chiks

My 2008 IS250 is having problems which nobody has been able to solve. My local dealer, Park Place of Lexus applied the Lexus Service bulletin “L-SB-0072-09” but with no success. After looking into it personally with more interest, it appears that this is as a result of a design flaw by Lexus. Please find below the problem and the design flaw.

The Problem:
Rearview mirror vibrates under the following conditions:
1. Music volume is 20 or higher
2. Moon-roof is open and car is traveling at more than 40mph. The vibrations are worse when going up or down the freeway ramps, or if it is windy outside.

The Design Flaw:
The design flaw is in two stages:
1. The roof is not adequately damped. This causes the vibration from the subwoofer to travel to the windshield and consequently the rear view mirror which is mounted on the windshield. This is easily demonstrated by thumping on the roof with my palm and observing the rear view mirror vibrate.

2. The moon-roof wind deflector is inadequate and it does not spoil the wind flow over the opening. The result is the wind is flowing straight into the gap between the roof and the moon-roof glass when the moon is completely open. This causes a sever wind buffeting phenomenon.

Attachment 503310


For comparison, Here is a 2001 RX300 which does not have the rearview mirror vibration issue, especially when the moon-roof is open. As you can see the wind deflector actually deflects the wind away from the gap between the moon-roof glass and the roof itself.

Attachment 503311

I sent this information over to Lexus Customer Service, which in turn apparently sent it to their engineers. However, they came back saying that they do not have a fix for this.

Evil Teo

iTrader: (13)

did they try to install the 09/10 rearview mirror. not sure what the tsb does.

Fapout

iTrader: (6)

mine vibrates horribly. Haven't addressed it with my local dealership yet.

UCrazyKid

The new mirror update significantly improves this issue, mind you it is not gone, but acceptable.

Drone619

Ive finally noticed this. Mines not horrible but i do notice a very small shake. Dont know if they replaced it since I bought my car used. So far its not an annoyance but im just curious if it gets worse.

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

Unless your staring at the rear view constantly, the new 09-10 mirror should be working just fine....

The only time I look at the rear view is to check for Red & Blue lights... LoL


Joe Z

chiks

Yes. They put in a new mirror. Nice mirror btw.

Correct. This is even more pronounced when the moonroof is open. Makes me go back to Lexus and ask for a refund for the moonroof since I cannot use it.

I like to see a clean picture, not a buzzy picture. The vibrations (minor) make the image look like an over compressed JPEG picture.

dsg03svt

iTrader: (3)

I meant to post about is earlier. I posted a thread about my problems with my sunroof. It vibrated really bad even after the new mirror.

They had to talk with Lexus hq in California but after a week or so had me come back in and they replaced the tracks on my sunroof. The problem is no longer. I couldn't be happier.

ISFSteve

I am going to have to check into this. I like the newer style mirror better as a side benefit.

flipside909

So after 3 years, you want Lexus to refund money for this? Good luck...let us know what turns out of it.

I have an 09 IS F which I had the TSIB done for the rear view mirror vibration. I use my moonroof quite often...and I don't have the symptoms you are describing.

chiks

Can you post a picture like i did with the sunroof open? Want to see if there are any changes?

flipside909

There are no changes to any of the wind deflectors on the 06 to 11 IS.

tenspeed

iTrader: (1)

He DOES have pictures with arrows....
How can a service manager turn that down?

flipside909

Just because the wind deflector is different on one car doesn't mean its designed the same for another. The RX and the IS are two totally different vehicles with different aerodynamic characteristics. If my memory serves me correctly, the 2nd gen RX has a cD of .35 and the IS F is at .29.

Also in this pic:



It looks as if the moonroof is FULLY opened. All moonroofs no matter what car will have the low frequency flutter/boom sound at any speed with the moonroof fully opened to the max. That is why when you open a moonroof and allow it to open to the first stop or detent, thats when minimal flutter/boom occurs. This honestly isn't a design flaw...its the physics of air traveling into the openings of the roof.

ES3

The mirror upgrade helps, but sure is far from ANY other car I've ever owned.