cduluk

Just turn the ignition on during the day with the lights switch set to off or auto.

Do the high beam bulbs illuminate as they normally should in DRL mode (during the day)? If one bulb burns out, both will remain OFF in DRL mode. However, if one burns out, the remaining bulb should illuminate in high beam mode.

SW, i don't think the GS utilizes this "fake" stitching that i saw in the ES. I have no doubt that the stitch on the ES dash is/could be done by hand, my only question is WHY the stitch is there, since the ES dash isn't covered with any vinyl/leather material at all; it's just a solid chunk of rubber which shouldn't require any stitching (other than for dubious aesthetic purposes). It's definitely a solid rubber, not coated with any vinyl/leather material at all. However on the dash of the new GS, you can easily see that it's in fact covered with some type of vinyl/leather veneer, and the stitching we see there is used to hold the vinyl/leather to the dash itself. It has not only aesthetic qualities, but serves a function. Here's the '13 GS dash: However if you look at the ES dash (pictured in post 1) you can see that the dash isn't covered with any type of vinyl/leather veneer at all, and therefore shouldn't have any stitching (other for aesthetic reasons). At first glance, the stitch in the ES dash makes one think the dash is covered in a vinyl/leather like in the new GS, when in fact it's just the same cheap rubber material used in previous models. Could Lexus have thought the stitch would make people think that the dash is covered in a higher quality vinyl/leather veneer like in the new GS? Am i the only one that thinks that's a little "cheap"? Having sat in both the '13 GS and '13 ES, (in my opinion) the quality of materials in the new ES seems to pale in comparison to that of the new GS. This "stitch" in the solid rubber dash of the ES bothers me for some reason.

Hi guys, I saw a new 2013 ES350 in person today at the dealer. Overall, i LOVE it. I love the exterior, but something about the interior caught me by surprise. Upon close examination of the dash, i noticed that the stitching (shown below) doesn't look to be "real"! By "real" i mean stitching which ensures the integrity of the bonding of vinyl/leather to the dash itself. It looked and felt like the upper dash was in fact a solid piece of rubber with this fake stitching in it! The stitch makes it look like the dash is covered in vinyl or leather, but it's not. It's just a solid piece of rubber. The ES i saw was the standard base model, not the hybrid. Can anyone verify/explain this? Did Lexus really try to fool people into believing the dash is covered in leather or vinyl?

Oh a 2002 coach ed? Hmm... is it AWD or FWD? Most (if not all) all-wheel drive RX300s from 01-03 came with HID headlights (utilizing a halogen bulb in a specially designed reflector with auto-leveling) while most of the front-wheel drive Rx300s came with halogen headlights without the auto-leveling function. It actually does matter if your son's Rx300 has the HID or the halogen, as both headlights are very different in design and in terms of wiring. If your sons Rx300 has HID, you cannot install a halogen headlight. And if it has halogen, you cannot install the HID type--at least without major re-wiring. Can you find out which type headlight it has? Your son may know. HID headlights are fairly new to cars, only being invented in the late 90s. HID headlights emit a more "blueish" light and the RX300 HID (xenon) headlights have an auto-leveling feature (a motor in the headlight moves the bulb reflector up and down based on signals from a sensor on the rear control arm). If your sons Rx300 has HID, it will have auto-leveling, which can be identified by the characteristic "dance" after start-up with the lights on: the headlight beam will momentarily move up and down within a second or two after start-up with lights on, serving as a self-test. The non-HID headlights use a standard "yellowish" halogen bulb and the headlights do not have this auto-leveling feature. Unfortunately the lens to these headlights cannot be removed and replaced (i wish they could!). The only solution is to replace the entire headlight. Hopefully your sons Rx300 has the cheaper halogen type headlight so you can get the $80 aftermarket units to replace it easily. However if the headlights are the HID type, aftermarket units do not exist, so you'd have to go the "used" route. Check back with the type and we'll work from there. I know the RX300 very intimately! :)

Yes indeed it is :) It's the back of a drivers side headlight to the 07-09 ES350. If you open the hood and remove the engine cover behind each headlight, you can reach around and gain access to the screws. You'll need to adjust both headlights until the levels are equal and where you want them.

These two screws must be rotated for the beam to raise/lower. One direction raises while the other lowers. To raise, i believe clockwise. just play around with them until you achieve the desired results :)

The headlight "lens" cannot be replaced by itself- the entire headlight would have to be replaced. What is the year of the RX300? Does it have HID or halogen? You can buy used or aftermarket halogen headlights for the price you mentioned. That would be my best suggestion if the RX has halogen bulbs. However, if the headlights are HID (xenon) no aftermarket headlights even exist, most used ones will have the same clouding issue, and new ones from the dealer are way more than $400. I'll assume your RX headlights have halogen (since the dealer quoted >$400). My personal suggestion in that case (having a LOT of experience with Rx300 headlights and the issue you mentioned) would be to get the new aftermarket headlights, either from Amazon or ebay.

I don't believe that would be necessary. The screws should be on the headlight itself just on the back. You should be able to get to them by removing the engine cover panels and just reaching behind the headlight. I did this once on my cousin's 09 IS250 and it was easily accessible.

There are adjustment screws on the back of the headlight which can be rotated to raise/lower the beam. both of these need to be rotated. I believe clockwise will raise the beam. Just play around with them until you've achieved the desired results. :)

Believe it or not, but the 07-11 GS450h (hybrid) is the best performing, and it also gets the best mileage. The 450h is the quickest to sixty, with a 0-60mph time of 5.2 seconds, with the second quickest GS being the GS460 at 5.4 seconds.

there are adjustment screws on the back of the headlight that you can turn to raise/lower the beam angle.

That's great!! Definitely post some pictures of the results! :)

Ahh, you mean something like this? :whistles: I made this 02-06 ES/Rx300 "hybrid" cluster with the intent on installing it on my RX300 back in 2009, but i ended up selling the Rx300 before i finished. As you can see, i had to cut and bring the three "sections" closer together to fit in the RX300 dash. I also had to cut and replace the actual gauge faceplate icons to add the VSC and SNOW icons that the ES lacked. I also had to remove the 4-3-2-L icons for the shifter as the Rx300 didn't have these functions. I lengthened the gauge needles (to the center) like i did with my Rx400h cluster, i also changed the needle color from red to white. If you look on the back you'll see the RX300 main cluster circuit board. I had to wire all the pilot lights to the gauge face in all the right locations, and i did the same for the gauge motors. The gauge motors for the RX300 cluster are unique so i had to transplant them into the ES gauge faces. This would have looked really nice in the Rx300 had i been able to finish in time! Definitely, avoid removing the needles at all costs. The ONLY way to calibrate them correctly after removal is to "estimate" engine temp, tach, and fuel level, and for the speedometer you have to drive at what you "think" is about 40mph, and press the needle in place while you're driving, making sure to insert it so it's facing the 40mph mark. It's a horrible task. Thanks for the compliments! It took a lot of work, but the results were amazing!

So they can't be upgraded to a brighter white? There are halogen bulbs out there that are "whiter", but they're not as bright. A good example are "HOEN" bulbs. They're a "tad" more white than the oem DRLs, but they're not as bright. http://www.ultrashieldorlando.com/mdx/bulb3.htm And don't even consider HIDs, as they can't be wired with the DRL functioning- as during DRL mode, the computer switches the DRL bulb circuit to series (reducing the power to each bulb to about 6V, not nearly enough to ignite an HID ballast). And HIDs can only run at one power setting.

Are you looking for actual luminous intensity or a whiter color? Unfortunately they're inverses of each other, so if you try for more white, the brightness decreases; and if you want them brighter, you'll get more of a yellow look. I've tried LOTS of different types of bulbs and LED bulbs to achieve the optimal "white" bright DRL, with no success. LED bulbs have that white look, but during DRL mode are completely useless, and are even more useless during high beam mode when you really need light output. The best bet to achieve more lumens and actual intensity is to convert to HIR bulbs. They're the same color as the factory DRL but they're MUCH brighter, especially when they've been on for a few minutes.

Hmm, in that case i'd suggest finding a blue (or green, red) tinted film that you could cut and wedge between the gauge face and the clear acrylic behind the gauge face (only behind the "tick marks"). That's definitely the easiest and most cost effective way to achieve what you're describing. ^_^ I like your idea of replacing the smoked cover to the gauge cluster. Try to find a sheet of 1/16" or 1/8" clear acrylic plastic (which you can easily heat and bend to the right shape), then go to a place like Autozone or Advanced Auto parts and get a roll of window tinting film (look at each to find the right %) which you can tint the clear plastic with (just be sure to bend the plastic and mold it to the bezel before tinting). The only issue there is avoiding air bubbles... I've tried it before with pretty good success after trial and error. Also be sure to keep the same curvature of the cluster cover, as if the angle is off even a few degrees, you'll get glare. You're making me miss my Rx300!! :( I loved that car, especially working with the gauges and LEDs. If you want, i can do the cluster mods for you; i wouldn't charge you, i'd enjoy the project! Oh also, i know you mentioned that you bought another Rx300 cluster; did you make sure that it's the same year range as yours? The 99-00 clusters are different than the 01-03 clusters (even though they look very similar). Not only that, the early '01 model clusters retained the old 99-00 gauge needles (but have the new 01-03 electricals). The needles for the 99-00 and early '01 clusters are deformed and look pretty funky at night. See the pics below: And another tip; when taking the cluster apart, make sure not to touch (with your fingers) the actual gauge face. Also, make sure you don't get it wet; even with fresh water, saliva or any fluid. The surface is coated in some weird paint that cannot be cleaned. Any fingerprints or water stains don't come out... All the memories are flowing back! As for the center console flip-up cover LEDs, i had them mounted under the arms, one at each end. It was difficult to wire them, but the results looked great!

Ahh i hear you. Can you be more specific with what you're trying to achieve? I drew up some quick sketches; are any of these close to what you're looking for? This is OEM: This is with the "tick" marks tinted blue: And this is with a "ring" of blue along the perimeter of the tick marks (similar to the blue rings in the 04-09 Rx330/350/400h: With my Rx400h, the left and right meters had a white "ring", and the center speedometer was a bit different with white "between" the tick marks. Lexus achieved this look by installing acrylic "rings" on top of the gauge face, with light coming up from beneath, being forwarded through the acrylic and bounced off of the gauge face. For the center speedometer, i simply painted the white area "between" the tick marks with light blue paint (i tried several shades to determine the most efficient) and changed the white SMDs out to blue ones. Unfortunately, the Rx300 cluster doesn't have this feature (with the acrylic rings on top of the gauge face), so this look (in image 3) wouldn't be easily achievable. You'd have to have some specially made and do some funky wiring. The look in image 2 above can however be easily achieved; the only issue is that adding a blue tinted film behind the gauge face would render the tick marks practically invisible during the day. The gauges are hardly bright enough as it is, and any tinting (especially blue) would hurt the intensity significantly. Let me know if any of the sketches i made are close to what you envisioned; if not, can you be more specific? I'll come up with some ideas on how to make it happen! :) And as far as the CCFL, i never measured the voltage and/or current going through it, but i know it's in the hundreds. And even after hours upon hours of trials, i couldn't find the inverter nor the source voltage line. Believe me, i tried everything!

What color are you trying to make it? I did some extensive experimentation in changing out the CCFL to get a more "pure" white output. The CCFL illuminates with a yellow "hue" and it only gets worse with age. I ran into a lot of problems. First, the clear acrylic behind the faceplate is about 1/4" thick, and is specially designed to collect and forward light from the CCFL to all of the numbering and lettering. Moving the CCFL even a few millimeters from center will create "hot spots" in certain areas. You'll also notice that behind the tach, there are two layers of the acrylic, to collect light coming from the CCFL 180 degrees around. So, simply replacing the CCFL with an "LED strip" won't work since you need a 180 degree viewing angle. I tried to create a custom strip of LEDs, and even rotated them to optimize directional control of the light. After a LOT of trial and error, i got it to work and i got all of the hot spots eliminated. Then came the next problem; how to get them illuminated. The CCFL runs at dangerous levels of electricity, and there's no way to get 12V from it. I tried, but i couldn't get it to work. The only solution was to illuminate the new LED unit to the cigarette lighter, as this would supply 12V whenever the car is ON. The only issue is that the dimmer switch would no longer work. The dimmer only controls the CCFL and the center console lights, which only come on at night (but the cluster needs light whenever the car is ON). And the last issue; longevity. With over 100 LEDs wired in the cluster (even with appropriate series setup and proper voltage regulation and resistance) the amount of heat created by the LEDs caused them to burn out prematurely. If i ran them at any less voltage, they wouldn't be bright enough. I got about 6 months before LEDs started flickering, and at about the 1 year mark the remaining working LEDs were too dim to illuminate anything. So i tried switching to SMDs, which ended up being too dim despite a greater quantity. Also, i couldn't get a good enough viewing angle out of them. Hot spots were horrible and couldn't be corrected. It might look like an easy task, but even for someone like myself with intense experience, achieving proper intensity, longevity and even distribution of light with the clear acrylic was not achievable. At least not with 2009 technology... If all you're after is a color change, i'd merely suggest finding a tinted film (in the desired color) to replace the smoked cover to the cluster. Removing the smoked cover and replacing it with 1/8" clear plastic tinted in a film in the color of your choice will maintain intensity while changing the color. After all my experience, that would be my best suggestion. And one last note: don't remove the needles!!! Unlike Lexus' modern clusters (whose gauge motors have "stoppers") the gauge motors in the Rx300 cluster are not easily calibrated. In fact, it's practically impossible to get the needles calibrated once removed.

Thanks for the compliments! Unfortunately though, you can't do anything to change the backlighting, as the entire cluster is designed "around" the thin CCFL. Here are some images: Here's the inside of the cluster, showing the CCFL tube. As you can see, the clear acrylic behind the gauge face has little "grooves" and "wedges" to reflect light from the CCFL to illuminate the lettering.

What are you trying to do? The meters (speedometer, tach, gas gauge and engine temp) are all illuminated by a single CCFL (miniature cold cathode florescent tube). The individual pilot lights are bulbs.

See here. The headlights for your RX are the same as those on the Rx400h discussed in this thread. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/74958-headlamp-assembly-replacement-options/ :)

The Rx400h is built like a tank. I have a 2008 Rx400h AWD, bought it with ~42,000 miles in May '09 and i have ~85,000 miles now. Not a single problem that i didn't cause myself (from tinkering). I abuse the crap out of my Rx400h and it drives like new. I drive a LOT. Also, a lot of "idle" time in parking lots with the ignition ON. I have a very heavy foot, too. I have the oil changed three times a year, have all of the recommended maintenance done at Lexus, use premium gas, and that's it. Mine hasn't had a wash since August, and probably won't get one till May. The thing is truly built like a tank. The AWD i will admit isn't the best AWD out there. Better than a FWD sedan for sure, but not as good as the AWD in my old 2003 Rx300 AWD. However tires DO make a huge difference. I just got new tires last month, and i haven't had ANY trouble with recent snow storms here in Rhode Island. I love my Rx400h more than i did when i got it. I wouldn't trade it for any other SUV in production.

If you're looking for the maximum output in terms of lumens, then HIR bulbs are the solution to replace your DRLs. But they're the same "color" as the standard ones. If you're looking to get a more "white" HID look, we're kind of out of luck.

I'm glad it worked out! You should be good with the new ballast. Do you know what type of $12 HID bulb you purchased? There are a LOT of aftermarket HID bulbs on the web which are very, VERY cheap and actually hazardous. Not from a safety perspective, but in terms of reliability and durability in the projector. Many aftermarket bulbs have been known to actually explode, if they don't burn out within a few months as most do. I wouldn't install any aftermarket bulb unless it's the OE Philips bulb, or one made by Osram.