IS300h Premier with F-Sport bumper conversion

[red-lex]

I owned my 2002 IS200 for 13 years which I absolutely loved. It literally never went wrong and I'd kept it in fantastic condition, with just a few subtle mods keeping a clean OEM look:

Front splitter
TTE rear skirt
2004 facelift headlights and foglights
Rear spoiler
Genuine mesh grill
Aluminium kick plates and pedals
Custom heater dials
Altezza chrome shift gaiter
Pioneer apple Carplay double-din with reversing cam

 

 

Last year a family members IS300h was offered to me so I decided maybe it was time for a change... although it was really difficult to let this one go 😞

I actually wanted an F-Sport... however as this is a high spec Premier and I knew the history of the car, it made sense to purchase.

 

 

Compared to the my IS200, this car is incredible in terms of being more powerful and about three times cheaper to run. It lacks the smoothness of the straight six but I love the torque in Sport mode. 

I couldn't believe it came with plastic kick plates so I installed the illuminated versions and also aluminium pedals including footrest:

 

I noticed that the quality of some trim panels is really poor, no way near as well put together as the IS200. The passenger electric seat motor was noisy and there was also a screen flicker. I think a couple of the speakers may not be working correctly, anybody else have issues with the ML system? 

Whilst the build quality is clearly not the same, the service from Lexus Woodford was exceptional. They replaced the seat motor and screen under warranty, checked a few other items too and at the same time made sure I was never inconvenienced.

Finally I added a subtle rear spoiler and thought that would be all I wanted to do with this car.

 

I then saw some bumper conversion threads on other forums and realised how much better the F-Sport front looked. I looked at various conversion kits however the options available in the UK are limited and shipping costs are high.

Then one day this used F-Sport bumper came up for sale on eBay, in silver with minimal damage... along with a complete F-Sport grill from another supplier. Being close to Christmas, I waited for eBay's next site wide discount promotion and purchased both along with a set of WinJet fog lights. These were plug and play and I couldn't justify purchasing the original F-Sport LED fogs.

 
 

Foglights and grill both arrived damaged ☹  fortunately they were still usable and I negotiated some further discount to keep them.

Whilst this probably would have been enough to swap over, looking into parts diagrams I realised that all of the air ducts are different between base and F-Sport models. I made the decision to just replace all, thinking it would make fitment easier for my bodyshop.

Duct, Air Intake, Lh, Toyota 52822-53030

Duct, Air Intake, Rh, Toyota 52821-53030

Duct, Cool Air Intake, No.1, Toyota 52811-53010

Duct, Cool Air Intake, No.2, Toyota 52812-53010

Duct, Cool Air Intake, Toyota 53209-53080

Duct, Cool Air Intake, Toyota 53208-53050

It took me a while to source all the parts I wanted, with a combination of used parts from breakers and other online parts suppliers.

Below is an example of the difference between the ducts that sit behind the bumper... F-sport first then the Base version:

 

With all the parts collected I finally handed the car over to the bodyshop... with clear instructions to carefully keep everything they remove from the car.

As the old bumper, grill, fogs and air ducts were all in perfect condition, I was fortunate to sell everything for a decent price. Recouping most of the parts cost meant this conversion ended up costing just under £300 including paint and fit.

I was absolutely ecstatic with the finally outcome, the bodyshop did a great job. Bumper needed minimal prep, silver was a good base coat for the grey and there were no issues with fitment.

 
 

 

Recently took the car on a road trip to the Lake District... which was also a great experience. It handles really well on twisty roads and eats up miles with ease:

 
 

Next up is to do something with the wheels... a refurb or a new set.

[200h]

i too changed the kick plates to illuminated ones

 

[PRP74]

Looking good on what you have done so far. Maybe get the wheels done in a darker colour. 

[Inazone]

Haha, I've done something very similar.... Apart from changing the front bumper, although I had to remove mine to fix the front grill. I have added the illuminated kick panels plus the door projector lights. Those were the quickest and easiest upgrades ever! I have installed a carbon fibre rear spoiler lip, mudflaps, wind deflectors on the windows and my biggest upgrade is replacing the display screen with an android powered 10.2in display plus added a rear view camera. I have a 10in sub box to install at some point plus some rear speakers either 6x9s or 17cm ones as have either kicking about, will decide once I have removed the rear parcel shelf. I do want to change my 17in wheels as these look too small. Other than that I think I will be done... [emoji6]

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[Emil L]

Hello red-lex  Your car look mad ! Well done mate! Where did you buy it from  your rear spoiler it looks great ! Thank you 

[200h]

here is a link for a member making trd rear spoiler for the IS

 

[red-lex]

17 hours ago, 200h said:

i too changed the kick plates to illuminated ones

 

Oh wow that looks really cool! where did you get these from? Easy to install? 

14 hours ago, PRP74 said:

Looking good on what you have done so far. Maybe get the wheels done in a darker colour. 

Thanks, yeah that's not a bad idea. The original powder coat finish is quite costly compared to a paint finish. 

5 hours ago, Inazone said:

Haha, I've done something very similar.... Apart from changing the front bumper, although I had to remove mine to fix the front grill. I have added the illuminated kick panels plus the door projector lights. Those were the quickest and easiest upgrades ever! I have installed a carbon fibre rear spoiler lip, mudflaps, wind deflectors on the windows and my biggest upgrade is replacing the display screen with an android powered 10.2in display plus added a rear view camera. I have a 10in sub box to install at some point plus some rear speakers either 6x9s or 17cm ones as have either kicking about, will decide once I have removed the rear parcel shelf. I do want to change my 17in wheels as these look too small. Other than that I think I will be done...

Sent from my G8142 using Tapatalk
 

I know right, they should have just fitted those kick plates from factory like the previous MK2 SE-L. Anymore info on your android screen? I'd love to do something similar, the standard Nav/media system is pretty poor compared to other brands. The speakers and sub will definitely sound good! 

2 hours ago, Emil L said:

Hello red-lex  Your car look mad ! Well done mate! Where did you buy it from  your rear spoiler it looks great ! Thank you 

Cheers, here's the link to the spoiler... although I think you can now get it cheaper from other sellers: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Painted-For-Lexus-IS250-IS350-IS-F-Window-Rear-Trunk-Lip-Spoiler-202-BLACK/183543252350?fits=Model%3AIS350&epid=914904124&hash=item2abc07c57e:g:~wYAAOSweuxWRZCC

[Farqui]

Hey Mark, well done with the front bumper swap - a subtle change but quite a number of parts were involved.

Looks smart 

Cheers, Lee

[200h]

36 minutes ago, Farqui said:

Hey Mark, well done with the front bumper swap - a subtle change but quite a number of parts were involved.

Looks smart 

Cheers, Lee

Hi Lee

i only changed the kick plates for an illuminated type.

mark

[Farqui]

6 minutes ago, 200h said:

Hi Lee

i only changed the kick plates for an illuminated type.

mark

Oops sorry, I meant to mention Baiju !

[Inazone]

This is the screen I bought. Not cheap but works very well and looks oem!

￡482.44 22%OFF | 10.25 inch NAVIRIDER Android 7.1 Car Radio GPS Navigation BT Head Unit Screen for Lexus IS 200 250 300 350 200t 300h 2013-2017
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/pBCKdMG

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[Emil L]

3 hours ago, red-lex said:

Oh wow that looks really cool! where did you get these from? Easy to install? 

Thanks, yeah that's not a bad idea. The original powder coat finish is quite costly compared to a paint finish. 

I know right, they should have just fitted those kick plates from factory like the previous MK2 SE-L. Anymore info on your android screen? I'd love to do something similar, the standard Nav/media system is pretty poor compared to other brands. The speakers and sub will definitely sound good! 

Cheers, here's the link to the spoiler... although I think you can now get it cheaper from other sellers: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Painted-For-Lexus-IS250-IS350-IS-F-Window-Rear-Trunk-Lip-Spoiler-202-BLACK/183543252350?fits=Model%3AIS350&epid=914904124&hash=item2abc07c57e:g:~wYAAOSweuxWRZCC

.

[red-lex]

On 8/15/2019 at 1:34 PM, Farqui said:

Oops sorry, I meant to mention Baiju !

thanks 

On 8/15/2019 at 2:07 PM, Inazone said:

This is the screen I bought. Not cheap but works very well and looks oem!

￡482.44 22%OFF | 10.25 inch NAVIRIDER Android 7.1 Car Radio GPS Navigation BT Head Unit Screen for Lexus IS 200 250 300 350 200t 300h 2013-2017
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/pBCKdMG

Sent from my G8142 using Tapatalk
 

that looks really cool... and its been working just fine right? Thanks for the link, I'll definitely look into it. 

[Naz89]

On 8/14/2019 at 6:36 PM, 200h said:

i too changed the kick plates to illuminated ones

 

Sorry to bring up this old tread where did you get the kick plates from

[200h]

aliexpress.com

 

[olliesgrandad]

On 8/14/2019 at 9:30 PM, PRP74 said:

Looking good on what you have done so far. Maybe get the wheels done in a darker colour. 

On my last RX450h Lexus paid for the diamond cut alloys to be refurbished. Lexus Cheltenham got them done at 'Reinventing the wheel' in Tewkesbury. 

I spoke to the refurbishers and they powder coated them in a shadow chrome very much like an F sport finish. 

They looked fabulous against the silver bodywork and would look even better against the grey. 

[red-lex]

2 hours ago, olliesgrandad said:

On my last RX450h Lexus paid for the diamond cut alloys to be refurbished. Lexus Cheltenham got them done at 'Reinventing the wheel' in Tewkesbury. 

I spoke to the refurbishers and they powder coated them in a shadow chrome very much like an F sport finish. 

They looked fabulous against the silver bodywork and would look even better against the grey. 

Cheers for that. A local refurbishing comapny recommended the same shadow chrome and I agree it would look great against the grey. I was about to book it in, but then somebody damaged my car 😞 

[red-lex]

Very annoying - and as expected, no contact details left. I did however manage to polish most of it out, doesn't look too bad for now. In the summer, I'll take it back to the body shop and book in the wheel refurb. I've also managed to find genuine F-sport fogs from two different breakers, planning to fit these in soon. 

[Maxz]

Hey red-lex, love the grill upgrade, would love to do the same with mine but not as brave as you!

 

Have you had a go at the speakers? Not sure if your issue is the same as mine, but I seem to have a speaker at the front that kicks in and out at random. Very annoying as the sound “shifts” across the car. I’m assuming a loose connection but have not dared to try and pry up the speaker covers just yet to check...

[red-lex]

On 2/20/2020 at 7:16 PM, Maxz said:

Hey red-lex, love the grill upgrade, would love to do the same with mine but not as brave as you!

 

Have you had a go at the speakers? Not sure if your issue is the same as mine, but I seem to have a speaker at the front that kicks in and out at random. Very annoying as the sound “shifts” across the car. I’m assuming a loose connection but have not dared to try and pry up the speaker covers just yet to check...

Hi Maxz, not resolved yet. My front driver side dash speaker sounds distorted on certain tracks. I still have the extended warranty and the dealer was great with other issues. Annoyingly every time they check it sounds perfectly fine! 

I can't imagine it would be too difficult to open the cover? I'm going to keep trying with the dealer for mine though.