e-man

Okay, I don't know if this counts as an official mod, but hey, I'm tryin' over here. I don't know about the rest of the country, but the City of Chicago recently enacted a new law requiring the use of a hands-free device with your cell phone while driving. Anyway, I don't have a Bluetooth car (or a Bluetooth phone for that matter), so here's what I did. Importantly, there is no drilling or adhesives involved. The hands-free unit is secured to the dash behind the radio/climate control with the upper-right bolt that holds the assembly in place:

Before (give me a minute to upload a few pictures):

e-man

And here's after:

e-man

One more after (with the phone):

e-man

Last picture (with phone open):

e-man

For those of you who are interested in doing something like this, here are the details:

(1) Go to http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/VSM/ and buy a Pro-Fit VSM mounting plate (made specifically for the GS). It lists at $36.95 (plus shipping), but if you enter "return" as the promotion code, you get a 20% discount.

(2) Next, go to http://www.proclipusa.com/devicehold...ceholders.aspx and order the swivel phone holder for your current cell phone. It costs $29.99 plus shipping.

(3) Lastly, go to BananaGS's web site at http://lexusmodz.netfirms.com/ and review the DIY for removing the head unit.

(4) Once you have the parts in hand, the install is simple and shouldn't take any more than about 20 minutes. First, mount the Proclip phone holder to the Pro-Fit mounting bracket. I suggest using the 4 relatively small screws/nuts that come with the Proclip phone holder (as opposed to the much larger ones that come with the Pro-FIt mounting bracket).

(5) Once the holder is mounted to the bracket, you can begin to remove your head unit per BananaGS's instructions. First remove the ashtray below, then the vent above, and then the four 10 mm bolts holding the head unit/climate control in place. You don't need to disconnect any of the wires in the back of the radio/climate control. Just pull the assembly out far enough to allow you to slide the Pro-Fit mounting bracket behind it. Once the mounting bracket is seated behind the radio/climate control and lined up with the upper-right mounting hole, slide the radio/climate control back in place and secure all 4 bolts. Then put the vent and ashtray back in place and you're done.

(6) Obviously, in order for you to use your cell phone hands-free, you need to have a cell phone with a speaker phone (I think most cell phones come that way now), or a wired headset to plug into your cell phone. I went with the headset.

Feel free to post to this thread or PM me with any questions.

e-man

chuckb

congrats e- I almost fell off my chair when I saw title

clean install. that's cool there's no drilling or adhesives.

e-man

I thought you might get a kick out of that. I was going to add to the title "WITH PIX -- 56K BEWARE", but I thought that might be a bit over the top.

Anyway, the whole job cost about $70 and 20 minutes to install. There are definitely cheaper ways to go (Verizon offers 3 holders -- a vent mount, cup holder mount and adhesive mount, each of which costs $15.00), but this set up is much more secure. Also, and more importantly, if you take a close look at this setup, the holder allows you to still have access to the volume controls and voice activated buttons on the left side of the phone. Many of the universal mounts (particularly the ones sold by Verizon) simply grab the phone on either side and block access to those buttons. Anyway, I highly recommend this route.

e

rominl

iTrader: (4)

haha eman, i had to read the thread twice to make sure it's you MODDING the car

nice touch man, and we need to make you do more to the car

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

So b/t him and richie, who has the most mod???
Looks good e-man . It's all down hill from here.

svt5150

What a huge lip on that.... lol. Looks good. Congrats.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

oh come on that's mean!

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

That wasn't my intention to be mean

ARISTO*7

love the mod. very clean.

e-man

Yeah, who knows where I'll go from here. The sky's the limit. Maybe some Tein coilunders, Toms front bracelet, a torque inverter and maybe I'll top things off by adding a UFO roof spoiler.

e

e-man

LOL. Do you really think the lip is too big? Maybe I can shave it down.