Looking At Upgrades

[roger007uk]

Hi all, I'm fairly new to LOC however have been reading posts for a little while. I have a standard 54 plate IS200 Sport (couple of dodgy pics taken today) which i've had for about a year & a half now & after looking on here at other peoples IS200's I think i'm gonna tinker with mine a little.

I don't have bucketfuls of cash so i'll be doing a few bits n pieces when i hit my monthly bonus which should give me £300-£400 at a time but its a case of what to go for.

I've just purchased an angel eye kit for the headlamps which should arrive next week, nice n cheap for starters. I will get the HID Xenon headlamp conversion at some point too. I want to lower the thing cos it does sit a bit too high for my liking but obviously this model already sits 15mm lower than the standard model & due to my budgeting I think I will simply get some lowering springs on their own however does anyone have any recommendations on which ones to go for as I believe the normal 40mm lowering springs that would take it down 25mm wouldnt be enough ?

I have seen the LED rear lamps which I absolutely love but have seen chrome ones & also a smoked type & not sure which one would suit my model, opinions really would be appreciated.

I'm gonna change the front grille to a badgeless one which I have seen on a couple of other peoples IS's as I think they look good, not looking at changing any of the bumpers of getting a kit for it just yet, one step at a time.

1 month's money will be spent on upgrading the discs & pads all round & painting the calipers, gold i think is the preferable opinion in these forums, i'll get the lexus decals to go on them at the same time too.

Like I say opinions appreciated as this'll be the first car i've really done bits too as all the rest of my cars have been real dogs up till now !

Roger

[fil4362]

change the grill Lexus birmingham (about £45) for mine. While you do your angle eyes get rid of the orange lenze and the chrome in the head lights

rear ligths £100 ish off club member. LED ligths more modern style. Very slight smoke of rear fog lights as well just to match the rear lights (less red in the fog lights now)

Theres £150 spent for you. Changes the front and back end looks

[fil4362]

oh and try getting a bonnet ornament like mine Will take up all your bonus though every time

[ormi]

^^^^^she would get told to bolt lol!!i make a £600 bonus every month if my wife took any of it my car wouldnt look anything like it does now!!

[roger007uk]

Fil, when you say get rid of the chrome in the headlamps, sand them down & spray them black ?

Oh and that grille you have, is that from an earlier model to mine?

[ormi]

Fil, when you say get rid of the chrome in the headlamps, sand them down & spray them black ?

Oh and that grille you have, is that from an earlier model to mine?

you dont have chrome in your headlights you have the ones everyone wants satin so just remove the orange bit..

no fil has fitted the sports grill(an option on all models)everyone changes the grill you have for the one fil has oh and if you buy that grill relocate the horns!!

[fil4362]

Thats aboutit what ormi said. All you need is the grill (move the horns although i havent bothered yet) and get rid of the orange in the indicator lenzes (replace with orange bulb of course) couple of cheap easy mods. And where did i say that was my wife ??? lol

[roger007uk]

Well I've put my name down for a set, we'll have to see if they come up with the goods !

BTW does anyone have a part number for that Grille ?

If not i'll just give them a call & see if I can explain it.

Ormi, struggling to find those dials too, none on eBay ?

[roger007uk]

Right,

I've finally got round to fitting my angel eyes but one of the rings out of the 4 doesnt light up !!

i've swapped over the connections from the smaller one to the bigger one & that means its not a dodgy inverter.

Do these break in any way ? I was rather careful when doing these & i'm dam sure I didnt break it...

I might have to go back to the guy who sold me them on eBay but the trouble is... If i can't find a fault, is there a way of buying just one ring from anywhere or anyone ?

[Enright]

My IS200 looks similar to the one in the first pic of this thread, and I've noticed that the rear lights are a bit of an issue.

While they look fantastic on Platinum Ice coloured cars, on black ones they stand out as a bit "bling".

However just a couple of days ago I saw the potential solution.

I moved over to let a blue Altezza pass between J26 & J25 of the M1 between 7.30 and 8.00am.

It was a nice dark blue, and the rear lights had body-coloured covers (or perhaps they were sprayed) which obscured all of the silver above the indicators and reverse lights.

The effect was to make the rear quarter blend very neatly into the rear panel instead of breaking the two up, and yet the circular brake and tail-lights were enhanced to compliment the fog-lights more.

Does anyone know if these are commercially available covers, and if so could they provide me with a link please?

Or have I just got to get busy with the masking tape and a can of paint?

[Rory]

Here is the Sport Grille, they accept best offer too and have accepted offers of £34+p&p previously (check their feedback ;) ) so u might be able to get it at £40 delivered, and comes pre painted in a choice of the following colours :D

051 WHITE

1C6 GRANITE SKY

1C0 PLATINUM ICE

202 ASTRAL BLACK

8M6 BLUE

[Rory]

My IS200 looks similar to the one in the first pic of this thread, and I've noticed that the rear lights are a bit of an issue.

While they look fantastic on Platinum Ice coloured cars, on black ones they stand out as a bit "bling".

However just a couple of days ago I saw the potential solution.

I moved over to let a blue Altezza pass between J26 & J25 of the M1 between 7.30 and 8.00am.

It was a nice dark blue, and the rear lights had body-coloured covers (or perhaps they were sprayed) which obscured all of the silver above the indicators and reverse lights.

The effect was to make the rear quarter blend very neatly into the rear panel instead of breaking the two up, and yet the circular brake and tail-lights were enhanced to compliment the fog-lights more.

Does anyone know if these are commercially available covers, and if so could they provide me with a link please?

Or have I just got to get busy with the masking tape and a can of paint?

the factory rear lights come in 3 colours that surround the actual red lens, chrome, dark chrome, and satin, one of the other colours may look less bling...?

the covers u saw on the altezza are available from eBay, personally don't like them myself

[roger007uk]

My poor car...

Looks a lot better than it did tho!

Got a single ring coming from a guy off eBay who's willing to sell me one for a tenner, better than buying another set i suppose....

[lexuslloyd]

Pm me if you want a K&N filter mate