Leaderboard

Thanks for that James. That's great advice. Like you, it is great to be able to say you did it yourself! Btw, the GS wheels look great! I have been thinking I picked the wrong colour for the wheels - the brighter silver option would have been better but I suppose these will hide the dirt a bit better at least. Thanks Lee - it was hard work! Especially the time it takes and abandoning the family during the weekend never goes down well!!! Yeah, you watch the car shows on TV and you get the impression body work is a lot less work than it actually is. And you can see the work that goes into the jobs you've done on your own car - you're far more patient than I am! Cheers Bob! It will take a few weeks to complete the other three. If I finish by the end of July, I'll delighted. I will keep you guys updated! Cheers Linas! Thanks to all for the feedback and advice. Actually looking forward to doing the next one now!

I have at last found time to find a simple cheap high quality audio input method for those with Mark Levinson systems. After much investigation I can now confirm "from my previous post" that the single blue connector with a screened cable on the ML amp is indeed a SPDIF (Sony Phillips digital interface) input. This input is only used for the CD player audio. Using an analog to digital converter available for around £6 on Ebay analog audio from you phone or tablet can be converted into quality digital format. This can be fed into the ML amp in two ways. The first way is to remove the Blue plug on the ML amp in the boot, and inject the digital signal into the amp, But it would be better to cut the lead, and wire in a switched jack socket. So that when a jack plug is inserted the signal from the CD player is disconnected, and the new signal substituted. The alternative is to do this at the rear of the radio unit sending the signal down the cable to the rear of the car. Once connected there must be a CD in the player, and the CD player selected. With the jack plug inserted no sound from the CD player will be played, but the substitute audio will be played. Sound quality is governed purely by the quality of the audio input. Removing the jack will resume normal CD playing. All the OEM on screen audio controls will still work as does the OEM volume on the radio as these are all controlled within the amp. Sorry no pictures at the moment, but they will follow with a wiring diagram. This is very simple requiring only the converter and a switched jack socket. There is only one channel input with SPDIF as the stereo signal is digitally encoded. Make sure when buying the converter it is an A to D (analog to digital) not a D to A (digital to analog) the D to A being much more common. The converter is about 2.5 x 2 x 1 inches, and has SPDIF, and optical outputs. John.

@Monocle considering the condition of the alloys before you started, I think you've done a sterling job especially as it was your first try. Well done. The amount of effort needed to get the job done right is not to be underestimated, as you found out. It takes hard work and lots of time to do them right at home.

I guess the Ls460 has a Trader value about £2500 with the known power steering fault, the 51k miles Ls400 is a dopey price why would any one want an old Ls400 to keep unused, coz that's the only way one would preserve any value like that .................when you can get just as good a car for offers on £1300, now, that's the one to have in my book ! .regularly serviced, not overused over nearly 20 years and ripe for another 2/300,000 miles. and a very usable car too Malc

I'll get it started. Here we have Vin Diesel & his twin, our very own 'Diesel Van' ( @Big Rat) (all credit to @emjay82)

I moved from ISF to CLS55 to GS300h.. and i love it. It takes some getting used to at first, as i was more custom to cars that shift when you touch the gas pedal. The 450h i know is a much quicker car and if it drives as good as the 300h then the only difference is bhp. I dont think you will be disapointed if you went from ISF to 450h. One thing i will tell you... i bloody dam miss the ISF.

When I bought my car 18 months ago I negotiated a good price because the suspension pump was tad noisy. I finally got around to having one from a breakers put on, easy job, £70 part and £40 labour. When I picked it up afterwards the steering had a slight wobble at low speeds. I took the front wheel off today and found it binding, but not all round. When you take a wheel off the front you also release the disc. I little bit of crud had got behind the disc, only a tiny bit, but it prevented the wheel from sitting flat on the hub. So it confirms what we all know, always make sure the mating surfaces are clean, it's amazing how just a tiny bit of flaky rust can have such a bad affect on it. Wobble free now!

@Flytvr @emjay82 Ah yes very good, now it's my turn soooooo here we have @emjay82 better known as Danny Dyer here being told he messed up the last house deal 😂 Oh and here's @Flytvr being told that Lexus have banned him from ever entering there dealerships for eating all the biscuits and drinking all the coffee 😂 Big Rat

The similarities are uncanny..... 😂 😂

@Big Rat Thanks Paul. Wow what are the chances of that or is it a bit stalkerish!!. Can't quite decide, but as you say nice pictures though. Shame for Pete to have missed out though. Hopefully some consolation that we were out having fun in his car at the time.

It seems I haven't said that yet (shame). But I agree - well done @Monocle!

I know we've been dragged a bit off-topic but I agree that @Monocle has done a very good job indeed and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result when all 4 wheels have been done.

Agreed everyone think bodywork should be cheap but I do like ti when people have a go themselves and realise there's often a lot of time equipment and skill involved gives them a bit more appreciation for the work that goes into it and hopefully helps them understand the costs of repairs, not saying you wont be more often than not you are not being ripped off by body repairs its just an expensive job to do!

Agreed it would be nice for Lexus to have a presence on Piston Heads, however on the other hand any post made on another forum for Lexus based subjects is a post that would have ideally have been made on here to keep this forum as busy as possible, less activity and posts is the last thing this forum needs!

This is my current little project to be working on, i bought the car completly orginal from a older gentleman who had it since new with full history. Curent spec is Tein flex z coilovers. spc front and rear camber arms. jpr 18" alloys sprayed in custom blue. twin exhaust system made by friend of mine. front lip rear diffuser side skirt extensions all lights tinted. blacked out front grill and rear lexus badge. lexus and model badge removed from boot lid and holes filled in. Smoothened front bumper future plans is to source a wide arch kit or reshape the orginal arches as i can not get the front of the car lower without currently rubbing. I have no plans at all to go the air suspension route. full respray nissan sr20 or 2jz engine swap, i have both engines from previous cars and projects so yet to look into which of the options is the easier of the two.

What does the 'R' signify in RX300R? I've got an SE and I know of SE-Ls, but didn't even know an R existed.

Oh, another full english breakfast, count me in

LOL

Hi mate welcome along, I have a 2006 RX400h superb motor you won,t regret it. I am Also in Suffolk, I have mine looked after at Roys Motor Company (toyota/Lexus specialists )in Norwich used them for last 20-25 years brilliant .

@Rusty Crobar Our Russ being told not to mod his ISF ever again 😂 Big Rat

Agreed. I don't like those new resin style plates in carbon effect. Look dreadful IMO! Funny - I saw an X5 today with dodgy plates as well. Blatantly obvious as well as it had non legal lettering. I will do once i get the chance to. Well my Mrs is quite fond of the red seats in her car so I knew she wouldn't say anything when I showed her mine

This is where the confusion arises. The item you link to is a D to A converter or D to blue tooth. It will not convert to SPDIF. John.

Keep cool. Life is too short to get angry about such things. Our Lexus is still an excellent car, even if the connected services are not working yet. I'm sure they'll make it.

There is no aux input on pre 2008 ML system cars even on the rear of the radio unit. People have resorted to opening up the radios and connecting input wires to the tape heads. John.

That is the dream but from looking at forums in America space anf more importantly the wirimg loom is the biggest issue. My previous car was a 1.5 jz Bn sports Toyota Mark II so i do have noting but love for the jz engines. thanks for the comments there much appreciated. The wheel colour choice was sure why not to keep it a bit different which was the reason why i bought the is220 in the first place as the is220d and is250 in ireland arent a thing in the modified world lets say, a lot of audi and bmw can be seen on the roads.

I know when an IS-F could easily solve this problem .. and work out cheaper than the 40k price tag on a 340i BMW

They have been replaced, the brakes were done 1st. The car had been Sorn for a while and that was the result. I managed to get some Dunlops brand new for 72 for the fronts and 83 for the rears. Didnt think that was too bad.

it is what it is and we have the Lexus models we have in UK.. we can either accept it or move onto another manufacturer...I did.. never owned a Honda before and have always liked the looks of CL9 Accords so decided to give one a go... But to keep going on and on about how limited Lexus engine choices are in UK and how trashy the 2.0t is, is a bit tiring.. nothing we can do about it majority of IS models which can compete easily with what BMW, Merc and Audi has to offer in terms of like for like performance are only available in the US. And truthfully speaking in the 'real' world performance difference between the f-sport 200 t and say the 328i BMW will not be night and day. a 1 sec difference between them from 0-60 we all know that alone does not tell the whole story of a cars true performance as seen some cars loose 0-60 but win or keep up on in gear accelerations. on paper the BMW has the edge but its wont be night and day. And if you want to stay Japanese and wnat 330/340 performance you can just go with the Q50 or G37 Infiniti with their 3.7, 3.0T or 3.5 Hybrids V6 engines as they all come in auto not the CVT you dislike and thier styling bit on the conservative side dont know about you but i do like a wolf in sheeps clothing anyway.

do you really think that any Trader is going to " take-on " a potential money pit at anything less than a bombed out price ............ if BCA / We Buy Any Car ( the owner ) isn't going to sort it out then why would a Trader ......... ...... I know Traders work to a very quick turnover profit and holding stock of this specific car probably isn't in their psyche ......... No Lexus Main Dealer would buy it in, and no sensible car showroom would invest into this car either as it stands ... and a private buyer, with any sense, would run a mile ...... there's enough other Ls460s out there to choose from that aren't " at fault " Black Cap poor / Below ..... price is with the car actually fully working I surmise Money Pits don't often find ready buyers unless they are unaware of the pitfalls But hey, what would I know eh ....... a somewhat successful car trader for many years, buying and selling cars at auction, and retail, and to the Trade too .................. there we are, the effective "auction " will sort out it's true value eh ! Malc

The Viofo A119S is what I have. I had it's predecessor (A118) in my old car and was impressed with it, so getting the newer, improved version seemed like the thing to do. It has a screen, but it's really small and turns off after a few seconds and doesn't come back on unless prompted to. If you install it behind your mirror, you'll be hard-pressed to see the camera at all, never mind the screen.

maybe i`ve been lucky so far :-) owned it for over 4 years now and this is the first i`ve had any problem , its probably the second best car i`ve ever owned :-))))

l have to say Dougie I agree with you on this one

and we buy any car is owned by bca they wont lose out

Long time stalker on the site which has been helpful for tips since starting my new project modifying my is220d, big plans including engine swap all happening shorty.

Shaun, I don't mean to be rude, but I really wish you didn't feel the need to bash the 220d so often. I know you had some very bad luck with yours, and I sympathize, but the 220d is not a total ball ache for everyone. It would be nice if you didn't scare away the new diesel members before they have had a chance to feel welcome.

Well, you're experience is more recent than mine, as I bought lots from BCA Brighouse in the 80s, usually after watching the car go through with imaginary bids, which the office staff freely admitted. If they have cleaned their act up, good for them. I only attend auctions sporadically these days (not BCA), and they are definitely still at it.

I think you'll find your turbo wastegate is stuck. I had the the same problem with my is220d. I'm sorry to have to say this but the lexus is220d is a total ball ache. It was one problem after another during my short ownership. Best thing I ever did was trade it in.

Has it though? It's very common for the auctioneer to bid vehicles up themselves, to near reserve, and hope some mug sticks their hand in the air.

I think you've done a grand job @Monocle. I did my own wheels on my MR2 Mk1 and I have to agree with you, it really is a ball ache of a job but even after all these years I still look at them and think 'I did those'. I started with a clean up wheel first then 600 wet n dry all the way down to 1200. https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/100mm-dia-heavy-duty-aluminium-oxide-rust-re/ This can be as aggressive or as gentle as you make it and best used in a cordless drill. It will leave marks which is why you need to do the wet n dry thing. I didn't paint mine as I wanted the mirror polished effect. On the other hand, only last week I had my GS wheels powder coated in a chrome finish for £275 inc VAT which I was well happy with.

@Flytvr I knew it blind and deaf as well now, look I know all this talk of GSF is a pain to you, so here is a pic of something I know you like FOOD 😂

A new friend is now on display at the 'HOME OF THE ISF'

I had a lovely VR6 with leather so almost Storm spec other than the wheels, colour and badge. Held its value really well too. Sounded good and the 2.9 VR6 engine had excellent mid range punch for the 190bhp output - it felt quicker than that.

Yes, I've been reading some of Marks posts and like the look of his exhaust. I have an exhaust tip about to fall off which is really pushing me towards this rather than spending £400 quid on new tips from Lexus!

Something custom, planning on going to see a company called Custom Chrome in Nuneaton who have good reviews. It needs to be good quality and look like it should be there if that makes sense. Not too loud, just want to hear that V8 a bit more. Something like this....

@DAW Dave seems you were spotted by a German car spotters website here's some pics from there man - nice 👍 Big Rat

@Stazza80 Well there we have it Ben another massive Lexus build quality let down costing one of its customers the princely sum of 9 squid, I'm sure if you want to start a crown funding assist for the expenditure I'm sure the 'F' massive will rally round. Just don't ask the builders and estate agents amongst them 😂 Big Rat

I did the same move IS300H Fsport to GS Luxury. I found the Fsport suspension just to firm. No doubt you will love the GS. Blind spot monitor, auto electric hand brake and a more comfortable ride and what seems like even better build quality than the IS even the auto open sensor on all 4 doors. Quieter on the move to. Enjoy it great choice. Ed

You need a ferrite magnet that wraps round the camera cable to cancel out interference on DAB. Maplins do various sizes and strengths for a couple of pounds..