I recently traded in my 1999 LS400 for a 2003 LS430 with the custom package.
After 2 weeks and 1100 miles, my overall observations are:
=============> General
1. I liked the external appearance of the LS400 better.
2. Somehow, they made the LS430 even quieter than the LS400!
3. The interior room size is about the same. Many of the controls are the same, which I like.
4. The “Through-the-seat” heating is awesome. Sometimes the single setting seat heater on the LS400 got too hot. The LS430’s settable. This summer I’ll get to try the “Through-the-seat” cooling……
5. The extra radio control buttons on the left side of the steering wheel are a problem. From time to time I find myself accidentally pressing one and changing something. This never seems to happen with the buttons on the right side.
6. The rear window shade comes in handy from time to time when I’m traveling east in the evening.
7. Automatic door and trunk closers are great. About 5% of the time, they finish closing for me.
8. The rain sensing wipers work just as advertised. I was surprised, however, the first time I went into a car wash! Of course, they started wiping!
9. Being an empty-nester, I would prefer that the doors never lock automatically, but that’s not an option.
10. My mother-in-law REALLY appreciates the rear seat heater!
=============> Navigation system
Overall, I’d give the navigation system a B+
It does usually take me to my destination, or reasonably close to it.
It sometimes calls roads by other names. Everyone knows the road as “Route 125”, but the navigation system knows it as “Calef Road”. Actually it’s called “Calef Highway”.
I live in a small town. When going across town, the Nav system insists on getting to a highway as soon as possible, even though surface roads are much shorter.
Sometimes the “Car pointer” on the map gets way off to the left or right of the road I’m on, and it appears that I’m traveling through a field!
I’m not so enthusiastic about the fact that the audio and climate control systems must now be operated through several screens rather than the twist of a single knob. As an example, I often listen to audio books that require me to move the stereo control from left to right (they record 4 tracks on each cassette, forward left speaker, back left speaker, forward right speaker, back right speaker). This is quite awkward on the screen, but simple with a knob.
BMW has taken this to an extreme with their I-Drive. It must be very annoying.
=============> Laser cruise control
This is a very impressive feature that works extremely well. I give it an A+, despite the issue noted below. It actually TRACKS the car ahead until my maximum speed is reached. In essence, I’m using the other car’s cruise control, and letting the other driver adjust to varying traffic conditions.
It does help if I (Yes I know I shouldn’t) take my eyes off the road for a moment to adjust something. I won’t be plowing into the guy ahead if he slows down.
The only problem I’ve had with it is:
In mid-January I was driving down the highway, when it began to flurry lightly. I approached a car and found that the cruise control didn’t “See” the car ahead, and kept closing the distance until I intervened.
After about 5 minutes of this behavior, I finally got a message that the laser sensor needed to be cleaned, and the cruise control shut off.
=============> Climate control
This I’d give a grade of B-
I never had a problem with the 1999 LS400 climate control.
On the LS430, something odd’s going on when it’s cold (0-30 Fahrenheit). I usually leave the temperature at 71.
Everything’s ok until the car warms up.
Then, I get too-warm air from the upper vents for about 10 minutes, which makes things too warm.
I fiddle with the temperature, dropping the setting to 68 until it stops putting out the too-warm air.
Then, I set it back to 71 and things are fine for 10 minutes or so.
Now it starts sending too-cold air from the upper vents. I set it up to 74 for a few minutes and finally things settle down and I can set it back to 71.
