Tsquared

Don't rely on the computer to give you the correct milage. Mine is always off by 2 to 4 miles per gal. I had it in for a re-flash of the computer and that helped for a short while. Check you mpg the old fashioned way and it will probably be in the 20 nmpg range. I typically get 20.5 to 21.5 for city driving and the computer indicates 18.1 to 19.7. Recently on the highway running 75-85 mph, I checked and it was getting 27 to 29 mpg and the computer had me at 23-25. The quality of gas will affect it as well. All gas comes from the same storage tanks - the additive package is different for the various brands and it is mixed in the truck. There are some regions of the country that have reformulated gas and regulated additives that will perform worse (Atlanta's will cost you 7 to 10% in mpg and HP). Higher octane is not always a good fix but it can sometimes help and other times hurt MPG. In Atlanta I have good results with Chevron and BP. When I travel to Florida the BP causes me some pinging on one of my other cars and I avoid it and use Exxon without any issues. I try to stay away from Race-track, Wal-Mart/Sam's/Cosco, and independant stations as it has been my experiance that the quality can differ on any given day. T

Any trim shop should be able to replace a pannel with varying degrees of sucess. If you go to a trim shop that specializes in leather you will have a better chance of a good match in grade and color. Realize that replacing one of the panels with new leather will have a little bit of a different look against leather of the same color that has been broken in.

The coefficient of friction is the sliding resistance of one substance on another. If you check the stopping distances for a soft pad (like organic), medium hardness (semi-metallic), and hard pad (full metallic or ceramic) you will find that different substances will stop at different rates. A soft pad will not stop the quickest unless it has the lowest coefficient of friction - they usually wear out quicker regardless. Ceramic pads have a low coefficient of friction and a hard enough that they wear a long time. Metallic also has a low coefficient of friction but can be noisy. Semi-metallic can vary on the composition and with that they will vary in the stopping ability (back to the coefficient of friction). Full organic pads usually do very poorly on heads up braking tests with semi-metallic and ceramic pads. The friction factor is due to the physical properties of the pad against the rotor, not the density of the pad. Heat also plays into the friction factor. As the rotor and pads heat up the friction coefficient goes down. Cross-drilled, slotted, or vented rotors help keep a rotor cooler to keep the brakes working efficiently as possible. The drawback of cross-drilled and slotted rotors is that they eat away at the brake pad at a higher rate regardless of the material they are made of. There is always a tradeoff on performance and longevity. OEM is good. There are better products out there for stopping the car. Whatever brand rotor you choose you should get a pad that is matched for pads for performance. It also goes that there are various types of pads that will work well for a specific rotor. I have a high performance vehicle that must run ceramic pads with the rotors - all other pads disintegrate within 10k miles. Ceramic pads on my truck warp the rotors, so I run a semi-metallic pad that has excellent stopping capabilities. When it come time for my ES to get pads I am going to try ceramic because of the wear characteristics and stopping ability. If the ES rotors warp I will probably try the ceramic pad with an aftermarket rotor. My philosophy on parts is that OEM is the minimal standard that I will accept in a replacement part (most name brand aftermarket manufacturers exceed OEM standards with a few exceptions). Flame away...

That is basically wat SuperChip did when it produced the Supertuner hand held programer. It is available for many domestic cars and trucks but SuperChip (nor anyone else that I am aware of) has jumped into the import market with tuners or chips for the Toyota/Lexus cars.

Except for the fact it is rated 21/28 hwy and my wife drives like she has an egg between her foot and the gas pedal... 18 in a 6 cyl sedan is only 2.5 mpg better than my 99 F150 SC with the 5.4. I have a 02 Sedan DeVille V8 that gets 23 in the city and it is a boat with its size and weight! Mileage in the teens with anything other than a pickup or SUV is unacceptable.

Just topped it off with 15.9 gal at Shell (regular grade) – the computer had me down to 12 miles till empty, the fuel light came on and I drove an additional 5 miles before fill up. It has 286.4 miles and the computer said it has averaged 18.4 mpg. The actual is 18 even I hope it picks up once the car gets a little more mileage. The primary driving is city miles averaging 150 miles per week. At least the computer is closer after the re-flash. On all of our vehicles I rotate brands of fuel between QT (local quick mart), Shell, and Chevron using the lowest octane that will not ping. I try to get 3 tanks of each before moving on to the next. I am also in the metro Atlanta area and we have the wonderful re-formulated gas that helps emissions by getting less mpg than gas available in rural areas. I will update again on the next tank…

If price is not a factor you can contact www.kwmuth.com and they will custom make a set to your specs. I have utilized them for custom applications.

My company just changed production spec's on one of our products and we had 25 Optima yellow tops left over. They were given out to the employees on a first come first serve basis. This deep cycle battery has 900 CCA! It is awsome.

Mercedes E -class has the tubo diesel but their sports sedan sport the supercharger. Subaru WRX and other models Audi - across the board Bentley has a twin-turbo - a bit on the expensive side Volvo - available in all models Pontiac Bonneville, Grand Prix, GTO - OK, I think they are all a supercharger Peugeot - available in all models VW Passat and other models Mini Cooper S - another Supercharger (this will be changed in 06 or 07 to a turbo) Mazda 3-series, 6-series, and MX5 (different class) Dodge PT Cruiser - I am reaching here Porsche - again I am reaching because it can't really be considered a sedan. Flame bait: My point is that the ES330 doesn't have the powertain to be considered a Sports Sedan. It is a luxury sedan. An option for a more powerful engine would help but with the gearing so low in 1st & 2nd on the auto trans if you had more power you would be burning off the wheels. It pulls good up to about 3000 RPM and then it goes flat. A turbo that kicked in about 2500 RPM would put the 330 into the fringe of the sports sedan market (provided the suspension was beefed up as well). The 330 has grown in size and weight with the 04 model. The creature comforts have also added additional weight. I like high performance cars and I like comfortable cars. The ES has changed market segment with the current model. If I want comfort the ES is the choice. If I want performance I will jump in my 944Turbo.

If it was intended as a sports sedan it would have a more powerful engine (i.e. turbo) and a stiffer suspention.

The service rep told me that the seat preset buttons store more than the seat setting - mirrors and switches over the computer to your "learned" driving techniques. I don't know if he was jerking my chain or if he was serious, It did sound good though. I just had my computer reflashed (to correct the computer fuel flow for gas milage computation) and it is in the learning mode all over again. I did notice a differance in the way the car handels when my wife drives it vs. when I drive it. She is the primary driver and tends to be more aggressive in the daily driving - I only drive it to church, the gas station when it need fuel, and on trips. My driving habits are mellow in the ES.

Had the car in today and they flashed my computer with a new program to help correct the gas milage computations. The sound in the suspension was a part that was rubbing the frame rail - it was corrected.

It depends on the dealer. I was informed when I purchased the car I can get the personalized setting adjusted at any time while the 05 is in warrenty as long as I bring it back to them (other delaers would charge). It is in the shop getting it's first oil change and they are shortening the time delay on the trunk open button. The loaner RX330 is a very different ride...

Did you use tefon tape on the install? PSP have tapered fittings and do not need sealent tapes or paste. There may be a burr in the threads, it may not be tourqued down enough, or you may have a pin hole leak near the connector. Good luck with it, keep us posted. TT

You can adapt a unit but it will need a lot of the OEM parts to get the factory installed look. You can also pull a heating element out of a wrecked car that has simular dimensions and "shade-tree engineer" a working unit. It would be better if you could find the same model as yous to become a donor. I pulled a heating unit out of a 760 Volvo and installed it in a F150. The Volvo was an On/off unit that had a 3 wire connection: ground, power, and overheat sensor. I only used the ground and hot leads and had them wired to a toggle switch. The unit lasted about 3 years before the element burnt out. It was fun while it lasted...

I have used rebuilt pumps for other vehicles and had mixed results. Many of the rebuilt units come with a lifetime warranty. If you have a problem with the pump you can take it back to the parts house for another unit. The down side is it can be a PIA to install and to remove.

I received a check sheet when I purchased the car. I listed my preferences and it took less than 5 minutes to program everything. The service department will make any adjustments/tweaks in my settings at no charge while it is still in the warranty period.

Ts, How many miles do you currently have on your 05 ES? ← I am just under 2K miles. I am having a suspenstion sound that is coming from the rear passenger wheel looked at next week. The service manager is a close friend and he is trading his 05 RS330 with me Sunday so that he can get it looked at. I will let him know about the milage also. I will post a reply when I get it back.

That was my first choice when I saw it. I purchased the ES for my wife and I let her pick out the color - Oasis Green Pearle. It looks sharp but I am partial to blue.

The computer in the 05 has been reporting 18.1 to 18.9 MPG for the first 5 tanks (it did get 24.3 on a 300 mile trip). I reset the statistics on every tank. I have been a little disappointed with the mileage as it is rated as 21 city and 28 highway and I have not seen anything that close. I filled up tonight and reset the computer, which gave me an average of 18.4 mpg on the last tank. I had reset my trip meter on the last tank and I have traveled 350.4 miles on 15.2 gallons of fuel. A quick mental calculation had the mileage at 23 MPG??? Has anyone experienced discrepancies with the on-board mileage with their car? I plan on watching the next two tanks to check the accuracy of the computer. I also fill up at the same pump with the exception of the one tank away when I was on my trip. I also run to the last hash mark prior to the empty mark (the add fuel idiot light came on as I was pulling in to fill it tonight and I put in 15.2 gal).

The 17" tires may have a ride difference in the 04 vs. 05 but the 17" tires on my 05 are sorry tires. The 05 comes with a disclaimer on the 17 " tires that they will only last 20K miles. They squeal around corners that I take at the same speed with my F150 pickup with no problems. They also will spin easily from a dead stop with an engine that (IMHO) could use a turbo to get about 50 more HP out of it from 2000 RPM up. I prefer the AVS in the firmest setting but it still feels like a soft ride vs. other European "luxury" cars of the same size. I prefer a firmer ride and I hope Billstein will come out with a performance suspension for the 05 soon. The 05 ES330 is a comfortable, well apportioned, car that has an excellent fit and finish with it's trim. I believe it to be the best car in its class otherwise I would not have purchased it.

Purchased as Christmas present for my wife to replace 96 Volvo 850T that was passed down to my daughter. The ride is smoother and quieter than the Volvo, just wish it was as quick.

Test drive the ES 330 and then go test drive the E-class. You will be disapointed with the MB. There is a quality and ride differance between them and that is why I purchased the '05 ES 330. The ES wins hands down. You must go with the top of the line on both to get all the features to compare the two. If you want a comfortable ride that handels well, then it is the ES 330. To me the ES does not have a "sporty" feel but that is why I have a 944 Turbo... Missed th initial topic of a C class vs. IS or possibly a ES. For a sporty car that is not in the sports car class there are quite a few choices as there is a large market segment here. Again I would shy away from the MB because of recent history on reliability unless you are looking for a status symbol. I like European cars but the quality has dropped off the "premium" euro-boxes.