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2004 LS430 Flint Mica w/ Ash interior.

The Toyota/Lexus XM Radio kit part number: 86100-0W090. $ 488.00 For a LS430 WITHOUT the rear air conditioner (not Ultra Luxury) you need part number: 64712-50010-CO cover. $ 50.00 These from lexuspartsmall. 262-797-2000

Has anyone come up with the part number for the Toyota XM radio unit from Lexus Parts Mall ? I want to get one for my new LS430. Thanks Much

I purchased the Delphi "Roadie" and modulator today. The audio SUCKS going through their modulator. nflight .... were there any audio input connectors for the cassette going into the head? I have a feeling the only way to get great audio is to be able to hardwire the output from the Roadie.

That is the wheel that Charlie imports and sells on Ebay.

How has it changed ... I am thinking about getting into a 04.

Call Charlie at 310-505-4114 he deals in Lexus wheels. I bought a set of 2004 Ultra Lux 17 inch take offs from him.

First .... what I am going to describe is what I found in researching a XM install in my 2001 LS-430. I would bet money that is has not changed in the 2004 model but I do not know for sure. The AM & FM "tuner" portion of the stereo system is located in my 2001 LS-430 in the trunk. Specifically you have to remove the mat, floor panel and the right trunk panels to uncover the tuner box. In my car it is located almost right next to the right edge of the trunk just behind the wheel well. It is a tin looking rectangular box with a multiple wire connector coming out the side at one end. You will see ... as I try to remember ... a bundle of different colored wires and two small black coax type cables. One coax is FM antenna and the other is AM antenna. You can determine which is which by listening to the radio and unplugging them one at a time. You have to break the FM antenna coax cable and go through the XM switch box .... when XM is on it feeds the tuner and when switched off the antenna feeds the tuner. Also with a volt-ohm meter measuring DC volts you can put the black - lead on car ground and with the red lead find the 12 volt positive wire that is hot all the time (to hold memory) and the switched on and off 12 volt positive lead. You need both of the 12 volt positive leads and a ground connection to go to the XM unit. If my memory is correct the two 12 volt positive leads are at the opposite end of the connector from the coax cables. And maybe the ground or minus 12 volt wire is a small black wire. Good Luck.

Central CA ... Full coverage on my 01 LS430 ... $ 925 per year. For comparison ... a Mercedes S500 would be about $ 1500 / year and a CL500 about $ 1700 / year.

Lexus told me that their XM unit CANNOT be added to pre 04 LS430's. As a result I looked very closely at installing a XM Commander (new small unit for auto installs) into my 01 LS430. I came very close to doing it ... had most all the panels removed from the trunk and had traced out the wiring ( 12 volt line hot all the time, 12 volt acc line and ground) to the radio tuner unit back there and found the antenna cable that feeds that tuner. I was going to mount the head unit in the upper glove box that way NO wiring would be exposed. Only problem is you would have to open the glove box to change channels. I decided that running the cable from the glove box under the carpet and under the back seat was more work than I wanted to do.

I just returned from looking at the "sneak preview" 04 LS-430 at my local Lexus dealer ... no price tag as yet. I have up loaded a few pics in the gallery. Very few changes physically! Terry

Hey Four Door ...... I have the same VR rated Michelins on my car. Do you notice after the car has sat all night that for the first 5 minutes or so of driving they have a very slight shimmy or out of balance feel ? Mine take about 5 to 10 minutes to become the perfect ride, then they are great for the rest of the day. Terry

Steve, Will your ES wheels fit the LS ? I am told the GS & RX wheels will not fit the LS cause the spokes will not clear the calipers. Terry

That is a very nice offer. Thanks, Terry

Be sure to check the service history of that car and see that the 60,000 mile service has bee done ... that is about a $ 1400.00 service. And at that age it should have had a timing belt replacement at about 6 years old ... $ 400.00 service. Terry

Wanting to see if there might be a better riding tire than my Michelin's I looked at a lot of tires on Tire Rack website. The Kuhmo ECSTA HP4 716 has the highest rating for ride comfort, road noise and wear. At $ 53.00 each this sounded to good to be true. I spoke with one of the guys there and he said that Kuhmo was a Korean company trying to brake into new tire markets here in the US and thus the low prices. He did comment that the side wall may not be quite as stiff as some of the other tires which might be a little trade off in the handling department. He did state that they have had good feedback from users.

N4FHB - Thanks for the comments. The 55 Belar is my Americana that I hold on to ... to be my son's car one of these days. Steve - I traded my 97 LS400 ... I really liked that car but being 6'4" I was a little cramped in it. It sure had more of a Cadillac type ride than the 430 does. I have the 430 riding nice now with 29 pounds air pressure. The 430 has more leg and hip room ... although I am working at reducing my hip size LOL. Later, Terry

I have uploaded a couple pics of my new to me LS-430 to the gallery. Thanks, Terry

Does anybody know if you can upgrade just the power amp and speakers from a standard sound system to a Levinson ?

Steve - Glad to report my LS-430 does NOT have the sport suspension ... dealer looked up history and it just had the "TU" option ... (17" tire upgrade). Have lowered tires to 30 pounds cold and has made a lot of improvement ... looking to try 28 to 29 pounds. Thanks, Terry

Also Steve .... because they were able to put 16" wheels on this car ... does that mean it can't have the sport suspension ? Terry

Steve - I am really jazzed about the car. When I test drove it I noticed the rough ride and I complained to my buddy at the dealership and I blaimed it on the 17 inch wheels and Bridgestone tires. He went out of his way to do a wheel swap and put my almost new Michelins (16's) from my trade-in on the new car. After I measured the 37.5 pounds in the tires a dropped 2 pounds out of each tire and test drove the car ... just that made a noticeable difference. I will wait till morning and check them cold and see where they are ... I hope I don't have the sport suspension ... the 17 inch wheels that were on it scares me though. Thanks, Terry

Good info Tom ... did not see any badges ... will ask my dealer when I go back in. I will also mention that I checked the tire pressure and found 37.5 pounds in them ... but they were hot. Will check them again in the morning and see where they are ... that might be making it a little rough. Will try to get a picture of this car posted soon ... my first ever black car ! After seeing nice photos of some black LS cars here I went for one. Thanks, Terry

I just traded my LS-400 for a 2001 LS-430 today. Can someone tell me how to identify if this 430 has the "Euro-tuned Sport Suspension" ? From the way it rides I am going to bet money it does. Also, what would be involved in going to standard suspension ? Thanks All !

Hey, I had called the dealer also .... sounds like this guy was some kind of a con artist. Sorry.