evans6763

Finally made the move from BMW's 325ci convertible to an all encompassing luxury sedan. With only 58,000 miles! Couldn't have imagined such a steal. Looking forward to adding OEM 18'' wheels and load up on a moderate tint. Glad to be apart everyone.

lumpy85

Welcome! I really enjoy my 2006 ls430 cl

FatherTo1

Congrats, evans! That's rare to find an example with such low miles. Too bad we're located in far away states, I'm looking to downgrade my OEM chrome 18s for a set of OEM chrome 17s.

The 18s are shod with Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ and only have 4,000 miles on them but I can't stand the droning/rumbing road noise. It also offers a fairly stiff ride and I feel every little bump and imperfection in the road. At first, I thought I couldn't tell a big difference between 17s vs 18s but after owning the car for three months, and driving the same commute to work everyday, the characteristics of the tires and stiffness are starting to really grate on my nerves. I expect the LS to be supremely quiet and smooth and currently ours is not with the 18s. The tire noise is so distracting to me while driving. Debating whether I should keep the 18s and chuck these new Michelins (seller had them installed new before the sale) and swallow the cost of new Michelin Premiers or Pirelli P7 Plus in the 235/50/18 size. I do like the look of the 18s very much....just not the ride quality or noise of 18 tires. Not sure if the solution is 17s or different 18 tires.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread and ramble. Kudos on the new addition to your automotive family. Hope it brings you many years of trouble-free miles.

evans6763

Thanks FatherTo1! Was able to ****** it up in FL and no worries man hijack away, I'm learning as is. So the OEM 18's are really a discomfort you say? You couldn't be more accurate about the supreme look the 18's give the car, which would be my ultimate reason for purchasing them, but I don't want to sacrifice ride comfort ughhhh. The 17's that came with the vehicle in combination with the cooper tires give me an amazing cushioned drive and I'm in love already. Is there any way that a good tire combination on the 18's could bridge a compromise between driving comfort and road noise reduction?

evans6763

Thanks Lumpy85! looking to really get after personalizing this vehicle, I'll upload some interior shots today.

2KHarrier

Welcome aboard! What did you end up paying for it? My 05 I picked up a few months ago has 49,000 on the ODO and it really is like a new car.

evans6763

Thanks 2KHarrier! I ended up paying only 13,900, a wonder steal! Like I mentioned to Lumpy85 I'll be sure to upload some interior shots today. Feels good to finally be apart.

LS430FL

My one Ls430 had the chrome 17's and the other had chrome 18" sport wheels the five spoke ones. Didn't notice anything different in the ride honestly. A good set of tires really makes a difference in my opinion. I had each for 3 years.

FatherTo1

Thank you for sharing your experience between the two wheel sizes, LS430FL. Are roads in Florida super smooth and maybe that's why there's not a noticeable difference between riding on 17s vs 18s? But then again, you drove with both sizes for 3 years which means you've experienced all types of road surfaces I would imagine. I'm discouraged by your report, as helpful as it is.

evans6763, going by what LS430FL reported, I may have to try a set of grand touring tires first before downsizing to 17s. I did test drive an 04 with 17s two months ago. It was a UL with the air suspension, whereas my 06 is ML without air. I didn't have as much time to test drive it as I would have liked (due to my schedule that day, not anything the dealer did), and honestly the 17s didn't register a noticeable difference in ride quality...but the road I test drove on wasn't as bad as on my usual work commute. It's been a very difficult decision but I like the look of the 18s too much at this time and may just change tires first to see if that improves things. I will report back soon. Although the tires are only 3-4 months old I don't think I can put up with the road noise for another 1-2 years when the tires wear out.

FatherTo1

LS430FL, do you remember what kind of tire and size you had on the 17s and 18s? Especially for the 18s, were they 235/50/18 or 245/45/18?

My Michelin Pilots A/S 3+ are 245/45/18. Doing the math, there's only about a quarter-inch difference in sidewall height between stock 17 tires and 18s with the 235/50 size, but half-inch difference compared to 245/45/18s:

245/45/18 = 4.34"
235/50/18 = 4.63"
225/55/17=4.87"

jrmckinley

IMO, you wont' sacrifice on ride when moving to 18's- go for good tires. More info below:

I have a 2004 that I bought in May 2008. It came with the stock 17" wheels and I drove on them for about 18 months until the tires (Toyo or Pirelli, can't remember) needed to be replaced. Never liked the look of the car too much with the 17" and always knew I would switch to the 18" 5 stars...but too frugal to do an immediate upgrade to the wheels... Bought the OEM 18" 5 star polished rims on eBay for about $1,000 (total) and put nice Michelin tires on. Now on my second set of Michelin's (this set is Premier A/S 245/45/R18) and the car is absolutely silent on smooth pavement at any speed. I am a road warrior sales rep and have driven the car in every state in the southeast with the same experience- an overall awesome ride and no difference (in my memory) of how it drove on the 17's.

I like the plush, floaty ride but would have gladly sacrificed a little to get the better "stance" of the car on the 5 stars.. luckily for me, no such compromise was noticed. Car still rides like a dream and thanks to the 5 stars, I get compliments on it to this day (236k miles).

FWIW, I sold the 17" rims on Craigslist to a local guy who wanted to put them on his late 90's LS and got $300.

My recommendation is pony up for some good tires on the 18's and you'll be fine (I think the Michelins I have go for about $250/tire installed). I have been really pleased with the Michelin's and would highly recommend. First set I got about 80k miles (rotate every oil change), this set I'm 60k in and still looking really good.

Take care of the car and it will take care of you. And absolutely do the wheel upgrade! Black LS's with the 5 stars look sick. Good luck,

jrmckinley

One more random piece of advice since you're new to this LS generation.. Check out VAIS Tech and you can add streaming bluetooth to your car for about $200ish (plus installation). They make after-market adapters for toyota and lexus vehicles that use your OEM stereo. I have had a few different products from them and always been pleased. The bluetooth streaming product sound quality is insane- same or better than CD and integrates right in..! I play my iTunes library and also stream Pandora, Spotify, etc. You can't use it for phone calls, but I didn't want that anyway. Visit their site, put in the year, make, model of your car and specify if you have navigation or not and you'll find the right product. I took the gear to a local shop and paid $75 for them to install it.

I joke with my buddies all the time that I can play any type of media.... tape, CD, streaming bluetooth, and Satellite.

Cheers,

LS430FL

Im almost positive they were 245/45/18….I do not really like to fly. I drove both my of the 430's with 17" rims and 18" rims to California (once with each car) and New Jersey( once a year with each car). My own personal opinion is that I didn't notice a difference other than improved styling with the 18's. I think i used to keep the pressure at 33? Just an fyi.

Also, before making your decision what you could do is wait for a 430 to come into a dealer near you with the 18's on it and ask if you could take a quick test ride to compare. Yea you really need to drive it around to compare but it could give you some idea.

I ran the Michelin Primacys with the 18's they were a great tire but I think they stopped making them if my memory serves correct.

FatherTo1

Thanks, LS430FL, don't know why that never occurred to me...to drive another LS with 18s for comparison! I keep my tires at 33 PSI too but am contemplating lowering it to 30 to compensate for the Summer temps. Even at 33 PSI it feels like I have stone tires sometimes. Granted, the Pilots are quiet on perfect roads...but I still few every minor bump on those visually smooth roads. The Pilots feel constantly "busy" for a lack of a better word...constant up and down motions. Even on smooth roads there's this regular humming pattern that I'm not sure is the engine or the tires. Have taken it to an expert Lexus mechanic, with 20 years of combined Toyota and Lexus experience, and suspension and engine checks out fine. Alignment had also been done 2 months ago. I have an appt at the local tire shop tomorrow to see if I can get any trade-in value on the Michelin Pilots.

To evans6763, hope you find some nice 18s. Thank you for getting your new ride and starting the conversation. I think I will stick to the 18 wheel size for now and see if I can get better rubber.

Howzit

Beautiful, great find!