My IS250 F-Sport

[IS250Mike]

I have just read through this entire thread, so impressed with your attention to detail, a really excellent read and looking forward to future updates.

[baviaannl]

How are you finding the dashcam?  Do you have the A119S V2?  I asked a question on amazon last night and got a load of replies telling me not  to bother as it's unreliable.  How's it gone for you?

[J Henderson]

Its the A119S I have, but not a V2.
It's been in my car and working fine for over a year now.

A couple of things to mention. The reliability issues you've heard about might be down to the type of SD card being used as I had some bother with a SanDisk one. After swapping it for a Samsung card though, problem solved.

Another thing is that the optional GPS module doesn't fit very snugly which can make captured footage shaky. You can solve the problem by packing something between the two surfaces to ensure it doesn't move. I use a small zip tie.

I believe the V2 version of the camera fixes the problem as it has a redesigned GPS mount. So, go for that one (if you want GPS functionality).



Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[baviaannl]

13 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Its the A119S I have, but not a V2.
It's been in my car and working fine for over a year now.

A couple of things to mention. The reliability issues you've heard about might be down to the type of SD card being used as I had some bother with a SanDisk one. After swapping it for a Samsung card though, problem solved.

Another thing is that the optional GPS module doesn't fit very snugly which can make captured footage shaky. You can solve the problem by packing something between the two surfaces to ensure it doesn't move. I use a small zip tie.

I believe the V2 version of the camera fixes the problem as it has a redesigned GPS mount. So, go for that one (if you want GPS functionality).



Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for the info, the issues you mention were indeed addressed in the V2 so I'm hopeful it'll work just fine.  It turned up last night so I'll install it today, I like the form factor of this kind of camera, not so obvious.  How did you find the constant recording, did you run into any Battery issues?

[J Henderson]

Yeah, I did. If left parked up for a weekend or so, the car would struggle to start.
The Battery eventually died in August so I had to buy a new one. I just disconnect the camera now when I leave the car parked up for a while.

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[BillNick]

Hi John,

In relation to your big brake upgrade:

Aside from the calipers, are you able to list all of the other intricate parts required for pad fitting in the IS350 calipers please?

I found the calipers on Rock Auto, will they also sell the pad fitting kit/parts?

Thanks

Billy

[J Henderson]

The new calipers from rockauto came with new locating pins etc. Besides a new set of discs and pads, the only extra parts needed are a shim kit (04945-30350).

[BillNick]

Thank you very much, excellent write too 👍🏼

[J Henderson]

Well, it seems I've not posted any updates to this thread for more than 2 years... 

Anyway, now that I've recovered some pictures from my old phone, I'll try and fill in the blanks and get back up to date again.

2018

As mentioned a few posts further up, the OEM Panasonic 12v Battery finally gave out in August 2018 and had to be replaced. A new one from Lexus could be had for a reasonable price, but I opted to go for a Bosch S4 from EuroCarParts. The Battery type is "068" for any fellow IS owners who also need a new one.

Also around this time, I upgraded most of the exterior bulbs on the car. There was nothing particularly wrong with the OEM ones. I just felt like upgrading them with brighter/more effective units.

For the headlights, it was a like-for-like switch to a set of bulbs with a higher Kelvin rating and a bluer/whiter hue.

Replacement is pretty straightforward, although the airbox and the filler neck of the washer bottle need to be removed to provide adequate access.

Here's how the Cool Blue Intense high-beam bulb compares with the original.

A nice side effect of having aftermarket bulbs like these, is that they will "tint" the reflector inside the headlamp.

Onto the rear end....

Most bulbs in the tail lamps are already LEDs, but the reversing lamps and indicators are not.

As with any other bulbs I replace, I stick with my brand of choice - OSRAM.

Fitment is easy enough, but a trim removal tool is recommended to pop the fasteners of the boot lid lining free as they are a ribbed design and pretty sturdy.

Once the lining of the boot lid can be peeled back enough (no need to remove it entirely), the bulb holder can be found. After giving it a small twist, it will come out.

New bulb in place and tested before fastening everything back up.

Yes, these "after" pictures were taken on a bright, sunny day... 

Onto the indicators then...

These bulbs were even easier to change as you don't need to remove any trims etc. They're accessed through a small panel in the boot lining.

Test fitting...

Because LEDs draw less power than a conventional bulb, the car thinks there's a fault which causes the indicators to hyperflash. The solution is to swap out the OEM turn signal relay with one especially designed for LEDs.

The relay is found under the lower dashboard, on the driver's side.

Overall impressions...

Headlamps have been improved slightly. The packaging claims the bulbs are 20% brighter than standard and that sounds plausible. My main motivation for changing though was to have the high beams more closely-aligned with the HIDs in terms of colour output, and this was achieved.

The new bulbs in the reversing lights are also a nice upgrade over OEM. The most noticeable change however, was swapping the indicators to LEDs. Now they have a nice modern look with the signature instant on-off blink which matches the cadence of the side repeaters (which are also LEDs). I also have a matching pair of bulbs for the front, but swapping them requires the front bumper to be removed....

 

2019

Nothing much to report until April, which was when the IS was submitted to Lexus Edinburgh for the annual (Minor) service and MOT test with the odometer reading just under 55K. A new set of wiper rubbers were needed, which was my bad as I hadn't noticed this and had a brand-new pair of Denso blades sitting at home... Anyway, this pushed the bill to nearly £300. Ouch!

Anyway, another clean bill of health and no advisories. The cabin filter, however, is not changed during a minor service, so I sourced one myself and swapped it out.

Old vs new.

Prior to fitting the new filter, it was spritzed with an air freshener (Freshly Juiced by Dodo Juice). A good idea at the time, but the fragrance only lasted about a day or so, so I won't be bothered to do this again.

A couple of months later I picked up a set of spark plugs from Lexuspartsdirect with the intention of installing them myself once the mileage was closer to the recommended 60K interval.

By the time I did get close to 60K though, it was late in the year and the weather wasn't great. Also, despite reading various how-to tutorials and YouTube videos, I still wasn't confident I could do the job without screwing something up, so I postponed it until my next service was going to be due...

July saw me finally do something I had wanted to do for ages, which was to get my windows tinted.

I went with 18% on the rear screen, and 35% on the side windows and was very happy with the result. Being honest though, they turned out slightly darker than expected due to the small amount of tint already inherent in the factory glass. No regrets though, and this picture definitely makes them look darker than they actually are.

In fact I went back a couple of weeks later and got the glass on the front doors tinted too, in an attempt to try and lessen the stark contrast between front & rear. Now, tinting the front windows can be something of a minefield, so I took the safe option of a "legal" 70% film.

The contrast between front & rear was lessened, but to the casual observer it's probably not even noticeable. For example, the front windows are tinted in this picture but not the one posted earlier. Granted, they were taken over a year apart, at different times of the year, with the car in different levels of cleanliness, but it illustrates the stealth factor of the mod. The work was carried out by Scot Tint in Newbridge, a stone's throw away from Lexus Edinburgh.

As per usual, during the dark winter months I tend do nothing much on the car apart from switch onto winter wheels around November, plus change out the floormats for rubber ones. So that was it for 2019...

 

2020

60K milestone was reached on January 6th, which reiterates what I said earlier about not wishing to attempt the spark plug change at this time of year.

Fast--forward to late March/early April and I had noticed that my brakes were starting to judder and feel ineffective. After a quick visual inspection, I deduced that the cause was possibly one of the rear calipers being seized as the tell-tale signs were there - the NSR disc was always covered in rust and never cleaned up after a journey like the others did.

During the winter to summer wheel swap a few days later, I had a closer look at the brakes and my suspicions were confirmed - the NSR caliper was seized solid. After making a few fruitless attempts to loosen the slide pin bolt, I thought to myself "screw this" - I'll just order a new pair of calipers, new discs, pads etc and refresh everything for a trouble-free future...

A great idea on paper, but there was a problem. This was happening at the worst possible time - the absolute zenith of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and no-one was open for business apart from supermarkets and petrol stations. Not even eBay sellers would let me purchase any brake components.

As a so-called "key worker" I was left with no choice but to keep using my car until some of the craziness had subsided. Luckily for me, the roads were virtually empty so it was relatively safe to do so. It was actually kind of eerie heading to work each night and seeing absolutely no-one on the streets, the roads or anywhere else.

In addition to this, the car was due to be serviced and MOT'd in April, but Lexus Edinburgh was going to be closed for the foreseeable, so that wouldn't be happening. Thankfully, the government granted an extension for cars due to be tested within a certain timeframe, so I was at least still legal to be on the roads. Albeit with dodgy brakes.

Eventually, in July, I was able to order a new pair of rear calipers off eBay for £220. It seems I didn't take a picture of them, but they were genuine Lexus items, and brand new, so that was a very good deal I thought. An order was also placed with lexuspartsdirect for a new set of discs, pads and a shim kit.

Once everything had arrived, I installed the new brakes at the earliest opportunity, but much to my dismay, the brakes were still juddering when I test-drove the vehicle afterwards. Damnit, the fronts are also shot!

This surprised me as the front discs had always appeared to be perfect - the disc surface were always spotlessly clean, with no apparent heat build-up, plus the calipers were a monobloc design with no separate carrier and slider pin setup that is prone to failure. It would later transpire that the inside surface of the discs was where the problem lay.

So, another order placed with lexuspartsdirect for new discs & pads. Also, at this point I'd decided that i was no longer going to be taking my car to a Lexus dealer to be serviced, so a 60K service kit was also ordered, becuase not only was the service overdue from a time standpoint, it was also getting close to 10K miles covered since the last one.

Once everything was delivered, I boxed up the parts, put them in the boot and visited a local garage to get a quote for them to give the car a major service including spark plug change, and also to fit the new front brakes.

Much to my surprise, they refused to entertain the idea of doing any work whatsoever involving customer-supplied parts. Despite the obvious fact that the parts were all genuine, and had been purchased from a Lexus dealership. The owner cited some BS reason about being unable to guarantee safety or something, so I thought fine, whatever, I guess I'll never be coming back here again! 

This was something I had never come across before, so i googled the subject when I got home, and sure enough, it seems to be a thing nowadays with garages often refusing to fit parts that they themselves don't supply. In this age of cheap Chinese knock-offs and fake goods, I can definitely see the logic, but in my own case that shouldn't have been an issue.

Oh well, every cloud has a silver lining as I ended-up discovering another garage about 10 miles away, who it turns out has a reputation for having a wealth of Lexus knowledge and they were happy to do the work. indeed, there was a LS460 on their ramp when I paid them a visit to discuss my requirements.

Anyway, service, plugs, brakes etc all done. When I collected the car again, I chatted with the mechanic for a bit and he showed me the old brake discs that came off the car, and I was in absolute disbelief at the state of them. They were literally crumbling and falling apart with huge chunks missing, but bizarrely, only the inside surfaces were affected. When they were still on the car, they looked perfect. The mechanic informed me that he had seen this happen on other Lexus cars a few times. 

It totally knocked me for six that I had been driving around with brakes that were in such a state and I regret that I never took a picture of them to show just how bad they were. Throughout this whole time I had been driving extra carefully to avoid having to brake hard etc simply because the noise and vibrations were horrible, but it looked like these damn things could literally have fallen apart at any time. I've tried searching on google images for discs that look to be in a similar state, but I can't find any that looked as bad as the ones off my car!

I did take a picture of the old spark plugs though and here they are. The mechanic reckoned they would've been fine up to 100K miles, but I'm glad that job is ticked off the list. I'm also glad that I can hit the brake pedal with confidence again instead of trepidation.

A couple of weeks later, I had to get a new rear tyre to replace one that had suffered sidewall damage that was almost certainly caused by a pothole. It was just a tiny nick, with no bulge or air loss, but it would never pass an MOT, so once that was replaced, I got the car tested and gained a fresh certificate with no advisories.

Throw in a new tax disc in amongst this recent work, and it's safe to say it's been an expensive past few months, but the spending wasn't quite over.

I had noticed my winter wheels were now starting to show signs of corrosion in places. Nothing major, they still looked pretty good, but I wanted them to be flawless again before I put them back on the car, so I submitted them to the fine people at We Restore Alloys for a full refurbishment. I requested the same shadow chrome finish as before, but slightly darker this time to more closely resemble the dark-coloured wheels that are fitted to the recent limited edition F-Sport IS.

And here's my actual wheels after the work was completed. Black balance weights are a nice touch. 

Total cost was £312 as one of the rears had a buckle that needed taken out. Just this teaser pic for now, until I get them on the car and give it a wash. 

And I think that's my build thread just about back up to date...

Edited November 13, 2020 by J Henderson
Fixing broken images

[rob_clio172]

Nice work! Always nice to get things done especially things like the brakes and how bad they was. 

As for the garage not wanting to use parts supplied by yourself even though they was genuine.... i suspect this may have something to do with them not being able to make much profit in the job. They may have wanted to use none genuine parts and made money off the parts themselves by bumping the price up.

Top work, love the attention to detail 👌

[J Henderson]

Many thanks, Rob. 

[paulrnx]

Great thread this! Thanks 👍

[J Henderson]

Whoops, been slacking on keeping this up to date again. To be honest there's not been a great deal to report, and nothing overly exciting but I'll fill in the gaps anyway.

March 2021, just a month shy of the car's 10th birthday is when it suffered it's first real fault/failure when the n/s/f wheel bearing gave up.

A replacement wasn't cheap as the new bearing comes as part of an aluminium hub assembly, complete with ABS sensor. The local indy garage who now services my car sorted me out with a new one for £320.

 

Speaking of which, October was when a minor service was due, and duly carried out. Much to my surprise, the garage filled the engine with the correct (and expensive) 0w20 grade oil.

Previously it was filled with 5w30 and I can really notice a difference in engine behaviour on this new thinner oil. The idle speed seems to have dropped a little, the engine is more free-revving and spins into life with more gusto on startup.

Fuel economy has improved too. Historically, my (in dash) tank average usually drops into the high 20's during winter, but its holding firm at nearly 32 MPG. The weather hasn't been particularly harsh this year though, plus I've been running the car exclusively on super unleaded ever since E10 petrol became available, so those are no doubt both contributing factors.

The MOT was also due in October and I'm pleased to say it passed with no advisories.

 

Fast-forward to the present day, and over the weekend I took care of something that had been annoying me for a while.

One of the wiper arms had lost some of the paint/coating, leaving some unsightly exposed (and corroded?) aluminium that stood out like a sore thumb.

Instead of trying to tidy it up with a rattle-can of spray paint, I decided to just replace both arms with new items.

I purchased them from amayama along with new nuts and caps. Total cost including express shipping from Japan was less than the price of buying just one wiper arm from a UK dealer. Ridiculous!

It would've been rude not to fit a new set of wiper blades at the same time, so that's what I did.

Normally, I go with OEM Denso and really have no complaints about their performance, but I decided to treat myself this time to a pair of PIAA Si-Tech blades.

I had these on my IS200 years ago and recall them being brilliant. Each time they sweep across the glass they leave behind a water-repellent coating that proves to be so effective that you can actually turn the wipers off at motorway speeds.

They're not cheap at £50 a pair, so I'll be intrigued to see if they're as good as I remember them being. Thankfully, there's not been any rain to try them out as yet. 🙂

[Mr Vlad]

Well that surprises me you had to get the hub aswell as the new bearing. Last year my car had an advisory for a split bush in the rear hub. I thought pooh as a new hub would be needed. But no. Found new bushes and a nearby garage that has all kinds of presses. Out with the old and in with the new. Wheel bearings can be pressed out and back in again. 

[J Henderson]

Another small update as I finally got around to installing the OEM window visors AKA wind deflectors to my car.

I've seen enough comments on the forum over the years to know that wind deflectors aren't to everyone's taste, and to be honest I can understand the hate since some of the cheaper ones on the market look rather nasty and awkward.

The genuine Toyota/Lexus products, however, look very subtle and stylish in my opinion and don't look out of place since they incorporate the same chrome-like garnish as the door frames.

From a distance it's actually quite hard to notice them at all on a car with a dark interior and tinted glass, such as mine.

Anyway, I was shocked to discover that I've been sitting on these for the past 3 years, and during that time the price on lexuspartsdirect for them has increased by over £100 so I'm glad I bought them when I did, and also to finally get them installed.

 

[J Henderson]

Decided to treat my car to new boots a couple of weeks ago. The tyres in question were Michelin CrossClimate 2s and I had them fitted to the F-Sport wheels that I normally run during winter.

Perhaps tempting fate, they have replaced the full winter tyres (Pirelli Sottozero 3) that were on there. To be honest the Pirellis had plenty of life left and would've been good for another season, but since recent winters have been pretty mild, and also because I fancied a change, I opted for the all-seasons.

At the same time, I also took the opportunity to replace all the wheel nuts and locks with new items. They were really beginning to show their age, especially the locks.

Having now put a few hundred miles on the tyres, I can see why they are so highly rated with other forum members.

Fresh tyres always seem quieter and better riding, but the CC2s feel remarkable at coping with bumps and poor surfaces. They're also very quiet compared to UHP tyres I normally have.

Of course they are not perfect. For one thing, they are pretty expensive. Even comparing Michelin with Michelin, they're about 10% dearer than "normal" tyres. Thanks to a promotional offer I was able to kit my car out with them for under £500, which I felt was pretty reasonable. Other sizes can be very costly though.

About the actual tyres, the most notable negative point is how less sporty they feel compared with the previously fitted Michelin Pilot Sport 4.

The steering response is massively inferior, and I'm sure ultimate grip is too, but they seem to be grippy enough for normal driving in wet or dry conditions.

With the PS4s, the car reacted to minute steering inputs, and reacted quickly. Whereas with the CrossClimates you have to steer more, and earlier. Because of this, I wouldn't feel as confident of ripping it on a back road like I might have done.

On the flip side though, you get accustomed to how they feel and the CC2s don't suffer from tramlining so driving on them is a more relaxed experience. With the PS4s, you need to keep a firmer grip on the wheel and be more vigilant to counter the small tugs you can feel as the tyres react to undulations, painted lines etc.

Of course I haven't experienced any snow or ice yet, or even any cool temperatures, but by all accounts they sre supposed to be very good in such conditions. Plus I haven't noticed any drop-off in fuel economy, so these are tyres you could easily leave on all year round.

However, because I appreciate sporty handling, cornering & braking etc, that's not something I'll be doing. UHP tyres will be going back on the car at some point, but until then I'll continue to appreciate the smooth ride.

[BkS]

Just had a quick gander through your thread. Car is looking mega mate!
It also appears we are in the same area as well, I visit Lexus Edinburgh every now and again 😅

[J Henderson]

Thanks. I used to get my car serviced at Lexus Edinburgh, but not since they put an end to the discounted "Essential" scheme for older cars.

[Linas.P]

13 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Thanks. I used to get my car serviced at Lexus Edinburgh, but not since they put an end to the discounted "Essential" scheme for older cars.

Yes - that is real shame, I don't know what to do either, as for the older cars that do not get "Relax" warranty is doesn't make sense to pay full price service. That said my local Lexus Woodford/Hainaut said they would apply 20% off at their discretion. Still £300 for minor service is a bit much considering the only thing they do is oils and filters. 

[Thracing-44]

Very nice and well kept looking IS!

Recently bought myself an IS250, I think I may follow your route of getting fresh calipers from Rock Auto, by the looks of it all the taxes/duty etc is calculated at the payment stage, did you have to pay anything additional? currently it's looking cheaper from them posted than actually buying second hand tatty calipers on eBay haha. 

[J Henderson]

Thank you. 🙂

Those calipers were the one and only time that I've bought something from Rockauto.com, so I don't know if they calculate the total cost including taxes etc now, but at the time, they didn't.

From memory, I'm pretty sure that I was charged import duty & VAT by the courier when the calipers were delivered. I wanna say it was something like £40 or thereabouts.

Even then, it was still a great price as the exchange rate was about $1.8 to £1 at the time. So, even with the additional VAT etc, it still worked out at well under £100 per caliper.

The whole conversion including OEM discs, pads, shim kit, paint, decals etc was around £400. 

It'll no doubt cost a bit more to do the swap now with the exchange rate being less favourable, but it's an upgrade I would recommend highly.

Based on my experience though, I would not recommend the OEM Lexus discs! I have now had to replace two pairs of them due to premature failure. The first set of discs literally fell apart after two years. I chalked that up to bad luck and bought another OEM disc/pad set to replace them, but those eventually developed (funnily enough, also after about 2 years) a so-called "high spot" or hard spot, which made the disc surface wear unevenly, resulting in juddering, weak performance, and ultimately, an MOT failure. Ending my car's unblemished test history!

I currently have EBC slotted USR discs, paired with their Yellowstuff pads. So far, so good.

[Thracing-44]

18 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Thank you. 🙂

Those calipers were the one and only time that I've bought something from Rockauto.com, so I don't know if they calculate the total cost including taxes etc now, but at the time, they didn't.

From memory, I'm pretty sure that I was charged import duty & VAT by the courier when the calipers were delivered. I wanna say it was something like £40 or thereabouts.

Even then, it was still a great price as the exchange rate was about $1.8 to £1 at the time. So, even with the additional VAT etc, it still worked out at well under £100 per caliper.

The whole conversion including OEM discs, pads, shim kit, paint, decals etc was around £400. 

It'll no doubt cost a bit more to do the swap now with the exchange rate being less favourable, but it's an upgrade I would recommend highly.

Based on my experience though, I would not recommend the OEM Lexus discs! I have now had to replace two pairs of them due to premature failure. The first set of discs literally fell apart after two years. I chalked that up to bad luck and bought another OEM disc/pad set to replace them, but those eventually developed (funnily enough, also after about 2 years) a so-called "high spot" or hard spot, which made the disc surface wear unevenly, resulting in juddering, weak performance, and ultimately, an MOT failure. Ending my car's unblemished test history!

I currently have EBC slotted USR discs, paired with their Yellowstuff pads. So far, so good.

Thanks for the info dude, very helpful. I think I’ll definitely go down the RockAuto route. Really does look like a good upgrade.
 

I was planning to run some Mtec grooved discs with the yellow stuff pads. I’ve had Mtec’s on my previous Celica’s and couldn’t fault them.