So, I’ve had my GS for some time now but never removed the front plate bracket, which isn’t required in Michigan. Hate how it looks and I believe it ruins the front end.

Bumper plugs are an option but they sort of make it look odd with too many holes (considering the parking sensors). I was think perhaps of removing the bracket, changing the grills to the F sport grills and then wrapping/painting the middle section of the bumper black. A lot of other GS forums show the middle section blacked out, which makes it more aggressive.

What at are some of your thoughts and recommendations?


Might vinyl wrap the roof as well after maybe wrapping the front section of the bumper.. what are your thoughts?

The front plate bracket...

 

There will definitely be holes when you remove the bracket. Wrapping might cover those bracket holes nicely actually.

If you do wrap the front part of the bumper, it might be easiest to remove the entire bumper to get to the grilles and then wrap the center portion while the bumper is off and you have more leverage. Nice Lux pkg GS btw!

I posted a separate thread but notice that the fog lens on base/lux models seem to get hazy over time - when the fogs are off, are your fog lamps hazy compared to the headlamps?

 

Thanks for the reply! Yup, I was planning on taking off the bumper just to cover up the holes a bit better. Only thing is, once the bumper is off, sometimes it can be a pain to realign it perfectly, but I’ll do it!

Do you have any links to where I could get the F sport grills? Or something similar?
Thanks though! I didn’t even realize I had the luxury package until I bought the car. I love it!

The fogs are somewhat hazy compared to the headlights but not significantly much more. I’ll probably buff them out once I take off the bumper and change the bulbs to LED, since the yellow bulbs are hideous!

 

Wrapping the front of the bumper will cover up the holes from the license plate but that will leave holes in the bumper. you can purchase these bumper plugs and then still wrap the front of the bumper and not have to worry about the holes still being behind the wrap

https://www.bumperplugs.com/index.ph...gory&path=1_11

Much cleaner setup I think

 

Thank you for the suggestion! You’re right that there will still be holes behind the wrap, if I did roll with that. Still debating what I want to do but definitely need to remove that plate set up lol, ruins the front end! Have you ever used the bumper plugs?

 

@Zsikd I'd recommend going OEM with the grilles if you are going to swap to F-Sport because the fit will be best with your existing bumper, emblem and chrome grille surround. A few tabs on the F-Sport lower grille may need to trimmed if you use your existing bumper (it should be obvious once you take it off). Here are some links:

Upper F Sport Grille ($281)
Excellent legit Lexus dealer i've bought from directly using their site: https://www.ssl-parts.com/oem-parts/...lle-5311130e00

Lower F Sport Grill ($53):
Excellent legit Lexus dealer i've bought from using their eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-OEM-F...0/333181840892

Definitely post up some pics when you get it all swapped-out!

 

Also: In regards to LEDs for the fogs, i'd recommend bulbs from either VLEDS or iJDMToy. I actually went a different route and did standard Halogen bulbs but the Plasma Ion Yellow bulbs from PIAA (i had a 2001 GS with the stock true sunshine yellow and absolutely love that look).

 

AJLex19 - Thank you for the reply back and for quoting some links to the grills! I actually got my brakes and rotors from Bell Lexus down in AZ! Great dealer and I would have no hesitation using them again. Still debating exactly which route I want to go. The F Sport grills make a huge difference but also may not want to do all that work lol.

Thinking of maybe painting the current set up I have gloss black and then adding the black to the bumper and adding a lip to the bottom of the front bumper. Do you think the link below would work on my front bumpers set-up ? It says only F sport, but I think i saw somewhere in a forum where others have used it on the base bumper.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fits-13-15-...kAAOSwecJae~zr

Thanks for the recommendations on the fogs too! I appreciate all the recommendations. Will def order everything and get it done.

 

I haven't done the bumper plugs but I plan on it. I wrapped my center grill section myself to see if I liked the look. Below is a picture of how it looks right now. As you can see, the parking sensor has been peeling from rocks and from the high pressure gun when getting it washed. To the right of the parking sensor you can see the hole from the license plate bracket. I plan on re-doing the wrap again but this time with the bumper plugs

parking sensor on the left, license plate bracket hole on the right

I also plan on maybe blacking out the chrome area surrounding the grill

 

Dcerna - Thanks for posting up some pics! Ah, yeah I can def see the holes from the plate bracket that was left behind. I'll definetely get the bumper plugs to avoid having those holes. I like color of your car though and the lip you added to the bumper. Did you grab the lip off eBay? Thinking of adding one to mine but there's a few options on eBay.

I will be blacking out the chrome insert of the upper grill too

 

Thanks. Yes I purchased the lip from Ebay. under $100 shipped. I went with the urethane option and glad I did because I've scraped it a couple times already. They have the same lip but in carbon fiber and If it's the same carbon fiber as my side skirts, I'm sure it would have broken or cracked already. The urethane is forgiving and only gets scratched on the underside but will not crack or break apart. I painted the lip in gloss black as well as the carbon fiber side skirts that I also purchased from Ebay. Those were $400 though but worth it. Great fitment

 

Dcerna - Thanks for the reply back and informing me to get the urethane material. I definitely want something that durable as I live in Michigan and we get snow that can sometimes be a few inches or more, scraping the lip. Don't want it to break apart lol. Great idea to paint it gloss black, exactly what I plan to do as well. Do you think the link I attached below would fit my base bumper?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fits-13-15-...kAAOSwecJae~zr

 

I don't think it will because the lip from the link you provided is more for the F Sport front bumper. I've attached some photos below. On your front bumper, the lines on the lip will not line up with the lines on your front bumper

At least that is what I can tell just by looking at it. I could be wrong

 

the distance between the yellow lines looks to be different on your bumper to the F Sport bumper. I don't see the lip lining up right when you try and install it

Look on ebay for the L-Shaped front bumper. I believe that one is the model that will fit the non F Sport bumpers

 

That's what I was thinking too. Thanks for taking some pictures of your car where I was debating if it will or won't fit. I'm certain that it probably won't fit because the angles on the F sport bumper are different compared to the base. I found another link with the lip being on a base bumper

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fits-13-15-...4AAOSwUitc5RsS

Hopefully this should do it. What do you think? Cost a bit more, but not much more.