Got My Is200! Few Questions...

Glassy80 · July 9, 2009

Morning all,

I picked up a lovely IS 200 yesterday. 2002 Silver, 18" alloys, 68,000 and in lovely condition. I paid £4600 for it which i'm happy with as its got SAT-NAV, HID's and was the best example I viewed.

http://i.ebayimg.com/24/!BVd91V!B2...n1)qTTQ~~_1.JPG

Few questions:

1) The cam-belt hasn't been done. What mileage should this be done? Is it around the 75k mark? How much does this typically cost?

2) I've read there is some company that mods these to 180bhp in Germany. Is there a company in the UK that can do this? If so, what does it involve and how much does it cost.

Lovely car, im well chuffed. They are a bit under powered, but im sure it wont take much to sort that out.

Glassy

kam05 · July 9, 2009

Hi mate- welcome to LOC. Nice car you got there.

1. Cambelt needs to be changed every 60k/6 years whichever comes first. There are 3 items that need changing: the cambelt, idler and tensioner. If you don't change the idler and tensioner then the new belt will suffer from premature wear, meaning if it lets go then pop goes your engine. The cost of the cambelt change is expensive if you get a Lexus garage to do the cambelt change (I was quoted £500 a few years ago), but you should be able to find a decent local garage to do the work cheaper. I always recommend using genuine Lexus/Toyota parts when doing a cambelt change.

2. To get more power out of the IS200 you need to get a supercharger on it- this will take it from 153 bhp to 200 bhp (I think). Problem is that you cannot get new superchargers for the IS200 now and 2nd hand ones are hard to come by, but keep a look on the forum, people normally sell their superchargers off separately when they are selling up. 2nd chargers normally sell for around the 2k mark (I guess fitting costs is on top of that).

Hope this helps.

Rob · July 9, 2009

the cam belt should be done at 60K, it was 100k or 6 years but that was revised as some belts were breaking - if it breaks then the head and valves/pistons will be damaged. main dealer is about £350 ish but private some charge about 200 - 250. always replace the belt, idler pulley and tensioner at the same time.

for the power increase - the only power increase you are going to get out of the IS200 is a supercharger kit either from Bemani in switzerland (who developed the kit) or from TTE wich is the tuning arm of toyota and they are in Koln. However there were many companies that sell the same kit here in the UK and are cheaper... problem is the kit is quite rare now as people hang onto them.... they do come up 4 sale 2nd hand tho every now and then. Its a fairly simple DIY kit also, expect to pay about 2 - 2.5K second hand. the power goes from the standard 153hp to 205hp with this kit. The 180hp is the swiss version of the kit which has a smaller pulley for the supercharger. switzerland has 2 kit options because of the power level changes, anything below 20% doesnt need any certification, abouve 20% and it needs loads of paperwork, hence th 2 stages of power.

oh some companies sell a turbo kit but its more hassle than the supercharger kit.

Whatever you do stay away from a company called TDI based in london, they have a very bad reputation on this and many other forums for dodgy workmanship e.g. taking the bulb out for the fault light indication so the customer doesnt know about it!!!

Glassy80 · July 9, 2009

Ok, great. Thanks for the info guys.

I guess I better get the cambelt done asap then.

TommyH · July 9, 2009

Nice car mate, welcome to LOC.

russelllinn · July 9, 2009

Yep cam belt should be done at 60k as they changed it from the 100k service, I had a a quote from Lexus approved garage of £200 for the cambelt change. DEFINATELY have it done if it hasn't already as it'll cost you more in the long run if it goes.

Welcom to the LOC too :D