D8driver

You could ask Dave / Prolex Uk if he still does meccatune. These are plug and play and so far all the sets I fitted keep working. Most of the hardware can be monted on the rear side of the crashbar to keep the engine bay free of wires.

Must be soft metall, mine only did 15 mph. and the complete subframe was toast. Stopping 1422 kg at once sideways by one rim will cause a lot of force on parts that aren't designed for this.... Mechanic told me he had seen it before and it's the weeks spot of the IS.

Sounds o.k., My right rear wheel looked like that after just a week (hitted a kerb at low speed). Only the wheel looked damaged and I was able to drive (a short distance that is). After that the misery began and it ended with an all new subframe, dampers, hub and a lot of work (took 2 weeks) at the end there was a bill of 3300 pounds...... (but the car drove well again). Since then I have winter tires and keep the car well alligned.

Had both, The B&M has a much shorter throw and shifting gives the feel of being in a race game. B&M is nice if you regard your car as a toy but the missus will hate it and so will every other driver that just expects transport from a to b. B&M makes a bit more noise but if you use load of thick grease it will stay within limits. The TRD is right in the middle of standard and B&M. Fantastic feel and just right for this type of car furthermore it adds no extra noises to the interior and it makes the "clunk" sound while shifting from first to second dissapear. Think the TRD is the way to go. Only downside it's expensive (towards 275 pounds) and not that easy tp obtain. P.s. stay away from the "waffenschmiede" shortshifter from ebay. It is cheaper but just a bad copy of the trd and it will cause trouble.

I got the TDI katana. Bit pricey but perfect fit, very well finished, it gave my blue flame a louder and deeper sound and the motor revved up much easier without any strange sounds. Think the trick with the pulse pipe definitely brings more power. Downside is that the katana caused an incindental error "engine running lean" but after a few alterations tot the fuel system this didn't happen anymore.

If you're good with tools a turbo would be the way to go (a new Garett or IHI with a bit of luck won't cost half of a M62 that will set you back approx 1400 pound, and good ones with not too high mileage are rare). By the way you could go BOV and drop the valve (I shut mine and ran the car for severall months on just the BOV which worked out just fine)

I guarantee you that building a kit yourself will cost far more than Gords offer. Since the price I wanted for a perfect compressor allready is out of your budget (it was extremely low compared to the prices worn ones bring on ebay) building a kit will become a hopeless task and it might be wiser to keep the car original. So my only advice will be to keep is realistic and count in that a kit will cost you over 2000 pound in the end or stay away from this project (and be honest, if it was cheap or easy numbers of member would allready have done the trick without buying overpriced TTE kits)

Indeed all Lhd but loads have been converted to rhd with parts from lesser modells. Owned several of them and a good one (no mods/damage/full service history) is worth twice the value of a late IS200 (at least over here). Chance is small it's one of the last evo modells (up to 265 bhp) but if you find one contact a lancia club and ask them what to look for (of have the forum guru check the car). So: not for daily use but if all is good a swap you'll never regret.

Fitting a S/c in open air can be done (not too hard). If you still got the black ecu that's easy to install so no problem there either. If you got the silver one I would't want to do this on a rainy day. (for unplugging the wires I would suggest to have the tool available that TTE advises, as small/customised mini screwdriver will work but not as well)

Go for 12000K then you have purple lights, saw them once on an Astra and think only Prince (in a time long gone) would like these. And the police will only laugh at you......

The type of oil you use depends on the use of your Lex, that ist weather conditions and if it´s tuned or not. I have had goed experiences wil Castrol of Mobil 1 5w 30, 5w 40 or 5 w 50 all fully synthetic, the 0w 30 was imho a bit too thin but could also be an option. Basically I thing every oil between 0w 30 and 15w 40 is ok as long as the api sl approval is there and it´s branded. Difference between 0w-5w and 10w and up is that the car starts better at lower temperatures and the motor ist lubracated much faster after a cold start, especially the difference between 5w and 15w is too big and my car ran a lot better after removing the new 15w40 oil the garage put erratically in it and exchanging it for 5w 40.

P0420 error like Yemgi said is the most common. I don't think it's the cat but check your lambda sensors because every time I saw P0420 it was one of these failing.

This "filler thing" is a pain in the *** and very dilicate. I is supposed to be easily removable by unklickicg a few plastic parts that hold/align it (the ones that do nothing). If you removed it a few times thes stop klicking (at least they did wit my SX). Ordered a few new plastic bits and left it in place since.

The prolex is a lot louder (at least the one I heard) and it's just a back box where blueflame delivers a cat-back for the same money.

Blueflame is o.k. for what you pay. However you got to pray the welder doesn't haven an off day and quality can vary from thrash to quite nice. Ssometimes some welds aren't completed/sealed and I've allready seen two exhausts where they forgot to weld the lambda thread in. No replies to mails completes the picture of well priced but also value for money...... (but I do like the sound of mine)

Think I know what you mean. Check if all the bolts of the TTE bracket are torqued properly, the cooler isn't rubbing anything and all the hoses are running free. with 10.000 the charger won't be under suspicion but do check the aluminium screws on the nose of the SC. These are weak (read the Sc refurbishing project by Rob) and tend to loosen. Furtermore the pullybearing on the nose (Warner Electric product) has some play and wil make a vibrating noise when it it is too loose (Loctite will solve this).

Mine said 13 ltr/100 km on a short slow drive. I also did a few laps in anonther one on the Nürnburgring and manage to achieve 20ltr/100 km (didn't push it since it wasn't mine and I had to promise to try to return it in mint state ). I like it in white with black leather and would leave the sunroof alone. Compared to the RS4 and M3 the IS-f would come in second (after the audi estate but on par with the m3). I like the F but need an estate so if I got this kind of money to spend my choice would be the audi.

Wonder If this will go well at once. Over here (Holland) Carglass is rubbish (and imho. only good for lease cars) The good thing is almost all the screens for IS are supplied by A brands so not too much bad quality on the market. Best Screen is Asahi (original) Pilkinton a good alternative (but definitely not equal to the Asahi screens). There are several different versions on the market (with sunscreen band and without, with mirror holder and without, with heated lower part or without). Asahi shows clear threads on the lower part of the windscreen (only wipers are heated) but every lexus IS can be fitted with heated screen (only thing to do is to plug in the connection it will work in combination with the heated mirrors) It's allmost impossible to fit an IS screen in open air (most good companies won't do this). Since Lexus tend too glue the screen in before the paint is completely dry a lot of paint will come off while removing the damaged screen and glue. If this isn't repaired (primer/paint) properly rust will have a chance (in fact a lot of Is suffer from rust caused by badly fitted screens). If it was me I would pay extra for an original lexus/asahi window and would take nothing less than Pilkinton (or Saint gobain). brand is printed on the left lower corner of the window. Succes!

The Is is a great car but unfortunately the motor choice is limited and imho. the only superb combination (besides the IS500) is a petrol 250 with auto. The manual version unfortanately just is not as good (with the IS 200 it's the other way round). The thing about the IS220 is that the diesel motor isn't the best in market (loads of problems in the Avensis with this aggregate from Poland, and have to say the beamer has a much nicer engine) and the combi with a manual box doesn't do it too much good. If you want one go for the sport transminission since the standard ones are rubbish. Personally if I was looking for reliabilty and the best in market for diesel it wouldn't be a Lexus but plus things are that service is good and you still have the good looks of the car (wouldn't buy the beamer eather, not because of the car but for the image the brand has over here....) Succes with your choice..

good tips for washing your lex (and other cars). Don't use high pressure cleaning (especially on the plastic parts, tyres and on stonechip endangered parts). Try the nanotech shampoo (will give you perfect shine) rinse with de-mineralized water or water with a bit of dishwasher shine added. Dry with an old cloth. Never wash in the sun or on hot surfaces. But most important: if the base aint good (clean/smooth surfaces and a good wax coat) the washing results will be likewise. P.s. don't use the (meguiars) magic blade to take of the water. (it's fast a bit of sand will guarantee you a lot of scratches...) and try to keep away from aggressive wheel cleaners.

"I really don't like the look of that. It looks like a cheap chinese copy.. Do all Ebel watches look like this? " No only the ones where a car manufactures asks a famous watch maker to make something that matches the look of a car dash And yes it's a combination between some of the meters on your IS dash (and in real it looks perfect). If it was a real ebel it would cost 1000 Euro's and onwards and probably would sell in a minute (I admit they have some very well designed watches but I would never spend more than 500 on a watch)

I've got two of the version produced by Ebel for lexus (the first one). Thing with Ebel is that you know that things get more expensive once they are out of production (loads of collectors with money). One I used a lot and it's a fine watch that matches the IS cockpit, the other is in mint state and will go soon (I'm no collector). If complete and in mint or near mint state this Ebel version will go for 250-400 Gbp. The other ("just lexus") version is ok but won't bring it's money when sold. P.s. in "used" condition or incomplete but in good state approx 130-150 is o.k.

Dent removal is the easiest/cheapest way to repair small spots however it's not magic. If the dent is too deep or the paint too old and the result will be a cracked finish. Sometimes the endresult seems perfect at first but not long afterwards the coat will come loose from the metall and a new paintjob is nescesary. It's just the same as spot repair: the chances are you won't be able too see the damage (if it's done by a professional) but one should always count in more drastic repairing.....

Seems a bargain and you might get lucky but there is are big differences between these kits. Over here (holland) one can buy cheap kits but also plug and play kits for cars with trip computers. I tested severall and brands like Target and Pilot really giver a better result and don't disturb the other electrical parts in your car (maccatune is fine too). The cheaper sets gave poor results in light performance but are better in blinding etc. So far I didn't see a set under 120 Euro's that's worthy for my lex (in other words: you get what you pay for and driving an expensive car imho. means that every improvement may cost a bit more).

You might also want to try contitech 790. On some SC's it runs better and give you the possibility to re-tension the belt a bit more often (800 often is a bit too long)