Postman

It's basically a vapour trap from the fuel system to stop fuel being evaporated into the air. I wouldn't get too worried about it

I have a BMW 535d which I've had winters on now for the third year. The car is transformed in snow and ice ie it actually can be used as it is totally useless without them on a gradient (worst car I have ever driven in winter conditions in over 30 years driving). We have our IS220d about a month now but I will be sourcing an extra set of rims and winter tyres will be on for next year. Tyres I have on the BM are Vredestein Wintrac Extreme. I haven't tried any others but did take my time reviewing the reviews before I bought them and decided they were the best compromise for me. They are not out and out snow tyres but then I live on the Emerald Isle and not in the Alps. I will be ordering these for the Lexus. I was a little ahead of the wave for winter tyres 4 summers ago and nobody in the UK had any winter tyres for sale during that summer. I ended up ordering them from http://www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk/ and they were delivered from Holland (at the time the website was not .co.uk so I don't know where the stock on the aforementioned site will be sourced). Another good website is http://www.reifen.com/ Apparently they make a europe sized batch of winter tyres in the summer so availability in the summer may be scarce or depend on what has been left over from the previous year. Tyres are certainly a lot cheaper before the harsh weather sets in.

You don't particularly need a warm day. It's a dry day you need when the temperature and dew point spread is more than a few degrees. I would second the Auto Glym Fast Glass. I've been using it for years. It's a good idea to have the aircon switched on too as it should dry out the air coming into the cabin which helps keep the screen clear and indeed the rest of the windows.

Ok a little update. The car has gone through two tanks of fuel since my last post. The first had a tin of BG244 and the second had AR6200. The car is getting better with each mile we put on it. The BG244 seems to have cleared some of the muck out of it and the AR6200 would appear to be helping too. On very mixed driving we got 35.2mpg (done the old fashioned way with a calculator, though to be fair the computer was only about 1.5mpg pessimistic). Long runs would appear to return just over 40mpg maybe as much as 42mpg with stooging around town about 27mpg. I am warming to the car slowly (I don't have much option apparently ). When and if the weather warms up a bit the centre dash is for out as it rattles like a banshee. Then gearbox is a bit notchy when cold too so will have a look at sorting that with maybe an oil change and/or additive. It still sounds like a sick tractor (compared to the 535d anyway) at idle but when going is actually not too bad at all. At some point in the not too distant future a couple of areas are going to need a paint touchup, mainly stone chips but there is one area on the boot lid which the previous owner must have carried something which shouldn't have been in there. Also the dreaded wheels are terrible. I DIY these normally but am also considering a second set of alloys for winters next year which will help. All that will remain then is finding out how a lot of the stuff works (satnav etc) which might mean reading the manual something one doesn't always seem find time to do :eerrrmm:

Well on mine the switch is above the fuel filler and boot release switches bank. There are three, innermost one is for the heated wipers, next is for headlight wash and the outermost one is for the rear sunblind. I have to admit I hadn't a clue what it was initially as the pictograph on it isn't very intuitive.

Hi there. We bought a IS220d just under a month ago. 2007 SEL with MM. Nice car to sit in etc as you no doubt already know. What has really surprised me is the fuel consumption coupled to the lack of performance. Around town the best I can hope for is 28-29mpg, whilst a longer run returns 34ish. I also run a BMW 535d and on the same runs in town the mpg is similar and on the longer runs the Bm returns just over 40mpg. I know we haven't had it very long and I am still going through a cleaning process with additives etc but TBH I am very disappointed with the mpg. If it were a rocketship I could forgive it but it isn't. Keep your 250 would be my advice.

Hi Dromara I don't know where I'm going with this car to be honest. My heart was set on a GenIV Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B (I know it's a bit of a mouthful), and part of my difficulty is that. SWMBO saw the lexus at my mate's garage and she fell in love with it and despite reservations I caved in. Now I know modern diesels and town driving do not go hand in hand but as I commute to Dublin every day I reasoned that I could keep it clean with a run or two a week in it rather than the BMW. Unfortunately when we were test driving it, the drives were on open A and B roads and to be fair it is not a bad little car for that, it even handles decently though the steering feel is a bit numb. I certainly missed the fact that 1st is a little clunky in progress before 2k rpm, the gearing is stupidly tall and of course the consumption is not what one would expect. As for squeaks and rattles. Well the dash doesn't like normal (ie poor) roads and the door seals make themselves known over speed bumps. I also think there may be front right suspension wear as it seems to clunk a little on first take off of the day. Some of these issues are normal wear and tear I'm sure but others aren't. To be honest the build quality is not up to the 535d which is the same age and the BM is not up to Subaru standards for reliability. To say I'm underwhelmed by Lexus would be a slight understatement. Now the car has some good points. The suspension is more forgiving than the Bm Msport. The leather feels a lot more comfortable, it's just a pity the shape of the seats isn't on a par with the BMW comfort ones. The multi media pack is a bit of a novelty and handy when waiting to pick up the kids etc. The vent choices on the aircon is poor and the fact that the car raises it's idle revs by 400rpm when cold to provide heat is nuts. I've cleaned the egr, a tank of BG244 is nearly through and I have some Ar6200 waiting in the garage. If for no other reason than herself loves the thing we will be hanging on to it for a little while longer. I might nip up to Belfast though to try the petrol version to see if that would appease me. A friend has a GS450h and has been urging me to look at those so I might even though I feel it may be a little too big for what we want. It's a good little car with some serious issues, if that makes sense. I'm usually quite tolerant but this car has me perplexed. I think Lexus really dropped the ball with it. It has potential but is hobbled by a silly gearing in the gearbox and an engine which is very inflexible. If I can get ours to breathe properly I think it may be a goer, at the minute you can feel it is choked and not getting into it's stride at low revs. maybe thats the way it is and if that is so it might be a goer as in gone. As for bringing yours over on holidays. To be honest the suspension on mine copes very well, it's just the trim which has issues and which I can hopefully fix if we decide to hang on to it. Sorry that probably reads as a mindless rant Pat

Thanks Dennis. Would appear it may be normal then. Pat

I have a notion my boot may not be operating properly. When opened it does not pop up but is rather heavy to open and when closed if any force/speed is used it slams down quite hard. I cannot imagine this is it's correct operation but before I go and fork out for two gas struts I would just like to check. I had to replace one in a previous car but it was obviously shot, these ones are still quite stiff though and are the reason why I'm not ordering new ones straight away.

Went on about a 70 mile round journey today shortly after filling up and mpg around the 35 mark. Will decrease in the town over the week I'm sure. Engine does seem to be getting a bit smoother and more linear. Will try AR6200 as indicated in another post but it would appear my mpg isn't a million miles off others experiences. I have to say it is a bit lousy all considered. No wonder they have dropped the diesel. Rattles in the dashboard doing my head in now too so radio etc will be out shortly to try and find whats going on.

After reading the above and some of the stuff on the net I think I'll give this AR6200 a go in the lexus. Will wait to see effect before giving it to the twin turbo (she's still under warranty so tread carefully is the byword)

I use Millers diesel additive in my 535d. Engine runs sweeter and I think it adds a mile or two on the mpg (I haven't done a very thorough test so unsure). I was very sceptical initially about the benefits but am still using it 80k later if that is any indication. We have had the lexus for a little over a week and I am literally about to go out and put some BG244 through her to clean the injectors etc. When that tank of diesel has gone through she will be put on millers too. It takes a tank or two to notice any difference. I stopped using the millers for a couple of tank fulls a while back on the BMW and that's when I noticed it was actually doing something. It stinks to high heaven though and will engulf your boot if you use the bottle it comes in. I distill mine into smaller tank fill up size bottles which gets rid of most if not all of the odour.

Problem there being the Mrs loves it and well at the minute I don't :)

Thanks for the replies. I have to say I am disappointed with the consumption. I would happily wear it if the performance were better but it seems it has the worst of both worlds in that respect. It had a K&N filter which was filthy so maybe between that and the BG244 it will help but the computer read out of 25mpg is shocking. The 1200rpm when cold had me worried for a while too until I had a chat with a lad who has an avensis which does the same. All in all seems a solid little car but I may become tired of it if it doesn't shape up a bit. My dad used to have an old peugeot 504 2.3d which had more life and similar if not better consumption, and that was 30yrs ago. I know a lot has to do with driving style etc and I am well used to changing to suit and can coax mid 30s out of the BMW without any trouble on similar journeys to what the Lexus returns 25. I suppose it would be best to describe me as bemused.

OK hello to everyone. Bought the above a little over a week ago. It has 86k on it and is an sel so has a lot of bells and whistles. Like the comfort and is our second car so to be honest is not my work horse but the wifes. Now I have an 07 BMW 535d. What I don't understand is the BMW is as fast if not faster than my subaru impreza turbo and will return 40mpg at 120kph. Against this the lexus is very slow particularly on initial pickup and returns about 25mpg at the minute on mixed driving. To date I have cleaned the egr valve which to be honest wasn't that bad, I've just put in a new air filter and have a can of BG244 to go in at the next fillup. The car also seems to take an inordinately long time for the temp to get to its normal position. Is this normal (15-20mins). I've bought a thermostat but for the life of me cannot see where it goes (those engine bay covers are doing my head in). Any help on where the thermostat lives would be much appreciated. The turbo has a little whistle on lift off not too bad but there. Is this normal? Any other help/suggestions on how to increase the performance and/or mpg would be great. It's a nice car but I do not know if I can live with it's mpg and grunt (lack of) TIA Pat