Trendzero’s journey to perfection!
08-22-11, 09:22 PM
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Trendzero’s journey to perfection!
Hello,
Welcome to my IS progress thread. I purchased my Crystal White IS350 in August 2011 with 27,000 miles on it. It came equipped with all packages including Navi, Mark Levinson, Illuminated Sills, XM, and Camel/Black Interior with Cherry wood accents. CL has been a great resource, as I lurked prior to purchasing, and has a lot of great contributing members with amazing rides which have provided lots of inspiration for me.
Cars have always been a passion of mine so much so that in my “spare time” I decided to found an organization which holds an annual modern autoshow here in Denver to promote the custom, import, and tuner scene. The show is called 5280Fest and my website is 5280Fest.com if anyone wishes to see some video and photos of my show.
As the thread title implies, I feel it has taken me several cars, car brands and builds to finally arrive at what I feel is the best all around, bang for the buck car for me, my IS350. My journey to perfection started many years ago with my first mod project a 98 Grand Prix GTP. It had too many mods to list but it was putting out about 11 psi on the supercharger and had several custom body parts and a red/black carbon Kevlar molded interior which I did myself. This was back during the fast and furious days so the style reflected that era. It was a fun car, many problems after about 100k, but I was having our first child and it was not a family oriented vehicle so it had to go.
Since we were starting a family I decided I would get an SUV, always been a car man at heart but thought I would give it a shot. It was a 02 Mercedes ML and I did a full interior trim swap, BBK, new grille, tint, 20” AMG wheels powdercoated Black, 05 side mirrors, headlights and tail lights, side rails, roof spoiler and a fold down DVD player. I got bored of the SUV really quick plus it was super unreliable so I sold it and bought my wife an SUV in order to purchase another sedan.
Next I purchased my first import, a 04 Acura TL loaded including Navi. I loved this car as it was a great ride and loaded with technology. I told myself I was not going to mod it but the mod bug hit and I started away. By the time I sold it, it had A-Spec full body kit || A-Spec Suspension || Takeda CAI || RV6 V3 J-Pipe || True Dual Magna Flow Cat-Back Exhaust || 18” A-Spec Gunmetal Wheels || Tint || Custom Cleared Headlights || Full Carbon Fiber Interior Kit || Type S Carbon Fiber Shift **** || Rear Spoiler || Type-S Taillights || Grey Type S Side Markers || Carbon Fiber Steering Wheel || Blue LED Interior Light Conversion || Custom Body Matched Front Grille Bar || Custom Made Carbon Fiber Engine Shroud || Body matched Engine Covers || Interior LED Underglows || Acura Tire Stem Covers || Trunk Mat || Clear Bra. I sold it because I was looking for more power and the only true power adder was a supercharger and there was no one locally that could tune it so I decided to find an auto that could put down some HP numbers.
My next project was a 06 Audi S4 V8 loaded with Navi, 6MT, factory carbon fiber interior and Recaro seats. Short and sweet I wanted this thing to haul and look good so my mod list included a PES G4 Stage-2 Supercharger Kit || Intercooler || JHM intake spacers || JHM light weight crank pulley || JHM Snub Mount || Intake Manifold heat shield || Bilstein - PSS9 Coilovers || VMR 708 wheels onyx black || Hawk Brake pads || JHM piggie down pipes || Custom Labree Catback Exhaust || Black S4 Front Grille || Carbon Fiber Rear Spoiler || Carbon Fiber Side B Pillars || Carbon Fiber Side Mirrors || Carbon Fiber Front Splitter || Carbon Fiber Rear Valance || Smoked Front Side Markers || Black Roof || Clear Bra || Tint. But I found myself spending more money and time in the shop then on the car itself. This drove me crazy so I sold it and decided to go back to imports as they have proven to be more reliable allowing me to spend money where it counts.
After going through this “journey” I knew what I wanted; a luxury car with technology, reliability, moddablity and power so the only natural choice was the IS 350. I decided on the 06 since we just purchased a new MDX loaded for my wife and I didn’t want two huge monthly payments. As I mentioned above it came with all the fixins and the original owner kept it in immaculate condition, it even had that new leather smell still. It came with a set of OEM 17s with winter tires and a set of 18” Enkeis, which I didn’t care for. I sold the 18s and am going to keep the 17s on for now since we are heading into the winter months soon.
Since I purchased my car two weeks ago I already have had the windows tinted, painted the roof black, and installed the auto couture front lip. I just purchased and awaiting delivery of the Wald rear spoiler, and side skirts and the JP Visage rear lip is sitting in my garage awaiting install and paint. My plans so far are to have BCR coilovers, wheels, rear roof spoiler, new steering wheel, new tails, exhaust, intake, body matched engine covers with carbon fiber etc. installed and ready to display at my auto show in summer 2012. I will have my 4x4 status until spring since I don’t see the point during it this winter.
Purchase day:
Front lip installed!
Gave the tips a good polish with Flitz (the hands down BEST chrome and metal polisher there is PERIOD)
Pic of the interior. I had gone back and forth deciding whether or not to keep the Cherry Maple but after looking at the available options I decided it is going to stay. If the dark bird’s eye maple was an option for my model year I would be swapping out for that.
Pic of the door sills just cause I love them and think they look sick.
Pic of the MDX and my IS (def. prefer the MDX over the RX, just my opinion)
Here are a few pics as it sits today with the roof. Over the next few weeks I will be installing and painting the remaining body pieces.
Thanks for reading and checking out my thread and my progress has it happens in the coming months.
Welcome to my IS progress thread. I purchased my Crystal White IS350 in August 2011 with 27,000 miles on it. It came equipped with all packages including Navi, Mark Levinson, Illuminated Sills, XM, and Camel/Black Interior with Cherry wood accents. CL has been a great resource, as I lurked prior to purchasing, and has a lot of great contributing members with amazing rides which have provided lots of inspiration for me.
Cars have always been a passion of mine so much so that in my “spare time” I decided to found an organization which holds an annual modern autoshow here in Denver to promote the custom, import, and tuner scene. The show is called 5280Fest and my website is 5280Fest.com if anyone wishes to see some video and photos of my show.
As the thread title implies, I feel it has taken me several cars, car brands and builds to finally arrive at what I feel is the best all around, bang for the buck car for me, my IS350. My journey to perfection started many years ago with my first mod project a 98 Grand Prix GTP. It had too many mods to list but it was putting out about 11 psi on the supercharger and had several custom body parts and a red/black carbon Kevlar molded interior which I did myself. This was back during the fast and furious days so the style reflected that era. It was a fun car, many problems after about 100k, but I was having our first child and it was not a family oriented vehicle so it had to go.
Since we were starting a family I decided I would get an SUV, always been a car man at heart but thought I would give it a shot. It was a 02 Mercedes ML and I did a full interior trim swap, BBK, new grille, tint, 20” AMG wheels powdercoated Black, 05 side mirrors, headlights and tail lights, side rails, roof spoiler and a fold down DVD player. I got bored of the SUV really quick plus it was super unreliable so I sold it and bought my wife an SUV in order to purchase another sedan.
Next I purchased my first import, a 04 Acura TL loaded including Navi. I loved this car as it was a great ride and loaded with technology. I told myself I was not going to mod it but the mod bug hit and I started away. By the time I sold it, it had A-Spec full body kit || A-Spec Suspension || Takeda CAI || RV6 V3 J-Pipe || True Dual Magna Flow Cat-Back Exhaust || 18” A-Spec Gunmetal Wheels || Tint || Custom Cleared Headlights || Full Carbon Fiber Interior Kit || Type S Carbon Fiber Shift **** || Rear Spoiler || Type-S Taillights || Grey Type S Side Markers || Carbon Fiber Steering Wheel || Blue LED Interior Light Conversion || Custom Body Matched Front Grille Bar || Custom Made Carbon Fiber Engine Shroud || Body matched Engine Covers || Interior LED Underglows || Acura Tire Stem Covers || Trunk Mat || Clear Bra. I sold it because I was looking for more power and the only true power adder was a supercharger and there was no one locally that could tune it so I decided to find an auto that could put down some HP numbers.
My next project was a 06 Audi S4 V8 loaded with Navi, 6MT, factory carbon fiber interior and Recaro seats. Short and sweet I wanted this thing to haul and look good so my mod list included a PES G4 Stage-2 Supercharger Kit || Intercooler || JHM intake spacers || JHM light weight crank pulley || JHM Snub Mount || Intake Manifold heat shield || Bilstein - PSS9 Coilovers || VMR 708 wheels onyx black || Hawk Brake pads || JHM piggie down pipes || Custom Labree Catback Exhaust || Black S4 Front Grille || Carbon Fiber Rear Spoiler || Carbon Fiber Side B Pillars || Carbon Fiber Side Mirrors || Carbon Fiber Front Splitter || Carbon Fiber Rear Valance || Smoked Front Side Markers || Black Roof || Clear Bra || Tint. But I found myself spending more money and time in the shop then on the car itself. This drove me crazy so I sold it and decided to go back to imports as they have proven to be more reliable allowing me to spend money where it counts.
After going through this “journey” I knew what I wanted; a luxury car with technology, reliability, moddablity and power so the only natural choice was the IS 350. I decided on the 06 since we just purchased a new MDX loaded for my wife and I didn’t want two huge monthly payments. As I mentioned above it came with all the fixins and the original owner kept it in immaculate condition, it even had that new leather smell still. It came with a set of OEM 17s with winter tires and a set of 18” Enkeis, which I didn’t care for. I sold the 18s and am going to keep the 17s on for now since we are heading into the winter months soon.
Since I purchased my car two weeks ago I already have had the windows tinted, painted the roof black, and installed the auto couture front lip. I just purchased and awaiting delivery of the Wald rear spoiler, and side skirts and the JP Visage rear lip is sitting in my garage awaiting install and paint. My plans so far are to have BCR coilovers, wheels, rear roof spoiler, new steering wheel, new tails, exhaust, intake, body matched engine covers with carbon fiber etc. installed and ready to display at my auto show in summer 2012. I will have my 4x4 status until spring since I don’t see the point during it this winter.
Purchase day:
Front lip installed!
Gave the tips a good polish with Flitz (the hands down BEST chrome and metal polisher there is PERIOD)
Pic of the interior. I had gone back and forth deciding whether or not to keep the Cherry Maple but after looking at the available options I decided it is going to stay. If the dark bird’s eye maple was an option for my model year I would be swapping out for that.
Pic of the door sills just cause I love them and think they look sick.
Pic of the MDX and my IS (def. prefer the MDX over the RX, just my opinion)
Here are a few pics as it sits today with the roof. Over the next few weeks I will be installing and painting the remaining body pieces.
Thanks for reading and checking out my thread and my progress has it happens in the coming months.
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). happy modding.
08-23-11, 05:43 PM
#15
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In a few weeks time I'll have my skirts and rear lip on along with a roof spoiler.Haven't used blue magic but my stuff takes everything off with little to no elbow grease and is not toxic and non abrasive to your paint so I am a life long customer.