New ISF Owner
 

Hi folks!

My name is Marshall, 31 years of age. I'm a long time car and bike aficionado.

I just purchased an 08 SGM ISF w/57k on the odometer. I traded in my 04 Subaru STi towards it. I had the Subaru for 4 years and had it dyno 370hp&tq back in January. I got bored and decided to move up to something nicer!

My current garage:

So far I'm really loving the car. I've had it two weeks and already started the mods.

Vais Tech ivic 5i - in transit
LED fog lights - in shopping cart as I'm typing.
Full LED interior light conversion planned as soon as I'm done researching all the DIYs.

That said, I did have a few questions that I have not found in my searches that I'm hoping some might be able to answer. (I'm a reader. I'm currently on page 101 of 314 in the ISF sub forum)

I am plagued with brand new Liftmaster 8550 door openers and am unable to get the homelink to pair up. Though some have said theirs work just fine. Are they smoke blowers? The general consensus is that I need a repeater, however I would prefer a more clean solution. Are newer year rear view mirrors backward compatible? Are they the same from different IS models?

On the ML DVD hack. $200 gets me a plug and play option for my passenger to watch DVDs while I drive. However, cutting some wires does the same thing. Specifically grounding the parking brake wire. Is there a 3rd option of making a pigtail harness where splicing and cutting can occur without damaging the factory harness? I don't like to splice factory equipment, I like to keep everything in tact. How would one go about sourcing the connectors both male and female? I care not for the navigation portion of the hack. Just the DVDs.

I've read several threads on the steering ECU to the 2011+. For those that have done it, is it a largely noticeable difference?

Techstream cables. Are they all created equal? Though my good friend is a Toyota ASE and has his own, I still like the ability to not bother him with my car related inquiries if I do not need to. I'm a PLC programmer by day and know that while cheap cables work most of the time, sometimes they don't. I haven't found anyone complain but then again, my research finds me on other lexus owners and not specifically ISF owners. Besides the mongoose, any of the clones recommended?

And lastly...new LED headlights. I've gone through every thread I can find and there's so much conflicting information I never specifically got an answer. The loaded option from Sewell comes pre wired only for 100% right? If I want 50/100 switching there's a circuit Jeff Somethingorother diagrammed out to get that functionality. A couple mentioned that the loaded did in fact do 50/100. No one has found a working solution to the AFS light correct? I saw there were threads pertaining to modifying the AFS ECU by unplugging it but it would lose auto leveling. Then there was mention of trying to figure out and trick the AFS into thinking it was working properly. All threads on that went cold over a year ago.

I hope I don't get scolded for so many questions on previous topics, I really did my due diligence to the best of my abilities as far as research goes. Thanks for your time. Feel free to bombard me with as many questions as I have in return ;)

Marshall

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f8...F/IMG_3190.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f8...F/IMG_3277.jpg

Welcome an I'm only a week ahead of you lol. Will be glad to share knowledge as I gain it, did pts exhaust (trade from local guy) an car came with the takeda which I'm changing up.

welcome bud. Is your car lowered? Looks like it.

I have a liftmaster 8500 ( I think) and I had to use the learn function . I am assuming you did that . As far as the Nav bypass idea, I know some who have done it, but I ended up buying the unit for my last car because I didnt want drama. I guess it depends on your comfort level. Your going to love your F. Welcome to the crew.....the F Troop.

Welcome to the forums and congrats on you new purchase.
For future reference we have the best wheels and tire's packages around.
We are just a pm, email, phone call away..

I added an extra 5 in there. I have the 8500s as well. just installed them. Nice to not have any overhead door openers! I've tried resetting the codes in the home link. I was never able to get the homelink to flash rapidly to my garage remote. I did use the learn button, but I used the one on the control and not the opener. Liftmaster says that everything gets paired using the control and not the opener itself. I will attempt to pair to the opener itself tonight to see if that changes anything.

As far as lowering... It may be. I assumed it was the stock ride height. If it is, they aligned the auto leveler sensor too because I don't get a warning light. The dealership salesman said that it had suspension work. He also said it was 500hp. Stock I/H/E says that he's blowing smoke. So I assumed he was blowing smoke about the suspension. It's going on a rack today so I'll find out what's been done for sure.

congrats and welcome to the F family!

Congrats on your F-You will love it, I'm sure. I too have the Liftmaster. I used the learning mode as well, it took a few tries but I got it. With my F I am very "anti-splicing/cutting". I went with the Beat-Sonic kit.

It is in fact dropped. I found Tein H Tech Springs on it. Shame he didn't do any other mods. Oh well, one less thing to do!

Search on YouTube for the door opener. I have two 8500s the first one programed with the hand held opener the second one wouldn't and the steps on the back of the opener didn't work either I followed a lady's youtube DIY and it worked.... I will try to find a link.

Where she presses the handheld remote I pressed my in car button.

Congrats and welcome! I know your feeling as just picked up my 08 F in October. So far so good and im curious about the LED lights as well.

Congrats and welcome, you have a nice stable of toys

Nice find on the F! I really like that first pic you posted. As for the navigation/ DVD bypass, I would still recommend the Beat Sonic module. It's plug and play, and zero headaches. Customer service is also top notch. I'm not a fan of cutting wires and splicing, as there can be so many things that go wrong with just one bad cut.

Congrats on the new ride. It looks great.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned it yet, but your rear wheels are on the wrong sides. Your fronts are fine though. The blades are supposed to cut forward. It happens all the time at tire shops that don't have great attention to detail.

Honestly I didn't notice it either. It has now been remedied. Pics of correction once it has been returned from the dealership. Fortunately, they were kind enough to fix a couple issues. Cracked headlight, had water in it and was shorting out, and a leaking water pump.

Looks great! congrats and welcome to the F'amily.