JC12

2 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

There are many subs with their own built in amps. Some fit under seats some are boxes of different sizes. Personally if I was on your position I'd put the awesome Alpine sw815 in the boot. Only an 8" speaker but enough to make the panels dance in a Ford focus and Mondeo, I know I still have that sub.

It's an option yes, which I've done before in cars... but that's not the point of this build. My aim is to be as oem as possible with this one! 

7 hours ago, H3XME said:

@JC12 I had a similar issue.. My car does have M&L system with the rear sub though, but I was looking into installing a big boy sub in the boot. I've got an aftermarket sub, but the stock amp isn't right for any sort of aftermarket setup as I found out the hard way. Which I reckon would be your case also.. and like you said, M&L amp plays big a role in the whole infotainment system working properly so the only feasible way to run an aftermarket setup is to have a car without this M&L bolloc*s - like yours. . I made my peace with the fact I'm stuck with stock sub because I don't fancy spending money on an amp & and whole lot of wiring to get my screen working as well just to get a little extra bass. However, if you decide to go down the route of aftermarket amp to make everything work for you, I'm happy to swap my box subwoofer for the stock M&L sub you've got.. 

Thanks mate. Yes from the research it seems like I'll need to add in a mono amp for the sub and run it independently to the cars amp. However going to get a second opinion. I'm no electrical expert but was wondering if could run off the "front woofer" channel. 

If that fails will probably  just add in a hidden mono sub. Ideally looking to keep the look as standard as possible.  Ie no visible speaker additions. Not looking for ultimate sound just a bit more kick. 

19 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Try the amp from the SE-L that had the Mark Levinson system. I'm sure there are used amps on ebay. That amp should sort your issue. 

It does and it doesnt..

 my wiring harness is not a direct fit for the ML amp.. its the same issue as the above I have listed, there are 1 or 2 plugs on my exisiting wiring harness that do not fit into the new amp. Also, with the ML there are additional things going to that amp which accomodate the sav nav and additional multimedia features.. I do not have a sat nav set up . 

If only it was that simple! If you have done it succesfully then please let me know how! 

Im having the same issue and i havnt even got aftermarket bulbs in the high beam.. still halogens.. and they still point too low for my liking.. Any ideas on how to make the high beams only point a bit higher please let me know! Low beams are set up correctly

Hi all

has any one sucessfully managed to wire in a sub into the parcel shelf if their Lexus did not come with one? I have a 2009 SE-I with a basic sound system. It did not come with the rear sub speaker in the parcel shelf, it has front lower speakers (woofers), front door speakers and centre speaker(Front) and rear door speakers (rear). See photo below for amp outputs from amp.

I pulled out the rear seats and looked in the parcel shelf and the Sub wiring harness is already installed in the boot, the wires also trace back to the amp where they plug into the amp

I went ahead and installed and plugged in an OEM lexus parcel shelf sub i found however, no sound is coming from the sub. I assume this is because the amp does not have power or a sub channel coming out of the amp??

I then connected the harness to another amp and sound did come out of the sub however i think all the channels were messed up as the rest of the speakers didnt sound right and didnt fade/balance correctly. There was also another plug which didnt fit the new amp so I dont think I can use that amp. Here is the other amp I used from a car with the upgraded sound system. You can see if states there is a WOOFER channel

My question is - Has any one sucessfully and retrospectively installed a rear parcel shelf sub? If so .. how have you done it ?! All i want is the sub to work, not fussed on adding any more speakers to the system. 

Thanks!! 

1 hour ago, Mr Vlad said:

I'm not sure which wires are for the speakers. Best to pull the headunit out, watch YouTube videos on this before you try. But before you try that, have you played about with the tone buttons? Try turning up the bass. Also there's a product (name of it escapes me) which looks like a bowler hat but made of a certain foam. It acts like a box and it does give a good bass. You could also put some sound deadening stuff on the door panels. 

Yes bass is all the way up.. again front ones sound fine and as they should. Don't think it will be an issue round back of head unit as the amp is in the boot. 

28 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Hi Joel. How lo g have you had this car, if its a good while has the sound deteriorated over time or been naff since you got the car? On the rear doors, how many grills can you see on each door panel? If you say the front sounds good but rear naff then it's probably the speakers themselves. To test if it's the amp try swapping over the speaker wires from front to rear. If the fro t then sounds naff then it's the amp. If the front still sounds good then you know it's the rear speakers. Your car won't have a sub btw. 

There are lots of ways to improve the sound in your car, best to find a car hifi shop for Info and advice. 

Thanks for this... only had it for a couple of weeks.

The rear door card has 3 grills lower, mid and high.. but when you take the door card off the middle and high are blocked off.. not like someone has done it.. it looks factory and there are no other wires hanging around and does not look like it has been tampered with.

I think it might be the amp as have some other speakers I plugged in (again OEM but used) and they too sounded like tins.... just want to know if anyone elses sound like this and KNOW the amp is working... cos if they do then there is no point in changing the amp! Ive had really basic oem speakers in cars before and def dont sound this tinny.. so maybe it is the amp.

How do i know which wires to swap front and back? And do they just pull out of the holes in the plug that goes into the amp? Im not very good with soldering etc!! 

Thanks

Hi All.. I have a lex  is220d SE - i 2009 facelift.

While the front speakers sound great... The rear speakers in my car are absolutely shocking.

Just wanted to check a couple of things please. I do not have the nav unit or ML sound system / amp.

- The Amp part code is 86280 -53160 and only lists Front, Front-woofer, Rear  on the label... which I assume means there is not meant to be a sub / rear woofer attached? Is this the case? 

- If the above is true can you please confirm if i am only meant to have the lower 6inch speaker in the rear door? I currently do not have the mid and high speakers. 

- Finally - if Im only meant to have the lower rear speakers... do they usually sound like tin pots? Or do you think the amp, speakers are broken.. literlaly zero bass coming from them. they sound rubbish! 

Thank you!!

Hello!

I picked up my is220d SE-i today and super happy to be back in a Lexus (its my 3rd) even if it is a cheap but value for money car! 

Ive got some plans for it but mainly just upgrading things, Im not really into modding however I like to get my cars to as good of a standard as they can be while keeping as stock as possible. At least from a visual perspective. Im looking forward to tinkering with this one. 

My first Question:

Id like to upgrade the rear speakers, as far as I can tell, they are useless or past their sell by. My previous lex as the ML sound system but as far as I can see this is pretty basic. 

How easy is it to fit a "OEM" sub in the parcel shelf behind the rear seats? I dont have the Nav system and the oem stereo unit doesn't give me the "sub" volume option so I can imagine it will run off the "bass". 

Or, would you say it is easier to install and active underseat sub for a bit of extra punch, which I dont really want to do , id like to keep it as in keeping with the car as possible. 

Thank you! 

Haha.. yes.. i need something for a year or so to get me to the station and back (25 mile round trip) 2 ir 3 times a week. , and after sifting through the paperwork of this one and trying to find something wrong with it  which i couldn't, I decided to go for it. 

8 dealer stamps including gearbox, and diff oil at the last service! Who ever had it last really loved it lol. 

The dpf, 5th Injector and egr might get the full vix treatment but it's not broken (yet) so just going to leave it. My personal experience if the is220d is great if the above is seen to! 

Looked at 250 but poor economy and tax is more than i want to pay right now. 

I just love a diesel chugger and I'm all about value for money, which these are if you find a good one! 

Hi All.. Just thought I would say hello. 

Im about to pick up a 2009 is220d SE-i - 70k Miles , FSH etc etc.. This will be my 3rd Lexus. Previously I had a 2007 is220d, I traded it in for a 2019 is300h as I was living in London at the time and was super economical. I could never get on the the CVT but it is what it is... 

Im a car enthusiast and usually go for cars which are slightly older, well maintained but still keep me busy. I dont like a car where there is nothing to do! 

Ive got a few plans, I couldnt find a is220d which fitted my criteria and budget so unfortunately mine does not have the touch screen or rev camera so probably will be my first project. not too fussed about the ML sound system so i think it will be a fairly straight forward job! 

pics to follow. Thanks! 

Thanks i saw that but it's a totally different system to the is300h. This is what I'm working with. 

I though the white circle thing at the top was to manually adjust the beam level but I turned it a few times but nothing seemed to change. Anyone know ? 

The grey clip is just a power clip. 

1 hour ago, Pink said:

Interested to know if anyone’s got the headlight unit out and if so has a step by step guide. My old BM unit was a bit fiddly ... some reckoned you needed to take the bumper off, but with a bit of fleckling and the right angle and twist here-&-there, and the odd grazed finger, it was possible to get out! 

Checked the manual and it shows you how to change the turn lights and fog lamps but not headlights. May have e to just spend some time taking things apart carefully!

1 hour ago, Jayw13702 said:

I don’t believe you can get updated hid bulbs, however someone more knowledgeable may be able to confirm that


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bulbs should always be replaceable, however its like Fort Knox trying to get into the headlight unit. Most likely so you have to take it to the dealer to get it done.

52 minutes ago, 200h said:

you need to find the temperature range of the original hids 

ideally you need a bulb at the 4000k - 4500k to have white light

anything less than 4000k and you'll have yellow light.

here is a link for the kelvin scale

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kelvin_Temperature_Chart.jpg

Thank you... They are definitely not more than 4k. too yellow. If I could figure out how to get to the bulb I could have a look at what is in there. 

I just got 4 new michi cross climate tyres. Very good reviews along with the contis and Bridgestone. Can run them all year round . What ever they have done to enable slow tyre wear but still perform well in the dry and snow I don't know, but they are great especially for colder areas prone to more adverse weather conditions. If it's propper deep snow you are worried about then chains are your answer.. but can only travel at low speed and not on tarmac. A good all weather tyre would be better than any snow sock in my opinion. 

Hello.. 

Im a noob here , please feel free to direct me to a thread on here if this exists but I couldnt find one similar. 

Im finding my headlights (low and high) too dim - mainly too yellow as well, on the back roads with no street lights the range on them seems very short and they are certainly no where near as bright as my older is220d. I would like to change the bulbs to some brighter / whiter ones but i had a look and no idea how to get to the bulbs. 

Has anyone had the same issue and / or managed to change them by themselves ? If so ,  some advice on how to change them would be great. 

- I should also add its the Luxury model. It does not have the directional headlight system.. just high and low beam, but I think they are HID. 

Thank you ! 

Joel