Lexus Is 350 awd in Germany

[DonDille]

Hy guys, my Name is Martin i am from Germany, i just bought a Lexus is 350 awd 2014, the only one registered by a german in germany, my dream car, a week ago here. Before the Is 350 i had a lexus Gs 450h 2006 I have the same Problem that a lot of military people have here. My navigation system don' t work here. I bought the micro sd card with the maps from europe/russia. I putted in the card slot 2 days ago. Still says checking data contact your lexus dealer. My german lexus dealer says, he think that i won't work here, i have to change the whole unit for 4000 euros. I will not do this. 

does anybody of you guys know if it will work when i buy the micro sd card from usa/canada and do a update on the lexus site ? I think the car needs the software from the states or canada. At the moment i use no micro sd card so i cant use options like lexus apps.

I live near the Airbase in Ramstein Germany.

Maybe somebody can help me with my problem. Thank you for your time.

[1990LS400]

A man named "Thomas" who is in Germany found a person in Hungary that supplied him with a product that allowed the navigation system in his U.S. market Toyota Sienna to display maps for Europe although functionality is limited.  I do not see the name of the Hungarian on Thomas's blog but maybe you could ask him who it is.

A page on his blog about the U.S. navigation system in his Sienna displaying maps for Europe is at:  http://toyota-sienna-in-germany.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html

[jamesm182]

Can't help on your problem I'm afraid, but love the fact that you have the only IS350 in Germany - did you import it yourself?

[DonDille]

No i bought it at a shop that does Imports. I told him i want a 350 is awd. He told me 3 months. When i was in my house for vacation in the dominican republic he showed me the carfax and pictures, and i sayd yes. And yeah now i am the only one owner of a is 350 awd. Especially in germany are not a lot of awd lexus just the rx 350 and 450h. Lexus do not offer here the 3.5 L v6. What a shame, i love the engine.

Just bought at lexus san diego the f sport air intake, still waitin to get it. And i will do somethin to my original exhaust, make it a little bit sound darker, i am a welding specialist for exhaust after treatments in germany so in my company i can do something good to it.

The car is perfect, the sound, engine, quality, no bmw or mercedes i had both, i liked so much. And the fact that already nobody has the same car like me. Just the problem with the navigation system i try to fix, if not i will put my navigon in it, it is nothing necessar for me over here, i use the navigation system just a few times a year, nico to have but not a must.

Just the fact my is got no park peeping sensors just the camera, so my wife cant drive the car ;-)

[DonDille]

15 hours ago, 1990LS400 said:

A man named "Thomas" who is in Germany found a person in Hungary that supplied him with a product that allowed the navigation system in his U.S. market Toyota Sienna to display maps for Europe although functionality is limited.  I do not see the name of the Hungarian on Thomas's blog but maybe you could ask him who it is.

A page on his blog about the U.S. navigation system in his Sienna displaying maps for Europe is at:  http://toyota-sienna-in-germany.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html

: thanks for your help maybe i will buy the usa navigation map and try to do it like he says in his blog to go on information by gps coordinates. I readed a long time ago something like the same in a rx 350 forum where they Imported one from cleveland and the used the navigation here

[jamesm182]

It's always nice to have something a little different I suppose!

Have you had many people ask about the car in Germany?

[DonDille]

The first trip i did was on thr german auotbahn i drove somethin about 160kmh and put down the gas pedal so the guy with the audi s5 asked me at the next gas station, which car that is and which engine it has. Also all people at work asked me which model that is. Not a lot of lexus are around here. At the lexus owners club germany near my city when we meet us every month we are just 5-7 people. 1 isf 2 gs 450h 1 gs 300 and 2 is 200. 

I liked theisf but i didnt wanted to have near the same interiour like my gs 450h. And over the years the gs 450h started a lot of sounds i didnt like in the inside, scratches of material, leather fartin in curves etc. 

My is 350 feels like new he got just 20000km on it. 

 i think sometimes i bring more lexus to the people here around. A lot of people keep cryin about their problems with audi, or a lot of mercedes benz. So i tell them always get yourself  a lexus an you will have a lot of problem free years. I had a benz and it was in 3 years 17 times at the dealer, 3 transmission changes and still dont work.

I am a german but i can say the best cars for a long time without problems are from toyota/lexus.

I have a friend here at the dealer they told me a guy brought a lexus rx 400 to them with 97000 km without any service. They changed the oil and the rx until today has no problems. You neue could do something like this to a new mercedes. 

Thats why i am every day proid of cruisin in my is 350, classy car, the only one here til today and havin no problems but a lot of good engine sound and fun. The only thing the gas is expensive and my gas dealer sees me every friday, i think when the summer comes he will c me often more. 

[DonDille]

I putted the f sport air intake kit today in my is 350. But for 420 euro with shipping to germany there is no wooow effect. 

[jamesm182]

That's a shame no difference in noise at all?

[DonDille]

Not really a little bit, maybe when i do more miles with it. Just did 100miles with it. Tomorrow go on a ridd with my wife for 300 miles,maybe its burning free on this ride. But i would never buy it again for that money. If i bought one from japan at the half price i would be have more sound i think. I had a k&n mushroom on my old audi s6 the sound was incredible. Ok the engine also was a v10.

[jamesm182]

A V10 is definitely going to sound a little different from a V6! 

[DonDille]

Yes the sound was the beste, the same engine like in the lamborghini. 20 litres a 100kilometers always

[jamesm182]

How's the fuel consumption in the IS350 as a comparison?

[DonDille]

Now i am at 12 Liters at 100km. But i drive a lot of Autobahn here always with 150km per hour. But it is ok, 2 liters more than my gs 450h. At the moment is bad weather, rainy, snowy, when the summer comes i need more fuel. How many do you need a 100km or 60 miles fuel ? I think the 350 is a very good engine.

[jamesm182]

I have the IS250 (rear wheel drive) rather than the IS350

My figures are all in miles per gallon but using an online converter:

Around town in traffic I get around 12 litres per 100km

On a nice long run I've had it as low as 6.7 litres per 100km which I was really impressed with. That's cruise control on around 70/75 mph (110/120 kmh).

It just seems to love long runs.

[DonDille]

Thats correct. In the city i need near 13 Liter s. On the autobahn, yours highway, i need like 8-9 litres by 120 kilometers per hour. So a long ride is more fuel saving than short rides. When i take my boys to the kindergarden the car needs like ferrari for this 2 kilometers.

[jamesm182]

That doesn't sound too bad on the autobahn. I guess that drops significantly if you take advantage of the lack of speed limits?

[DonDille]

I have a lot of districts here where is no limit in mileage ;-) so it is bad that the is 350 :-) just runs 230 kmh limited. My gs 450h was opened, he was running 303kmh. But there was no hybrid saving effect ;-) but without wife and kids sometimes i let it burn on the autobahn, when i am in my house in the dominican republic i also let run my toyota supra 1996.'but the streets are almost very bad.

[1990LS400]

Send an email to TCHNAVI@gmail.com asking if he can supply what is needed to make your U.S. navigation system work in Europe.  If you do a Google search for TCHNAVI , you will find information and YouTube videos about his products and prices. 

[DonDille]

Thank you, when my navigation system, or exactly now my combine instrument monitor works again i will contact him.

[jamesm182]

On 3/4/2016 at 2:30 PM, DonDille said:

I have a lot of districts here where is no limit in mileage ;-) so it is bad that the is 350 :-) just runs 230 kmh limited. My gs 450h was opened, he was running 303kmh. But there was no hybrid saving effect ;-) but without wife and kids sometimes i let it burn on the autobahn, when i am in my house in the dominican republic i also let run my toyota supra 1996.'but the streets are almost very bad.

303 kmh = 188 mph - that seems very high for a GS 450h? Although I could be wrong. Did you have any modifications?

[DonDille]

If the gs 450h S19 is not limited at 250km per hour it runs definitly more than 300km per hour, a friend of mine also owns one that ia not limited. I did not modificate anything, i just pressed buttons sport mode, hybrid Power mode and gear in manual number 5, than paddle down and running.

[jamesm182]

Wow that's impressive, I new the GS450h was quick but I didn't realise it would reach those kind of speeds! 

[DonDille]

Damn a lot of problems with my is 350 right now. I have a error with the can bus system. My dealer told me maybe the navigation radio unit could be have a problem because it dont work. 7000 dollars will the unit cost. That has to be a joke, the car is a 2014 with 15k mol s on it. I checked the car at a mechanic before i bought it, also carfax is clean. Salvage title about 2000 canadian dollars, not much. But the electric you cant see before. Maybe i have to contact a lawyer because the guy where i bought it is not really interested in fix my car and dont spend a lot of time gettin contact with my lexus dealer. I own the car 7 weeks and the car is 3 weeks at the lexus shop, climate, radio, navigation, 7" inch monitor don`t work. What a f..k. 

[jamesm182]

Martin, pretty sure you don't need a whole new unit.

This problem used to happen to the old 2nd gen IS models too. The fix was usually to insert the original mapping disc that came with the car and reloaded the software on, or at the very least a new disc.

I suspect it's the SD card that's the problem and not the unit.