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I finally had body color OEM mudguards installed on my 2014 LS460L last week. Some of you may recall my adventure with the cheapo stuff ($40) from eBay/Alibaba that didn't fit properly. I ordered the OEM parts from Japan Parts Master (~$620 including shipping and a 5% CL discount). The following pics show the OEM and aftermarket (AM) parts side by side.
Right Front mudguard (Left/Top part is OEM): Note the OEM part has adhesive strip and is rather rigid compared to the flexy AM part. The shapes are also a bit different accounting for the poor fit of the AM part
Right Rear mudguard (Left/Top part is OEM):
As the pictures below show, the OEM parts fit perfectly on the wheel well and body side and under panels with cutouts that align perfectly with panels underneath the car. The AM parts failed to fit properly even after a lot of pushing and flexing. In hindsight, this is not surprising since the AM parts appear to be designed for 2012 and older cars, but was incorrectly advertised as fitting 2013+ MY cars also.
Right Front mudguard:
Right Rear mudguard:
The OEM parts came with well-labeled mounting hardware and adhesion promoter (primer) packet but NO INSTRUCTIONS!! I contacted JPM and they were very helpful and contacted Lexus Japan for installation instructions. While waiting, I contacted Scrutator who installed OEM mudguards on his LS-F sport recently. He was very helpful and provided many detailed pics. Thanks bud! Still, I was delighted when JPM emailed me the installation PDF. It was entirely in Japanese!! By carefully examining the diagrams (the Japanese technical writers are awesome!) and the parts I received, and help from a Japanese colleague at work, I was able to decipher all the critical instructions. Cover page pic below and annotated PDF attached.
Armed with all this information, I was sorely tempted to do the installation myself. Two things stopped me - I didn't have the proper drill bit and drill stop for making holes in the metal fender lip and I was not too confident of detaching and re-installing the rear lower fender panel that is necessary for installing the rear mudguards. Besides, this would have taken me at least 4-6 hours (I am very OCD, detail-oriented, and work rather slowly). Instead, I dropped off the car at my indy body shop (that fixed the hail damage and rear bumper in August), and walked the owner thru the installation step by step. He gave the job to one of his experienced techs, and the job was completed in 2 hours ($110).
Right Front mudguard:
Right Rear mudguard:
And, the end result: (Ignore the oil patch under car, it is from my beater Subaru that is on its last legs, or should I say wheels )
The mudguards show better in this partial garage shot.
Anyways, I am super happy with the results. I can't wait to take the car out in the snow this winter .
With the detailed instructions and seeing how the mudguards are supposed to fit, I think the aftermarket mudguards could be coaxed to fit a 2013+ car. Some sections would have to be trimmed with a knife for fit, but it may be doable. So, if anyone is interested, you could get the parts off eBay ($40), paint them in body color with suitable adhesion promoter and flex agents (I was quoted $200 for parts and labor by my indy shop), and follow the instructions provided here. Good luck!
Next mod: the Beatsonic iPhone mirroring kit. Thanks for reading to the end!
Nicely done. Glad I could help with the inspiration and by sharing my experience. I really don't understand why we have to go to such great lengths to get these in the US; they should be an option at purchase and available in the dealer parts department. All it takes is to go through a gutter and you have crap on the side of the car. These will surely protect your paint.
Scrutator: I agree, if Lexus offered these as a standard accessory in the US, there could be many takers. Having invested much effort in designing and manufacturing them, it makes no sense for Lexus to restrict the mudguards to the Japanese domestic market. BTW, I contacted a friend in Japan about buying it from a dealer and shipping to me. I could have saved about $100 this way. However, Lexus dealers in Japan will only sell the mudguards for a Japanese registered vehicle. So, the only options are to buy from JPM or eBay.
LS430FL: I still have the Chinese mudguards I bought on Alibaba. PM me if you are interested in them.
Wow, they really do look nice!
I was also thinking about getting these as well, and your success story helps me in my decision.
thank you for posting a good article.
Cubby
Generally speaking, installing mudguards is not a big deal since so many cars have it, and the procedure is pretty similar for all vehicles. Nevertheless, given the rarity and cost of the OEM mudguards for the LS, it made sense to write a detailed post. I am glad you found it useful and plan to install mudguards. Good luck!
I installed mine without having the benefit of the instructions. I did not remove the rear fender panel and it seems to be fine. Will take a closer look when I change to winter tires.
I installed mine without having the benefit of the instructions. I did not remove the rear fender panel and it seems to be fine. Will take a closer look when I change to winter tires.
Based on the instructions, I think there are two reasons for detaching the rear fender panels.
1) The rear wheels are not taken off during the installation. With the rear wheels on, one would have a hard time drilling the holes in exactly the right spots without detaching the panel. If one has special angled drills and bits that can drill holes in tight quarters, then it may be unnecessary to remove the wheels. This is not an issue for the front mudguards because the front wheels can be moved out of the way to drill the holes.
2) For the rear install, the fender liner has to be trimmed and folded in the three spots where the mudguard is attached to the rear panel. This may be hard to do with the panel still attached.
Then again, Scrutator, you actually did the installation. I am only talking about it. So, if it worked well for you without detaching the panels, that's all that matters.
I thought the price for the illuminated door seals was a lot for the JDM part, this one takes the cake.
Yes, very pricey. Maybe they don't sell well, so the cost per unit is high. As with all things Japanese, the quality of the product is superb. The mudguards still look new two years later.
Note that these genuine Lexus mudguards are painted in the OEM color. As mentioned earlier, my indy shop quoted over $200 to prep and paint the plastic mudguards I bought on eBay.
Illuminated door seals are in my future (in a couple of years)!
I might be able to get these painted and shipped to the US for 350-450 USD if anyone is interested they should message me. i am doing my own and might be able to arrange this if enough people want it.
11-11-16, 11:19 PM
Mudguards installed
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