Just had notification through the post from Lex Bristol to ring them for further information and installation. Should enable control of the main iPod functions through the audio controls/steering wheel together with function and track/title on the graphic display Anyone had it installed yet? Wondered if it was similar to the Vaistech system or maybe it is the Vaistech system .

I asked about it a while ago when i was passing by, and the person i spoke to said it would cost around ~£250, i think incl. installation. He said however that if you have the ML system that would not be able to display the track/title, but then checked his computer and said the ML sysatem would have full integration.

Would like to see, from people who have it what they think?

I'll let you know...

It'll be great if it's not Nannied to death

Having it fitted next week when the car's in for it's 2 year service. Price of the integration kit including fitting and VAT is £261.62. The unit sits behind the glovebox with the connection to the iPod in the box.

Got my 20K service today at Lexus Glasgow, and on the invoice it says "Control your i-Pod through your existing car audio controls - Christmas offer: £199.99 inc VAT".

I checked that this includes installation, and it does. Very very tempting! They're sending me some info through the post.

I'll not be happy if Lexus Bristol send me a similar priced offer after I've had it installed Think I'll use this post as a negotiaton tool....any chance of sending me a copy of the info before next Wednesday?? I'll pm my email if there is.
Mine is in for a 20K service although it's actually a 2 year service as it's only done 16K....what was the cost of your 20K at Glasgow?

Yep, no problem. They're sending it tomorrow, so I'll send you a copy if you pm me.

Total price of the 20K service was £373.

Thanks Alan..pm on it's way. They've quoted me £364 for the 20K service, so not far off yours.

Hi all,
I spoke to Lexus Newcastle service today who have the Ipod integration kit in stock
fitted to the car inc VAT its £199.00 This is a November special offer. Mines going in for it fitted at my 20k service
in a week or so.
Does anyone have it fitted and can post up some pics fitted in the car.

Infinity.........

I'd love to know what the interface looks like. I'm thinking of getting the new iTouch (iPhone is crud and overpriced IMHO, every spotty yokal will have one soon...) and want to see if there is an interface cradle etc. Anyone know? Or is it just a USB connection?

Got mine fitted today

Paid £230 inc. VAT... Bristol phoned Glasgow to confirm they were doing it for £199.99...Glasgow had a few in and but were not selling hence the discount price, but apparently they still haven't sold any. I thought sod it and had it fitted anyway...I can't drive to Glasgow for £30
Basically the kit provides a neat dock in your glove box that the ipod clips into along with the ipod bottom connector which is wired into the stereo. The ipod shows up as an external CD-changer.

Had a play with it on the way home, and really need to read the handbook. Pros & Cons??? Well with the iPod in the glovebox you can forget it as it charges and turns on and off with the ignition...no longer will I exit the car leaving the iPod left on (worth doing for that alone). Changing tracks with the steering wheel controls is also a plus. The down side is that the Lexus unit does not support selection by artist or title. It's limited to choosing tracks from play lists. Each playlist shows up as a seperate CD (#1 to 6) and then you can navigate between tracks on each CD and these are listed as #1, #2, etc... . You do not have the option to search by artist, or song etc. You can have as many playlists as you like. All tracks are in Playlist 1 anyway so you can randomly play the lot through Playlist 1, like iPod shuffle.
Switch between titles with a short press of the ^ and v buttons, switch playlists by holding/long press of the ^ and v buttons.

Ghm

Sounds like mine Vaistech iPod adapter is better...

BTW Vaistech works perfectly with ipod touch and iphone too.

sounds like it works the same as the Vaistech by using playlists.

Tango,

Does it display the list of songs in each playlist when you select that playlist, or does the screen only show the song that you're currently playing? And I'm guessing it can't play any videos that are on the iPod?

When playing songs from the playlist, is the song title/artist etc displayed on the stereo?

Also, does the shuffle function work like with CD's?

Cheers,

Does this only work on the IS or will it wrk on my RX?
Be great if they could integrate the controls into the touch screen controls.

It works perfectly on the IS (either lexus one, or vaistech) and you can fully control (well, using playlists only ) an ipod from a touch screen and steering wheel

Sorry for the delay guys I'm not in the UK at the mo. It only displays the currently selected track. The shuffle on the unit operates just as the iPod if you have it on playlist one (this has all the tracks)...haven't tried shuffle on different playlists yet but expect this to operate shuffle for tracks in each playlist only. Also haven't tried to play video or pics off the iPod so don't know the answer to that question.
...and in answeer to the RX, I understand the unit is for all the Lexus range.

Had word from Vaistech and there ipod video adapter for Mark levinson equipped cars will be about another 2 months

funny, but i will receive mine next week (it is already ordered and sent)

one of the main developers in vaistech - russian too

so you'll see my opinion/review very soon...

@Shapa
Is that for the Mark Levinson equiped car system?..or are you testing it for them?....or maybe you know somthing you would like to share with the rest of us.

actually, as they were presented firmware upgrade adapter for me - yes, it will be like a test

Hi All,

Had mine fitted today, it as described by previous posters, only displays playlist name and current track (no artist/album name). I've attached some pics for those interested. You can shuffle through a playlist, select from 1-6 playlists, steering wheel controls advance previous/next through the current play list.

I have also tested it with my iPhone and it works great, so should work with the touch.

Scott

Just an update now that I have read the manual It appears that you can have an UNLIMITED number of playlists but you only ever see 1-6 on the screen - you just page through them 6 at a time. You can also hold down (long press) previous/next on the steering wheel to skip to to the previous/next playlist. The playlist name is always displayed so you could have individual albums as a playlist which means you will then see album/track on the display. Also, if you name your playlist album-artist then you now have all the information displayed. I'm going to do some investigation and create some more playlists as there may be more mileage in this than initially meets the eye.

There also seems to be a "magic" playlist that collects together all the songs on the iPod and lets you play through these, I'm not too clear on this as it isn't the best manual in the world.

Hi Jamboo,

You only get the iPod dock connector in your glove box. I'm a bit alarmed because there seems to be nothing to tether the iPod in the glovebox!! However, the cable is pretty sturdy and does seem to keep the iPod in it's place.

Scott

Isn't playlist 1 the full tracklisting on the iPod? It is on mine.

My 1st playlist is "Last Selected".

I think im tempted to get me an ipod integration unit as well along with a bodykit, see how the bank balance is next month.

yeah, i've heard the same rumours, any update from your source?

Its the same, the iphone works ok but the phone part just works like any other phone by BT.

Scott

I have a Lexus ipod integration kit fitted too. However mine does not have the track list button, nor the name of the track. I've downloaded the latest apple software on my 3rd gen 30gB ipod and it is all up to date.
Can you confirm theat yours is the lexus std kit and what ipod have you got?
Does anyone else have this issue (Is just the 'CD' playlist numbers and no track/playlist names?

I had the kit fitted day before yesterday for my ipod Touch. very dissapointed that all you get is a metre of cable sticking out the glove box and not even a means of securing your ipod - all looks very shoddy.

Software appears unreliable (using multimedia). Track names were not appearing and steering wheel controls froze at one point. noticed navigation reminders were not being given unless on the map screen either. I did reload my user from memory and this seems to have improved things (let say its been doing what it shoudl for the last hour or so!)

Lexus are missing out on giving their customers an innovative implementation of this integration kit; Apple give them all the data down the cable but at the other end its quite uninspiring. All it is is a cable stuck in the back of the external CD player plug in the MM unit.

If i get any problems tomorrow I'll be asking them to fix the software or take the whole thing out because of merchantable quality. My 9 year old could have done a better job of the install too

Any anicdotes on the software? Dealerships seem to shrug their shoulders when you mention software problems!

Here is a pic of my screen to compare with Scott's. No playlist name and no track names! this makes it next to useless.
I've now tried it with a new 4th Gen ipod as well and it is the same problem.

We've got the factory fit iPod integration on our Audi (£175) and there is a nice mount in the glovebox with plastic adaptors to fit different models from nanos through to the latest Classics - all well and good - but you still only get up to 6 playlists which show up as CDs 7 through to 12 and it doesn't show playlist names or track names, which is a bit disappointing.

Well, Lexus Birmingham have fixed my problem by fitting a different module (?) so now I get the playlist, track names and track list as Scott's.

I am pleased!

@Shapa
Well did you review your IIKit???...you got from russian guy in vaistecH???

Good call Scott. This is a deal-breaker on the IS250 for me !

How does this look/work with the MM option?

Looks mine needs a new module as all I get are the CD1-6 and no track names or other options.

How long did the dealer take to fit the new module ?

I've still not had my iPod integration sorted out. The service manager rang me up to say "sorry that's how it's designed and there is no software upgrade".

I told him it was nonsense and emailed the screenshots of Scott's system.

I said "in any case it's shows all the features that are missing from mine in the manual".

I told them that Lexus Birmingham had fixed Smyggy's and the service guy said he'd see what he could do.

Well it's over a week now and I've heard nothing. Surely it's just a quick call to Birmingham to ask them what the module is that needs fitting ?

I was looking to get this too. I was wanting to ask those of you who have this, is the quality just as good as CD. I found with having my ipod plugged via the AUX the sound was a little lower and not as clear, however if the same tracks were put on CD it was much more clear and louder.

So any info regarding quality would be much appreciated and whether it is really worth it??

Thanks guys

Gary - see pm send me an e-mail.

the quality is better than the aux socket - just like any ipod connection - quality is better off the bottom plug than out the top. It's a good as an mp3 CD, nowhere near as good as 'proper' CD.

Despite mine not showing the playlist names which Lexus are going to fix the sound quality is superb. Get one !