Lexus IS250 Blog

Leather Airbag & Gloss black steering wheel emblem

2022-01-06T16:30:00.024+00:00

Leather trimming airbag covers seems to have become a trend. Rightly so, it adds a touch of luxury in my opinion. There are quite a few Instagram sellers selling them. But I decided to make my own as I could not justify the cost of some of these.

Before I go on, some key safety issues and concerns need to be mentioned:

Trimming airbag covers is a controversial topic. Mainly because you are essentially adding an extra layer in the way that the airbag has to break-out of. Just because an airbag blows and splits the leather open, it doesn't mean it works properly. Sure, it's great that the airbag does that but, as with most things, timing is everything. Trimmers often make comments like don't worry, nothing can hold back that explosion or I've tested it myself on spare part and the leather splits up, no problem. Some will even show you video demos of a controlled airbag deployment which shows the airbag splitting. This misleads people into thinking that just because an airbag blows, it will work as designed by manufacturer.

The fact is, airbag charges are designed to coincide with the movement of a human body within a crash condition. The charge is timed so that the airbag is fully inflated at the very instant before a body comes in contact with it. Too early, and the bag vents out leaving less cushion for an impact; too late, and the body is already in its path and gets slammed with the full force of the explosion.

To illustrate the point about timing being everything, I've linked a video right at the end of this post to watch. It shows two scenarios of a watermelon dropping on an airbag. Firstly as it inflates on-time, and secondly when it's just seven hundredth of a second too late.
I did my airbag trimming keeping all this in mind and created cuts in the leather along the same breaking outline at the back. Ofcourse there is no guarantee that it will deploy 100% on-time, but I am confident I took extra steps to make sure it does deploy as on-time as possible.

Back to the topic of the mod itself. I've painted the emblem gloss black by stripping the chrome from a brand new emblem. Emblems must be replaced with new emblems because they have plastic pegs that go through little holes on the airbag cover. The pegs then need to be melted down from inside. This is to prevent the emblem coming loose when airbag deploys. Hence why the old emblem is not re-usable.

Below are some photos finished results along with some photos of the project

Custom F logo door light courtesy projector

2021-11-17T18:30:00.002+00:00

There are quite a lot of door courtesy light projectors out there that project a logo to the ground when you open the door. Some of them are printed on film which isn't a sharp image. To get a sharp image the logo needs to be printed on glass. I wasn't to keen on the logos readily available out there. A lot of them were not to my liking as they looked a bit aftermarket.

So, I decided to design my own and put the OEM F Logo with a sharp blue border. Below are some pics and video

Touchless boot opening

2021-10-10T14:20:00.021+01:00

Thought i'd share a quick video of the kick sensor boot opening mod. The system works in combination with uprated struts sold by SGS engineering and some medium strength die springs. I then installed a universal kick sensor that triggers a unlock signal.

Here is the video:

GROM VLine VL2 - Infotainment System

2021-08-16T14:11:00.046+01:00

I was lucky to be given a Grom VLine 2 infotainment system that had some issues. I managed to fix the issues on the unit and now it's working perfectly. I have working Apple CarPlay and AndroidAuto.

I also extended a USB port from the Grom to go and install into the centre arm rest as a flush mounting kit. This allows me to plug in a USB stick for watching videos or listening to local files.

Below are some pics:

LED upgrade green to white

2021-08-16T12:12:00.108+01:00

While I had the centre stack navigation/multimedia unit out for hydrodipping, I decided to swap out all the LED's to from green to white. I placed blue LED's behind the volume and seek knobs to create a blue glow.

Below are some pics and videos showing the new LED lights.

Hydrodipped centre multimedia stack

2021-08-16T11:12:00.097+01:00

With all the recent carbon hydrodip i've done, one thing that is still looking odd and out of place is the centre navigation/multimedia stack unit. The factory finish is a dark grey colour which doesn't flow well with the rest of my carbon theme. I've seen many people get the carbon overlay stickers that go on top of the unit. In photos they look awesome but when I saw it in real-life it wasn't really upto my standard as the edges were not perfect fit and not to mention there are cut-outs for the labels. It also covers the original Lexus logo etc.

So, I ditched the idea of sticking overlays as I thought it would look too cheap and you can tell it's a stick-on overlay. I want it to look perfect. So, I decided to remove the unit and completely dismantle it and hydrodip the unit in black carbon. I made custom decals to replace the Lexus and Mark Levinson logos but this time in white colour. And I also made custom decals for the labels. These were then clear coated over.

I also painted the small satin silver bezel that frames the navigation screen in a satin black colour. And finally, I painted the satin silver button seperating pieces in satin black too.

Project is now complete, and some photos below. I'm really pleased with how it has come out.

Radiator replacement - NRF 53680 Radiator

2021-08-12T10:19:00.072+01:00

My original radiator has lasted around 192k miles and over 15 years and has finally sprung a leak. I noticed coolant levels were dropping every few days. When coolant drops below the low mark in the overflow reservoir, it allows air to enter the system and I could hear a little water gurggling sound when I turn the car on.

There was no visual leaks that can be easily seen anywhere. No puddles of coolant either. The leak was literally a seep. Eventually I found the cause, it was the bottom plastic section of the radiator had developed a hairline crack and coolant was seeping through. Right underneath this is the undertray that also has a factory fitted sponge like material. So any little bit of coolant that was dripping was getting absorbed by that sponge and never made it down to the floor or anything. Hence why there was no visual indicators. Given these radiators have a lot of plastic, i'm surprised it survived this long. As plastic does tend to get brittle over the years. Even if the radiator didn't start leaking, I would think it wouldn't have been nowhere near as efficient as it originally was. it even warped.

My coolant change was also due so ended up doing a coolant change at the same time. I swapped out 4 of the constant tension hose clips (2 on the upper radiator hose and 2 on the lower radiator hose)

I wanted to purchase a Denso radiator but unfortunately they were on back-order and wait was quite long and price was a little on the high end. So I ended up getting the NRF 53680 Radiator. NRF seem like a really reputable company who have been making radiators for a very long time. I purchased it from a reputable store and comes with a 24 months warranty. I used a voucher code and it ended up only costing me £64 for the radiator itself. The build quality and fitment is absolutely spot on.

Some pics of the radiator change below. If anyone attempts this, I can confirm that this can be done without removing the bumper at all.

Flat bottom sports steering wheel installed

2021-05-10T14:24:00.045+01:00

I re-trimmed my original steering wheel with a leather wrap back in October 2019. The original post about it can be found by clicking here

Was very happy with that mod, but recently was offered a custom carbon leather flat-bottom steering wheel from a IS-F. Couldn't say no to the offer. So now I am upgrading to this new flat-bottom carbon steering wheel. Below are some photos of the new steering wheel.

Interior grab handles wrapped (Gloss Black)

2021-05-03T14:09:00.030+01:00

The interior door grab handles are a satin silver finish, so I decided to wrap them in gloss black. The reason I chose to wrap these instead of paint them is because I felt this is one trim that will get a lot of contact and that will leave paint at risk of scratching etc. I felt a wrap was a better option for this trim.

Below are some pics:

Gear knob & leather gaitor with blue stitching

2021-04-26T14:21:00.086+01:00

The gated shifter on the 2IS just looked a bit too outdated and was never a huge fan of it. So I decided to install a leather boot/gaitor from a Lexus 3IS along with the gear knob.

I purchased the leather boot second-hand that came with red stitching. I removed the red stitching and replaced with blue stitching. I also completely dismantled the gear knob and re-trimmed it with new sem-perforated leather and hydrodipped the silver trim in my matching blue carbon design. Finally I cut the gear selector rod shorter by 10mm to lower shifter height.

Some pics of the mod below:

Blue carbon hydrodip paddle-shifters and more

2021-04-26T14:14:00.037+01:00

I'm working towards a subtle amount blue features to go with my blue theme. I have now hydrodipped the paddleshifters, steering switchpads and centre console side trims in a blue carbon pictured below:

Carbon hydrodip window switches

2021-04-24T14:14:00.013+01:00

I hydrodipped the window switches in black carbon

Some pictures below:

Sequential CCFL reflector lights

2021-03-07T14:19:00.051+00:00

So I purchased some CCFL LED reflectors for my rear bumper. It's the 3-mode version which is designed to work as follows:

Parking Lights
Brake Lights
Sequential Turn Signal

Seeing as it's red in colour, I really don't like the idea of using the sequentials as a turn signal light. So instead what I have done is wired the sequential mode to be the brake lights when the parking lights are off. And when the parking lights are on then the sequential is disabled completely and normal brighter brake lights operate.

The reason I completely disabled the sequential braking when parking lights are on is because I noticed if I parking lights are on and I try to activate the sequential, the light goes off briefly then the sequential sequence runs and then goes off for a second and then the parking lights come back on. I felt this is too much going on and kind of makes it look like it's malfunctioning.

So mine just work as sequential brake lights during the day with lights off, otherwise brighter brake lights with parking lights on.

I also added extra layer of sealant around the edge where the joints are just to be on the safe side. These chinese lights are sometimes very bad at water and moisture ingress protection.

Below are some pics and videos

Blue Hybrid PCS Front Emblem

2021-02-27T14:20:00.025+00:00

Been on the lookout for a hybrid front emblem. My original one is just the black version and need to match the rear-end blue emblem. I managed to get the PCS version from a breaker for £30. The PCS version of the badge retails for £474.38. So an absolute steal

Some pictures below:

Ambient door lighting

2021-01-29T14:10:00.087+00:00

A lot of cars are now coming with ambient lighting options. Got me thinking about retrofitting something. There are a lot of aftermarket ambient lighting options from RGB controlled to fixed colours. Personally I wasn't too keen on it because the examples out there were overdone and made the interior look like someone has decorated their car with christmas light decoration. So I thought I could try out just the door cards to keep it very subtle and add a resistor to further dim the output so it's not too bright.

So I decided to go for a fixed blue colour because the tubing is blue and when the car is off, the tubing just looks like piping work on the leather. So it's very subtle all the way.

The project is now complete and I am very pleased with the result. I've had people see it in real life thinking it's an OEM finish, they didn't know it was actually lighting, thought it was just some sort of piping which is exactly the effect I wanted.

Below are some photos and videos:

Alternator replacement Denso DAN1354

2021-01-09T10:16:00.059+00:00

There are lots of reports of the alternator on the IS250 failing. I guess mine lasted a good amount of time. It's given me over 178K miles over 15 years. So it's a good time to change. It hasn't completely failed but I have got the symptoms of the burning diodes and the clutch pulley has also seized up.

I decided to replace with a genuine Denso part. I purchased a genuine Denso DAN1354 alternator for £199.

If anyone is changing their alternator, always play it safe and disconnect the negative terminal on the battery, otherwise you risk frying the fuseable link which costs a good amount of money and is a bit of work changing out.

Some pics below of the alternator change.

F-Sport Intake Sound Generator

2020-08-01T14:09:00.042+01:00

Back in September 2010 I upgraded the intake on my IS250 with the polished aluminium D-AFI pipe by Joe Z and modified the lower airbox to create a deep growl. Original post about that mod can be found by clicking here

Then.... for F-Sport non-hybrid models of the 3rd Gen IS and 4th Gen GS, Lexus introduced a intake sound generator. Which is essentially a diaphragm that resonates intake sound. The sound generator is positioned strategically to channel the resonated intake sound straight into the cabin.

So, I thought I'd like to try it out with a combination of my original airbox mod and the sound generator.

So I purchased the complete assembly with the sound generator from a breaker for £80 and sold my JoeZ pipe for £70 to cover most the cost.

Below are some photos of the new intake and sound generator followed by a video clip demonstration. This is pure intake resonated sound with NO performance exhaust.

This sounds even more amazing from outside the car. A lot of other manufacturers use synthetic sound played into the cabin through the sound system which is only fooling the people inside the car.

Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) by DentFX

2020-07-21T15:00:00.044+01:00

I noticed a nasty little dent on the top of the rear right door. No idea how this dent got there as it's more higher up and couldn't have happened in a car park as I haven't driven for days.

Nevertheless, needed to get this eyesore sorted. Decided to go with a paintless dent removal (PDR) company. A huge thank you to Aaron at DentFX for an amazing job on this PDR (Paintless Dent Removal) it was a really awkward place that was boxed in and no access from the rear whatsoever. Aaron didn't give up and found a way in. Top quality work. Absolute perfection. Give them a follow on instagram @dentfx

Some pics below:

Aluminium sports pedals installed

2020-02-17T14:23:00.027+00:00

I've been looking for a set of second-hand aluminium sport pedals for a long time. It seems to be an extremely rare find to be able to find any second-hand. They are easy to get brand new but way over my budget.

Finally managed to grab an absolute bargain for £20 a complete set of second-hand pedals.

Pictures below

Blue power button from CT200h

2020-02-16T14:23:00.039+00:00

Managed to get hold a start button from a Lexus CT200h for very cheap. It's in perfect condition (LIKE NEW). I wanted to swap out my start button with this blue one as it's a nice dark shade of blue with metalic effect in the finish. The button also has a white back-light.

The installation is very simple. Simply remove a few trims to gain access to the rear of the button and squeeze your fingers in and push it out. It's a direct plug & play.

Below are some photos

Steering wheel re-wrap for another IS250

2020-02-15T15:25:00.001+00:00

So this post is somewhat different. This mod is NOT for my car. These are just pictures from a steering wheel re-wrap that I did for my nephews IS250.

This IS250 owner has a black IS250 with orange calipers and has chosen to go with a orange interior theme. So i've re-wrapped his steering wheel with the same perforated leather style wrap as mine but removed all the stitching that it comes with and did my own orange stitching. Actually I lied, I don't do the stitching, I outsource that to my wonderful missus 😀

I also had the steering wheel switch pad trims, centre console silver side trims and glove box silver trim hydrodipped in carbon weave gloss orange to match his theme. Below are photos of the entire project.

Below is a picture of the finished steering wheel followed by photos of the entire project.

Hydrodipped centre console in Black Carbon

2020-01-14T14:10:00.045+00:00

I have the original wood trim centre console which i've put off changing for a long time, but it's way overdue now.

I was thinking to vinyl wrap the centre console but glossy vinyl wraps suffer from orange peel. Vinyl can never give that deep gloss mirror shine that clear coat gives. So hydrodipped it instead which is a water transfer printing process with carbon fibre weave design on a black base coat topped with 2K clear coat.

Some pics of the process below. The last pic shows the weave pattern zoomed in

VLAND tail lights & DRL activation on unlock/approach

2020-01-05T20:09:00.002+00:00

So I recently managed to source a set of rear VLAND tail-lights for my IS250 for a very reasonable price. I didn't like how when the parking lights are off and you apply the brakes, only the outer section lights up. This is how the factory connectors are wired up, so it's not really a VLAND issue. On the normal OEM tail lights it's not a problem. But the VLAND design is more of the L shape and it seems incomplete when only the outer part of the L shape lights up. Ofcourse if the parking lights are on then there is no problem. But I cannot be driving around in the daytime with parking lights on and even if I did, that will cause my front LED's to be dim. So I did a 2 part modification.

Part 1: If parking lights are off, make the inner part of the VLAND tail-lights light up when applying the brakes.

Part 2: Use the puddle light circuit to light up the entire VLAND running lights and the front LED running lights. The puddle lights are powered by a 'square PWM signal'
controlled by the main body ECU wth a MOSFET circuit that fades the puddle lights in and out. So it's not as simple as just tapping straight into the puddle light circuit. You can't just put a relay on it either because 1. power draw 2. it will cause the relay to buzz and wear out prematurely because the circuit is a digital ON/OFF signal to the puddle light bulbs without any analog smoothing. I used a logic board with a relay that has 'optically isolated' inputs meaning the current draw should never exceed 20mA so there is no chance of overload.

Below are a few pics of my VLAND taillights installed and a video demonstrating my 2-part modification. In the pictures below, the boot is not closed so it may look like the VLAND's are not aliged because of it.

Videos:

Below is my video demonstration. I have also included a video made by John from Lexus Owners Club who did this mod on his Lexus IS-F and made a nice little video worth sharing 😀

Auto-Folding mirrors on lock and unlock

2020-01-05T18:29:00.011+00:00

The second generation IS250 that come equipped with auto-folding mirrors do not allow for folding the mirrors once ignition is turned off. This is because the switch is wired via the ACC +12v supply going to the mirror motor.

Power folding mirror motors regardless of brand all work in similar way. They have two wires going to the motor. It folds and unfolds based on the polarity of the power supplied to it. The internal switch that folds the mirror basically flips the ACC +12v and ground around going to the 2 wires of the mirror motor. I initially did some testing and was able to operate the mirrors independently using +12v

I was going to build my own polarity switching relay circuit but then came across these readily available "Intelligent Universal Auto-Folding Mirror Systems". for sale on eBay for as little as £5 from Chinese sellers. I purchased mine for £6.49 as that was the cheapest seller that had UK/EU stock which came in a few days. £5 one would have taken 20-30 days to arrive from china which wasn't a great option for the price difference. The price of buying components and project box etc and making my own unit would have cost me more than £6.49. This system is universal and works on the same principal. As long as it's wired correctly, I had no doubt it would work.

With this system installed, the internal mirror folding switch still works just like normal. The module is marketed as being an intelligent folding system. This is because if you fold your mirrors using the internal switch and then turn off the car, the system will not do anything when you lock or unlock the car. It's because let’s say you parked in a really tight spot where you had to fold your mirrors with the switch, and then if the system just unfolded it when you unlocked it, that would be a disaster. So the system doesn't operate if you manually fold the mirror with the switch before turning ignition off. If you leave mirrors normally unfolded and turn off ignition then system operates normally.

The system works great. Below is a video demonstration of the system working followed by my guide on how to install the system on a second generation Lexus IS250. You can follow the installation guide to a certain extent to install on any car as long as you can find the equivalent cables to tap into on your car.

You can buy the universal mirror folding module from many different sellers on eBay. I think there are two or three different variations manufactured by different companies. But the one I bought looks like the following pics. My install guide is based on this module and so the colours will match this module. The other systems should work too, but you will need to match up the equivalent wires.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LHD CARS

These instructions are made for a RHD IS250. I have tried to provide the possible solutions in my diagrams. But please always check the connections to make sure they are what they are supposed to be.

DISCLAIMER:

Use this guide at your own risk! modifications to any electronic systems that are not done correctly can pose a huge risk (including and not limited to car fire). Therefore, if you are not confident in electronics please do NOT attempt it. I accept no responsibility for any damage to your vehicle or personal injury as a result of following any guides.

TOOLS NEEDED:

Preferably a soldering iron for a clean installation
Heat gun to shrink the heat-shrink tube over solder joints. (A lighter will work if you are careful, a hair dryer may also work).
Wire cutter and strippers
Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws for the door card.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

The universal mirror module itself
Solder wire to solder the joints with the soldering iron
Some insulation tape to tidy up and have a clean install
Some heat-shrinking tube. I will explain about the heat-shrinking tube next

HEAT-SHRINK AND WIRE JOINING INFORMATION:

If you've not done heat-shrinking before, please watch some YouTube videos on soldering and heat-shrinking. It gives you a clean and tidy joint with less risk of exposed wires. If you are not that bothered about a clean and safe joint then you could use insulation tape to wrap the joint but if you do this please make sure your joints are properly insulated. For straight 1 wire to 1 wire joints I used a 3:1 glue-lined heat shrink with 2.4mm internal unshrunk diameter. There are two wires going from the switch connector to the mirror motors, these two will need to be cut and then routed through the universal module. Once you cut these two wires you are then left with 4 open-ends of wires. These 4 open-end wires will go to 4 different wires on the universal module. These 4 joints will be the only straight 1-to-1 joints. The remaining 5 wires on the module will tap into existing lines. To tap into existing lines, you have a few options.

Option 1: Use wire tap-in crimps like the one pictured below:

Option 2: Solder joint and heat shrink. This is the method I prefer and use. If you do a T joint with solder then you cannot really put heat shrink over it as you don't have an open-end wire for the heat shrink tube to go in. So with a T joint you will have to use insulation tape. Because I like a clean install, I cut the wire and I used 4:1 glue-lined heat shrink sleeve with 6mm internal diameter. Please watch YouTube videos and familiarize yourself with these techniques if you want to do this. My joints look like the picture below:

IMPORTANT NOTES BEFORE WE BEGIN:

You must have motorised mirrors with an internal folding switch for this mod. This module won't magically make a non-motorised mirror fold 😂
If you live in a region where your mirror housing freezes up during winter seasons then please take precautions during the freezing mornings where you think the mirror housing might be frozen. If enough ice builds-up around the mirror swivel point then the motor cannot operate and can potentially blow a fuse.
I will reference colour code of the cables from my 2006 car. However, from what i've read, Lexus have different connector configurations with different colour codes for different region and variants of the car. I have tried my best to cover all the variants I am aware of. However, if the connectors don't match the ones in my installation illustration picture then please find the matching wire as per the description.

So let's begin, please excuse my messy drawings 😀

If you want to familarise yourself with the wiring before-hand, two of the 3 connectors (Connector A and Conector B) that you are tapping in-to is under the window switch on the drivers door-card. You can simply pop-out the window switch panel and disconnect those two connectors and have a look at the wires in the first few steps below. This may help you understand better before you completely remove your door-card panel. The only connector that is only accessible after removing the door-card is the lock and unlock signal wires from the lock actuator connector.

Firstly you will need to remove the drivers side door-card. This is because the drivers side door card has the master switch that operates the mirror. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing you how to remove the door-cards on the IS250.
Once the driver's side door-card is removed, let's locate the 3 connectors that we need to tap in to. As I mentioned above, there are different variants of the connectors depending on region and variant of the car. The connectors we are going to be working with are as follows, I will refer to them in my illustration as connectors A, B and C:

(A) The first connector that goes to the mirror switch panel
(B) The second connector that goes to the same panel but controls power windows
(C) The connector that connects to the door lock actuator. This connector is at the far end of the door and connected inside a round slot straight into the door frame itself. It looks something like the picture below:

Now that we have located the 3 connectors that we are working with we are now going to need to connect all 9 wires from the mirror folding module system. Lets first have a look at the 9 wires and what they do in the diagram below. If you have a mirror module that doesn't match this setup, it should also have exactly similar function wires that you can match up.
Now that you've had a chance to look at the 9 wires, we now need to make 6 of the connections out of the 9 wires to Connector A. Below is picture containing 3 illustrations to show which wires from the mirror fold system connect to which wires on Connector A. There are 3 different versions of Connector A and therefore in the illustration below I have drawn the wiring connections for all 3 different connectors. So please match the connector you have and follow the correct illustration. This is the only connector where you will cut two wires and create 4 open-ends to connect 4 wires from the mirror fold system.
Now that the first connector is done. We only have 3 wires remaining to work with. Lets make the connection to Connector B. We are only connecting 1 cable to Connector B. There are also different versions of Connector B. And like the illustration in the previous step, please follow the conector that matches your car. From Connector B we are basically only interested in the always live +12v to keep the mirror module always powered.
Finally, lets make the final two wire connections on Connector C. This is the lock and unlock signals. Please look at the illustration below to connect the correct wires to the lock actuator connector. If you want your mirrors to fold only when you double-lock (press lock button twice) then tap in to the thick white wire instead of thick purple as illustrated.
You should now have all 9 wires of the mirror fold system connected.
Test it by locking and unlocking the car. Please make sure the internal mirror folding switch is not pressed to the fold position as this will make the system ignore folding when locking. Once you are happy, tidy up the installation and secure everything and put things back in reverse order.

That's it. Enjoy your new convenient mod 😀

WALD Style Rear Spoiler

2019-10-27T13:01:00.000+00:00

I managed to source a good priced WALD style replica boot-lid spoiler. The original WALD one is rather expensive and there are a few different replicas of this around. I got the replica made with ABS plastic just like the original and not the fibreglass stuff as I’m not very keen on the fibre-glass panels.

I was a little concerned if my hybrid version of the Lexus badge will fit into the recess. It did fit perfectly. The hybrid version badge isn't 100% flat so I glued the badge in place rather than using double-sided tape.

Below are some photos of the project. I’m very pleased with the result.