Gave up on BMW, bought my first Lexus!
#1
Gave up on BMW, bought my first Lexus!
Okay, well I didn't give up completely, but I gave up trying to daily drive and properly maintain a '93 525i and bought a GS instead.
Hey all, I'm Matt and I'm new over here. Just bought a black on black '99 GS 400 with 141,000 miles. It's in great shape (apart from a scrape on the front bumper), and appears to have been very well maintained. Only options I'm aware of are the auto leveling HID/Xenon lights and Lexus Premium Sound.
Previous owner did a few things to it, namely staggered 20" Stance ST-1 wheels, some 1.5" Tanabe lowering springs, and smoked tail lights. I plan to go with a mild VIP-style build and to daily drive the thing. First on the agenda is window tint, exhaust, and black-out the chrome body line.
Here's a couple pictures:
I am hopelessly in love with cars of all kinds, which is why I have 5 of them at the moment. Here's the other things that suck up all my paychecks.
Snow camo wrapped '93 BMW 525i, currently for sale:
"Murdered-out" '95 BMW 540i 6-speed:
With the matte-black houndstooth hood, now removed:
My 2000 Chevy Suburban 2500 for towing and mild off-road trips:
And everybody's favorite, the Convertiburb, which is a rusty old '77 Suburban on air bags with the roof cut off:
And a night-time tail dragging video for good measure...
Looking forward to being here! I've already done some lurking around the forums and found a lot of good information. I'll keep you guys updated as I build the GS.
Hey all, I'm Matt and I'm new over here. Just bought a black on black '99 GS 400 with 141,000 miles. It's in great shape (apart from a scrape on the front bumper), and appears to have been very well maintained. Only options I'm aware of are the auto leveling HID/Xenon lights and Lexus Premium Sound.
Previous owner did a few things to it, namely staggered 20" Stance ST-1 wheels, some 1.5" Tanabe lowering springs, and smoked tail lights. I plan to go with a mild VIP-style build and to daily drive the thing. First on the agenda is window tint, exhaust, and black-out the chrome body line.
Here's a couple pictures:
I am hopelessly in love with cars of all kinds, which is why I have 5 of them at the moment. Here's the other things that suck up all my paychecks.
Snow camo wrapped '93 BMW 525i, currently for sale:
"Murdered-out" '95 BMW 540i 6-speed:
With the matte-black houndstooth hood, now removed:
My 2000 Chevy Suburban 2500 for towing and mild off-road trips:
And everybody's favorite, the Convertiburb, which is a rusty old '77 Suburban on air bags with the roof cut off:
And a night-time tail dragging video for good measure...
Looking forward to being here! I've already done some lurking around the forums and found a lot of good information. I'll keep you guys updated as I build the GS.
#3
Welcome!
That car is sweet! I know the feeling you're in. I've got a 92 525i 5 speed:
Fortunately a little cleaned up since that picture. I've got a 98 M3 engine sitting in the garage I'm going to get around rebuilding one day and slap it in. She's been very reliable. A lot different that modern BMWs IMO.
But for everyday comfort and less maintenance:
And for getting beer and bacon on the rare occasion it snows :
That car is sweet! I know the feeling you're in. I've got a 92 525i 5 speed:
Fortunately a little cleaned up since that picture. I've got a 98 M3 engine sitting in the garage I'm going to get around rebuilding one day and slap it in. She's been very reliable. A lot different that modern BMWs IMO.
But for everyday comfort and less maintenance:
And for getting beer and bacon on the rare occasion it snows :
#6
Lexus Champion
mveale welcome and sweet collection of rides. And despite the cool Bimmers, I gotta throw some love at that Toyota 4x4. Love those trucks for rugged looks and ability.
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#8
Welcome!
That car is sweet! I know the feeling you're in. I've got a 92 525i 5 speed:
Fortunately a little cleaned up since that picture. I've got a 98 M3 engine sitting in the garage I'm going to get around rebuilding one day and slap it in. She's been very reliable. A lot different that modern BMWs IMO.
That car is sweet! I know the feeling you're in. I've got a 92 525i 5 speed:
Fortunately a little cleaned up since that picture. I've got a 98 M3 engine sitting in the garage I'm going to get around rebuilding one day and slap it in. She's been very reliable. A lot different that modern BMWs IMO.
Actually, I have no real complaints about the "getting from A to B" reliability of either of my BMW's, its just all the little quirks, mostly electrical, that had me at the end of my rope. That, and the GS feels so much more modern and comfortable.
Thanks for the welcome, guys!
#11
But before I do all that, I guess I need to remember that even though the GS is a Toyota product, it's still a used luxury car... I just started having door lock issues, which a quick forum search tells me is likely the door lock actuators.
#13
Welcome love the convertiburb also lol.. Had a gs for a long time myself and in between owning it had a 540i 6 e39 for many yrs and i truly loved that thing the most.. In recent yrs it was just costing too much even with under 100k on it.. Gs4 is a great way to go with great power.. U will really enjoy it ..that being said.
Door actuators are normal fixes u might as well get motors for all four doors and be done with it..
Depending on what all the previous owner has done you will probably have to swap out some of the front suspension parts..something you can do thru rockauto..(if theres noises in front) once u do these few things car is perfect ..
On several of the gs's ive owned alternator goes out around 200k lol so be aware of that..
Cosmetically u gota do the swap on the steering and shift **** to the wood 2001+ models makes car look much more modern..
that black interior is an awesome interior make sure you use some leather care on it when u can tho (lexol or whatever you prefer)
Btw i loooove love love the murdered out 540i very nice esp in 6sp. It looks hott..i think i bought a bmw cuz i watched the movie ronin lol w the e34 m5 that is ur style..
Again welcome to club lexus great place with lots of help on doing anything you want to your gs.. Search is my best friend for it all..gl with the GS
Door actuators are normal fixes u might as well get motors for all four doors and be done with it..
Depending on what all the previous owner has done you will probably have to swap out some of the front suspension parts..something you can do thru rockauto..(if theres noises in front) once u do these few things car is perfect ..
On several of the gs's ive owned alternator goes out around 200k lol so be aware of that..
Cosmetically u gota do the swap on the steering and shift **** to the wood 2001+ models makes car look much more modern..
that black interior is an awesome interior make sure you use some leather care on it when u can tho (lexol or whatever you prefer)
Btw i loooove love love the murdered out 540i very nice esp in 6sp. It looks hott..i think i bought a bmw cuz i watched the movie ronin lol w the e34 m5 that is ur style..
Again welcome to club lexus great place with lots of help on doing anything you want to your gs.. Search is my best friend for it all..gl with the GS
#14
Thanks, iamkhanz.
The door unlocking problem may have been an isolated incident. It happened while I was at work on my lunch break. When I pulled it into the shop after work to see which lock was stuck, it was working fine and has been ever since. Good to know that it's a common problem.
PO allegedly did some suspension/steering maintenance within the last year. Based on the fact that it rides perfectly smooth and straight with no noise whatsoever, I'm guessing he wasn't lying.
Is the '01+ wood wheel a direct, bolt-on swap? That would be awesome! That would never happen on a BMW, that's not how ze Germans like to engineer things...
Everything on this car seems to be in excellent condition, but I had my service department change the transmission filter and top off the fluid, just to be safe. The tech said there were no obvious signs of imminent failure, so that's nice!
Thanks again for the comments on my other cars! The 540/6 is wicked fun, but it's too nice and rare for me to be comfortable daily driving.
The door unlocking problem may have been an isolated incident. It happened while I was at work on my lunch break. When I pulled it into the shop after work to see which lock was stuck, it was working fine and has been ever since. Good to know that it's a common problem.
PO allegedly did some suspension/steering maintenance within the last year. Based on the fact that it rides perfectly smooth and straight with no noise whatsoever, I'm guessing he wasn't lying.
Is the '01+ wood wheel a direct, bolt-on swap? That would be awesome! That would never happen on a BMW, that's not how ze Germans like to engineer things...
Everything on this car seems to be in excellent condition, but I had my service department change the transmission filter and top off the fluid, just to be safe. The tech said there were no obvious signs of imminent failure, so that's nice!
Thanks again for the comments on my other cars! The 540/6 is wicked fun, but it's too nice and rare for me to be comfortable daily driving.