steve haley

One would have thought so but took 3 goes with my dealer to get the right discs and in the end I had to point them at the mapupdate site to get the right code. When I upgrade I will be using the map update site not the dealer:) Will have a set up 2008/9 Gen 5 DVDs for sale when the new ones come out Good news is that they allow entry on the move Bad news is they disable previous hacks (Have a 2007/8 UK disc arround which I keep meaning to Ebay.) rgds Stephen

Do you know if this is the old one (Silverline) or the new one (Silverline Pro) which you can use both the nav screen and the ipod screen without having to switch modes? If the new does it work reasonably well in this dual mode? Does it allow you to select artists/albums while in motion? rgds Stephen

There are problems with the Vais unit 1) If you use it for Audio books then everytime you turn off the ignition it will reset the position back to the beginning of the audiobook and lose the bookmark which makes it unusable 2) While it does clever things like being able to look by Album or by Artist you cant look by an Artist and then by Albums for that artist which makes it very difficult to select a specific album for an artist if you have a lot of albums/artists (I have a nearly full 160gb with up to 20 albums for some artists which makes the Artist option unusable). I now have mine in manual mode awaiting an eval of the new unit (Silverline Pro not Silverline) by DICE that solves both these problems and in addition supposedly can be controlled from the Ipod or the NAV screen in MP3 mode simultaneously WITHOUT switching modes It is also somewhat cheaper than the Vais @ £100. To be truthfull the manual mode isnt too bad in that it auses the unit when the phone rings or the ignition is turned off but it is a lot of money to do this when others do it for less than half the price. Wasnt entirely impressed with the Vasi integration into the Nav screen - bluntly it is easier to use the ipod just difficult to read the screen hence the desirability of the new option. It also took a long time to get any response from Vais tech support which made me less inclined to want to wait for a fix (It is now 4mths on and no sign of any fix nor any replies to my last 2 emails) Supposedly the Vais gives a slightly better sound but the Dice has much better integration but have seen good reports on the Dice's sound so not sure what to believe. There are 5 makers of integration kits for the Lexus that I am aware of Dice (Silverline & Silevrline Pro) Dension (Gateway 100,200 & Car Kit) Vais SLI (Video & non Video) Lexus (Heard rumours this was a rebadged dension) Grom (the cheapest do an Aux-In or Ipod kit) I am sure that there are others All these units are fairly easy to fit provided you have a socket set with a long extension and some two sided tape to make sure you dont drop the bolts. Ther are blow by blow guides on how to do it somewhere on either here or the US forum. If enough people got together I suspect Daltech would discount the Silverline Pro for a group buy as they did for the BMW forum a while back (£81 inc p&p for 10 or more) Stephen

sorry clicked reply by mistake & cant delete

Would just like to tag a recomnendation to this post I fitted a westfalia & lexus electrics kit to my SEL a few months ago to tow glider trailers. Last week someone elses trailer blew one of the two fuses in the towing electrics loom and it took an hour to empty the boot, remove the liners and side so I could get to the fuse and replace it since Lexus have put so little cable on it that it couldnt be put anywhere accesible. Not one to be burned twice I have now extended the red & blue wires betwwen the fuses and the two boxes that the fuses are now sited behind the access panel for the rear NS lights. Would reccomend others do the same if fitting the lexus wiring kit. BTW confusingly there was actually 3.5v across the brake and tail lights when on instead of 12v - I would have expected 12v or 0v and thought that the boxes had blown. Stephen

Lexus Park Lane wanted to fir the full towing kit including oil radiator @ £2500. Told me it was mandatory if you were fitting a Tow bar. Rang round 5 other dealers who said they had never heard of it being a requirement. Ended up fitting it myself which want as easy as I had hoped mostly becausde I couldnt see how to get things apart but only cost me 440 in the end for exactly the same kit including wiring for a detachable instead of the 1200 I was quoted by lexus. Mobile guys tend to patch in electrics as opposed to using the wiring kits which is why I ended up avaoiding them. rgds Stephen

The Vais is unusable for me as I have a 160gb ipod with literally hundreds of albums so trying tro find a specific artist/album to play is a real pain. I also listen to a great deal of audiobooks and thanks to those resetting to the beginning when you cycle the ignition that too is unusable. Have no interest in video. rgds Stephen

Has anyone done any comparisom between Vais, Dension, DICE, GROM and OEM? So far the differences I have managed to work out are:- OEM does playlists only and you cannot control the Ipod manually - all others allow a simple mode where you can use the ipod scroll wheel and the car stereo controls (to a limited extent) but on the DICE this can only be set with dip switches the others allow slection on the headunit. The dice appears to be unique in that you can set an artist then see the albums for just that artist but potentially has problems when the Ipod goes to sleep after 10hrs. Dice and Vais both support MP3 mode The Vais can give srcollable lists in MP3 mode - not sure about the DICE The Vais is the only one to allow selection of audiobooks & podcasts BUT has a bug with audiobooks in that when ignition is cycled they restart from the beginning. Note others can handle audiobooks & podcasts but they need to be put in playlists. Dice adds an extra Audio in jack socket Dension & Vais can have their firmware upgraded Would love to hear comments on the Dice & Dension units Stephen

On another tack - the instalation instructions for the towbar electrics specifically mention the RX400 as does the Lexus instalation instructions for the removable towbar. see http://techdoc.lexus-europe.com/Aim.aspx?menuitem=2 Respectfully sugestthat the lexus dealer in question appears to be somewhat confused.

My syndicate partner has a fixed towbar oin his hybrid fitted by lexus edgeware with no comment when he got the car in 06. It tows a heavy glider trailer with no problems. Stephen

Use double sided carpet tape on your socket and you shouldnt drop anything. That stuff hold like a fiend - only trouble is it leaves a bit behind on the bolts sometime but a small price to pay.