mikecad

I'm a manual I'm afraid, it is frustrating that everything switches off, when I just want the engine off and the ML to continue playing my music!

Hi all, I wish I got time to read these forums during "normal" hours but I have a niggle and I'm hoping someone can help, or at least save me some time. I'm pulling up into a McDonalds (classy I know) and I want to park up. So using my reverse camera I line myself up, park and then I go to turn off the engine. But my music will switch off if I press the start button, lose my place in the track, the steering wheel will retract. Is there any way to go from "engine on" to "accessory position 2" if you see what I mean without having to turn the engine off and pressing it again a few times? Cheers :)

I have to smile when I read these posts. Many times here and on the US forums someone asks the question about unlocking the DVD playback. Many times the response is not an answer but shock and outrage that someone would even raise the subject matter. The answer to the question you asked is yes. But only if you feel like removing trim, air vents, the ML system, snipping a wire, joining a couple of wires. Probably invalidating the warranty specifically on the ML (although they would have to prove the modification caused a fault, they would still be difficult with you though). Now to join the righteous crowd, if you had an accident and this modification was discovered, might it invalidate your insurance? I wouldn't presume to know you and how susceptible you may possibly be to watching a movie whilst in transit, but I know myself that I may take my eyes off the road for just a few seconds to catch a good bit :)

I'd need a good few hours in a car park and no one around to watch to figure out all the modes and follow the instructions. I think Lexus should arrange classes in demonstrators :)

I got a copy of Roxio 9 and attempted to create a disk. It played ok in my ML system however considering the source was high quality 5.1 ac3 audio, it did a damned awful job of presenting it. It converted it down to 2 channels and the compression artifacts in the recording are so bad it's like a low quality wav file (even though the bit rate is quoted as pretty high). It's a shame too as I prefer the flexibility of Roxio, you can customise more and I liked the shuffle feature and many menus for organising music. What kind of DVDRs are you using?

Resume is a pain sometimes yes, especially when you make or receive a call and the track you were listening to starts from the beginning again. I found it worthwhile buying DVD9's though for the extra capacity (despite the extra cost I'm not going to have to replace them as often as the DVD5's) My last attempts hit over 95 albums on a disk, I did reduce the quality to 128kbits though and it still sounds good through the ML system.

Just to add mine in, I DO drive a 250 (sport) :) My voluntary excess is £250, I have 8 years NCD and was quoted £500 by E-Sure. I'm 33. That's actually cheap as far as I'm concerned.

I got mine on the 1st but have been too busy playing with it to post :)

It definately does recognise some manufacturers of writable DVD media but I could not speak for all of them. Their disclaimer that +/-R is not supported is likely down to them not wanting to get into support issues with certain brands of disk not working etc. I didn't start off with the lowest common denominator i.e. bulkpaq though as I felt if incompatibilities existed they might be present in the cheaper media. Although I have found in some products cheaper works better so I'm not ruling them out :) You can't see it when you're in motion and you have to rely on the seek function on the system or your steering wheel control to skip tracks. Once all tracks in an album (title) have been skipped it will move onto the next album (title). Before I set off I usually navigate to the album I want. If I get a long pause at traffic lights I can always jump to something else. Because of this then you can't see what track is playing but I consider that unimportant given the benefits of having so much music. Mike...

Hi there, I use a piece of software called Audio DVD Creator. It takes your MP3's and can convert them into AC3 at low bitrates i.e. 128 or 192 kbps. I've used both DVD-5's and DVD-9s for doing this. It then compiles them into a video DVD with a static image representing each track giving artist, track name etc and allowing navigation. This gives around the same space saving as MP3. The limitations of the DVD video format allow for the following. Up to 99 titles (think of them as folders) with up to 100 songs in each title. I tend to put a single album in each title and have compilations of around 90 albums per DVD-9. This gives you the benefit of the extra storage capacity of DVD and the benefits of compressed music also. It can take quite a while to create a DVD based on your MP3s (around 6 hours for a DVD-5) so its usually a leave it running overnight job. I have successfully burned to DVD-R (traxdata) and DVD+R DL (verbatim) and have not had any problems with the ML not recognising them. Sod the music keg, I have 48 gigs of music in my car right now using standard ML and I won't need to change songs for quite a while. :):):)

3 weeks to go for me too. The price went up in the new year at the start of Jan if I remember right but as I'd ordered it before then it is price protected so I'm very glad I ordered it when I did! (November 8th 2006). Lexus honour the old price where the dealer can provide the paperwork and deposit to prove it was ordered prior to an increase. Can't wait now but it's the home straight.

Ok so i've been very patient so far, but i've never had to wait so long for a car before and its driving me crazy. There's around 32 days to go and I've absorbed most of the information I want on the forum. I've made some music DVD's (MP3's converted to DVD) thanks to someone who mentioned DVD Audio Creator. I have some 5.1 versions of a few Depeche Mode albums ready to roll too. I'm glad I got the order in when I did though with the IS going up by a grand in the new year. I have been talked around by the Lexus dealer into Gap insurance rather than a tracker. Whilst I think Gap insurance is just plain cheeky it does seem best should it be stolen and written off or never return etc. I'm just hoping I still like the colour, it was November when I saw it and I hope my tastes havent changed! I'm sorely tempted to do the wire snipping to get the DVD playback and MP3 navigation working while the car is moving but I'd probably mess it up. Oh well thanks for the thousands of helpful posts in the forum, although I do wish the new IS was a seperate forum. I keep getting my hopes up when I see word of superchargers and turbo chargers, alas for the 200 and 300 :)

Hi all, I've just ordered my first ever Lexus, it's an IS250 Sport in Brechin Slate and a grey interior. The dealer had just about one of each colour and interior trim on the forecourt so it was good to compare and contrast the different combinations. I currently have a silver car and wanted a slight change. I ordered it with multimedia and a sunroof and have a target date of 1st March 07. I've been lurking for quite a while on the group so thanks to everyone for posting their experiences both good and bad. With 112 days to go the only comfort I'll have is reading about what other people are up to in theirs. I currently run a Mazda 3 sport and prior to that I had the RX8 (231ps). This will also be the most expensive car I've ever bought. Have many people had trackers fitted? Regards, Mike...