schanel

Fairly new to ClubLexus, kind of just joined to bounce around some ideas for my car, but figured I might as well start my own build thread to get some thoughts/opinions from whoever.

My last build was my '00 E46, but was unfortunately totalled last December. I had already been eyeing an IS for awhile, so it worked out in the end. Currently live in MT, but back in March, went down to Denver to pick up my '06 IS350 and I seriously would take this thing 100x over my BMW lol. Haven't had this car too long, but I've added a few things to start. We're off to a rough winter already so the rest of the stuff I want done will have to wait till after we're clear of negative temps and snow

So here's how my car looked when I first bought it and how it sits now.




















Picked up a 5Axis Lip, bought the ISF honeycomb style upper & lower grills, plastidipped all the emblems and wheels, gloss black vinyl wrapped the roof, VHT sprayed the tails and rear reflectos, interior has bright white LED lighting and got the RoadMagnet 2" lowering springs.

The only work I've done as far as interior/performance is added a K&N cold air intake and removed the blown rear sub (behind the back seat) and wired in my Rockford Fosgate Punch500 amp and the two P2 10" subs to the trunk.

Next on my list to buy are Rohana wheels, really leaning towards the RC22 in black, an exhaust (might delete the res & run straight pipe, but not sure), coilovers will come eventually and really determined to get a new headlight setup.

Definitely open to any suggestions or opinions. Far from being done with this car, but gotta start somewhere

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

Welcome toCL. Looks like you're off to a great start did someone help you with all this? Looks pretty nice. I'm not a fan of the tail lights but you've got a rare front lip. Loooking good.

Initial G

iTrader: (38)

Welcome to CL! Glad to see more female owners on the forum.

Good start with the mods so far. Not a big fan of plasti dipped wheels, but to each their own.

I would get exhaust and sway bars next. Then maybe some coil overs and 2011-2012 headlights. Some JDM visors after.

Good luck with the build and keep us posted.

ISland350

Suspension and exhaust for sure...then again i dont even have exhaust yet Looks like your going for that blacked out look(taillights), not really a fan unless its done on Obsidian but at least youve been tying it in the build so it flows better.

Neomoogle

Welcome and congrats on the purchase!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Great start, and welcome! Will you end up having to get snow tires to get around up there?

instro84

welcome, and nice looking is. i like driven these better than my old bmw also.

schanel

Thank you!! Slowly, but surely getting some ideas flowing for this thing. My mascot hanging from the rearview is the black/white theme I'm goin' for on this one, for awhile at least lol. I really only plastidipped the wheels to get rid of the stock look while there's snow/ice. Once winter is thru, new wheels will be mounted ASAP. Exhaust & headlights will be the next step in the meantime. Still undecided if I should make the attempt of blacking out the headlight housing on these or just taking the plunge to swap in 2011/2012 headlights. Something about baking a headlight sounds a lil' sketch... For exhaust, I still haven't come across the right sound I think that will suit it & I'm so damn picky with everything so it may take me a minute to find the right sound haha

One thing that's unfortunate is bimmers were so much easier to build & find stuff for. These cars require a lot more searching for simple things, but I'll have this for awhile so whatever, looking forward to having fun with it. Not too much patience here either though so I just want everything done now.

Lucky for me my dad's a mechanic so I trouble him for any of the big jobs, but if it doesn't require I lift, I usually work on it myself, which I'm sure sounds surprising for a female driver


I was going to, but I may just park this for winter & keep adding things while it sits, play it safe lol.

MikeFoxx

iTrader: (8)

I like that lip

Seize

Welcome to Club Lexus

The Rohanna RC22 is a nice looking 5 spoke. On white I'd go with a gunmetal or silver color but that's just me. Regardless of what color you decide to go with, I'm sure they'll look great on your ride.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

It is nice to have a winter beater. I've thought about that option as well myself.

I heard someone online the other day call the white/black theme as being a "stormtrooper". I like that better than a "skunk".

BennIS250

Hey just a question with your audio set up, hows the head unit integrate with your aftermarket amp and subs? Were there no issues wiring all that up? I blew my stock ML sub recently and am looking at other options for the audio but have been told its difficult to integrate an aftermarket amp and sub to the stock head unit? Cheers, and may i say the cars looking great! Good start

schanel

Thank you! I was told the same thing by a stereo shop prior to the install, but actually, blowing that ML sub just made the install that much easier. We bypassed that sub & the factory amp by tapping into the pre-amp wires and running them straight into the aftermarket amp, that way I didn't need a LOC. Also didn't wind up needing the Hi-Low converter I bought just in case. I adjusted the levels on my amp in the trunk to the right set/output and now I just use the head unit to adjust the bass, treble, gain, etc. for it for whenever I need to take it down a notch lol. The sound is great and works perfect, whether I'm listening to satellite radio or using the auxiliary cord for the iPod or whatever. Only real pain in the *** was getting into all the tight spaces for the wiring so it took just over 2 hours, but definitely worth it.

asuraIS250

iTrader: (1)

Nice start on your build, can't wait to see the end product

DarkSeph

Looks great, never seen a girl rollin' like this! =D