HoodRich

Ahhh, so I have been on the track with the SRP by hand. (minus the White Diamond stuff)

Ishaq - your car looks great man. I love the look of a black car, but dont have the courage to own one. Rayans might know better, but if you want to maintain the look and protection for longer, finish off your detail with Collinite 845. Its inexpensive and I find that it lasts very long. Been my sealant of choice for a few years now.

Wow.... That looks really good. Love the interior too.... It looks so inviting.

Wow.... That looks really good. Love the interior too.... It looks so inviting.

Thanks Normski. The complex colour is the exact reason I ended respraying my entire is200. Previous owner had done some poor paintwork and it didn't look good. I was hoping it wouldn't be as complex with the is250, but it seems you have just killed that hope. Hehe

Indeed....that is the first "mod" on my list (well, after tinting the windows) I want to get something "conservative" and paint it piano black like I did on my IS200. Will have to ship the stuff from ebay.co.uk or ebay.com, so its going to take a while to get here.

ahhh, ok. Thanks Normski.

My SE-L doesnt have that :-( Only has the option to turn off the parking sensors, set the tach and speed limits, and to turn off AFS

Thanks John - appreciated

Took it out the garage to admire the fruits of my labour....... This car looks good, if I may so so myself Just has some road-rash on the front bumper (expected of a 8 year old car). Would like to respray the front bumper, but concerned about colour-matching.

Browsing this thread on my PC.........gee...that Merc is in good nick!

Hey Eric. Congrats on the purchase. I wish you many miles and smiles in the Merc.

Thanks for the info Rayaan. I always thought the SRP would fill light scuffs (which it did) and that the White Diamond would give it a bit if a shine thereafter. I wish I had chatted to you before I undertook the job (by hand!) as I am broken man this morning! Hehe I need to work on the IS200 as soon as my muscles are healed.....Will keep your advice in mind. Will only use White Diamond and 845 on the IS200 as it doesn't have any scuffs or scratches. (I assume the White Diamond is less abrasive?)

Thanks Rayaan. That is my recipe I have been using for years! What do you suggest I use going forwad?

Thanks Chris ;-) Just do it.... hehe

So, I decided to attack the paint on my "new" IS250 today. After 8 hours, I was done with the paint. Wash, clay treatment, polish, glaze and then applied a sealer. In my arsenal I had : 1) Autoglym detailing spray and clay bar 2) Autoglym SRP 3) Poor Boys World White Diamond Show Glaze 4) Collinite 845 Some pics of the results below. The paint is pretty good shape for an 8 year old car........ With the flash on to show the pearl aspect of the paint The bootlid The money shot! And one of my IS200, just for fun :-) Tomorrow I will work on the inside of the IS250. Got some Sonax leather spray and some dash & vinyl cleaner.

Normski.... After 4 days of is250 ownership, I can't say I can blame your wife!

I won't be using it either as nobody will drive this car but me. Being the perfectionist I am, it would bother me to end of days if it wasn't working!

Great stuff - glad to hear the battery is changed and all is fine.

Just make sure that the CD changer is not operating (ie, the mechanism is swapping discs) when you disconnect. Thats how I lost my OEM cd player. Had to replace it with a double DIN touch screen. Still upset about the loss of my OEM CD changer :-(

Hi guys, Thanks for the advice on the memory seats. I actually managed to figure it out by consulting the owner's manual . I'm an IT guy......we never read manuals....hehehehe The car has to be in Park, and the start button needs to be pressed twice without your foot on the brake. Worked like a charm. I think that was the last thing I had to test.....All electrics are working fine! (thank goodness) Now, I need to put away some cash for the "big spark plug service" in 5/6 months time......

Thanks Pete :-) Good luck on your quest to get the perfect IS350/GS430. They are both awesome cars and I'm sure you will come across many good examples in the US. You're right. There is something about the 1st Gen IS that makes it very special. The car is not nearly as refined or kitted as subsequent models, but for some reason it just appeals to me. I drove mine to work this morning after spending the weekend in the IS250, and driving the IS200 just seems to be a more fun experience. Maybe its the manual gearbox......maybe its the stiffer suspension....or maybe its just the huge sentimental value an IS200 has to me.

:-) @ Pete.... hehe. Decided to bite the bullet and buy a IS250 to use as my daily driver.

So, my IS200 has made a new friend

Hey guys, Its been an awesome weekend with the IS250. The car is probably the most refined I have ever driven and definitely the best I have owned. Its unbelievable that its 8 years old and looks and feels like it rolled off the production line yesterday. I'm impressed. The Mark Levinson audio system is out of this world. I consider myself quite fussy when it comes to audio systems, but this one takes the cake. Anything I play in it just sounds fantastic. Only gripe is that the wheels tend to collect a lot of brake dust. I'll apply some anti-static wheel wax to the rims when I detail her this weekend. I can't seem to get the memory seat function to work......but need to read the manual to make sure I am not doing anything wrong. I tried with it in Park, in Neutral, with the engine off and with it running......Nothing doing :-( Other than that, I have picked up any issues at all. John - long time no see. Thanks man. Yes, I am keeping the IS200 (plan on keeping her for as long as possible). You're right, I sure love these casrs in Pearl White......Planning to also fit a piano black boot spoiler on the IS250.......just need to find one I like on eBay. Other than the spoiler, the only other thing on my wishlist for now is to tint the windows. The African sun can be pretty harsh and I wouldn't want to mess up the speakers on the rear parcel shelf. Here is a pic of the two cars......albeit a poor quality one. I'll take better pics once I have detailed the paint next weekend.