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FrankB

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    1999 LS400 MkIV DHP

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  1. Yup Mark, just saw your answer and indeed I tried this morning and those steel wheels would not fit. Luckily I had negotiated with the dealer and I just walked away without having to pay, he just kept them. I am now in the market for advices regarding 16" wheels that would allow me to respect the Lexus standard specs 225 60 R16 97W. Preferably standard Lexus wheels as yours, or aftermarket alloys that have been proven to fit with those gigantic calipers. FrankB
  2. It did not seem to appear again. I don't know, perhaps some dirty gas from the bottom of a tank? I have more urgent troubles to address: the 17" tyres from the Dynamic Handling Pack are impossible to find, and I have to go back to the standard 16". This means changing 5 wheels + tyres when I was only expecting to change 2 tyres. And I will need winter tyres for Germany... This morning I found the center console soaked by rain water leaking through the inside rearview mirror... I think the windscreen was replaced at some point in time and it was not done properly, so when the car sits unmoving under heavy rain the water leaks through. (It did not appear previously when I was driving under heavy rain, or the car was parked under moderate rain for 10 days). I love that car but was not expecting so much trouble. Does anyone have any idea about the cost of fixing a leaky windshield? Taking it down carefully, replacing the glue and fixtures and putting it back? FrankB
  3. Hi, I bought 2 weeks ago in the UK a 1999 LS400 which came with the DHP, for which I did not care much, until I realized that the tyres are only Pirellis and they are absolutely unavailable in France or Germany, and also very expensive (I had a French quote, not from Lexus, that was 644 Euros per tyre, unmounted, although I found them at 240 Euros elsewhere; does not matter as they are not available anywhere). I hear that Pirelli is not making them because of lack of demand. Now I need to get the front tyres replaced; so I will go back to the standard size 225 60 16 98W. I need to get it done quickly and with the prices in France I want to go the cheapest way and get steel wheels 7x16 5x114.3 offset 47, as I will need 2 full sets (5 wheels for summer, 5 wheels for snow). Has anybody fitted anything like that on a Mk4? http://www.feuvert.fr/jantes-toles/magnetto-wheeels-jante-tole-7x16-5x114-3/p46364.html Thanks for any advice, and please no flaming for not using alloys, I bought the car for reliability and confort, not for looks (although I find it gorgeous, and actually like the plain black ugly wheels). FrankB
  4. I think it also gives a body-coloured grille, instead of a black one. My car has a green grille, and I have not seen any other LS with coloured grille, except for 2 other DHP-equipped models.
  5. Hi, I finally bought a 122k 1999 Mk IV and picked it up last week. I think it has the Dynamic Handling Package, which I was not really looking for, but seems in good condition and has all the power gizmos working. I have to say I am very impressed with the car, however 2 things are bothering me: 1- The "Headlight Leveling" error message I have when I start the engine. I will get this sorted when I replace the UK-spec headlight with EU-specs one (I'm from the continent). 2- I drive the car on the German Autobahnen, and sometimes the car has a loss of power and has trouble reaching 190km/h (about 120mph). Before yesterday, I had driven it up to 220km/h without any such loss of power. When accelerating from 100-120km/h, it would kick-down and take off very fast. But ysterday and today, it did not kick-down and so had a lot of trouble barely reaching 190km/h. What could be wrong? It happened after I got the front wheels checked for balance, only to discover that those 17" Pirellis were badly worn and had to be replaced (220 Euros each!!!). The tyres are not yet replaced, I will get them in 2 days. i don't understand how that could be related though, as the problem is a loss of output from the engine, and has nothing to do with tyres. Any idea? Thanks, FrankB
  6. Hi Andy, It seems I will get a 1999 Mk IV. The VIN number is JT153UF2000128498. Could you confirm the prices for both complete headlights and "empty" blocks without the bulbs and ballasts that I will have already in the RHD headlamps? Thanks! FrankB
  7. Hi, I subscribed yesterday to the Toyota TIS website where I should have found everything I ever wanted on any Lexus, Toyota or Scion... I went there and paid the $15 fee for 2 days, looked for anything related to the replacement of the headlamps on a 1999 or 2000 Mk IV, and found nothing. The only items mentioned in the repair manual show the lights control around the wheel, and the location of the headlights on the car... On older Mk I, II, or III, and on later 430 and 460, the website shows you how to remove and replace the headlamps assembly, the bulbs, etc. But for the LS400 Mk IV it does not appear anywhere! WTF?! Does anybody have any info or tutorial about this? I was thinking of subscribing to alldatadiy, but I don't want to waste more money if the website has this info for every car BUT a LS400 Mk IV... FrankB
  8. First quotes I got from Lexus Marseille were 900 Euros +20% VAT per headlight + 2.5 hrs at 110 Euros per hour. So we're talking about 2435 Euros (2034 BP) for both, mounted. For info my budget for the LS400 Mk IV is 3000 BP... So I enquired about normal lights and they told me 275 Euros +20% VAT per headlight, but they were unable to tell me whether I could mount them in place of Xenon lights. So I asked for info here. Latest news came from Lexus Paris where they first told me that the LS400 never had Xenon... "only the 430 and later did". I proved them wrong and when they finally checked (I had to find the VIN of a French 2000 MkIV, the UK VIN would only allow them to order UK-specs headlights), they told me 275 Euros +20% VAT for the blocks without bulbs (assuming we use the UK bulbs in the EU-headlamps) + 2.5 hrs at 110 Euros per hour, so less than 1000 Euros for everything. They also told me I could not install normal headlight on a Xenon-equipped model, as the connectors would be different. ACLex, I just noticed you are a Lexus dealer. How much would it cost me in the UK to have EU-spec Xenon headlamps fitted on a 1999-2000 UK Mk IV? (I don't have the parts numbers) Is it really true I could not mount normal ones? Thanks! FrankB
  9. I don't intend to swap between a Mk III and IV. I just want to replace UK-spec HID headlamps with EU-spec lights on a British Mk IV. I thought the HID headlamps were an option for the 1999 V Mark IV (at least in the US, they were standard in Canada). Was it standard for the UK? Lexus France gave me a quote for normal lights and for HID lights. I thus expected the wiring to be the same, with the possibility to install either ones. HID headlamps are 4 times more expensive than the normal lights, which tends to make me think that they include the ballast. ACLex thinks this is indeed the case.
  10. Thanks TeamDax but what I would like to know is whether downgrading from xenon to normal headlights is a simple swap of the headlights assemblies, or whether it requires modifying the connectors or wiring of the car too. Xenon lights use a ballast to go from 12v to 24000v to feed the HID bulbs. if this ballast is included in the headlight itself and is only fed by the usual 12v wires from the car, then it is fine and I might just put normal LHD lights instead, keeping the original connectors on the car. But if that ballast is somewhere in the wiring upstream of the headlights assemblies, then I might need to modify this as well to adapt normal lights. Does anyone know whether the connectors and wiring in the car are the same for both Xenon and normal, or whether they are specific to Xenon for a 1999 Mk IV? Are the xenon and normal lights interchangeable? Thanks! FrankB
  11. Hi, In order to import a Mk IV to France I might need to swap the UK-spec headlights for EU-spec ones (for RHD traffic). Lexus France has been giving me 2 quotes, a not so reasonable one for normal lamps, and another ludicrously over-the-top for xenon lights (1/3rd of the price of the car, just for the parts!!!). The car I'm considering is a V-reg 1999 Mk IV equipped with UK-spec xenon lights (I think they were factory-fitted, with headlamp washers). Would it be possible to replace those original xenon lights by normal lights (i mean replacing the whole headlamp, not just the bulbs of course)? The Lexus dealerships here are unable to confirm this. Is the ballast included in the xenon headlamp assemblies? Are the connections similar, so that downgrading to normal lights could be done just by swapping the headlights blocks? Thanks! FrankB
  12. Hi, I'm seriously considering importing a Lexus from the UK to France this summer. I hesitated between Mk III and MK IV but I am now quite set on a V-reg 1999-2000 model with Xenon HID headlights. As I may need to swap the UK RHD headlamps for EU LHD lights, I was wondering whether anybody had a set lying around, and would consider selling or swapping for UK RHD ones. Is it possible to replace HID xenon lights by normal lights? Does anybody know how much do Lexus dealerships or affiliated garages charge for this in the UK? Thanks, FrankB
  13. Hi, I am still not sure whether I should go for a III or IV. As I understand, the IV has: - a satnav that I won't need (I have my own portable device) with a 10 year-old touch screen that could, if it fails, hinder the use of other amenities (A/C, sound system), - a more powerful VVT-i engine, - a slightly better gas mileage (not sure about that, I have seen contradicting figures), - more modern looks. The III has: - no touch screen, but good old buttons to control everything (both more reliable and cheaper to repair in my mind), - a good engine that is powerful, not too thirsty for a V8 and that can't be damaged by a snapping cambelt, - will usually have more mileage, being a few years older. Am I right? I will import the car in France and will do 1500 miles highway runs between the south of France and Germany every few weeks. I want the car for comfort and reliability. The car needs to be more than 10 years old for insurance reasons (before 2000 "X" registration), I have a budget of circa 3000 pounds, and may have to consider the price of changing the headlights to continental right-hand traffic (does anyone knows how much it costs in the UK?). What would you recommend between Mk III and Mk IV? Are there any pros/cons for one or the other that I don't know? Thanks for any help/comment. FrankB
  14. Hi, Still looking for my LS400, I am considering a 1999 or 2000 Mk IV but one thing bothers me: the touchscreen for satnav, climate ctrl and so on. I am not that confident in the reliability of a 10-year old touch screen. Usually they are the first thing to fail in any system. As I don't need the sat nav (I have my own portable unit, and I understand the old CD maps are obsolete), I don't want the touch screen to fail, thus leaving me unable to control the sound system, the aircon... What is the feedback of the current owners of 10 year-old Mk IV? Should I expect trouble from an old touch screen? Is it possible to find a good Mk IV without the satnav and that annoying touch screen? I thought they all had it from the factory but I recently saw a french LS400 from 2000 that did not have it, and it was definitely a Mk IV. Thanks for any help/advice/comment. FrankB
  15. Hi everyone, I'm Frank, from France, looking to import a nice LS400 Mk3 or 4 from the UK. I intend to purchase the car this summer and will have to check several things specifically for an import to France first, and then for general care, maintenance and enjoyment of the car when it's mine! See you! Frank
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