DrPoko

I thought about going up the A-Pillar but was a bit worried about disturbing the curtain air-bag.

Hi Not had my Lexus (IS300 sportcross) too long but am really enjoying it. There are a couple of things I miss from my old car (406 coupe) on the audio front. No MP3, I had added a 6 disk mp3 changer to the old car and no stalk controls. I didn’t think I would miss the stalk controls so much but I really do. Add to this the Lexus CD player skipping when driving on poor surfaces and I decided it was time for a new headunit. After reading a lot on the LOC about the Pioneer FH-P80BT I thought this looked just the job. Only problem was that I didn’t like the look of the pioneer wired remote. Didn’t fancy the idea of having this ugly thing clamped to my steering wheel. I bit of googling revealed that the pioneer and sony wired remotes share much of the same functions. By all accounts the Sony RM-X4C should work and looked much more the sort of thing I was looking for so thought I would give it a go. Ordered all the bits (inc bypass cable and facia adaptor) Big thanks to Rob for the tray removal guide and to Hando for the headunit removal guide. Used aztecbandit1s guide to removing the amp and fitting the bypass cable. I had a really hard time getting the amp free so that I could get to the back to unplug the speaker connector. I struggled with this for quite a while eventually getting it free by unclipping part of the dash to get more room. The annoying thing was my amp was the other way round from the one in the guide (Toyota sticker visible). So the speaker connector was on at the bottom and I could have just unplugged it by reaching up from underneath. :tsktsk: Eventually got the HU installed and fired it up to check I was getting sound, thumbs up! What did i do with the facia trim? I just popped the mic up through the top tray for just now. (will have to find a better spot for it) and ran the usb cable into the glovebox. Now finding a good spot for the sony remote. I wanted it on the right hand side so plumped for just below the wiper stalk. Remote didn't come with any instructions but fitting was pretty straight forward. Wasn't sure which way round it is supposed to be mounted (base is sort of rectangular so could be mounted up and down or front to back.) I went for front to back as i liked the thumb indent on the volume control to be on the front. (may experiment) I may also move the stalk a bit further forward as it turns out to be a bit close to the ignition. Ran the cable down the side of the column and through to the HU. It just pluggs in with a mini din headphone socket. (added a bit of black tape over the wire since pic) I had a good run last night and used wipers, cruise and audio stalks with no problems. Easy to find and use without taking eyes off the road. Sony stalk will control: Global : source, volume+-, att (partial mute). CD : track+-, ffw, rew Tuner : tuner scan+-, tuner preset+-, USB : track+-, folder +- Not tested phone yet (will report back) Overall very pleased. Currently filling up an 8Gb usb stick with my tunes. Next jobs are facia smothing (a la Wozza) and changing dash lights to blue LEDs (currently in the post). This stuff could get addictive :winky:

I managed to get a loan of one of the connect2 aux input unit so thought i would give that a go. If it worked then i'd take the chance on the CD changer unit. On sunday the cd player swallowed one of my fav CDs so i thought I'd try and retrieve the cd and try out the Connect2 unit at the same time. Big thanks to Rob for the tray removal guide and to Hando for the headunit removal guide Only thing i would add is when masking the dash edges use masking tape that is less than 10 years old!, mine kept falling off Unit appeared to connect OK But when all reconnected and my MP3 player connected up i didn't get the option of CD2 and the music from the MP3 and CD were both mixed together. I don't hold out much hope for the CD changer unit. On the plus side i did manage to rescue Tom Petty ! Seriously concidering a double din LCD head unit now.

Fae the land o’ Burns, sunny Ayrshire.

Thanks for the shouts guys. Sparkystav: I thought about Swedish twins but the IS300s have got lower running costs and as Spikes pointed out these girls are dirty enough. :winky:

Hi, Last year my father downsized from a GS300 Mk1 to an IS300 Sportcross on my recommendation. I liked is so much that two weeks ago I bought one myself. On the left my fathers 2003 IS300 Sportcross with tan leather on the right my 2002 IS300 Sportcross with black leather. Only other difference I can see is that he has reversing sensors and I don’t (soon sort that though) These forums are great, loads of useful information and tempting dangers to the bank balance.

Hi, Long time lurker, first time poster. Just picked myself up a 2002 IS300 Sportcross (no nav) and looking for some audio advice. These forums are great, loads of useful information and tempting dangers to the bank balance. I’ll pop some pics of new purchase in the New Members Area. Had a good search for this but apologies if this has been asked before. Before trading in my old Peugeot I rescued my SonyCDX-T70MX 6 disk changer from the glove box. I had this connected via a Connects2 interface to the OEM headunit. It worked very well and I got quite used to having 6 MP3 CDs at my disposal and would like to fit this to the Lexus if possible. Connects2 don’t list any parts for Lexus but do for Toyota . CTATYS001 “old 12pin block” CTATYS002 “new 12pin block” From all the pictures of the back of IS headunits it looks very much like the “old 12pin block” Has anyone used a Toyota Connects2 in a Lexus or have any other suggestions of how to connect this changer? Cheers