IS250 questions before buying

[Eggzie]

Hi guys, 

 

I'm looking into is250 to buy but confused about some things. 

The main difference that I'm interested in when it comes to sports luxury vs prestige (by priority)

1- BLUETOOTH

2- Xenon Lights

3-mark levinson  & 14 speaker audio

4-Reverse camera (parking sensors would be nice too)

 

 

Questions

1- What I would really love to do is to install a nexus tablet for a head unit. I haven't seen many guides, and don't know how doable it is (if you're not an electronics know-how)

 2- Are they easy to install Bi-xenon lights? Maybe track a pair down from wreckers and install them? But how much? Another thing I would love to have are the LED daytime running lights inside the headlights like the newer models. Possible to fit them into stock older headlights?

3- Don't know the difference since I haven't compared with or without, But I drive a lot and would love a nice clear audio system. Is it worth it?

4-  Don't know what's involved in installing a reverse camera or parking sensors, can anyone shed some light?

 

As you can see I want everything (almost) in SL but for the price of Prestige. Very tight on budget but would love to mod the car within reasonable cost to have these nice features.

Appreciate your help 

[rossv]

There is also the Sports model that sits in between the Luxury (Prestige) and SL.

Perhaps if you post your budget, then someone can suggest a particular year/model to suit.

For example, a 2005-06 Sports model with NAV/ML pack could have most of the features in your first list, and would be fairly "cheap". That would save you a lot of effort.

Regarding your first question, 1) Installing a nexus tablet as a head unit is probably totally unrealistic. Sure you could try to shoe-horn one into the dash, but how will you interface it to the air-con and radio controls of your vehicle? You need an intimate knowledge of the vehicle electronics to do that. If you could do that, you would also need to write your own software to control the radio and air-con.

[Tasweb]

I have a 2008 X. This loses the heated/cooled seats but gains the sunroof, reversing camera, ML stereo, larger wheels etc etc. 2008 model doesn't have blutooth but there is an Aux jack and power outlet in the console so I just use a tiny Blackberry blutooth thingie. No parking sensors.

The screen is integral to the ML stereo. It's all one big (and it is big!) thing behind the dash. You couldn't lose the screen and keep the stereo without major surgery I would have thought?

[rossv]

Forgot to mention to OP that there are two Bluetooth features.

One is support for phone calls, the other is support for Bluetooth audio into the radio.

All the vehicles with a display have Bluetooth for phone calls.

Only the most recent 2IS vehicles (2011+ IIRC) have the Bluetooth audio function, it has nothing to do with Prestige vs Sport Luxury vs whatever.

[Cobester]

2IS MY12 model has bluetooth streaming function and was released sometime in 2012. You can tell the difference from the dash as the previous models had 4 buttons below the disc tray. MY12 has 3 buttons.

Personally I prefer a cable connection for crisper audio.

 

[Eggzie]

On 27/01/2016 at 2:20 PM, rossv said:

Forgot to mention to OP that there are two Bluetooth features.

One is support for phone calls, the other is support for Bluetooth audio into the radio.

All the vehicles with a display have Bluetooth for phone calls.

Only the most recent 2IS vehicles (2011+ IIRC) have the Bluetooth audio function, it has nothing to do with Prestige vs Sport Luxury vs whatever.

Really? No music streaming? That's such a deal breaker... I'm malways in and out of my car, just plugging the charger cable is already a hassle (because I use the phone to navigate) let one plugging the aux cable. Such a shame! Maybe I'd have to get the bluetooth dongle and bury it behind the unit. Does anyone know if there is an aux input from the back of the unit?

At tthe beginning my budget was was up to 25-30k and I was considering the is350 but lately I've stepped it down to 20k ono ☺

The extra money would be more useful sitting in the offset account  

White is my preferred colour by far

 

I have found this one, it has the option pack add on, could the option pack have music streaming? What you think of its value? 

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Lexus-IS250-2007/SSE-AD-3790020

There is also this, which has been for sale for a good 2 months. 

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Lexus-IS250-2007/SSE-AD-2870879

 

I think it's too much for what it is. What would be a good price for each of those 2?

 

Then again you'd probably advise I go for 2009 which brought some nice enhancements?

 

 

 

[ilv1004s]

guys some of the info you are posting is not true

1. Presteige (base) with EMV (option)

has ML system and camera etc

2.Sports +EMV

3.SL

and for the bluetooth info it was released in MY13 not 2012 the 2012's you may have seen that have it are late 2012 builts which are effectively 2013 MY13

 

as for your question

1- What I would really love to do is to install a nexus tablet for a head unit. I haven't seen many guides, and don't know how doable it is (if you're not an electronics know-how)

short answer no but long answer yes if money is not an issue you can do it

but reality there is no easy way

 2- Are they easy to install Bi-xenon lights? Maybe track a pair down from wreckers and install them? But how much? Another thing I would love to have are the LED daytime running lights inside the headlights like the newer models. Possible to fit them into stock older headlights?

yes its plug and play a set will cost you around 800-1000

3- Don't know the difference since I haven't compared with or without, But I drive a lot and would love a nice clear audio system. Is it worth it?

all 2006-2009 IS250's with nav have ML system so you probably wont be able to compare if your not intrested in the non nav models

4-  Don't know what's involved in installing a reverse camera or parking sensors, can anyone shed some light?

installing sensors are easy

reverse camera is a whole lot different

Edited January 30, 2016 by ilv1004s

[rossv]

10 hours ago, Eggzie said:

Really? No music streaming? That's such a deal breaker... I'm malways in and out of my car, just plugging the charger cable is already a hassle (because I use the phone to navigate) let one plugging the aux cable. Such a shame! Maybe I'd have to get the bluetooth dongle and bury it behind the unit. Does anyone know if there is an aux input from the back of the unit?

I have found this one, it has the option pack add on, could the option pack have music streaming? What you think of its value? 

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Lexus-IS250-2007/SSE-AD-3790020

There is also this, which has been for sale for a good 2 months. 

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Lexus-IS250-2007/SSE-AD-2870879

 

I think it's too much for what it is. What would be a good price for each of those 2?

 

Then again you'd probably advise I go for 2009 which brought some nice enhancements?

 

 

 

Lack of Bluetooth music streaming is easy to fix, you can buy a bluetooth to audio jack device like this one: http://www.amazon.com/HomeSpot-NFC-Enabled-Bluetooth-Receiver-System/dp/B009OBCAW2

.. there are plenty of devices like that around.

Like others have said, there is NO bluetooth audio streaming except in the last models at the end of the 2IS's life (late 2012+). It is definitey not present in any 2007 models, regardless of option packs or what anyone (dealer/seller) tells you. But you can fix this easily with your own plug-in audio device. There is usually a 3.5mm audio input jack in the centre console (AUX).

That second car is definitely over-priced IMHO.

 

 

 

[water]

Hi all, im looking to purchase an is350 f sport in the coming weeks, looking at the 2010/2011 models (the one with the led strip headlight)

ive noticed that some models have an older looking interface for the stero whereas others have a newer look. if i purchase one with the older menu, can i easily update it to the newer look?

also is there any way to find out what version the current stereo software is? i would much rather the newer look menu, but not all carsales ads show the stereo on, so rather than driving all the way to see a car only to find out its got the old software, i could just ask the seller to confirm with me what menu version they have

thanks guys :)

[plankton007]

All IS350 F Sports should have the newer look which only came out from MY11 onwards. There is an MY13 version which is the same system from the new GS and has bluetooth streaming and HDD based software but anything previous to the MY13s on all IS350s will have the new interface.

[water]

ok thank you for that. there are some late 2010 builds on carsales which is why i asked. i sat in an early 2010 is250 f sport (no side badges) and it appeared to have an older menu. i assumed 350's were the same

another question would be, there are some high km examples, eg: 100,000 2011 models, which works out to be about 20,000km's per year. should i expect any troubles with a car with this amount of km's? thanks again. 

[plankton007]

As long as you find one with service history and that it's done its 90k kms major service you should have no problem. If it has service history and done its major service then I would concentrate my efforts on; the paint condition, has it been in an accident, misaligned panels, dodgy jobs, etc.

[water]

will do, appreciate the advice :)