ninja729

Hi everyone, I am still a fairly big new at modding cars. The only thing I have done is put int 6K blue interior, 6K white courtesy and puddle lights, as well as plasti dip my grill and all back emblems.

I am going to be saving around $2000 to put into my 08 is250 smokey granite mica.

Right now I was thinking of dropping my car a little bit..perhaps the F series springs( but im unsure how low it drops the car.) I also want to put front, and rear lips on the car as well as side skirts. Then lastly I would want to put in HIDs as well as just tint the car windows.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated, I just want ideas on how best I should spend my $$.

heyarms

iTrader: (5)

$2k will go fast. I assume you won't be installing things yourself? If you want lowest drop, I think road magnet springs are the lowest. A full authentic kit will be more than $2k for some, shop the classifieds if you don't mind used parts.

ninja729

I just want to drop it like 1inch since i live in the NE and snow is a issue dropping it too much will suck for driving in the winter. I just watched a great youtube video on how to install the Xenon Depot Hid Conversion kit so I will be installing the HIDs myself. Also the side skirts, front, and rear lips look like a pretty easy install too so I'll do that myself =D more I do, more money I can spend on other stuff!

karasha

iTrader: (5)

Just as what heyarms said, $2k will go very fast. You do realize that tires for our cars cost about $1k as it is, right? :P

Anyways, you have quite a few springs out there to drop your car on. I personally recommend Tein or H&R. Road magnets, like heyarms said, is the lowest drop, but I don't recommend that. Our shocks are not really made for putting lowering springs on them, so down the road, your shocks are going to go. That's about $400-500 right there just for new shocks.

If you want to do H&R lowering springs, that's is the second lowest drop you can get. I personally run my H&R springs on stock shocks and somehow my shocks are still going strong (but they are going to need replacing soon... I will personally be buying to Tokico HTS shocks). At least around these parts, it's anywhere from $300-800 dollars just to pay someone to install springs. I know my H&R's costed me... oh goodness, I think it was $300 + 200 install ($200 dollar install because I personally know my mechanic).

As far as a body kit... I know that AUTHENTIC body kits are your $2k budget right there. Heyarm's Wald kit was $2300 shipped from Japan, yet, that's not even including painting/install. I'm unsure how much vertex and other kits cost, but I would assume about the same price. Now, you can go to replica route... but I'm not even going to really go into that because I STAUNCHLY refuse to advise people to buy replica.

Tint... you can get crappy cheap $99 dollar tint... but I went the ceramic tint route and couldn't be happier... but I paid about $400 for my tint.

See... the point of my post is... you pay what you get for. If you get cheap tint, it's going to look cheap. If you get replica kits... they're not going to fit your car as nicely.

You own a Lexus, so our aftermarket products are not really 'budget friendly'.

I'm a college student who literally have saved up my weekly food money so I can buy mods... my 3 last birthday and Christmas presents have been strictly car parts. I understand "ballin' on a budget"... but please, remember these words as your start your modding journey:

DO IT ONCE, DO IT RIGHT.

Good luck and welcome.

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Go with a drop first. I suggest coilover best way to go. I too live in new England and raise my car up to stock height during winter time. Them summer back to my drop. You get the height you want everytime. Megan coilover kit run about $600 as spring will be $250 plus the extra time too install. Coilover are an easy in and out swap.

ninja729

I have a garage right near me does tinting 250 plus lifetime warranty with it. Money wise I can spend more then the $2000 I just have other stuff I want to save for. I'm going to have this car for a while so I just want to slowly put money into it, not toss a lot of cash into it right away.

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Karasha nothing againt the auThentic kits but here when your front end act like a plow truck rep is what I prefer. Since both are made out of fiberglass and will crack. I be happier say my 200 front lip cracked then my 800 lip. I would only spend that much for a urethane kit not fiberglass.

RastaRacer

iTrader: (5)

Hid's should cost your about $100-150 for low beams and fogs depending on brand you choose. If your not looking to drop the car too much I doubt you want to go with a aggressive lip kit so I would suggest sourcing a full gfx lip kit. That should cost you around $500-600 and it already comes painted. Don't waste your money on F-Sport springs. Maybe get some H&R. If your lucky try buying a used set. Including install that should cost you another $500. With $2k to spend you can probably get your a intake and used exhaust. Good luck as happy modding.

ninja729

Im thinking about buying these for the HID low beams

http://www.xenonsupply.com/lexus-is-hid-xenon-kit.html

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

you need to hit up the vendor marketplace, and see what kind of specials folks are having

felixsc300

iTrader: (5)

I'd recommend the OEM GFX kit. OEM fitment and paint, subtle yet aggressive, and in the future when you sell your IS the kit won't raise a red flag like other aftermarket kits will.

HID bulbs: make sure you buy bulbs that are of HIGH quality. I got cheap, crappy 6000k bulbs that were probably made in China and could barely see anything in the dark. Ended up getting a pair of 5000k from XenonDepot and threw out the old pair.

Tint: most tint places nowadays (at least here in CA) will warranty their work if the film bubbles or turns purple, so you can hypothetically get the cheapest tint as possible to have some extra spending money on other aspects.

ninja729

Thanks felixsc300! Btw I do remember reading somewhere one here people ordered a replica OEM Spoiler on Ebay from somewhere in Asian and instead of needing to boil it on, they were stuck one using adhesives?

heyarms

iTrader: (5)

I'm actually selling Tein S-tech springs, they're similar to h&r drop. 180+shipping if you're interested

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

f-sport sway bars, coilovers, tint, and a kit would put that $2000 to good use

felixsc300

iTrader: (5)

I know most replica spoilers from China or Taiwan are usually applied via 3M double-sided tape. I'm not sure if our OEM spoilers are bolted to the trunk - I know authentic S2000 spoilers are (been looking into spoiler options, hehe). According to the S2000 community, fitment of replica spoilers is a hit or a miss, depending on how lucky you get but color matching is usually a 9 out of 10. Not sure if SGM is a difficult color to match.