New to the Lexus work and need an advice!!

[zls400man]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the Lexus world and this lexus forum and I really need some help and advice!!

So last friday I purchased a 1998 LS400 with only 140 k miles, I'm looking to upgrade the wheels, possibly get coilovers and so on! any advice on what to get ? I saw some coilovers on ebay for 600 dollars, what you guys recommend! what about wheel size ?? what can I fit ? any advice would be very helpfull!

[billydpowell]

Sorry I cant help you, but welcome to the club, I am a keep it like Lexus built it, and just enjoy the best car ever built

but this club it eat up with guys who are right down your line, and I think they look cool..... to look at, not to ride in.

[zls400man]

10 minutes ago, billydpowell said:

Sorry I cant help you, but welcome to the club, I am a keep it like Lexus built it, and just enjoy the best car ever built

but this club it eat up with guys who are right down your line, and I think they look cool..... to look at, not to ride in.

Thank you for your response, there are different types of people in this world, some like to keep it original, and some like the cool look, this vehicle is not a classic nor a collectible, I'm sure it's still gonna ride good with the cool look! Thanks for welcoming me in here 

[Exhaustgases]

Classic or collectable?  Neither were all the old cars of the past that are now collectable.  Adding junk to the car is asking for unnecessary trouble. Just drive and enjoy.

[zls400man]

Wow thank you guys for the help! Much appreciate it 

[Spartan0536]

The issue with LS400's is that while considered by many to be one of the best cars ever manufactured in terms of reliability and certainly no slouch in terms of performance, they are not even collector cars or in my state of Florida they do not even qualify to register as an Antique (30 years old). LS400's are currently in what is referred to as a "limbo" car, a great car for the money for those whom understand the legacy, but outside of that it's got very little market appeal.

Companies still make products for it, but going the custom route, you might want to start talking to custom machining shops and figuring out just how much you want to spend to put your LS400 "on its nuts" and have it done right.


I am having my wood grain replaced with Black Ash for $600 from Benevento which supplies wood grain to Mercedes, Audi, and BMW, and that is just for the custom kit, I still need to install it. I am also talking with a custom headlamp manufacturer about making 1 piece OEM mountable headlamps with projector housings that do not look "rice" but will enhance my night driving capabilities, current estimates on that are $800 for the pair. My custom exhaust featuring custom manufactured stainless steel headers with OEM O2 sensor placements, OEM headshield mountings, larger downpipes, custom CARB high flow CAT with OEM O2 mounting, custom 3" stainless steel exhaust pipe with X pipe for true dual post CAT dual high flow Magnaflow resonators, and dual double baffled with high flow crossover Magnaflow mufflers is going to run me $1,200 with installation.

That exhaust though.... will sound as quiet as stock when sitting still and up until 3,000 RPM, after 3K RPM it gradually opens up until it hits 4,500 RPM where the high flow bypass in the mufflers opens due to pressure and it lets people know there is a V8 under that hood. I chose this as if I want a nice quiet drive I can have that, but if I need to get around someone and I stomp on that gas people will know to GTFO my way. Its designed to be a "sport tuned" factory style exhaust.

For my intake I am having Weapon R custom make a "Secret Weapon" intake for the car that will keep the stock airbox housing but mount a large conical filter in it, the MAF will be fitted as will all other OEM connectors/hoses, this is going to run me around $350.

MSD is going to make custom 8mm high performance wires for me as well as a new HEI coil with new caps and rotors, NGK Iridium plugs will be used as well. This is going to cost another $500 easy. This is to maximize the fuel ignition efficiency to its full potential and help generate slightly more power in the process.

I am having a custom shifter made its all leather color matched to my interior, with a silver embossed Lexus logo, estimated $250

I am having the leather reupholstered professionally and will be taking the front and rear seats out, stripping the cushioning and putting in the same cushioning that Tempurpedic uses on their cloud mattresses, having custom perforations placed for the custom heated and cooled front & rear seat upgrades, this will cost $3000 with the custom heating and cooling.

MY sound upgrade is just getting installed right now, it's 2x Pioneer TS-D1330C component speakers in the front, re-wired with T-Spec V12 Marine Spec 14 Gauge Wiring, 2x Pioneer TS-D1302R Coaxial speakers all re-wired the same as the above, a new Pioneer TS-SW2002D2 8 inch dual voice coil 150W RMS Subwoofer re-wired with T-Spec V12 12 gauge Marine Spec wires, all running to an Alpine MRV-V500 500W 5 channel D class full digital amplifier and run to a Kenwood Excelon DDX594 Double Din Touchscreen receiver connected via T-Spec V12 triple helix braided RCA cables, this has cost me $1,250.

I will also be sending out the ECU for rebuild and upgrade to match the new modifications and ensure a proper curve, this will cost $800

I will also be replacing the stock grounding kit with 1 gauge wiring to help smooth out the engine even more (if that is even possible), this is around $75

Headlights will be Philips LED's, as is the interior which is done and cost me $100, the headlights will be around $125

New Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires, this will cost me $500 installed

Finally I will be replacing the stock suspension with custom KYB shocks and coils designed for maximum ride comfort, this will cost $1,200 installed (I refuse to install that air ride suspension, its just too costly for such a small gain in ride comfort over proper custom gas and coiled systems.

As you can tell this is going to cost what most people spend on a newer low mileage used car, but I plan on keeping this car for at least 10 years putting 4-5 thousand dollars in it a year out of the 60K my wife and I make on average. This to me is a project car, I call it "project revolution", it's a technological revolution in this car to being modern tech to an aged platform without compromising its reliability.

Will I get my money back out of this car? NOPE

What I will get it is a reliable custom car that I can run until 300K miles (currently at 86,500) and then sell for 4 grand back or possibly keep it as a spare backup car. My worth in the car will come from what I personally get from it, and in the meantime I am looking at newer Lexus LS sedans that I would use for travel/important functions.


What does all this mean for you?
If you want to have this done correctly, expect to shell out good $$$ for custom work.