I just finished an oil change on my wife's '08 RX 350. Your posts were very helpful; but, there are some significant differences all should know about. First, you don't have to remove the large plastic panels as described for the 300/330. Second, I only raised the vehicle 2" off the ground and was able to do all work by sliding under front of car. Third, make sure your drain tray can handle the capacity, 6.4 qt. are going to flow all over your driveway if you're not ready for it.
Ok, here we go. I bought a Fram CH 9972 filter over the internet, you may be able to find locally or buy the dealer part from Lexus. It comes with a drain tube and 2 required o-rings. Also an easy to follow instruction sheet that was a no-brainer, even if you've never changed a cartridge filter before. The drain plug is located on the rear of the oil pan, angled to the rear at a 45 degree angle. It is not covered by any panels at all. The drain screw did not have a gasket, it was metal on metal just like my ford escape hybrid (which also uses a cartridge filter). After draining the oil and nearly overflowing my drain pan, I replaced the drain screw.
The filter cannister is located about 10" or 12" forward of the oil drain, behind a small plastic panel. The panel is about 6" x 7", trapezoidal in shape (4 sides but not a rectangle) The panel is held in place by 2 - 10mm screws and a pair of !Removed!, remove the 2 screws and the panel drops right off. Looking straight up into the access hole, you are staring at the filter cannister. There is a drain plug on the bottom that is removed with 3/8" socket wrench and a 4" or 6" extension rod. You're supposed to remove the filter drain-screw, insert the drain tube that came with the filter and drain the oil form the filter housing, then remove the filter housing with an appropriate filter wrench (no room for chain or plastic strap wrenches). I inserted the socket wrench extension and instead of the drain plug loosening, the entire filter housing came loose, pouring 0.4 qt more oil all over me and my already full drain pan and dropping the entire assembly in my hand! After cleaning it up and using only my hand and the socket wrench, I removed the filter drain-screw and replaced the small o-ring behind the drain screw. The filter slides right off of a central core and the new one goes on just as easily. Next, you have to replace the large o-ring on the filter housing. It turns out there are two large tabs on the filter housing you can hold to prevent the entire unit from coming loose while removing the drain screw. They can also be used to remove the filter housing if it's not tight or too hot!, i.e., no filter wrench required. The housing has the "teeth" for the filter wrench to catch, I didn't measure it but it's about 3" in diameter. Next, I screwed the filter housing on by hand, using the 2-tabs for leverage, I was able to screw it all the way in to a hard stop (remember the o-ring creates the seal). Out of an abundance of caution, I gave it a good twist with my socket wrench, just in case... then put in 5 qt. of Mobil 1, drove to the store in my ford and bought 2 more qt. of Mobil 1, topped it off and reset the "service required" idiot light per the owners manual. The final step, as always, is to send your wife to the grocery store in HER car to buy a 6-pack for her hero.
