JamesG

Thanks Normski, He just shows how to remove the mirror housing and change the bulb, I have already pulled the mirror housing off, as above, its the white plastic gear housing attached to the metal back plate inside the mirror, that I wasn't able to remove. I was hoping to remove the gear housing and open it up and give the gears a clean and regrease. I can just see the worm gear that sticks out to move the mirror up and down, it appears to have grease but I can't see inside, it looks like it works though a 'sealed' hole that should stop any dirt entering. I have manually moved the mirror to the desired position now. It still moves left and right but not up and down. Cheers, James

Hi guys, Can't stop thinking about mods for the car now. :D Anyway was looking at the Americans' cars and I noticed that their indicators are in the lens closest to the grill, and manditory running lights in the middle lens. Here in the UK we use the middle lens for the indicator and the other lens doesn't appear to be in use, the parking lights are in the High beam lens. Could I fit LED bulbs into that lens for a Daytime Running Light look? Other than paying thru the :tsktsk:$$ for the retro upgrade to the '11 headlights. Thanks, James

Hi guys, More issues, sorry, starting a new thread. The foot rest in my IS250 appears to have collapsed, its just a bit of plastic thats clips on as far as I can see. What do you recon is the best replacement. I have seen these Stainless or Aluminium pedals on ebay. Was wondering would the foot rest plate just stick on the the plastic or is it a replacement. ie Do I need to get another plastic foot rest to use the ebay ones. Also do they replace the rubber ones on the pedals as my E-brake rubber cover keeps falling off. Looks like the ebay 1s need to be screwed on, they say drilling is required to fit. Thanks, James

I agree the wood trim is rather unsightly, I try not to look at it and if you take the trim off, you can see its just red plastic underneath, but I have plans to wrap that at some stage soon. Looks great tho and the rims look cool, does it have the pearl effect? The older ones did, not sure about the newer 1s. J.

Sorry about double entry, can't delete it.

Nice mate, I got mine yesterday, lovely car, enjoy! I didn't go for the F-Sport no sunroof option, which pi$$d me off, I wanted the ultra blue one, I love that colour! Got an SE-L eventually. James.

Well I just took the mirror housing off pretty easily, a bit of tugging on the glass, 4 screws and it was off. Even in the cold and dark under a street lamp. There's a white plastic housing for the gears and motors, not sure how this comes off tho. Looks like three plastic pins hold it on to the metal back plate (white pins in the holes), not sure how to unlock them tho. The gear housing does appear to have some release tabs to open it but getting it off could be a problem. After reading quite a few posts, most ppl have just had the whole mirror replaced under warranty, Lexus don't seem to want to try fix the issue. Others have said GM etc had just fixed the same issue on their cars rather than replace it. I couldn't find any youtubes on how to re-grease it or get it out. Here's a pic of the housing and the pins. Cheers, James Credit for pic to Mister T on ClubLexus.com, Forgot my camera :shruriken:

Thanks, will have a look at youtube. It does have headlight washers etc and adaptive headlights, I thought they should be Xenons. Cheers J. HID and Xenon are pretty much the same thing - you won't need to fit an HID kit as your SE-L should have factory HID's. The only confusion comes when you start looking at eBay, and see all those cheap Xenon bulbs - that have a standard H7 Halogen bulb with what they claim is Xenon gas in side them, and a blue sweet wrapper to give a whiter light. HID's and Xenon's don't use a standard bulb with a filament - instead they "arc" light between two points; the xenon gas in the bulb is used to discharge the light - very brightly. The bulbs are normally D2S, or D4S etc, as opposed to H4, H7 etc. They have ballasts to ignite and regulate the current - and as stated above that is probably where the problem lies. Your best bet might be to swop the existing bulbs over left to right first to prove that the bulb is OK. PS - Bi-Xenon's are where both dipped and main beam are Xenon's. I am quite good at fixing electrical things, am an engineer at heart and sorta good with the hands, I should be able to manage swapping the bulbs. I have seen videos of removing the engine covers,(have noticed theres a few clippy things missing from the engine covers) and air filter box to get at the headlights. I know the difference between Halogens and HIDs and (dodgey cheap halogens with blue coating). Its the difference between HIDs and Xenons that gets me,( I think they use a different gas?) but was wondering if I get say 8000K HID bulbs, should they be a straight bulb swap as the internal ballast should start them? Cheers J. Thanks Norm, Yes I got the three month warranty and extended it! I have informed them about all the issues, and they want me to bring the car into the garage next weekend. Its just I'm not sure I want some dodgey mechanic that doesn't actually know much about a Lexus trying pull apart the mirror and figure out the problem is (I doubt they will take it to Lexus as they have an in house garage). If I can do it, without too much trouble, I would rather do it myself, any major mechanical issues I will happily let them deal with it. Like 1 of the tires has a puncture it was flat in the show room and they had to pump it for me to test drive. Then when I picked up the car, they said they looked at it and the cap wasn't on!! I look at the sales lady and said the cap doesn't hold the air in! (In my head, Do you think I'm stupid!!) but I let it pass, she gave me some sorry excuse I can't remember. I will get them to sort it out tho when I take it back. Thanks guys, James

Found the key!!! Yay tried 1 last dig around before bed. Was stuck between passenger seat and central tunnel, and the door button works and unlocks by touch. Just need to sort the mirror and headlight issues, will most likely have to claim on the warranty. James.

Thx for the info Carl, Now theres some thing about these lights that confuses me, do you know or anyone else, the difference between Xenon and HIDs? If I intall HID's I have to install a balast. Now I have read on some forums theres no difference between Xenons and HIDs. Could I not then just install an HID blub (I had 8000k HIDs on my previous car) and use the internal balast? I have seen some youtubes about cutting a hole in the light cover to fit the cables for a balast for HIDs upgrades. Thanks again James

Thanks, no I got it from an Independent dealer.

Hey guys, Picked picked my new IS250 SE-L today. Its great and I love the ride the auto works great, love the smooth ride, no funny noises, although there are a couple of issues. The passenger mirror doesn't swivel up or down, but does go right and left. It appears to be pointing down as if is stuck in reverse mode. Also it only came with one key, and the lock on the handle won't work it beeps one longish beep when pressed, I'm hoping this means the other key is still inside the car. Also it starts with my key inside the house, which means there should be a key inside somewhere. I have pulled up the back seat, did my damn'dist to look under the front seats, short of removing them on the weekend. Anyone here any ideas, could it be hidden somewhere or is something that could sniff it out some sort of wireless device. O and the drivers head light goes off by itself a few times i noticed it off this evening, i can switch them off and it comes back on. Anyway, here's a pic from Tescos parking lot. More to come. James

Got mine this AM, been fitted and they look fantastic. Thanks Jason Cheers, James B)

Hi Jason, Wow thats great, looking forward to getting them, and yes I do have a manual. Many thanks, James :D

Hi, To test the alarm, open 1 of the rear windows slightly, enough to get ur arm through and arm the alarm. Stick your arm through the open window and wave under the light, this should set it off as the motion sensors are in the light housing. Cheers, James

I've been looking for some for a while. I can't wait to get them on. The pics all look great. :D

Payment Sent. Thanks, James

Will add you both to the list - can you please give me your dial code e.g. xe-02 Ohh and James which style you want to have Hi Janey, My dials are XE 01 and could I get the Sport style. Let me know where to send payment. Thanks James :D

Hey guys, Just saw this post, the dials all look great. I don't suppose I could still get a set? I've got a X/00 Sport. Thanks, James

I am totally confused by this thread - as soon as you start the car, whether it's on recirculate or not the air that comes straight out of the system will be hot. If the fan is on low, then it will not blow it at any great speed so should be less annoying - I just cannot understand what the problem is :duh: Thanks for trying, but I don't want the fan on low and I don't want it set at 20C. I like the fan on auto, and the temp at the lowest so it blows. If its on a higher temp it blows less, which I don't want. It just irratates me that I have to change it from Recirc to Outside everytime I start the car. whether its a lower or higher temp outside. I have found out by reading the manual that you can't get around this, so I will just live with having to press an extra button after startup. Cheers, James

I don't expect it to bring the temp down to 16C, I just get slightly irrate when I start the car on a hot day and get blasted by hot air probably in excess of 40C, I know cars interiors can get up to 50C in the sun, so this is bound to happen. Even with the A/C on it takes a minute or so to cool down. I do sometimes also leave the roof raised, and the windows down a tad to try keep it a bit cooler. I'm just worried if I have the temp set at 20C it's going to try heat the air as well when the outside temp is lower. If I wanted it at 16C I would use the A/C, and I do use it when its warm enough, I just don't like it permanently on, as it drains alot of the power, which I can feel when pulling off, unfortunately I'm not blessed with a 300 or an S/C yet. I'm not worried about the fuel consumption, but in these tough times we should be watching the pennies. I do longingly look at my colleagues Bmer's and Audi's, which have better fuel consumption and more power but are less comfortable and too clinical. I love my Lex and could never part with her except for is IS250 hopefully, 1 day soon. I'll just have to live with the quirks :D

Hey guys, Thanks for your replies, but I took it off Auto and it still starts with Circulation on, the only way I've found it doesn't do it is if I put the temp up. O also looked in the Manual and it does say: 'When you adjust the temp to max cooling the air intake mode will be automatically changed to RECIRCULATED AIR' :( I suppose I'll have to live with it then. Cheers James

Hi Guys, Just a little pet peve of mine, the only 1 I really have with my car, When I start the car and the outside temp is anywhere above 20C or so, the aircon always starts with internal Circulation on and I get a blast of hot air, especially if the cars been in the sun the whole day. I sometimes forget to change it to outside air setting or whatever and start sweating. Now I understand it does that because I have the temp set to lowest setting and it wants to use the aircon to cool down, but I don't want to use the aircon most days, obviously to save fuel, and with our climate, you mostly doesn't really need the aircon going unless its a really sweltering day. I also know if I turn the temp up a couple of degrees it doesn't do it but then it blows less, and I do like a little breeze in the face while I'm driving. Was wondering if anyone knew of an easy way around it, or do I just have to live with it. Thanks, James :D

Hey Guys, I was wondering if anyone knew a good place around croydon area where I can get parts sprayed and bits repaired? Possibly even a respray? Obviously I'm looking for somewhere that'll do a great job at a good price. She deserves some love, its been a while and the few dings in the bumpers from London drivers need to be sorted and I'm waiting for my spoiler and TRD lip and TRD rear. O I asked the dealer for a quote with part no. L08158-53810 and the quote says its a ROOFTOP REAR SKIRT? I was expecting just Rear Skirt? Thanks, James B)

I have had my needle down below the E, almost touching the stopper, at usually around 360 miles. The light comes on and i usually have around 60 miles left. The most i've put in was almost 69 litres. I've just been to Manchester and Leeds and got around 425 miles out of 1 tank and driving upto a ton when i had a chance, but not pushing too hard. Cheers, James :D