(Part 2) Best products from r/Lexus

Same thing happened to me. Lexus dealer told me $100 for the mirrr. I bought this from Amazon for $25 and would recommend it. It's a little smaller than the original but can barely notice he difference and works great for me.

-

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LGX810G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_OTimI6Pnuu95G

Hi! If your car has a cigarette lighter slot, you can use an adapter that lets your phone connect via bluetooth. Here’s a link to one that lots of my friends use in their car. It works great and it’s cheap! Link

I used the Mothers NuLens kit which has everything you need except for the drill. Comes with the drill chuck attachment, 800/1500/3000 grit sandpaper attachments as well as the polishing ball and the plastic polish. I took my time, and it took about an hour per light. Well worth the $20 and 2 hours of my time, imo!

I use a dash clip, they're pretty good, like a heads up display
https://www.amazon.com/KAMISAFE-Blocking-Dashboard-Compatible-Smartphones/dp/B07GF6MXJ1

This is just an example, some of the clips are apparently really fragile so gotta look at the reviews

https://bulbfacts.com
YouTube Channel

I searched on YouTube for appropriate LEDs for reflectors for my old Toyota Camry. I found this reviewer that does extensive labs tests on various LED kits from Amazon for both reflector and projector housings.

I bought TechMax LED for $35 I think. They are bright, white and out classes any halogen I used and it didn't blind oncoming traffic since it's beam pattern sticks similar to halogen like BulbFacts states. I transfered those to my fog lights on my new Lexus.

For the projector headlights I bought the Katana LEDS since it provides the widest range for LED in a projector. I believe another LED outclasses it for distance at the cost of some side visibility. But I live mostly in the city so I prefer side visibility.

You will need a little bracket for the headlights. These are the ones I bought in order to keep the LED in place.

And a dust cover. There's one that's inverted on Amazon that's highly rated.

Which car do you have ?

I got mine from Amazon, they are nice and bright. It fits all the interior lights as well as the puddle lights beneath the exterior side mirrors.

Here's the link

I bought this one from GrimmSpeed . It's a little pricey but held up when someone hit my bumper lol. I have a 2015 IS250 so it should fit yours

I own a 1999 RX300 and it too only has a cassette slot. All i did was get a cassette AUX adapter, a female to female 3.5mm coupler, and a Bluetooth AUX adapter. Now I can play my music through my cassette via bluetooth.

I currently use: SoundBot SB360 Bluetooth 4.0 Car Kit Hands-Free Wireless Talking & Music Streaming Dongle w/ 10W Dual Port 2.1A USB Charger + Magnetic Mounts + Built-in 3.5mm Aux Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RH29CJO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_07DHxbF1NFZDN

I honestly can not tell a difference between using the AUX directly compared to using bluetooth. Hope this helps.

Those are 350Z wheels. Pop them off and make sure they have hub-centric adapters on them. If they don't you can run the risk of alignment issues down the road. They're super cheap and easy as pie to put on.

Here are the ones I used on my GS for the G35. (same hub/bolt pattern)

TaoTronics Bluetooth Car Kit, Bluetooth 4.0 Car Adapter Hands-Free Calling + Dual 2.1A USB Charger
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AU91Y78/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_c8gezbC4AK8N5

That's the one I have and it works great. I use PowerAmp on my Android phone and set it to pause when it loses BT connection and resume when it connects to the car automagically. I love it.

Philips XtremeVision D4S +150% is balls-to-the-wall bright.

Osram Nightbreaker Laser +200% is supposed to be technically superior, given its +200% more beam flux claim, BUT I've tested both side-by-side, and I usually suggest that people go with the Philips. The Philips has possibly more appealing "white" color than the Osrams, and the "whiter" light plays a psychological trick: it makes us think the light is "brighter."

>We got it used a few years back and I was fairly disappointed with the night time illumination. So now I’m thinking it might not be the headlight design, just shitty bulbs.

It's not the headlamp design. HID bulbs lose lots of light output as they age, and beam focus deteriorates. After 1500 hours of operation, only 3% of standard Philips OEM type bulbs are projected to have failed. But at the same time, they'll only be putting out 75% of the original number of lumens. That's halogen bulb territory.

Lexus also generally doesn't put shitty lamps on its cars; most, if not all, of its lamps have been exemplary.

Lots of people think their HID systems are shitty and end up doing stuff like baking open their headlamps, spending $1000 to JB Weld some new projectors in, and stuff like that, but the reality is that there's nothing wrong with Lexus HID systems, which are some of the best on the market. What's wrong in 99% of cases is that they're using 10 year old HID bulbs that still ignite but don't put out much light (not to mention electrode deterioration, which negatively affects beam focus).

And depending on how old the ES is, it might have a HID system. If it does have an HID system, it's probably a good idea to replace its HID bulbs as well if they're a few years old. After just 250 hours of operation, lumen output is already at 90% of original, according to the chart I linked above. I personally buy new HID bulbs on a yearly basis.

>I would prefer to stay with the OEM type of color and not a super blue light. But brightness is the priority over color or even bulb life here.

OEM is likely just a standard Philips bulbs. Neither the Osram Nightbreaker Laser nor the Philips XtremeVision are the ultra-blue bulbs. They will "last" a similar amount of time as OEM bulbs, but will burn brighter. But really, I wouldn't worry about how "long" a HID bulb last--they can certainly last the better part of a decade--but at that point, they're like 98 year old people: useless for just about anything.

Yeah, most cars have this same problem.


I bought one of these (you can use any USB charger with turbo, this one is nice because it has a cigarette charger and fits nicely in my center console):


https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCore-Turbo-Portable-Charger/dp/B01DOXPC0M/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1494873149&sr=1-1&keywords=anker+powercore+car+charger

BAFX Products Bluetooth Diagnostic OBDII Reader/Scanner for Android Devices https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005NLQAHS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_B-Z2BbV6XJF6X

Plug it in and download the app and boom it gives you the codes. Super useful.

It's not a terrible job. I just recently did this on my IS300 that also has the 2JZ-GE and you can do it in a day if you take your time.

You need to gauge your mechanical ability and tools-on-hand vs. taking it somewhere. If you can follow instructions and have some basic tools you can do this with the purchase of some extra.

Stuff you need:

• Balancer bolt comes off with this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XDBBG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• For leverage: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EP67SYQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• Steering wheel/balancer puller (metric bolts)
  
• Timing belt tensioner
  
• Timing belt
  
• Water pump, bypass, gaskets, thermostat
  
• Serpentine belt
  
• Cam and crank seals are recommended
  
• Cam and crank seal puller
  
• Oil and oil filter
  
• Coolant hoses
  
• Coolant
  
  All parts minus fluids can be had for under $300 with good quality.
  Tools will be about $200 assuming you rent the torque wrench and puller.
  
  Expect at least 1 bolt to get stuck and/or stripped.
  
  You'll save a few hundred bucks but you need to weigh your time and ability vs taking it somewhere.

Tanabe NF210 Springs - 13 Lexus GS350
http://www.amazon.com/Tanabe-NF210-Springs-Lexus-GS350/dp/B00BYG4MAI
I have these on my 2wd, rides fine, looks great

Use white lithium grease like this.

And follow this Youtube video...it's for a Camry but pretty much the same exact thing in the RX. I just did my Mom's 2001 RX and this worked great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGriUALt3-4