terry993

The preferred way is the pre-cut kit. It takes a very experienced installer to cut the sheet exactly to size.

+1. I have had it on 3 vehicles. Most of the cost is in the labor. Very time consuming to apply properly and have it come out without bubbles. Yes you can wax it.

mohand, Generally people post more about problems than they do about satisfaction, so you will see relatively more problem posts on any board. That is one purpose of the forum, to hear if someone else has a solution. Here are just a couple of MB boards I frequent for that purpose: Benzworld Mercedesforum I don't find much objective knowledge in your comment about MB engineers, nor any relevance to today's IS about how Lexus started or under what name in Europe. Care to share with us your purported extensive experience behind the wheel of German luxury cars?

I have not seen the new MB SL, but what is the white MB in your pic? My comments above were more from a features and build quality POV, less from the common shape. Seems to me the new BMW 3 series and the Lexus rear ends look quite similar. I agree, the shape of the IS and the white MB you show look very similar in front. Eventually I suppose the CAD/CAM computer and the wind tunnel will give almost identical shapes within competing segment models. Pity.

Mercedes must have done the same...this car was apparently eight years in development, which would have started at about the time of unveiling the first generation IS...what car do you think they got their (perhaps not so original) design concept from? :D Sorry, I should have been more clear. The Porsche employee giving the Porsche factory tour in 1999 told us that Porsche brought the Japanese to show Porsche how to build a luxury car profitably, not the other way around. I am not saying it was all a one-way exchange, just that from an ownership seat time POV, I don't see evidence of Lexus copying Porsche or MB.

Over the past 40 years I have driven an assorted dozen of Audi, VW, BMW and the last 20 years MB and Porsches. Over a million miles total. Our latest 2 cars are the '07 IS350 and an '07 MB CLK 550. Each was well loaded, but the CLK was out the door at $30K more than the Lexus. For example, the IS came with Keyless Go standard, $1100 on the CLK. They both have some very minor build issues which will be resolved on the first service. Build quality is comparable in most areas. CLK body work and exterior is better done, Lexus interior wins hands down. For example, IS has way more elbow rest padding than CLK. CLK has more wind noise but less body and suspension noise. CLK Nav is indecipherable, though it can be indeciphered without stopping the car. Handling is about equal. Identical extended warranties were $1700 on the IS and $4200 on the CLK. Tells you something about expected maintenance costs. In 1996 Porsche brought Japanese consultants to Stuttgart to show them how to make a high end car profitably. This is my first Japanese car and I am very impressed. I have yet to find aything copied about the Lexus, thankfully.

I can only imagine 14 mpg living in San Francisco, using rotgut 89 octane, lead footing it from one light uphill to the next, and carrying a month's groceries in the trunk. Are you using the shift paddles or the auto?

The Lexus dealer installed my XM unit after I took delivery of the car. They used the pinout located in the trunk to connect to the exisitng shark fin antenna and radio. I imagine the pinout is industry standard for either Sat provider, and would probably even work for an aftermarket unit. If the dealer is installing it, they would know.

The safety in a Saab is something to be experienced, as I did when I was driving alone and was rear ended on the fwy outside Brussels in Mom's '95. With a 30 mph speed differential, the impact felt like it was spread evenly down my spine, just a few ounces per inch. The Saab was totaled. Resale value on Saabs in Belgium is terrible, maybe worse now that it is a GM car. Lexus is a big step ahead in quality. I feel the IS would do much beter on resale, just as well on safety, and close enough on trunk and interior space. Probably much better on gas mileage - important at almost $6 a gallon. If you are an expat recently assigned there, you will soon find out how big an IS or Saab is when you first go to park it somewhere.

Looks like somebody used a pot scrubber on that.

You are probably right about the alignment. Too much negative camber and/or toe-in versus spec are possible suspects. Not the width of the tire.

#3 is a dealer-only resettable "Personal Preference". The default from the factory is driver's door only. If I had small kids, I would have left it that way. I had mine reset to all 4 doors.

When you look at the cars in the space where the LF-A will compete, it is good they have another couple years to get the styling right. Even the Lamborghini Gallardo manages to get angular looking acceptable.

This from another website, someone with a Sony Ericsson and a BMW: "After having to listen to a complete load of bull and excuses both from BMW Service and Sony, I went down to my local dealer who fixed it. Apparently the problem is that the address book will not download from the SIM card but if you copy it to phone memory it will work. I now have a fully functioning Bluetooth system in the car." I tried it but it didn't help me with my RAZR and Lexus. Time to call Lexus service.

Gravity effect is such that the lower areas get more road rash. The bumper is worth doing.

With the help of that site, I bought a Motorola RAZR for me and also for my wife's MB '07 CLK. The Lexus site does say in the BT specs for the RAZR "Transfer multiple phonebook entries to the handsfree system at once No". So why list the phone at all if it is not totally BT compatible? Her RAZR phone book downloaded seamlessly with the touch of a button. Mine, after 4 readings each of the Lexus manual and the phone manual, drops the BT connection every time I press "Transfer Data". I am not a technology idiot, but I will feel like one when I have to call the Lexus dealer for a "Bluetooth Appointment".:chairshot:

I saw it on the SB. The math was hard to follow, and I was left with an impression of "So what?". I thought the Toyota Tundra truck ads worked better. Here's how you go, how you stop, and how low end torque helps you pull.

Same here with those options. Would have waited, but needed the car then.

The best IS 350 option, Keyless Go, is not even an option, but free :D. Cost me $1100 on a 2007 MB CLK. :chairshot:

Grad from college and paying for the car yourself. What's not to like. Get the car, not the protection package, and enjoy the well earned fruits of your labor.

4K miles and 10 weeks. Only minor issues I am saving to combine with the first oil change: 1. Turn signal cancel not 100%. 2. Change some personal settings - you get this free once in first 12 months. 3. TPMS showing low pressure twice in 6 weeks. Was about 3-4 psi low each time. Could be just weather got cold, then colder still, leading to drop in pressure. I like their donuts and coffee, but do not want to waste my time or theirs.

I am looking forward to hearing what they did to the suspension and brakes so it can handle all that power and torque.

Radio Shack sells a generic cable with two male connector ends. The iPod then comes up as AUX on your Nav. No control of iPod through the Nav, but the sound is great.

My experience on a different car was that it was a windshield fitment issue, heat related as some have noted above. It stopped when I replaced a cracked windshield. As the "goop" that attaches the WS to the frame dries with age, the popping returns.

1. Hawk pads. From my experience with other cars, they are more for the track, and squeal like a stuck pig. 2. Some people, after thoroughly cleaning their wheels off the car, give them a good coat of wax so they wash easier. I am not one of them.