Benpoz

My ES300 has been my dads car since it was new, and I'm looking into making it a little more modernized and updated. First off, the headlights are starting to craze up so I have been looking at the Halo lights they have on eBay. Just the chrome ones with the CCFL halos and a projector unit for the standard H7 bulb. Anyone have any experience with these? Second, the tail lights. Anyone know of the best place to pick up a set of stock 05 06 ES 330 style ones? And last, I was looking at putting on the 330 type wheels, if it's not too much more expensive than just putting on a fresh set of the 9 spoke 300 style? I've done some online shopping around but want to see what you guys have to say. Thanks!



What she looks like now



The eBay lights

lsiberian

What condition is the interior in? You might do some restoration of the seats. It already looks pretty slick on the exterior IMO. If your head lights are hazy you can normally fix that pretty easily.

Benpoz

Thanks! I've done just about everything -pulling the carpet out and cleaning it and I keep it clean, new OEM carpet floor mats, keep the leather conditioned... The front seats are a little beat up (small cracks on the sides and stuff). And the headlights aren't yellowed, but like the lamination on them is gone on odd spots like along the top and where the beam hits. I will post pics tomorrow of the headlights and interior to see what you think.

speedkar9

Tint it !

As for rims, I personally like the 5 spoke OEM rims that came on newer Camry SE's and Gen 2 Solaras. They're all the same size and bore so don't limit yourself to Lexus ES OEM rims only. My stock ES330 rims are curbed, corroding and I see other ES330's with similar problems so I'd stay away from those sets.

I've had Spyder projector halo lights (from CarID) on my 2003 Camry a few years ago. The light output with an HID bulb is so much brighter than stock, and the headlights didn't feel flimsy or had any fitment issues. I'd only consider upgrading to projectors if you don't have stock HID's in your ES300.

Oro

I agree the lsiberian, headlight upgrade is not worth the cost imo. Ours were pretty hazy and the beam yellowish. While I was doing some other work on the car one time last summer, my dad used the Meguiar's "power ball" headlight restoration kit on them. Took some time, and it cleaned them up and the beam went to being super-white and clear. I was surprised. We had to repeat it again a few weeks later, but it's been about a year since then with them staying clear. Stock headlights were pretty decent IMO, just the lens needs maintenance over time.

I agree the 05 wheels are nicer looking. Perhaps you can just wait and find a take-off set on Craigslist or something. I'd like to do that, too, or some newer Toyota wheels like Speedkar9 said.

Benpoz

I would keep the headlights, but what I mean by crazing is that the clear lamination on the light is going. It's not yellow- I have buffed them with a foam pad before and wax them to keep the yellow away. It's doing this BECAUSE of buffing/cleaning the yellow off too much. So unless anyone knows of a way to almost re build the surface of the lens, they're basically shot cosmetically. And I know what you mean by OEM rims going bad over time, the ones on mine right now are refurbished ones as the stock ones chipped paint and bubbled really fast, seemed to be a problem with lexus before.

iWorstLuck

I just sanded mine with 1000 grit and had a buddy clear them, they came out great! Keep an eye out on Craigslist and setup some email alerts on tags: 5x114.3/5x4.5/etc.

speedkar9

Clear vinyl wrap them like I did mine, they give it a more transparent, cleaner look:

Benpoz

Your guy just used regular clear coat on them???

Benpoz

So you think that would cover up this possibly?


Close up passenger side





Cloudy and crazed





The drivers side is actually pretty good, just minor





Notice there is no yellowing or anything, just cloudy and crazed over

iWorstLuck

Yeah he just used regular clear on them. You can also use clear coat from a can, I've seen it done before

Benpoz

I will have to take a shot at that this weekend. Thanks for the help.

SpecialAgt

You can't go wrong with some window tint, nice fitting wheels, and a drop to eliminate the wheel gap to a tasteful yet still functional level

iWorstLuck

Np! There are also videos on YouTube if you need a step by step. I started at 1000 grit and went up to 1500/2000, then clear. If you want a quick fix for the taillights you can vinyl wrap the clear area red or use vht red! I vinyl wrapped mine because I couldn't find any all red led ones

speedkar9

You need to start with a buffed clean headlight in order to put vinyl on top of it to preserve the clean look. It won't magically cover the scratches.