chuck754

OK...I don't get it. Just picked up my RX350 and found out you cannot access the 1000 entry phonebook while driving. What's the point?
You can access the 17 entry "speed dial" screens (3) so safety cannot be the real issue. You can also store 20 voice recognition numbers. Why only 20? I'm in my car for hours at a time and these features were important to me. I wrongly assumed that all Bluetooth systems were equal after test driving Acura and BMW. Neither manufacturer employs the "safety lockout" features that Lexus does. If Lexus will allow us to access 17 numbers on 3 different screens they should allow us to access our entire phonebook. They should also give us more than 20 voice recs. Pretty cheap of Lexus in a $45K car. This is a huge issue for me and I'm pretty upset to be stuck with this lousy design flaw for 3 years!
Can anyone help with an override?

BobsGX

I would swear when I took a test ride in the redesigned 07 Acura MDX, I noticed that the salesman hit the OK **** to get rid of the safety warning on the navigation screen.

TripleDES

I agree the safety constraints are irritating and seemingly contradictory. You could always dial with your phone and have the call be picked up by the BT system. I do this with my Verizon XV6700 when I need to call someone that's not in the speed dial.

chuck754

Thanks Triple D. I just tried that and it does work on my Motorola E815 (Verizon). Seems like a horrible waste of technology though but I guess it will have to do until someone discovers the override or Lexus gets enough complaints to issue an update.

lexuslover

chuck, you can do a hard override simply by cutting the speed sensor wire to the display. this will enable all your bluetooth functions and MP3 folders.

we did the nav + bluetooth hack on the GS430 and it works flawlessly. you can dial in motion, and even more importantly (and the MAIN reason we did it), you can see the incoming caller # instead of just "Incoming Call". the factory setting is that you will see a name if it's stored in your phone book, but if you get a lot of business calls this doesn't help...

the hack is extremely simple. we also did it to my friend's RX400h. works great, no adverse effects.

chuck754

LL,

That would be great! What color is the wire and how do I find it. By the way, will it also deactivate the POI lockout on the Nav?

lexuslover

the hack doesn't resolve any nav functions that are greyed out. it only takes care of BT and MP3 functions.

i have an 04 RX330 so my wiring diagram is different than yours. you will have to obtain the wiring diagram for your model and then look up the VSS wire color. i am also not sure how different the 07 Gen 5 wiring compares to our 06 GS's Gen 4 wiring, but on our GS we had to connect the VSS wire from the nav to the VSS wire on the display.

the best thing to do is to review the ES350 or IS250/350 forums and look at the step by step instructions posted on there. but then you also need to obtain the RX350 diagram to determine the proper wire colors to cut. you can also perform all the hacks you want, including nav hack or DVD in motion hack. but for the BT hack only, it's much simpler.

sdbrandon

Incredible to be cutting wires on a $45k vehicle.

lexuslover

haha yeah it was scary at first. but once you realize how mechanical these things are, you see that it's so simple in design. made me wish i had done it earlier. it prompted us to do it to our new 06 GS (on the RX we waited to do the hack until after we passed our 50k warranty). both cars have had ZERO adverse effects from the hacks.

jujing

same thing happen to the access to nagivation system? I've noticed that I can not access to the navigation system (only emergency or pre-set destinations are allowed) while driving.. Is there any way to turn off the safety feature? It's quite irritating~~

widlfiresd

If you cut the speed wire, am I to assume the Nav uses some other wire for dead reckoning?

AM1

iTrader: (6)

do you know if the 2005 rx330 and 04 is the same wiring? where are the insturctions to hack it? thanks.

joako

I've said it 1000 times, WHY Toyota/Lexus one of the largest car companies has NO aftermarket diagnostic tool? VAG folks have their VAG-Com you can change just about any setting, disable nag screens, disable the DRL, all the stuff we can't do unless we spent $10,000 for the dealer computer (Vag com is $300) and the car use CAN-Bus a standard protocol... what's up with that?

joako

Do you use the navigation often? My understanding is the VSS is used for precise tracking, IE: missed turns and such. Do you notice any performance decrease in the navigation?

jmaynard

There are two VSS wires. One disables the MP3 file list, phone book, and so on, and the other upadtes the nav computer. Disconnecting the first one is probably a good idea; disconnecting the second is probably not, as it makes nav display updates jerky and doesn't accomplish the desired effect of allowing passengers to fully use the system while in motion (the nav computer detects the car is in motion after about 30 seconds and locks out data entry anyway).

Unfortunately, since I don't have a wiring diagram, I have not gone into my 2007 RX350's wiring and disconnected either wire. If I knew how, the first one would have been disconnected a while ago.