220d sterio/ IS 250

JamesIS220 · August 11, 2019

I have a 2006 IS 220D and one thing I do enjoy is listening to the radio. A non Mark Levinson with 13 speakers and find it very good and works well. Who is it made by?

Way prefer auto over the dreadful 6 speed manual. The engine turbo lag and incompatible gearbox ruins what is a nice looking car. 3rd gear at 30mph or feels labouring! More rear legroom would be nice too but reliability first.

What does an IS 250 Feel like to drive? May get an IS 250 auto at some point if ULEZ exempt, when Brum Zone kicks in. I like Lexus as a brand and find the quality good and everything works as it should. Wish they did a newer estate version with electric rear seats on rails where you could move the rear seat back into the boot space when not needing the space and have lots of rear leg room.

My 1996 Volvo 940 low pressure turbo petrol isn't fast but the AW70 automatic gearbox and B230FK 2.3 turbo engine is a good match. Hoping an IS 250 is more of a match to my 940, but should be much quicker as my 940 non modified is 135bhp.

I'm 40 next month and love autos for easy/ lazy driving. James.

madasahatter · August 12, 2019

I have the same stereo, and the amplifier in the boot is a pioneer.

is200 Newbie · August 12, 2019

Pretty sure the head unit is a Panasonic ?

JamesIS220 · August 12, 2019

Thanks for the replies.

Whatever it is, it works well. In my old Volvo's never had a working radio so now listen to it!

James.

Mauler · August 13, 2019

All IS-model head units seem to be made by Pioneer. The easiest way to check is to search on eBay; they all pretty much have Pioneer stickers on the top casing.

F.A. · August 14, 2019

It’s a Pioneer system.

The IS250 was ULEZ exempt last time I checked back May.

I have never driven an IS220d but I do remember all of the issues owner had with them as it was well documented on this forum. The IS250 Auto is a completely different machine. I owned one for the last 8 years and it’s a really good car. It didn’t have any major issues over the 90k I covered in it, just some minor niggles such as a noisy heater fan and snapped wiper mechanism. It is fast enough for everyday driving and the auto box was silky smooth. Rear seat and boot space were two of the main reasons we moved on, the other was the calling of an ‘F’😂