Tango

Any update on these? I imported the camber adjusters from Eibach USA so finally got my geometry back within specification and sorted out the minor tyre wear issues I had with the lowered suspension :)

We have a TOMS Supercharged IS350 in the UK. It was imported from Japan so the steering wheel is on the right side. Certainly cheaper than buying a used 350 engine and doing a swap. A used IS-F is coming down in price too, you can pick up one with around 11,000 miles on it for around £40K now (for you Americans, yes really $58,360.00 for a used IS-F in the UK )

Mine is very early 06. The dealer should check the VIN. Had mine changed in the UK. It's to do with the orientation of the longitudinal seam weld possibly causing a fatigue fracture. Also had both my rear calipers changed under warranty due to seized slider pins.

Nine screws, 2 clips and 10 tabs

Any update on these?

Like this:

Yes, that looks about normal for the original OEM brakepads. Get the TSIB actioned by your dealer for the low dust pads and your perceived problem will go away.

You're wrong Knightshade, because you're not taking into consideration the time it takes to apply sufficient friction up to the point that ABS activates or without ABS when the discs stop wheel rotation. As a matter of interest I changed the high friction pads on my IS250 for a set of the ceramic based material, but recognising the reason why they were on originally ("Because increasing the coefficient of friction can allow for the use of smaller/fewer caliper pistons and/or will reduce the amount of pedal force that the driver needs to apply in order to generate a given rotor output force.") I also upgraded my calipers and rotors...more pistons and bigger diameter rotors. As a result my brakes are a lot less grabby when a small amount of pedal force is applied, and bring the rotors up to the point of ABS activation a lot quicker when a large amount of pedal force is applied.

Yea, it's the Tanabe Medallion Touring stainless steel from the cat back...really well made and sounds a lot better than the OEM and a lot lighter too.

Reflectors

Mine does..I just press the steering wheel telephone button and say 'phone home' and it does. Pressing the 'off' telephone button disconnects. What's yours do then??

Was informed by a reputable tuning company when I suggested a two stage Rotrex S/C may be a good idea. I presumed it was down to web thicknesses. Hope they were wrong but don't fancy blowing mine up proving them right. We do not get the 350 this side of the pond and I think I told you the IS-F was like $104,000 here. One of the LOC UK guys has imported a TOM's S/C 350 from Japan, but I was exploring buying a slightly used IS350 engine from the US to modify and fit in my 250 shell You'll want as much of the 350 as you can get- the transmission is different for one (and so the ECU will likely not work with the 250 transmisson) the 350 has VDIM, the 250 does not... so you'll need all the relevant sensors and wiring for that or the ECU will have issues as well. Here in the US you're looking at somewhere in the 2-5k range to go from 250 to 350 (comparing new car prices) so it makes no sense to try modding a 250 much...the cheapest way to add power is just buy a 350. You're looking closer to 15-20k to go from a 350 to an IS-F And I'd suggest that by the time you got done basically replacing all the engine internals to lower compression, designing your own custom engine and fuel management system, and designing the forced induction system, you couldn't add over 100hp to the IS350 for less than that either. you don't read my posts at all do you? I'm in the UK..we don't get the 350. I paid $66,000 for my 250 and an IS-F (if I wanted one) is $ $104,000 more or less. But after consideration, forget Lexus..the Nissan GT-R is on it's way and a lot more car than the IS-F for the same money.

Was informed by a reputable tuning company when I suggested a two stage Rotrex S/C may be a good idea. I presumed it was down to web thicknesses. Hope they were wrong but don't fancy blowing mine up proving them right. We do not get the 350 this side of the pond and I think I told you the IS-F was like $104,000 here. One of the LOC UK guys has imported a TOM's S/C 350 from Japan, but I was exploring buying a slightly used IS350 engine from the US to modify and fit in my 250 shell

Changing the compression ratio isn't too much of a problem with a piston change, but the block is still going to be the limiter. The ECU limitation isn't just applicable to the US spec.

But what's that got to do with the Lexus 220D?

Weakest component on the 250 and 350 which will limit any possible power output and reliability is the aluminim block. The 350's supercharged by TOM's are restricted in power output for that reason. Either get an IS-F or something much better like the new Nissan GT-R if power is your main interest.

It's a 'Technical Service Bulletin' or more correctly a TSIB which is a 'Technical Service Information Bulletin' issued by Lexus, usually in response to customer or dealer complaints, but also from Lexus themselves if they discover a manufacturing problem that affects cars already sold. The Brake Pad TSIB described the corrective actions necessary to replace the original high friction pads that generated so much dust with a set based on a ceramic material Part# 04465-53030. There's a listing on the site of all the TSIB's covering trim rattles, fuel pipe recall, rubber mat replacement, seat belt changeout, engine rattles from cold etc. etc.

They must have fitted the wrong pads...I only changed the front pads and there's a 90% improvement..in fact the rears dust up a lot more than the fronts now.

I'd agree with that

Yes...a little more actually 33,000 Brit Pounds fully loaded...the IS-F here is just over 51,000 British pounds Rumour here is the LF-A is going to exceed £200,000. Oh and petrol (gas) has just exceeded $10.89 a gallon, although currently 65% of that is tax and due to go to 67% in September this year :cries: . Can I come and live over there permanently :D

The pads fitted are the OEM replacements from the part number on the TSIB (which I think have a ceramic based material). It's driven quite hard, and I 've found the pads to be more progressive than the originals... they don't have that slow speed sudden 'grab' which I didn't like at all. Little or no fade and minimum dusting compared with the originals which left my wheels completely black after relatively few miles. Note the comparison is between my OEM IS250 rotors, calipers and pads after upgrading with the IS350/GS300 Mk3 set.....we only have one IS350 in the UK, and that is a Toms Supercharged version imported from Japan. We do have the IS-F, but again in very few numbers (150 this year)...and as I've said before, there's one hell of a difference in cost between the USA & UK....I had to pay more for my IS250 Se-L than you can buy an IS-F for in the USA :(

Thanks, the ceramic pads are pretty good too...hardly any dust compared to the originals :) Wasn't too sure of the colour coded centre discs on the Volks, but like them a lot now. I also sprayed the lug nuts to match, and have been surprised they haven't chipped at all when torquing up.

Took a slightly better pic of mine...looks a little better on the ground :D

Don't agree at all with that statement with regard to the OEM sports pedal set. One of the first things I did on my IS second gen Lux was to replace those nasty looking rubber pedals with the OEM alloy set, and yes I got them from Sewells. B) hey guys can ya'll tell me how to install them? Apart from the gas pedal they slip over the base pedal after taking off the rubber ones that fit in similar way. The gas pedal plate is attached to it's arm by a split pin...remove it to take off the rubber pedal and re-insert it to fit the new one. Most people remove the complete gas pedal assembly which makes fitting easier, but I did it in situ with a small 'G' clamp and press pin. Removal is pretty easy as it's an electronic connection, not cable (see diagram). The split pin isn't shown on the diagram, but you can see the hole in arm and pedal.

Hi guys, I'm a Brit in the UK, but frequent visitor to Houston and I can tell you that it's the UK that get shafted...the car manufacturers don't call it "Treasure Island" without due cause . It looks like the 'SR' is just an option that's available with the GFX bodykit, as everything else mentioned in the article is available here already, and the 204 bhp is stock for the gas powered models (the 220D oil burner has a slightly lower output). For your information I paid the equivalent of $66,000 for my full spec IS250 and then purchased the GFX kit (SMG) from Westside Lexus in Houston and hand carried it back to the UK...for the reason that the GFX kit was not then available in the UK. It is now, but only in primer coat so you pay a fortune for the parts and then have to pay extra to get them painted :( . ...and to answer the last question, the price of the IS-F in the UK is the equivalent of $103,000 believe me I prefer to be a petrolhead (gearhead) in the USA