Gaugster

Do you have to have the Parking Assist ordered with the car, or can you add it later at the dealership? I had many conversations with the dealershhip. The system is a Factory Installed Option (FIO) only. The feature is integrated into the software for the Navigation as well as the Instrument cluster. The dealer offered to installed an aftermarket system but I did not want to go that route. It would be great if the original system was plug & play. Then the dealer could just get the hardware and install it. However I really would be concerned if they had two pull my car apart to do the work. I would end up with a squeak or ratter that would never go away. So I am better off to let it alone. The matter is almost resolved. I have the dealer offering to apply the 3M clear bra for free.

First things first: Congratulations on getting an IS350. You may have limited option choices based on availability. In 2006, all of the IS350’s in my area were almost fully loaded with NAV, ML, Luxury Package etc… I do like the Luxury Package features. I bought an IS250 so I am more concerned about comfort then sport options. I special ordered my car to get the ML DVD radio and Dynamic Cruise. I am glad that I did. However both the dealer and I omitted the Park Assist feature by mistake. I was pretty disappointed when I found out about the error. But now I don’t mind not having the feature. Oh well. I would not suggest going the special order route. I had to because I wanted many options that aren’t typically offered and I could wait. I had to shop for a dealer that would take special orders so it was a big pain.

I was thinking mostly about the interior detection range in my original post. As many know, the exterior distance is listed in the owner’s manual. Some vehicles won't detect the key fob inside the vehicle if it is placed high on the dashboard or some other non-ideal locations. Again, most people could care less. The ability to detect the key fob in different zones of the vehicle is the real test of the system’s abilities. I believe that this is what prevented you from opening the passenger door using the same fob that was detected for the ignition switch. I would bet that the door would have opened if another person tried using the second key fob. I plan to do some testing one of the days just out of curiosity. It will probably drive my wife nutz when I ask her for help. :chairshot:

In the new Infiniti G, you can set this option. Do you want just the Driver's door to unlock, or all four, when the driver's handle is touched. It an option that can be set in the settings menu through the NAV display. I'd be surprised if the IS doesn't have this same option, even if it's one that is set by the dealer. Personally, I prefer the Driver's door only. Again, the security issue is only a concern for some people. In the case of “lambobaby1218” it appears that she is not given the option to open one or all four doors. It is a loss of control that could bother some people. However I hope that no one ever finds out the hard way. In this case, the potential intruder does not need to have perfect timing as the original post stated that door unlock automatically without the passenger handle being triggered. The Lexus Personalized Settings allows some options when using the key fob buttons on the remote. Basically you can choose to open only the driver’s door or all four doors with either one or two presses of the unlock button. Having the option to choose is what is important. In my case both my wife and I carry the key fobs when entering the vehicle. So we can both gain access without delay. The system can do a good job of detecting multiple key fobs.

There has been a lot of security issues raised about Passive Entry systems for the exact "feature" you have described. Basically, someone that you don't know could enter the car from the passenger’s side while you are entering the driver’s side. :( This should not be normal for a Passive Entry system. It might not be of concern to you based on where you live but I just though I would mention the potential disadvantage. You might want to have the system inspected incase some sensor or antenna is malfunctioning. It might be easy to fix just by having the dealer disconnect the battery? I have not had a chance to test out the range of my key FOB in and around my vehicle. In theory, the system should do a good job in determining if the key FOB is inside or outside of the vehicle. The apertures (windshield, door glass & rear window) tend to be a gray area for detection. My 2 cents

My 07 IS250 AWD typically shows 27.x MPG for the tank average as well as current MPG. Most of my driving is highway on the weekends. It is still cool in the Midwest so I would expect to get better MPG once the weather warms up. I only have 1300 miles on the car so far. Should I expect to get a little better MPG once I have about 10k miles? I have yet to perform a manual calculation but I have some advice. The gas pumps tend to vary in terms of volume of fuel calculated during a fill-up. Hence you will get different result if you frequent multiple gas stations. Obviously they can't vary too much but just enough to disagree with what the car calculates.

Brake dust? They'll replace your front pads with ceramics if you complain to the dealer. From reviewing the archives, Ceramics appear to be the cure for excessive brake dust but are these OEM ceramic pads or aftermarket that you refer to? What is the material used for the original Lexus pads? Semi-Metallic, Organic etc... Ceramics have many benefits but do they have any draw-backs? I believe that they are tougher on rotors then other softer materials. Has anyone used ceramics in the Midwest and evaluated performance during wet/cold seasons?

Hello, I am new to the forum and would like to introduce myself. I posted once recently when someone had a DVD-A question. I hope it was helpful. So far this club is awesome. I have picked up so many good tips while combing through the archives. Regards,

Hello, I have had similar difficulties with different DVD-A discs. I have to say that I do very much like the ML system but I do not believe that it is "fully" compatible with DVD-A. This is kind of a mute point as DVD-A it not mainstream yet if ever. I am an audiophile / techno-snob from way back and have looked into DVD-A in great detail when it first hit the scene. The DVD-A media (i.e disc) will be recognized by the ML system. However the ML website only states that MP3, WMA, PCM, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 data formats are compatible. This list excludes the DVD-A specific format of Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) a.k.a Packed Pulse Code Modulation (PPCM) Don't worry, I don't really know what that means either. I just know it is different from DVD-V formats. http://www.marklevinsonlexus.com/overview.asp?model=is Hence the typical DVD-V formats (DD & DTS) sound great but the high resolution DVD-A (PPCM) is hit or miss. I have the Blue Man Group DVD-A but can only use the DD or DTS sound tracks. The PPCM sound track will play but the center channel is not audible and sometime I hear a cracking sound. Perhaps my radio is broke but I doubt it. I also have an Emerson Lake & Palmer DVD-A which seems to play the PPCM sound track just fine??? Both discs are displayed as PPCM 96kHz. I believe this indicates that it is a surround sound format. I would like to find a DVD-A disc recorded in PPCM 192kHz. This is a high resolution stereo format and may play well in the ML system. My 2 cents