DrummerK

It's been just a little over a week since I bought an '04 Black Onyx LS 430, and I'm extremely pleased with its steady, quiet ride & handling, luxurious comfort & look, and of course, the plethora of great "gadgetry" that technologist/engineer types like me just love to play with!

As such, I'm also very new to Club Lexus, and after some perusing around in various forums as well as poring over the manuals, I haven't found threads that cover some questions I have, specifically in re the Nav System. But I'm very impressed with the willing and able Club Lexus experts! Can anyone please help, or at least point me (gently, please!) in the right direction on the following?:

1) I've used other GPS navigation systems before, and after setting a destination, I can't seem to find in the Lexus how to show Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) and Time Remaining to Destination (TRD). Perish the thought that these features are not included!?!

2) In the Bluetooth Settings, there are no less than five (5) "types" of Hands-Free (HF) device choices, but I can't find help or documentation on how each is different from the others. The below pic is what I see on the screen. Does anyone have the "decoder ring" as to what each choice offers the end-user?

3) It's great to have the Automatic Sound Levelizer (ASL) under the audio DSP control, but I've found the difference in adjusted volume on the highway to be so subtle (if at all) that it's hard to tell if it's actually working or not. Other cars with similar ASL systems seem to have a more preceptible change in the volume under noisy or speedier conditions. Comments?

That's enough for now! More questions to come again, I'm sure! Thanks in advance to any and all!

encore888

Welcome to CL and congrats on your LS 430!

Here's what I know, others probably will add more info.

1) When you set the navigation for destination, the 4th gen NAVI in the LS 430 shows Time Remaining to Destination (TRD). It will say on the map screen something like "200 miles - 3 hours remaining" in a box on one side of the screen. It will also usually show something like "15 miles - 2 minutes to next turn" on the opposite side of the screen. As far as I know, there is no ETA, but you can figure that out easily by adding the TRD to the clock time.

2) If you are using a standard cellular phone with Bluetooth, I think "Bluetooth Hands Free" is the choice to go. That, or "Hands Free" -- it's been awhile since I paired the phones up, they've worked fine since (I have used Cingular and T-mobile). I haven't tried each of the 5, but basically if you can get your phone to connect and transfer phone entries (1 at a time, this system only allows), then that's the one! It will ask you to enter the passkey on your cellphone and the default is 1212 IIRC.

3) I haven't been in other cars with ASL or equivalents, so I can't compare they way they work in different cars. I would note that the LS 430 when released was (and still is) among the quietest cars in the world, even at highway speed. Although there is still noise, perhaps the system doesn't adjust as much because it is assumed the car is still relatively quiet. Or maybe the system feature is less proactive as others, hopefully you will be able to make adjustments or find out some way to make your car audio experience more enjoyable.

Anyhow, congrats on your LS 430, hope you enjoy your car!

DrummerK

Thanks so much for the quick & thorough reply, Enigma888!

Just a quick follow-up to your above comment: Now that you mention, "4th gen NAVI," I'm now wondering if my LS 430 (prod. April '04) has a lesser-equipped, previous-gen NAVI? I don't see those indicators you cite. Is there some way to toggle those to be shown (or hidden)? Also, by "X-gen NAVI," is that "gen" predicated by the annual software upgrades, or are you referring to a hardware "gen" which I assume cannot be changed?

Hmmmm....

encore888

I do believe the post-refresh '04 LS 430 has the 4th generation NAVI, but my experience is with the '05. Here is a navigation manual snippet of where those settings are displayed etc.

The left column is page 76 and the right column is page 57 of the manual.

DrummerK

Thanks again, Enigma888! Appreciate all the trouble you've taken to point things out to me. Now I'm embarrassed: I DO have that icon with distance and time showing, and just didn't notice the time part of it -- DUH! (I think my mind has been trained to look for "ETA =" and "TRD =" based on another system that I'm obviously too used to!)

Thanks again also for your other earlier answers to my question parts 2) & 3). The Bluetooth issue is interesting to me. I guess I'll take time to experiment with the various choices. Right now, I'm observing a peculiarly annoying behavior: I do love the way that the Lexus recognizes immediately my BT cell phone (it's actually the T-Mobile MDA, a PDA/Phone handheld device) after initially pairing it through the Integrated Handsfree option, but I noticed that it does NOT recognize it (i.e., I get the "Bluetooth Connection Unsuccessful..." error message on the Navi screen) if I happen to already have my Motorola HS-850 BT headset on and connected to the MDA. I figure that's more of a multi-tasking/-connecting issue with my MDA, rather than with the Lexus.... But the other thing I haven't quite figured out is how to proactively initiate a RE-connect via the Lexus Navi screen once a connection has failed (as in the above example) -- short of getting out of the car, walking away a distance beyond the BT range, then getting back into BT range of the Lexus. There's GOT to be a better way to simply tell the Lexus to RE-connect once I've turned my headset off!

Perhaps you or someone else out there may have already experienced a similar phenomena with BT between cell, headset, and Lexus, and know the solution(s)?

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

4th gen meaning hardware wise. software upgrades are a different issue. 98-00 had 1st, 2001 had 2nd, 2002-2003 3rd gen, 2004-2006 had 4th gen. If you have bluetooth, then you have 4th gen. There is no way of getting an older one by mistake.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Also, if you noticed, you can not enter destinations while driving. There is an override for that one. All you have to do is press menu, then volume, then...

Left upper screen,
lower left screen,
left upper screen,
lower left screen,

(Im reffering to the corners)

and will open a new menu for you... press and hold on "Override" till it changes colors, and your free to type in anything you want. (I dont suggest you mess with the other controls.) You have to do this everytime you start the car... handy on long trips.

DrummerK

Wow, thanks, GrandLS4! My first real hack -- I just KNEW there was an "Easter Egg" or two built into the Nav! Can't wait to try it out! Uh, dare I ask if there's any "unofficial" documentation/link on those "other controls" that I shouldn't/wouldn't/couldn't/(could I?) mess with?!

encore888

Glad it worked out for you! The only function I know to touch in the hidden menu is Override which is for entering items in motion, I've only done it once.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Your welcome bro...

I’m sure there something about this in the repair manual, I just don’t have one. The only other one you could possibly mess with is the Bluetooth sound quality one. I've heard from the 3rd gen GS guys (it uses same gen NAVI as the '04-06 LS430) that they were able to notice some improvement in sound quality, however, I cannot confirm that, because I have not tried it myself.

However, I will mention that one of them could damage your Navi reader... the one that changes regions (US, Europe, Japan, etc)... could burn different info on to your ROM, causing your navi to stop functioning. (Just be careful no one messes with it other than you).

Oh, and about the links for more info, i really dont remember where i read this information, so I dont have any links for you, try searching some key terms like hack, and navi override.

DrummerK

A fresh, new NAV-related question, if I may, for anyone out there:

Does the "Notifying traffic restrictions" option (set for now to ON in my Nav/Menu/Setup screen) work off of a Satellite (e.g., XM) Traffic signal only, or does it work off of the FM radio Traffic signal, or some other source? The reason I ask is, in my area (Austin, Texas), I can't seem to get any Traffic-related signal when I hit the TRAF button in the Nav/Audio/FM screen (it scans through and comes up with no Traffic station), so I'm assuming for now that it may work only in larger cities, etc. I'm also assuming that if I can't get TRAF to work in FM, then setting the "Notifying traffic restrictions" to ON is a moot point. BTW, I don't have XM or any satellite radio integrated in my car (yet! ).

And, of course, all of this is assuming I am understanding that the "Notifying traffic restrictions" feature is exactly that -- if I'm driving around and there is a known clog-up somewhere, the NAV will dynamically re-route to avoid traffic -- right? If so, is the system intelligent enough to warn of traffic even when NOT in Route Guidance mode (i.e., where I've defined a Destination)?

Anyway, this feature doesn't seem to work at all in my situation. If you have experience with this feature, perhaps in both small and large cities for comparison, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Thanks!

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Traffic restrictions being seasonal closure of roads and what not. The TRAF button is related to the radio only, and will search for any traffic information using RDDS. It didnt find any in Tampa either... but I guess it depends on when you search, and if that radio station broadcasts RDDS signals. However, the two systems are not interconnected, thats why they came up with the XM traffic alerts on the '07 LS430's. Its a fairly new service to tie up navi system with traffic alerts.

Mandingo

Some quick answers -

1) Already answered by others. Note that you can add/remove on screen items in the options menu to reduce clutter.

2) The screen you show with hands free names are exactly that - just names. You are changing them simply to rename the connection, it makes no difference to the actual connection type. I think its there to help you differentiate the device if you have several hands-free devices on your phone (headset etc). So pick whichever one you like the most, it makes no difference.

3) ASL is subtle, yes.