lex-mike

The problem you are having with the headlights is common to most new cars. The beam pattern has altered from a few years ago when some light from the passenger side unit would be directed up to the left - picking out hedgerows and signs well into the distance - my previous BMW 5 had superb HIDs that I still miss today. The HIDs on my SE-L have such a dramatic cut-off with no light going up that you cannot see any distance at all, the area just ahead is perfectly lit with good width, but above the cut-off its simply black. The only advantage of the present lights is that you don't need to alter them when driving on the continent (I think thats correct). The HIDs are probably worse than the Halogens in this respect as the beam control is tighter, and the lit area is brighter. You get used to it over time, but may need to moderate your speed at night on unlit roads.

If the Bridgestone is known to be noisy, can you suggest some better alternatives? Are the standard fit Dunlops any quieter, or how about the newly specified TOYOs (R32A ? designed for the IS250) Also, does anyone have any views on the Yokohama AVS dB S2? The car really is spoilt by the road noise with most roads in the South being coarse surface, high grip? types. When you do hit a patch of smooth quiet tarmac the difference is amazing - and then you can hear that the rest of the car is silent.

Can anyone help? My Sat Nav manual says that to remove the DVD you will need the 'picks' from the in-vehicle tool kit to allow the clock panel to be removed, that sounds okay, but I do not have any 'picks' in my tool kit. Am I missing something, or is this another case of UK customers not getting all the parts listed? Are the 'picks' stored somewhere else?

Have you noticed if the revs rise when this 'braking' occurs, I notice that the auto gearbox changes down in similar situations and what you are feeling may be slight engine braking. I expected this to occur with the box in Power mode, but was suprised to find that it also happens in Normal mode. This may not be anything to do with your comments, if so, just ignore :)

My IS250 does the same. From a cold start the engine revs at approx 1500rpm, consequently when you engage drive or reverse the transmission will 'shunt' and the car will lurch slightly unless you have your foot firmly on the brake. The increased revs slowly reduce until the engine reaches working temp at which point the idle rpm is about 600. It has taken a bit of getting used to as my previous car (BMW 5) did not increase the revs regardless of engine temp.

Mine still has an issue with WMA...it reads the folders, and then skips one track to the next...until all tracks have been "skipped" then goes to the next CD in the stacker! I use 96k compression on some old music which I have converted from LP's and tapes, but I'm used the quality issue. The 192k is very very good!! I reckon I've missed a hidden file somewhere in copying over!! I've also just bought Roxio 8 and will try to see if a DVD Music (not DVD Audio) disc will work...though others have failed!! I reckon it's a combination of the DVD Nanny features and Driver/OS that stops DVD MP3's from a working... The MM system will not read any type of recordable or rewritable DVD media, it says as much in the manual for the Sat Nav. With regards to MP3 and WMA on various types of CD media, you must keep to the bit-rate limits in the manual, this is especially true when using variable bit-rate where you must specify the maximum rate allowed. I have successfully created a disc full of WMA within folders using Windows Media Codec 9, but only the files created using a script to control the bit-rates actually worked. When I added some new files using the Windows front end the MM system just skipped over them. The full disc has now been processed using a command line script and every file and folder works fine. The burning software appears to have little effect, I still use an old copy of Nero 5.

I've had my IS250 SEL + MM for about a month and a half :D and generally things are going well. No rattles, no stuck seat-belts, no parkings dents - yet :P On the road the car has proved to have good traction in the wet, when pulling out of junctions where my previous car (BMW 525) would easily spin an inside wheel the Lexus has no problems - the Bridgestones must be better than the old Pirellis in that respect. But, in carparks the front tyres squeal and feel as if they are scrubing sideways when going dead slow round tight corners, especially when the painted roadways are wet. Has anyone else noticed this? Does it only affect the Bridgestones? What are the Dunlops like? Also, I found the Lexus is more sensitive to cross winds than my old car. During one particularly windy day things actually got quite scary on the motorway unless I reduced the speed to about 60mph, anything faster needed constant corrections and lead to an uncomfortable ride for my passengers

I had tried the instructions a number of times, but as per previous post - nothing happens Does it only work in certain circumstances

A previous post mentioned the "service menu" that is accessed by the following sequence:- press and hold INFO button switch side lights on and off three times release the INFO button This menu allows access to numerous settings and information, but does anyone know what all the settings mean, and if you make a change are they automatically saved when you power down (this seems to be the only way to exit the main menu). Also, does anyone have a full list of all the special sequences that have been mentioned in various posts? One for the Sat Nav destination while driving, and one to disable the passenger seat belt alarm?

Welcome to the club. All IS250 with automatic transmission have a foot operated parking brake. Makes for a nice clean centre console, and you get used to it very quickly. As per previous post, heater elements along bottom of windscreen to defrost wipers.

All being well I should collect my IS250 SE-L + MM tomorrow :D :D . I have already seen the car in the dealers compound when I dropped insurance details. It has the Bridgestone tyres fitted. Have you noticed any difference in road noise between demonstrator and your own car? Has anyone else got views on the two versions of tyres fitted, Dunlops and Bridgestone?

I have mentioned LPS to Lexus Reading on many occasions, and even gave them a copy of settings obtained from the US site. They seem to be unaware of the facility, but said they would talk to the service technicians. I am supposed to be picking up my car later this week, but still do not know if they have been able to adjust any of the settings. Lexus GB in general are simply not on the ball with the new IS range. Can any owners of other models (GS, LS) let us know if they were given LPS options to select prior to collecting thier cars?

Hi Marcus, I think you are already on the right track, a more powerful light will not affect the pattern that is controlled by the shaping of the reflector and the various shutters contained within the assembly, it will simply increase the brightness of the lit area. This may even make the unlit areas appear to be darker. I wonder if a sympathetic mechanic would be able to set the headlight aim to the top of its limits while still keeping it within the specification and regulations, after all everything has a tolerance.

Are you referring to the intensity of the headlights or the 'aim'. I have found that new cars appear to have healights set lower, less dazzling to other drivers, but less illumination for us. The AFS systems are great on twisty roads, but with the very sharp cut-off of HIDs it can give that all or nothing impression to the pattern of light produced.

Thanks for the reply. The AFS was turned on and visible functioned as far as turning the appropriate headlight into a corner, but that was not my point. I was trying to refer to the lack of illumination at higher levels on the passenger side, but I think I know the reason for it. My BMW headlights conform to the ECE standard that attempts to throw light up towards road signs, but can lead to dazzle for other drivers. The Lexus headlights are referred to as 'harmonised' meaning they can legally be used on the continent without modification as the sharp HID cutoff extends across both sides, but therefore does not throw any light upwards on the passenger side. I think more and more cars will adopt the Lexus system, so its just that I will have to get used to it, if I decide to purchase an IS250