car had this as standard but you can retrofit it into older IS's, I'll include the cable I got to plug it in also. I'm sure you could slip in a very long USB extension cable instead but having things look OEM is pretty snazzy 😏

https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-is-phase-2-usb-aux-wire/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353878702681?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11051.m43.l1123&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=66a6b3f1431b4c7ba849dd22fb434505&bu=43575022862&osub=-1~1&crd=20220304050745&segname=11051&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

I got a road angel dash cam and the fitment was fairly easy, I do agree getting out the fuses was a BLOODY nightmare.  Fuse removal tool will not work either as they’ve been lodged in there likely the age of the car, long pair of needle nose pliers (I’m training to be a sparky so I’ve got a nice set to hand) is all you’ll need to persuade the fuse out.

I myself have hardwired the dash cam for the parking mode functionality and for the clean aesthetic also, but I would highly reccomend hard wiring it as it can be done without depleting the Battery totally.  That being said the one time you may need it is when you don’t have that facility, so better to have it and not need it!
 

If you need some help fitting drop me a message or take a look at my post about it.

2 hours ago, CiaranMcK said:

Hi,

 

Sorry to revive such an old thread, but since installing the WALD spoiler my boot has been absolutely smashing down.

 

Did you just buy the standard SGS is250 struts, or struts intended for a different car, and where did you get the springs? I want to order the exact same combo, then will probably do kick open too. 

 

Thanks!

The SGS Struts are enough with my stock Stock F Sport Spoiler to lift with the finger, the auto opening with mine is thanks to those springs. I have the medium strength ones but to ensure you get a strong boot open action you could try heavy strength springs instead. I've outlined this in my post here 

https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/127859-black-is250-f-sport-basic-mods-and-tweaks-d/?do=findComment&comment=1230442&_rid=67857

A fellow LOC member Ahmed ended up purchasing the Teyes CC3 and its a fantastic piece of kit from what he's told me and shown me. Its superior to the XTRONS unit I had purchased so I'd highly recommend getting it. He'll be putting out a review video fairly soon but worth dropping him a message if youre interested in it sooner rather than later. 

3 hours ago, AFlex said:

Wow so it actually integrates really well! I imagine the Teyes is the same or even better given how good its software is.

Do you still get the beeping sound though?

One idea I've been toying with is adding a couple of additional sonar sensors on the front (I feel like 2 really isn't enough). This in addition to upgrading to the aftermarket 4IS style bumper 

Let me know how you get on with that! I’d love to do the same with adding an additional 2 sensors, and yes it still beeps just the same so in fairness the XTRONS does integrate very well, it’s just a case of my car being a facelift you will need slightly different harnesses and changes to the software which only the Teyes fully caters for from what I can tell 

9 hours ago, AFlex said:

How does the parking sensor functionality work with these aftermarket units? Does it still beep and appear on the screen when the sonar detectors pick up close objects?

Thanks

They work perfectly with both systems I believe, you can have parking sensors only show when reversing and when they work they are in the correct orientation for the car. Another option I’ve enabled is that when a parking sensor is triggered it pulls up the 360 parking camera view and the sensors are visualised, when I eventually get around to having the other 3 cameras installed this will let me see a 360 view of the car 

On 8/6/2022 at 3:46 PM, AFlex said:

Thanks Bilal

I am 99% set on getting the Teyes CC3 - just need to choose between the 2 versions

The 9" is definitely compatible.

The 10" also appears to be compatible for pre-2009 facelift models: (note the typo below - i think 2019 is supposed to say 2009)

@ahmed24 I'm just wondering what swayed you in the direction of the 9"? Did you prefer the OEM bezels look?

Glad this has helped! I always knew of the Teyes CC3 but it’s only recently that support for facelifted NAVI vehicles became available even with the Teyes, the XTRONS was the first I saw that had confirmed compatibility with facelifted vehicles but going back if I had the choice I’d certainly opt for the Teyes. The look I do agree is far better with the XTRONS but the only thing I’m missing really is native wireless apple carplay support as well as programming my right hand steering wheel controls

6 hours ago, AFlex said:

@ahmed24 nice unit. What made you get the 9 inch rather than the 10? The teyes website seems to suggest that for 2009 or earlier models with Nav, the 10 inch would be compatible - it only causes issues for later models with Nav.

 

Does the unit integrate properly with all the OEM components? Reverse camera, steering wheel buttons, microphone, ML stereo, etc?

 

Thanks!

From the conversations I’ve had with Ahmed yes the Teyes accommodates all OEM functionality unlike the XTRONS, just need the ensure when purchasing you pick the right options to receive all the correct harnesses 

39 minutes ago, agent_dess said:

It looks alot smaller without the navigation DVD drive. how will it fit the void? Or is it just the way you took the photo that it looks smaller??

It ought to be a perfect fit on top of the factory disc drive, what may not be flush is the fitment with your air vents as these android head units are made to better accommodate the facelift IS, so the alignment tabs at the base may not line up perfectly and the air vents will have a noticeable gap. This is easily remedied buy buying 2009+ onward air vents however.

8 hours ago, MartinH said:

Which additive did you use

I picked up the multi use one from Halfords for £12 but I was planning to bulk order some from Mannol via eBay as it works out incredibly cheap, however as I was heading to Italy I needed some for a test run. Idea is for every litre of fuel you put in add 1ml of the additive 

This may be purely a placebo effect, but I recently went down a rabbit hole of E10 additives and I’ve used it a few times and I feel like it’s brought my car a new lease of life. The end result of the additive is fuel which is pretty much like Super unleaded without the extortionate  prices. The car picks up way better it’s smoother and my MPG has had a noticeable increase. City driving improves from 24 to 29mpg and my latest drive to stanstead yielded me a cool 42.1mpg!

On 7/13/2022 at 1:54 AM, CiaranMcK said:

Thanks for the review. I was looking into switching out my vline for this but I don’t think I can stomach spending £100 on cables, and with the reverse camera and built in car play also not working 100% it just seems like a lot of messing around for only a small improvement.

 

My only real gripes with the vline is that the factory screen is pretty small and if I reverse it will revert back to factory UI once back in P or D. My music seems to keep playing and once I press audio again I get my vline screen back. It’s not the end of the world.

The xtrons does look lovely though. The extra screen size and quality makes all the difference. 

 

Cheers mate, yes it’s not a completely plug and play solution. For that I’d highly suggest the TEYES CC3 , it is made to support both pre facelift and post facelifted vehicles and these can be NAVI or non Navi. The reverse cam will also work, the only reason I hadn’t gone for that myself is that I wasn’t 100% sure on compatibility with facelifted vehicles and I didn’t like that Facelift compatible vehicles had to have the fascia’s with the smaller screen and additional buttons. 

@ahmed24 recently got a Teyes CC3 and has had great success with it and it works very well. Hopefully we can get a in depth review or something of the sort in the future 

3 hours ago, Zuke said:

Left a window open on my car earlier this week (2007 IS250) so closed it using the key.

Since then the windows are opening for no reason. 

Doesn't happen straight away, no idea how long it takes but again this morning the windows are open ??

Nearside rear window, if I don't put the window lock on for the back comes down pretty much all the time to about half way ? Strange... any Ideas ??

It could be that the key fob has the button slightly depressed so its opening the windows on its own. This is something I've been meaning to programme into my keys but not got around to pulling up Toyota Techstream to do so.

Try disassembling the key and reassembling it, a good indication is if the red activity LED is flashing on its own. 

1 hour ago, markeyszoo said:

looks blue in pic?

 

Just how the lighting is I assure you haha, I did manage to purchase a door on eBay all in for around £88. This one had a few minor scuffs compared to some other examples but this came with the door handle and the window and I'd rather not transfer all that across. 

Door has already arrived today, will make arrangements to fit hopefully in the next week or so! 

4 hours ago, SeanR said:

Hello, 

 

I might sound thick here but not in the car.

I use the screen to control radio and temp etc, if this goes then can i still get by without it ?

I've recently fitted an XTRONS Head unit to replace my facelift IS 2010's infotainment. It works very well, few quirks but climate controls and all functionality seem to work fine aside from the reverse camera (that can be made to work by splicing some wires together) 

Did a short little review of it for anyone who's interested. The T'EYES CC3 seems to be a better unit but I didnt like the OEM Buttons and the smaller screen so opted for this. 

55 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

Another option would be to source the part and get an independent body shop to do the work, should still give you change from the payout. Moving all the trim and adjustment of the door to get the alignment right might not be easy, I would guess body shops have a jig for holding doors as they are being attached.

My brother in law knows a guy who works in a body shop so can get a rough quote from them, if its not much more cash then I'd be happy to save myself the hassle. 

51 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I doubt it, unless by "jig" you mean somebody else's hands. As for moving the trim - as I said it may be tedious just because of vast number of parts, but they all kind of self-explanatory and old door can be used as reference as well.  I reckon 4h job without much rush. 

I was thinking DIY is the best bet, that being said I'll need to wait for some good weather on the weekend to tackle this as I don't have a nice big double garage to work in haha 

27 minutes ago, markeyszoo said:

IS THE COLOUR 8UO ?

I haven’t check the paint code yet but it’s black so I assume it’s the Black Onyx!

40 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Eh up Bilal. Well done in getting that 2.5k from the 3rd party insurance company. Do you have a car body repair shop anywhere near you? Maybe getting a new door skin then all existing wiring will be there still. Otherwise getting a door from a scrapper is the only option. Having help though as the door may well be heavier than you'd expect. As for ML speakers and wiring then that depends on spec of car the used door came from.

Cheers Vlad, my initial plan was to go see a breaker down the road from me who is a Jap car breaker , I’ve got a few IS250 bits in the past and they apparently have a black rear door available. 
 

yes either way I was planning to transfer the internals and my own door card as that seems to be in perfect nick. I have seen a door on eBay for around £69 so may go down that route also! 

40 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

That is great outcome - well done on dealing with insurance scammers and getting it your way (not common). 

Replacing door is really not difficult and most of the doors I have seen for sale comes as whole package with internal panels, speakers locks and so on. Even if it comes without anything then it is pretty much the case of taking your door out and having them side by side to transfer few bits over. It may be tedious work, but definitely not very difficult. Everything is in the repair manual so you can even follow step by step instructions. 

Cheers Linas! I was quite lucky that the other insurance company rang me and gave me this offer, I did speak to a body shop near me to get a rough quote and they told me that a lot of insurers are supposedly doing the same thing to me as there’s a big backlog of parts and repair work to be done thanks to Brexit so for some it’s easier to just fob customers off and write their cars off. Can’t say for sure if that’s the case but it’d make sense as Admiral were insisting my car could be a write off so I didn’t want to take that chance.  

Any chance you know where I can get my hands on the IS250 repair manual? 

Hey everyone,

Some of you may have seen my dash cam footage in which someone drives into the right hand side of me and scrapes and dents my doors, after some back and forth with both insurance companies I managed to get a payout of £2500 for the damages instead of my car being professional repaired.

Incase any of you are wondering why, I opted for this option as my insurer Admiral were trying to write my car off despite the damage being very minor so I went down the route of dealing with the other drivers insurance company and they've paid me out after I gave them a quote from the Lexus bodyshop.  As you can see the main damage is a dent and paint work being scraped. This does go onto my driver side door handle and edge but that seems like it can be buffed off. 

With the main damage being to the rear driver side door, I'm considering just buying a used door on eBay or from a breaker and just stick that on instead as there are many available with the same paint work as mine. I may take this to a bodyshop or have it done myself, but does anyone have any advice or tips for this? I would need to transfer my Mark Levinson speakers to the new door as well as some of the electronics and door locking mechanisms. From what I can tell I just need to loosen some bolts on the door hinge and lift the old door off and replace it with the replacement one and then transfer the existing door internals and door card onto the replacement .

Is your key used by any chance? Used keys cannot be programmed via totoya tech stream, I had this same issue when I was doing my mums IS250C. You can revirginise the used key but youll have to pay a locksmith additional money to do that before tech stream will allow it to be programmed. 

What version did you select for your vehicle also? There are certain slight configurations I found (up to 3 different ones) when selecting my vehicle in tech stream so that could play a part perhaps. 

1 minute ago, Mr Vlad said:

How do you mean you're surprised by the price of the rear tyres? I bought 2 Bridgestone tyres for mine last year and thought the price was very reasonable. Wind deflectors are a good idea I'm actually thinking of getting. I wouldn't bother with the grom as it's old hat now and not worth the money. I didn't think you was after upgrading the headunit. Bilal has now got an android unit which apart from a niggle or two is really good. If you're happy with the set up you have then keep it as it is. If you'd like to upgrade the headunit then there are a few very good android units, I personally favour the Teyes cc3 which actually looks like standard but still has the same size screen as opposed the other types with larger screens. 

Oh yes thanks for mentioning Vlad, here's the YouTube link to a little review I did for it @Jitc85