SecureDBA

I get very poor radio reception on both AM & FM in my '04 SC430 with Mark Levinson stereo. It is not unusual for the scan function to find no stations. Seems like the antenna(s) may not be plugged in properly. There appears to be two antennas, the power one in the rear as well as one in the windshield. Does anyone know how to check this/these connection(s)?

My '04 SC430 has a Gen 2/3 with version 3.1 installed. Just did some searching and found the gen 2/3 version 8.1 is now available. I found it on ebay for $239 with free shipping. I'll let you know how the upgrade goes.

Just had mine replaced on my '04 SC430 at the dealer. Total cost was about $365 ($265 in labor and $110 in parts) in case you wanted to compare the cost of the lazy way out :)

Like most, I hated the Portenza's as well but I did not want to go without run flats and a spare given that my wife is the primary driver of the SC. I also wanted an All-Season ultra-high performance tire rather than a summer tire. I ended up going with the Dunlop SP Sport 5000M DSST CTT at $320 on Tire Rack. They seem a good compromise so far. They still have some of the harshness typical to run flats but are not so harsh as the Portenza's. I also give up some summer performance for better winter performance. No more tire thump on cold mornings like I found with the rock hard Portenza's (until they warmed up a little). Consumer Reports also found the Dunlop had longer tread life than the typical run flat although I did get nearly 35K out of the Portenza's which seems better than most. But I do agree the Pilot Sports are a great tire if you want to live without run flats. I've had them on my Porsche and they were great.