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Not sure if anyone's into BMW's here but just got this at a very reasonable price,already got the full drivetrain package to swap it into M3 evolution spec with a 43000 mile engine! I'll be working on it most Sundays so can see it being a long project,I've got a thing for fast saloon cars and estates so this fits in with the ISF perfectly.

...and - of course - it started on the first turn of the key. Did you even doubt it? Perhaps needed a couple of extra seconds to get the fuel from the tank, but to say I was chuffed is an understatement. 🙂 It ran smoothly but quite rich (guessing from the exhaust smell) for a few minutes but then that settled down. Came up to temp; warm air into the cabin. Even the brakes are OK, although I might get them skimmed. It's a '97/98 Mk4 that I bought and put off the road while driving my other LS. (Silly, but it seemed to make sense at the time.) Photo is from just before I parked it up. Just got to get a deep clean done to get the muck/leaves/etc and see how it goes at the MOT station. Cost so far: £80 for a battery. More to follow!

lol Thanks for the urban dictionary explanation, Only reason I'm asking is because my name is Mazin 😂 ..... "a man who exceeds all others in every way"....I'll take that 😎👍

I appreciate you putting us back on track, but you have to admit that a statement like "- I absolutely loathe..." and "- I hate..." will invite comments! 🙂 Back to your original question, I do not think this is a feature that can be switched on/off. My technical knowledge is (very) limited, but I believe that to get rid of the sequential function, you would need to replace the units (front and back)... and this is likely to lead to all kinds of other issues.

My snow button is faulty. No matter how many times I press it the snow never falls. Typical because I spent a fortune on cross Climates 😇

Doesn't sound like you're too far from me Aaron. If you'd like to look at a 450 and see if you think it's worth the extra cost over a 400 then you'd be welcome to come and have a chat and a play with mine. Easier to take it in than when you've got a salesman alongside you, and I can give you my real world thoughts about its pros and cons. Mine's a '14, but I don't think there's too much different on the earlier pre-facelift models.

I've just been to Ireland.. waiting at Dublin docks right now for a delayed ferry so time on my hands. The normal Speedo i use is shown below. Digital display so figures in the centre of the dial. I like it as it's clearer to me. You can also see the charge eco and power parts. Something useful I discovered.. the Speedo is of course by default in MPH but of course in Ireland limits and signs are in KMh. Speedo doesn't show that in ANY way! I found you can change the units to kmh on the steering wheel quite easy. Settings / scroll down / units ok to change value. Settings / meter settings / units also seems to toggle kmh and mph. Settings/ speed meter toggles digital or analog Speedo display. Analog pic attached cos why not?

Blimey - your memory is good! Yes, he (the seller) was a BA engineer at Heathrow and he used it to commute from Bedfordshire/Herts. He did everything you'd want, from cambelt/waterpump to spark plugs and a stainless steel replacement for the Y-piece and even £100 at Lexus for the latest CD-ROM for the satnav. Have attached a couple more photos from back then. (I'll add some that show the current state tomorrow.) This might sound a bit stupid, but I bought it back then because we were about to do a long Euro road trip and I was nervous that my other LS (2000 model) would fail the MOT = cancelled road trip. SO I bought this as a back-up. Naturally the other LS was fine and I've driven that one ever since. I've been popping in here now and then, but as that LS was running so well, I had little to say. But when I started this one up today, I just had to share. 🙂

Wow. Pardon us. Thank goodness for DanD's perspective...

I remember this car when it was up for sale- I don’t know wether you are the seller or you bought it from him - but he was some sort of engineer and had done alot of work to it.

It looks decent to me at that price. I have had a few Japanese imports and in theory they shouldn't pass an MOT without headlight washers when equipped with HID headlights. My imports (an S2000 and a DC5 Type R) never failed an MOT on that point though 🙂 Assume the SatNav just needs a UK DvD. Not sure if the radio would need a wave expander to work in UK. Grade 4 is fairly standard for an old car. I think the highest a used car can be is 4.5 (out of 5 for new). I would be interested to see the auction sheet and see what the interior is rated as (A being highest). My DC5 was a 4.5B and it was immaculate (but was sourced through Honda UK). As long as service history maps out and also a BIMTA certificate would be handy to certify the mileage then should be a steal.

And a Lincoln Continental Limo for Saturday evenings out when an estate car just isn't enough. Well why not

Travelling to find the right car can pay dividends. In 2014 I bought a 1500 miles mini clubman with full John Cooper works body kit for £14000,. The previous week the car had been advertised for £20000 at another branch. I put 20000 miles on it a d traded it for £650 more.

So..... After what i can safely say has been a totally underwhelming response 😵, I'm ordering my stuff tomorrow 😎. Thankfully I got enough interest off the Instagram crowd (quite a few non-forum ISFers on there) to make it worthwhile. Let me know before tomorrow night if you want anything people.

Always thought about giving this a go but they don’t make chihuahua sized helmets .......

If you find a good one it's worth the travelling to get it. I got mine from an independent dealer about 50 miles away.

Yes, Garage envy here too. And as someone with the need of an estate car I lament the lack of a more modern Lexus estate for when my old IS 300 Sportcross starts to become high maintenance. That said over the last 12 months its cost £0 maintenance and very minimal depreciation so fingers crossed.

It's from Lexus main dealer at trade price but if you look on rock auto you can pick up denso radiator for around £80 but there are 2 different types

Our catalogues are limited to European specification models if you can provide us with the part number we will, of course, be more than happy to find out if they are available for ordering. After a brief glance at our catalogue, I can see that there was conventional coil-over-strut suspension available for EU models.

cool project!!

All sorted - no dramas. Only advisory was on the rear brakes getting low, which was on my to-do list anyway. I must have been in a lazy mood, as I've just asked them to deal with it - most unlike me!

'When the car was in Sport, the gear indicator number on the dash just read "4" and didn't change with the gears as it did when the car was in Drive. Is this normal?' The gear indicator on the actual dash panel shows the highest gear available when in S mode. You can change that, up or down, with the paddles. When you switch to S mode, it automatically selects 4. On older cars like this, the paddles only work in S mode. It still works as an auto - just on the lower 4 gears. Paddle up and you get the range 1-5 or 1-6. Paddle down and you get the range 1-3 or 1-2. etc. I keep the current gear showing in the information panel at the top of the dash - you select that with the display button on the steering wheel - it cycles through various things like outside temp and fuel consumption - and current gear engaged.. Once you get used to it, you can drive like a manual - select 2 as your max when you take off, up to max revs, paddle to 3, max revs, paddle 4 etc. By now you're well over the speed limit. All that is if you want to drive like a boy racer. It's fun, though! It can be useful to switch to S and paddle down to 3 (or even 2) on steep hills etc. That helps with engine braking.

I seem to remember my first Nokia mobile having a number of stock sms replies to respond with. Which you could also add to.

Tis a wierd feeling. Usually worrying with any new car that I don't 'know', but it has an extended warranty so what is there to worry about?! The CT is too small, too slow (and not even that economical), horribly unintuitive inside (how is this progress?!) and rides like, well almost any other new car I guess. Hope they do better next time. Shame there's no new GS to tempt me with, but I guess it's not beyond the realms of posibility that I'll end up with an IS next - just not whilst I have so many massive child seats to fight with!

Fingers crossed. I felt the same when I had my CT loaner.

I once ordered a couple of (I think) Pirellis from Kwik Fit because their price was the best I'd seen. When I went to have them fitted they were an entirely different speed rating and the branch manager didn't seem to think that was important. Walked away.

I'll do you a swap....

£700 for a service on a IS??!!! The dealership must be smiling so hard when you walk through the door dropping £20 notes with every step!! Its £300 worth of work max even with spark plugs, more than double for a main dealer stamp is day light robbery.

Likewise! I need your garage space!!

Eurocarparts have Denso iridium plugs for £10 each if you use their sale code, not sure how much less you can get the genuine article for elsewhere.

If you search for superpro, you can see my posts about having polyurethane bushes fitted. I second what Gliderpilot said, front lower arm swapping is a pig of a job. Even if you just swap the arms with bushes pre-installed. The engine has to be lifted and the subframe dropped to allow the engine mounts to be removed and get access to the bolts securing the front arm mountings.

I love them. They really stand out in a sea of yellow lights. It’s the same with cyclists. If they have flashing front and rear lights they stand out against those cyclists that don’t have them. Cannot see why they’re an issue to some drivers.

Have had the wheels refurb'd for the new owner. They look superb.

You need denso or ngk irridum sparkplugs as recommended

If it is just fluids, filters and checks is it worth it to go to dealership?! I can use my mechanic (probably) for half the price, especially I won't be taking their 2 year warranty.

I'd pay a little bit more and go or a 450h, doesn't need a cambelt at 100k miles (cir £500) as it uses a chain and also the engine is more efficient giving better MPG. 2009 was the change over date.

Exactly what I was thinking too. My experience is exactly the opposite. The 'run' of the sequentials immediately grabs my attention because they aren't doing the same as everybody else's indicators.

Two MOTs ago my 400h had an advisory that the rear bushes on the front arms were cracked and had excessive movement, which I witnessed for myself during the MOT. I bought a pair of arms and then proceeded to change them which was a right ball ache. It involved jacking the engine up as high as possible to remove the engine support to get at the mounting bolts or the arm. I then looked at the on line workshop manual and noted that the first step was "Remove the engine and transmission complete" glad I didn't get Lexus to quote for it.

Had to Google the Cullinan. Eww. That and the Bentley Bo'Selecta are ghastly vehicles.

I would be looking at Upper Control Arms and Drop links as the most likely major contributor, and then possible the transmission mount. I reckon my Control Arms have been causing vibration (mild-ish) at around 35-45mph for last couple of years, and they always pass the MOT. So next week in for it's MOT and have asked them to look at replacing UCA (possibly) drops links and see if that gets me back the smooth running. The one thing I have noticed in last 6 months is the vibration is less when tempature is around 4 to 7 degrees, so I assume that this is because the bushes are sort of the right stiffness to feel okay, but when they warm up then the bushes being warm are a little more pliable and they vibrate a little more readily. I know the cost of sorting is going to be a little steep, but worth it if I am aiming to keep the care for another 3 to 5 years. Still will make it the cheapest car I have owned. The joy of owning older cars😬

Is the car speed limited "to 112 mph" as most seem to be from Japan? I doubt the satnav will work by just replacing the map DVD as the on screen display will still be in Japanese. John.