Shackattack

On 10/22/2019 at 9:57 PM, KenMavor said:

I have a mid section that I was going to use on my 2007 IS250.  Should fit OK of you are interested.  What's the state of the rest of the exhaust as the rear section tenmds to go as well.

They didn't raise any concerns when I had the backbox welded back on.

Just needed that section replacing was what they said

Hi All,

I thought I'd post this in the main forum too in case anyone could shed further light.

I'm looking for a new exhaust as I've had to have the backbox on one side welded back on after rusting and falling off on the M60! The mechanic said it would hold for the time being but I should look to replace pretty soon.

My car is a 58 plate but it's a face-lift model and was registered in Jan 2009 so I have the updated back lights etc.

I've been scouring the internet and stumbled across this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS250-SALOON-2-5-PETROL-RWD-2005-2008-REAR-EXHAUST-SILENCER/112521866538?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649#vi-ilComp

I've contacted this chap on eBay who said this exhaust wouldn't be compatible but I can't see any mechanical differences to that of the Non-facelift car and understood them to have the same 

Couldn't anyone advise whether this would fit?

Thanks

On 9/27/2019 at 3:17 PM, Herbie said:

I suppose it depends on how much you want to spend and how long you're keeping the car, but my suggestion would be to get a custom stainless system made.

I had a Nissan Maxima QX SE+ at one time and it was quite a rare car - no one could supply an exhaust except Nissan and they wanted about £900.

I found a guy making custom stainless systems and he measured and copied every bend, every length etc., etc., to make an exact replica, which was guaranteed for the life of the car and guarantee even transferrable to new owner if I sold the car, all for £395.

Thanks Herbie, I'll bear that in mind. I'm probably going to have the car for the next couple of years. 

Do you know whether the above exhaust in the link would be compatible to my car? I don't see any technical differences between the post 2009 facelift and the non facelift model. The engines are certainly identical

Hi All,

I'm looking for a new exhaust as I've had to have the backbox on one side welded back on after rusting off. The mechanic said it would hold for the time being but I should look to replace pretty soon.

My car is a 58 plate but it's a facelift model and was registered in Jan 2009.

I've contacted this chap on eBay who said this exhaust wouldn't be compatible but I can't see any mechanical differences to that of the Non-facelift.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS250-SALOON-2-5-PETROL-RWD-2005-2008-REAR-EXHAUST-SILENCER/112521866538?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649#vi-ilComp

Couldn't anyone advise whether this would fit?

Thanks

Hello all. Apologies for the lack of update however I'm now 6 weeks into ownership and loving every second. 

I have also (this weekend) completed my LED transformation of the car. 

I appreciate that it's a bit of a mute point on here however for anyone looking to upgrade from the standard halogen headlights to Xenon etc I would honestly suggest to go down the eld replacement route. 

For one thing if anyone is worried about mot failure, it's a simple plug and play exercise. I purchase three sets of bulbs, dipped, main and side light and the difference (no pun intended) is night and day.

Not only has my light output significantly increased but they look amazing instead of the dull yellowy colour of the old ones. It literally transforms the car. 

Beam pattern is spot on, I haven't had to make any adjustments, I've also had my wife drive behind me in my other car and there is absolutely no glare. Full beam is like the sun  projecting from your car its quite extraordinary. 

The bulbs were 30 quid per pair from amazon. 

Im seriously happy with the outcome. I don't think lexus wanted anyone to ever change the bulbs haha. It's a good few hour job taking the airbox out etc and very fiddly but not complicated in the slightest. Just remember that when you're testing them before you out everything back in, don't switch the electrics on, just use the stalk power otherwise if you haven't reattach the O2 sensor it'll flag

Happy to assist anyone if they so wish

Thanks

7 minutes ago, H3XME said:

what kind of bulb goes into the mirrors?

Standard t10 LED

Quick update, started with the retrofit to LED light install. Did the interior and puddle lights last night. All I'll say is wow! What a difference, it's crazy how much better they are. 

Especially good when you walk up to the car and the light underneath the mirror lights up the whole side of the car!

A must have mod and very easy and cheap to do!

13 minutes ago, negativelift said:

I went to look at the blue IS250 mentioned in the OP. Was nothing special (in my opinion) to stand in front of and certainly didn’t look worth what they’re asking for it!

If anyone cares, the one I looked at; smelled like it had been smoked in (which straightaway is a dealbreaker for me), there was a deep chip to the paint (down to the metal) where the roof meets the windscreen on the near side, some bad paint on the near side front wing - numerous raised bubbles/drips, have actually never seen anything like it before but looked really quite bad, also the rear quarter where it meets the bumper was a patch about an inch long down to the metal on the near side. It sounded to run alright. The roof gutter trim was not sitting flush on the offside at the rear. And the driver’s seat not all the motors worked for adjustment. Tyre wear wasn’t very even and a couple were gonna need changing soon. I’d had enough by then. It was also being kept not at their main site but at a different location and looking kinda grubby. That in itself made me think it’s perhaps not too great an example. If it was, surely they’d have it all shined up, front of house.

It was the first one i’ve looked at so maybe i’m being a bit critical but they are asking top money for it so i’m going to be! Anyway I was really impressed at the feel of the cabin. Had a nice solid feel to it. The amount of kit you get is really quite amazing. I’ve had a run of BMWs for the last 10 years and I was a bit dubious about a Japanese car feeling as well built/put together. I should not have been worried though. I wish i’d known about these cars years ago. 

The search continues ...

Seriously mate hold out until you find the right one. I looked at 6 before either bought this. Has a couple of superficial scratches but the one you looked at was well overpriced at 5k

Dont be put off if it's not se-L. Can still get a decent se-i just doesn't have a few specific options. I managed to get facelift which has door mirror indicators and different styling pieces 

20 minutes ago, Texas said:

Nice one, glad you got there in the end and welcome to the 'club' of very luxurious, unassuming and hopefully trouble free motoring.

paul m.

Cheers Paul

As I mentioned I'm looking at changing my headlights to LED, the stock Halogen's are extremely poor and I sometimes have wondered whether they're actually on or not

I've done quite a bit of research on these and understand it'll fail the MOT (not too fussed about as I'll swap them out come next year) and hope I'm in the 5% of people who actually do this right and keep the same beam pattern but get a nice true white light and a much improved driving experience.

Long gone are the days of CREE leds throwing light all over the road and dazzling other drivers. The way these new LED bulbs operate is to output the light in a very similar way to that of Halogen, so the beam pattern (including the Step) is pretty much bang on.

Does anyone have experience of replacing normal Halogens with LED bulbs from the likes of Philips (Lumileds)?

19 hours ago, KenMavor said:

Any progress.....have you managed to drive any of the aforementioned IS250s?

 

Hi Ken (and all)

So after much searching and travelling I went to view Wetmybeak's IS250 in Warrington on Sunday and we agreed on a price and I'm now the proud owner! :)

58 plate (2009 model) facelift version, Dark Grey, Black Leather interior and the car is in great condition, I look forward to maintaining a high standard of care (maybe a couple of cosmetic modifications, LED lights etc) over my time as owner.

Very happy, I understand what everyone says now about these cars in terms of what's on offer to the cost involved. It's crazy but I guess we have a nice little (overlooked) slice of the pie

15 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Actually, that is what it makes buying Lexus so easy - it only has ~8 trim levels, but most of the time only 3 for certain year and almost everything is standard. Options are very few e.g. Sat-Nav, ML, Sunroof, ACC/PCS - that is ALL! Try buying German car - option list will be 300 pages long and I guarantee you, you will never find used the car in spec. you want .. well unless it has all the possible extras which is very rare.

I was hunting for BMW M3 E92 and realised that from 128 options most cars only have 8-10 fitted, most BMW don't have electric folding/tilting mirrors on like 2010 cars... I mean that is premium car which was like £70k new and the electronic mirrors was an option.

With IS250 mk2 is easy - you just go for SE-L and decide which one of 4 options is deal-breaker for you.

You are right re: 13 - speakers, I think in UK models with 8 (was it Advance? maybe or early SE?)or certainly 6 speakers were never sold.

Yeah good point actually

They come with a lot of kit as standard which is nice to have.

I'm looking at a few at the moment but there's a Sport with Alcantara seats, Automatic, Memory Seats, Full ML audio, Xenon headlights etc which I'm interested in too.

Think I've just answered my own question (Lexus press release). So this would mean that the one in question does have all the added features as below.

New Satellite Navigation Pack
Lexus has assembled an impressive Satellite Navigation Pack, available as an option (£1,825) on IS SE and SE-I models.

The pack comprises:

• Pan-European satellite navigation system
• Seven-inch VGA display
• Touch screen operation
• Bluetooth connectivity
• 13-speaker audio system with six-CD changer
• Rear parking monitor

Afternoon all, I'm very interested in one of the forum members cars (earlier in this thread). Going to view it this week and if all checks out should be good to go.

ONe thing which is mind boggling is the Lexus spec side of things with all the different trim levels, SE, SE-I, SE-L, Advance, Sport, SR, F-Sport etc etc

One question I had was in relation the facelift 2009 SE-I model.

Whilst having differences such as indicators lights on the wing mirrors etc I'm trying to get my head around the Audio and which one it is.

This car doesn't have Mark Levinson (which I believe to be a 14 speaker system), however it does have Navigation and reverse camera. Does that mean it'll have the premium 13 speaker system or the basic audio 8 speaker system (with sub in the read parcel shelf and centre speaker on the dash) OR I've heard that some offerings have a 6 speaker system?

Any help greatly appreciated

2 hours ago, Texas said:

Can't comment on the audio variations aspect as I have only ever had the ML.

If the garage has got a good 'un then prob just holding out for a while as they know they are sought after!

Have you read all of this for specs through the years?

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/lexus/is-2005/

If you had some numbers on last weeks EuroMillions then you could get this Beauty for just over 10K

 

Paul m.

 

 

If I had the money I'd get the convertible hands down, very nice!

Was looking at the CLK350 but road tax would kill me

37 minutes ago, steveledzep said:

I've had both in 2 ISs.  They are both sufficiently good for listening to music in an environment of noise and poor acoustics.  I'm very discerning about my HiFi at home, but in a car it just has to be good enough.  You should be concentrating on driving anyway 

Lovely car to drive. Very relaxing and comfortable!

51 minutes ago, baviaannl said:

If you're listening to the radio in both, they will sound identical.  If the source material is good (FLAC files for example) the ML will blow the standard system away.  On the other hand, if your source material is rubbish (bluetooth streamed through aux for example) the standard system could possible do a better job than the ML.

Very helpful, it will literally be the latter. Bluetooth adapter into the Aux port!

2 hours ago, leelacey17 said:

You ok if I PM you?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

Of course mate

2 minutes ago, Texas said:

+1 on the interior colour, the black leather ( in my opinion, and I'm bias!) just 'looks' better after a few years of use, yes sure you can prob clean the others and the black is prob just as dirty but just dosent show it! apparently also the Black leather is slightly more thicker/robust that all the colours for some reason.

SE-L (only) has got the rear electric sun shade, real wood interior trim inserts and illuminated scuff plates on front doors.

Only factory extras available for the SE-L were Moon(sun)Roof and ACC/PCS Active (radar) Cruise Control.

paul m.

That's interesting to know. 

Have you heard the difference between the two audio systems? I sat in one afterwards without and genuinely couldn't tell the difference (although I suppose you're not listening to them side by side) 

In terms of options then I'm not too fussed about those things. I can live without I think

Also they wouldn't budge a penny and although the car was a 58 plate it had 110k on the clock I might have considered it if there was some haggling 

Just an update all. 

Went to view the grey one today from Dr motors. Great little outfit BTW if anyone is in the Leicester area, they had a few is250s there

I'm sold on the car (not this one), the amount of tech, driveability, looks for the price is quite astonishing. I felt it had just enough power. I've had much faster cars in the past but 200 bhp is about right. Engine sounds nice too and powerful. 

This particular car though didn't do it for me. I liked the spec and exterior colour but I felt the interior was quite tired, something about that sort of cream beige headliner and pillars which put me off. I'm sure a better example would do this business but ill try to aim for a darker interior 

Audio wise I wasn't absolutely blown away by the mark levinson, yes sure it was good but I feel I could do without that and thus open up more vehicles in my search. 

Tech wise though, what's the difference between this and an se-i? Things I quite liked keyless entry and start

Reverse camera

Xenon headlights 

I really liked the gear lever the way it clunks into place is quite satisfying. I have a gle also and the gear select on the indicator stalk is boring! 

My search continues l

3 hours ago, Texas said:

Have you read this thread as this might be available, don't think he's had it long and his detailing has be posted so it should look peachy.

 

Just messaged him thank you for the heads up

2 hours ago, leelacey17 said:

I just got a standard battery but it has a 3 year warranty so I'm happy with that. Can't believe a battery will last 12 years, it goes to show the quality that goes into these cars.




Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

Hi Lee. Is the car still for sale? 

3 minutes ago, Texas said:

If you do go ahead with the one in Leicester, then I would remove that annoying/pointless sticker, some Herbert decided would look Good, on the back window using a hair dryer sooner rather than later as once it hardens and goes brittle it ain't never coming off!

As for the Vline kit, I am very close to going for that as an upgrade for mine, bit expensive but might just treat myself! Shame that baviaannl never done a 'How to" with pics when he installed his 😀. Having said that if I do go for it I too will prob just want to get it installed perfectly and will 'forget' to document it!!!!!

paul m.

I know, I'll get them to take it off, then if they damage the window elements I'll get more money off.

One thing which is concerning is the exhaust. If it's on it's way out, how do you tell by just looking under the car?

Are there tell tale signs it's about to go?

6 minutes ago, baviaannl said:

You might want to look at my build thread

 

 

I listed my thoughts of the ML system...  The system itself sounds great although I found the sat nav to be poor and the lack of proper MP3 support puzzling.  I did manage to overcome both issues.... At a cost 😄  I love the car even more now that the entertainment is up to date.

Nice thread, very detailed.

Did the ML audio take well to the new head unit?

I'm assuming that the system itself is stand alone powered and not from the head unit?

4 minutes ago, baviaannl said:

I went for an SE-L which is the spec to go for imho, I knew after driving it for 200 meters that it would be coming home with me, the drive was sublime!  I was coming from a 2015 Honda CRV with every gadget and extra you could imagine although I've not missed it at all.

Fingers crossed this is my situation too.

Looking at their reviews and inventory, they seem to deal in a lot of Lexus' so hopefully that bodes well.

I'm surprised at how much kit they have considering the ages of the cars. Air conditioned seats sounds nice.

Does yours have ML? is it worth it compared to the standard system?

3 minutes ago, KenMavor said:

Sounds like it was looked after then.  Check the usual stuff.  Take it for a good drive and give it some welly when warm.  Don't be afraid to take it for a long test drive.  They are really not that expensive to run which has surprised me. 

I know I was surprised looking at the figures. I'm not overly keen on a diesel, quite like the thought of a V6 too!

Do you think his asking price is slightly too much, appreciate it's a 58 plate but I reckon I can get it for under £4500?

Are the warranties worth the paper they're written on? All I'm thinking is if the exhaust falls off, would that cover it or would it be classed as W and T?