btanchors

Anyone have the "Illuminated Door Sills" option? It costs $425 MSRP on the lexus site. I am considering a 2017 GS350. The one I am considering is at a dealer about 350 miles away, so I can't see what it looks like. The car does not currently have it, but I am thinking of asking the dealer to install it, if it looks really "classy". If you have it, do you like it? I would think it would look "cool" but I obviously can't see it until I pick up the vehicle.

What's the consensus of the group? I am sure I could get it for less than $425.

Thanks...

AJLex19

I did the install of the Illuminated Sills on my '13 GS350. It was straightforward enough. You can get the sills online from actual Lexus dealers like SSLexus and Bell Lexus of North Scotsdale that have eBay stores:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-OEM-FA...-/331992188595
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexus-GS350-...-/130966989039

I had them on my IS previous to getting the GS and it really liked it. I felt like it completed the "look" on the interior of the GS to see the logo light up. The dealer is likely to charge upwards of $200 to install it.

Another helpful thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-fsport-2.html

dchar

It's nice. My second GS had it, but my third one didn't. I don't really miss it. You can order the parts from eBay for cheaper and do it yourself. https://www.ebay.com/itm/331992188595

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

I think it looks great. The pictures do NOT do them justice and I would certainly do it again.

btanchors

All,
What a useful group. Thank you to all three of you (AJLex19, dchar, and DallasDave) for your response. I "closed" on a deal on my 2017 GS 350 last night. It's the first new car deal I have ever done almost entirely via email. This will be replacing my aging GS 430. I was a bit surprised but their first offer was about $5K under MSRP right off the bat. I got them down another $600 or so. I am satisfied. Got the Luxury package, the Mark Levinson, Intuitive Parking Assist, Power Trunk and a few other goodies. I'll be picking it up on 20 May, since this dealer is about 300 miles away. Would love to pick it up this weekend, but it is Mother's Day, after all.

Anyway, I asked the dealer about installing the illuminated door sills. Sure enough, just as AJLex19 pointed out, they were going to charge roughly $200 to install it, for a total of over $600. I decided not to do it. Instead, I will probably order myself and install. I'm no expert, but do basic maintenance myself on all my vehicles.

For those of you that have installed this, does it involve drilling any holes anywhere? How does the door sill plate get "fastened" to the door sill? How hard are the electrical connections?

AJLex19

Congrats on the new ride! I had a GS430 as well - great car, loved it but gave it up with 125k miles and a bad heater core for my current 4GS. The installation of the sills is not difficult, its just tedious. The dealer's hourly labor rates are high that why they charge so much.

There is no drilling. The existing sills will pop up and out...you just need to put the right amount of force while pulling up. The new ones will just require you to push down & clip-in. The most difficult part is ensuring you tap the footwell light wire properly and run the cabling neatly. The sills will come with T-taps. Some people like to use Posi taps or solder the wires together. Its up to you...the provided T-taps worked fine for me.

This install as a DIY shouldn't take you more than an hour. Here are the OEM instructions (they make it look harder than it actually is): https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/instal...lls%20IssA.pdf


Also, here is a small writeup from a previous post of mine:


On the driver's side of our GS, there is no real need to remove the entire underside of the steering section/wood panel or molding trim that sits between the door and the dash like the instructions say to do. Once you remove the existing sill and open the driver side IP cover (3 screws, two push-clips), you will have most of the access you need to tap the footwell light wires and carefully run the sill's wires along the existing black OE harness. Just make sure not to have too much slack in the sill wire.


On the passenger side, it was actually a bit annoying because without removing the center leather that sits on the sides of the car's middle gear shifter center stack (held on by clips), the upper left part of the passenger side's panel remains slightly clipped in making it a bit harder to access the wiring. However, with patience and care, the passenger side is certainly the easier of the two. Since there is less going on with the passenger side, running the sill's wires neatly along the black OE harness was easier.

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

I did mine several months ago and documented the process here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...stalled-2.html

You should know there are a couple of ways to connect the wiring. I did mine to the footwell lights (as you'll see in the link above) and would recommend that. Some might say the "correct" way to wire them is to another source located under the center console. The difference would be this, connecting to the footwell wiring is VERY simple but the light never actually turns completely off. At night you will notice the footwell area has a dim ambient light...so will the doorsills. Obviously if the door is closed you will never notice that the door sills are glowing very faintly. As soon as the door is opened, they illuminate as intended.

Also, only the front door sills will illuminate. The rear sills that come with the upgrade/option are a little different that the stock ones, but don't light up.

lamikela1

The lux is a nice package! I am sure you will like it. I am loving mine!

Gr8

I wanted to get them for my 2016 GS350, but after I found out that only the front ones are the one with light, I dropped the idea. Would have been nice if Lexus would sell all 4 of them with back light.