Lexus Nerd

Nice, PRAVX!

There's some very detailed info there on how it works, and how to install and even build the circuit.

But how does a driver operate it?

I assume that, when the ignition is OFF, the circuit has no effect.

In the particular case of the VX donor vehicle, when the ignitiion is ON, what setting does the lamp stalk/dial need to be on in order for the photoelectric circuit to work?

( a ) It can be set to OFF, and the lights will automatically turn on as long as it's dark and the ignition is ON. (That means that, in order to force the lights off, you need to install and close the optional override switch.)

( b ) The switch must be set to either the park light or headlamp setting.

( c ) The headlamp setting must be set to ON. (In this way, the headlamp ON setting on the dashboard or steering column would work much like the headlamp AUTO setting on IS250's. The downside is that you cannot force the lights ON during a bright day.)

Unfortunately, a standard Lexus parts catalogue such as here do not seem to offer spare parts for individual pieces that make up the radio. First, try a Lexus parts dealer to see whether it's even possible to get the part; if it's available, then try getting the same part from a Toyota dealer (as Is250lexus suggested) for a lower price. If all else fails, try buying the entire radio from a wrecker.

Hi PRAVX, and welcome to the Club!

There's some posts from time to time that may be in your line of work - both after-market audio and shaved doors have been discussed of late. I hope you find the forums of interest.

I would think that your air conditioning, like the rest of your Lexus IS, had a four-year warranty, unless you purchased an extended warranty before the original warranty expired.

Which error code did you get?

One rumour suggests the first half of 2013:

http://au.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10649&pid=34885&st=15entry34885

For more discussion on this complex topic, try this old thread:

http://au.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8562

Sapphire Cam and others offer some interesting thoughts. Same divided thoughts (great bass, bad mid-bass, bad bass full stop), but interesting ideas on improving the experience, and even a suggestion that there is indeed a problem with the quality of the ML MP3 decoder.

... I'd like to have the MP3 situation improved from what is currently a pretty mediocre experience.

Have you tried burning to lossless WMA format? (You can write to a USB stick if your MP3 player doesn't support WMA.) That should at least tell you whether the problem is with the ML system's "rendering" of files on USB versus CD playback, or whether it's just the MP3 decoder that's the main cause of mediocrity.

Hi, zbad007, and welcome to the Club.

I also accept that audio satisfaction is a subjective experience so perhaps nobody else will have the same opinion as myself.

For sure. I say this for two reasons:

1. The sound experience with classical music is phenomenal, even with FM radio. Some say they can't tell the difference between the Lexus non-ML (Pioneer) audio and the ML audio when listening to contemporary music, so I suspect the ML audio is best appreciated with classical. (It's also said that classical recordings on CD are already optimised, so one doesn't need to fiddle with the equaliser settings.)

2. I've read a lot of online discussion about the optimum equaliser settings for the Lexus audio. The consensus (amongst bloggers - we can be almost certain they aren't classical listeners) seems to be: Treble: +4, Mid: +2, Bass: +3. Yep, treble higher than bass.

That would suggest that you definitely have a preference for bass response that isn't unanimously desired, although that doesn't mean you're alone. I did read a review of the IS F last week where the journo thought the ML audio was "good, but not great".

I take it you've turned Surround off? (It seems music audiophiles believe that musical recordings should always be heard stereophonic, not in surround.)

Welcome Paul. Looking forward to seeing how you personalise your CT.

Just when i was about to jump in the car to go home from work, mine clicks but won't turn over. 5yrs and still using OEM battery, hopefully it's just the battery.

Waiting for NRMA.

I was talking about batteries with another member last week.

In your case, ldc - and in retrospect - were there any "telltale signs" in the day or so before the battery finally died (if, indeed, it was the battery)?

Even trickier still.

The connector to the door sensor is actually a connector to a "door oscillator". That is hooked to the sensor, as well as a wiring harness to an antenna - which is actually the door handle. The oscillator senses the presence of your remote control key, as well as taking an input from the door handle sensor.

My guess is that you would replace the existing door sensor with whatever sensor is provided with your shaved door kit, allowing you to touch the door (perhaps even the window - so I've read) and trigger a signal. As the door handle is currently the antenna, it would either:

- Be obscured behind your door panel - which I suspect would dramatically reduce the range of the antenna

- Be replaced with the entire door panel as an antenna. I don't know how well this would work - if you've ever tried replacing rabbit ears on a TV with a sheet of metal, you know what I mean.

The simpler way (perhaps as a Stage 1?) is to only accept door unlock/open requests from your remote control, and forego the door sensors.

Fundamentally, most of it should be simple, but I'm only guessing this (VIP250 knows I'll let others try this first :P ):

Without door handles, you no longer need the touch sensor on the inside of each front door handle, nor do you need the push button lock switch on each front door handle. Each "switch" is normally open, and there are connectors for each device between the handle and a wiring harness, so you should be able to disconnect these without the need to cut wires or short two or more wires.

On the driver's door assembly, there are six wires connected to a wiring harness by a single connector. Two of the wires are for the lock motor, while four of them are shared between the key switch and the "unlock detection switch". The door assemblies for the other three doors have four wires: two for the lock motor, and two for the "unlock detection switch".

The unlock detection switch involves two wires whereby the connection is closed, and therefore a signal sent to the ECU, when the door is found to be unlocked. I suspect this circuit is independent of the motor, so that the ECU knows when the door has been forcibly or otherwise manually unlocked. Without knowing anything about door poppers, I suspect the popper circuitry will connect between these wires, detect when the door is unlocked (detects a certain voltage or low resistance across the pair of wires) and (perhaps after a short delay, to ensure the mechanical door lock is fully open) trigger the popper.

The only tricky thing is the key switch. The key cylinder is slightly raised above the surface of the door panel, and it's built into the door assembly; so making it flush, recessing and covering it, or relocating it could prove difficult.

Ok, so I got four quotes in total. This is a little detailed, but this may be of benefit for anyone who might seek a smash repairer for minor jobs in the future.

Exclusive Body Werks, Granville: They are a Lexus authorised repairer, although they heavily advertise their ability to repair McLaren and Porsche. I saw a DB9 and a DBS while I was there, but no Lexus cars. If anything, Ron Goodman from Exclusive is courteous. He immediately wiped down the affected area immediately to get a better idea of the repair job at hand ... and "so other people don't think it's you who can't drive". He recommended repainting just the affected

area, visually matching the exact shade of colour against the rest of the paintwork. $400-$500 for the job, or $500

including the repainting of underside scrapes and removing a dent from my right fender. So good extra value, although

I'm not sure about just painting the affected area. I forgot to ask when it could be fixed.

Currans, Auburn: Unlike Exclusive, Peter from Currans spotted a slight misalignment between the bonnet and the bumper/grille surround. He suggests repainting the entire bumper for $550 - assuming, of course, that there's no damage behind the bumper - plus $150 for the fender fix. I'm a little surprised at the $150, plus the implication that they would have to get someone in that does "no-paint repairs" - surely someone on the permanent staff would know how to do that? I didn't ask about a hire car included in the cost (see elsewhere on ISF_Starlight_Black's experience at Currans), but Peter did say it could be scheduled in about two weeks.

Northshore Classic, Atarmon: Yes, they seems to service a lot of Lexus vehicles, and they have adopted the Lexus standard of service, with complimentary coffee and a toy LS600hL for kids to play with. The guy who spoke to me is, according to his business card, an Estimator. But I guess you are paying for the extra service and staffing, with the estimate for the work being $605, plus $200 for the “paintless dent removal”. That would get me white paint over the affected areas, then a clear coat over the entire bumper. Following the “discovery” at Currans, I asked him whether he saw a problem with the alignment of the bumper in relation to the bonnet, to which he replied, “Maybe; I mean, these things just clip in – we’ll have a look at it for you.” That would suggest that Currans’ idea of “adjusting” the alignment of the bumper is flawed. NSC could start the job within a week. Their Visitor’s log shows a lot of sign-ins from IAG and Suncorp representatives. That alone could mean that they are either competitively priced, or that they economise on the repair work. Given that they were the most expensive of the lot for less overall paint coats, it could mean the latter.

Lexus of Chatswood: Unlike the others, Joe looks young and presented like he was the actual tradie who would do the job. He therefore appeared very knowledgeable, stating that a complete respray was the only way to do the job. As for the alignment issue – he instantly knew that an adjustment to the rubber stoppers in the engine compartment would adjust the height of the bonnet with respect to both the fenders and the bumper and – voila! – problem solved. It doesn’t look like the gap (or lack of it) was caused by another vehicle, after all. Total cost: $450, plus $120 for the paintless dent removal – which he admitted may not remove 100% of the dent, due to the dent’s location on a sheetmetal crease. Unfortunately, they are super-busy and won’t be able to start the job until early March.

Verdict: While all of the people I spoke to were courteous, not all of them knew their Lexus cars. That didn’t give me the greatest confidence that their suggested repair methods would be the best methods. Two repairers insisted on a complete respray, while the other two didn’t steer me away from the option to respray the entire bumper; so I will have to trust that a resprayed white pearl bumper is going to look just as good – and last as long – as the paintwork out of the Lexus factory.

Subject to a further check on the warranty that each repairer provides, I will go with Lexus of Chatswood. They seem to know what they’re doing; a loan car is available, should I want it; and they’re doing the most amount of work for one of the lowest prices. I’m not sure how sophisticated their facilities are for repairing major bingles, but I’m looking forward to the finished result after they fix this minor one.

NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE AND TIME

Let's meet up tomorrow at:

Officeworks Auburn (Granville)

298 Parramatta Road

Auburn

(cnr Rawson Street - opposite Auburn Home Megamall)

Time: 2 pm

This should be well sheltered from the weather, for both us and our cars!

Depending on the weather and consensus, we'll see where we head from there.

See you there!

Bump!

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Well the new GS is awesome.

I got to drive it along with the latest E class Benz, two current model 5 series BMWs & the latest Audi A6. there was also an A7 there.

I will write up a bit more when I get a chance.

Hey yeah, what happened to the review??

I understand that Lexus has also offered journos the opportunity to test the GS alongside its competitors. That says a lot about how confident Lexus are about this new model.

Dis-lex-sic, how do you think it stacks up?

Welcome back Simon ... Great to read your expert advice again!

So I have two quotes so far - one from Exclusive Body Werks and one from Currans. I plan to visit two on the north shore tomorrow.

For the benefit of others looking for repairers of minor bingles, I'll let you know of my experience with each repairer once I get all four quotes.

Thanks for all your responses so far.

Were there any cameras nearby in the car park that could of caught the number plates of the culprits?

Great thinking, I never thought of that! Sadly, that car park doesn't have cameras. I know of a student at UNSW who installed a camera in his carm specfically for tracking down these kinds of culprits. That could be a great kit to sell to Lexus owners ... Ashpoint?

Someone keyed my car ... the damage was on 3 seperate panel..

Went to North Shore Classic One at Artarmon to get a quote, ended up going through insurance (COST too much) and they going to re-paint whole body (minus the roof) which end up costing around 8K + cost of hire car..

The reason they end up re-paint the whole body maybe because our white pearl colour is so hard to match..(brand new vs old paint) i guess..

That's why you go for comp insurance..

ps: My premium won't go up, because it's fall under vandalism... (not my fault)

If I made an insurance claim, and I stuck with the same insurer next year, I'd pay $180 more for one year. So excess + $180 is my point for deciding an insurance versus private repair. The gentleman at Currans said something similar to North Shore Classic: No matter what make of car you have, the paint finish on plastic parts will look different to that on metal panels. It doesn't matter if a resprayed bumper looks ever so slightly different to the rest of your paintwork, as it looked that way when it came out of the factory. (I can just see all our Club members checking out their cars now to see if it's true.) On the other hand, a proper repair on a metal panel will likely mean a new paint job on other metal panels too, because that's the only way you'll get an identical finish on adjoining metal panels. Ouch - $8k!!

Well, living in Eastwood, it had to happen. Some *$#&$%! backed into my car when it was parked at the local shopping centre. Did you think he/she left his/her contact details on my window? No, I wouldn't have expected it either.

I plan to have it look at by an authorised Lexus smash repairer on Monday, so they will ascertain whether there's more damage than what's obvious with the front bumper. As can be seen in the photo, it's a little too big for using touch-up paint, but probably too minor to consider replacing the bumper ...

... Although I was wondering if anyone could answer these questions:

1. It looks like some members are recommending Curran's at Auburn, particularly after a recent IS F bumper fix. I might go see Curran's too; but does anyone recommend either of the two authorised repairers in Artarmon, Northshore Classic Auto Body or Stow?

2. Approximate cost of respraying something like this (assuming it's only the bumper that's damaged)? ISF_Starlight_Black was offered $440, although his scrape was on the underside of the bumper. Any reason why this should cost any more?

3. A respray job at a repairer just isn't as good as the original paintwork: in my experience, the paint oxidises faster and one is frequently polishing the paintwork to make it match that of the original panels left on the car. So how much would a new bumper be?

4. What's my chances of picking up a pearl white MY09-MY10 bumper second-hand? And for how much?

Yeah, Atlantis, where are the pics? :P

There's currently a white IS F for sale with a matte black roof. And, earlier this week, I saw a black IS in North Sydney with matte black badges, bonnet, roof and bootlid - original gloss black sides. Not sure that I like that one, but to each their own.

Hi Zed_IS250, and welcome to the Club!

On these forums, you'll find heaps of posts about replacement wheels. Have a look around - perhaps checking out "Post Your Latest Mods!" first, or searching for either of the words, "wheels" and "rims", in the IS250 Club forum. After checking out some of our members' experiences and photos, perhaps let us know:

Are there any particular styles of rims you like? (Understated/aggressive/black/coloured/shiny chrome etc.)

Do you prefer OEM, "Lexus-like" or aftermarket wheels?

Which one is more important to you - style or comfort?

What's your budget?

Do you mind buying used wheels?

Many of us will recommend different wheels, because we all have different answers to the above questions.

I'm also wondering how the RX330/350 rims look like with lower profile tyres on the IS250

maybe someone good with photoshop can make a quick pic?

I thought you were pretty handy with it ... Your IS looked pretty darn good slammed ...

Sorry guys - next time, I should pay more attention to the question you're asking, rather than give you a lecture on pinned topics.

Unfortunately, my search on these forums doesn't reveal an answer to disabling the open door chime. At least two other people have asked, without a response. :(

Given the wording of the Owners Manual, and given that a programmable solution hasn't been published on the Net, I suspect it isn't a customisable feature, nor can it be disabled through some hidden menu.

That would leave the option of modification through DIY wiring changes. I am trying to locate an electrical schematic; however, I suspect that there is only one pair of wires to the door switch (permanantly open/close the, and your interior lights and/or alarm won't work properly), and one pair of wires to the buzzer (cut it, and you'll lose many of your warning sounds). I suspect the logic is integrated into a chip: if in ACCESSORY mode or ON mode, and driver's door switch is open, then sound the chime ...

which is the quietest of the bunch. Have heard the JoeZ on a IS350, very loud and a bit droney

coolmeow seems to have done a lot of research on quiet exhausts, and chose the Fujitsubo Legalis R:

http://au.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10452