Hi Guys, after heaps of research on here I finally replaced my Subwoofer on my 04 LS430. I tried the glue fix around the speaker but mine was past that and it has small tears right through the cone and it had already been glued.

Got the Mark Levinson sub shipped from Lexus in USA and was much cheaper than prices in my country.

I didn't find the install to be that easy at all, but I had tried the whole thing once before to get the part number of my broken sub because Lexus Australia wouldn't give me the part number and I wanted to make sure a USA one would fit.

I guess it was kind of less daunting the 2nd time around.

In Australia I have the equivalent of the Ultra Luxury model with rear blind, reclining and cooled seats and the 2 air purifier grilles that look like speakers on the rear deck. I had to be REALLY careful and I couldn't lift up the rear deck very much even after partially removing the seats. I removed the bottom rear seats and tilted the back pieces forwards. I couldn't remove the air purifier grilles but I managed to force up the rear deck just enough to remove the speaker and replace it after a few hours!!. I accidentally dropped one of the speaker screws down a hole in the back deck which took me another 1hr to get it back thanks to my magnetic pick up tool!



NEW SUB from Lexus USA!


Mine was an 8 inch sub fitment with part number 86160-0W260


New sub on the left and the old one on the right (there were tiny tears on it that you cant see on the pic) It has already been glued and was sun damaged.


Not FUN! A set of plastic pry bar tools a socket set and my magnetic pick up tool were all vital to the project!


Rear deck loosened up - there still wasn't much room to work. The bits back there are very fraglie!


So glad it's all over now - I don't want to be doing this ever again!

 

Congrats on the diy. Thanks for sharing the pics with the forum.

 

Thanks for the pictures on the DIY

 

How much did the new sub cost? I have a blown one in my 430. I just purchased the car today and besides getting it tinted all around this upcoming week that is the first thing I planned to do.

 

Hi,

I got it new for about $300. To some thats very expensive, but my old one was beyond repair and I just wanted OEM and didn't want to risk messing around with factory system or making mods to the housings.

Its way better than spending $490 which is what the same sub would cost in my country Australia. I'll take any discount I can get!

 

$300 is a fair price. I too decided on sticking with refoaming the factory sub as to replacing with an aftermarket speaker. With aftermarket comes some uncertainty of dealing with mods to the rear shelf and any possilbe after affects on the factory amp. Now you are good to go. Unless our cars are garaged constantly, very few owners escape from having to replace their rear subwoofer.

 

Nice write, that's a nice looking interior you have.

 

Hey Lex ES300,

Do you have a part number for that center mat? I want one.

 

^^^^ +1 that center mat is way cool

 

Does anyone know if the replacement subs ordered from Toyota have been improved and no longer have the design flaw? Or is this sub designed to fail too? Because given the Mark Levinson prestige, Lexus customers obviously love and expect quality sound and quality components to keep up with the demand of its listeners. From rap to classical, and from digital bass tones to pipe organ rumble these high-end subs should not be falling apart. And there obviously is a demand because enough Lexus owners have voiced the high failure rate as tracked in Consumer Reports as a WORSE THAN AVERAGE in the 'audio system'.

Also, does anyone know the frequency response of the ML sub, because the after market replacement subs some have mentioned have a freq response that only goes down to 30 or 38 hz which is a disappointment in my book. If the ML has a lower freq response, than it would seem that the aftermarket subs would not be reproducing some low end bass passages that the ML would handily reproduce. Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

I thought they all came with the floor mats and the centre standard? Perhaps the factory lexus car mats I have here in Australia are different? Sadly, there's no part number on it and whilst the rears are ok, I need new front ones. Tan mats get so dirty quickly. I was hoping to find a set of Tan rubber ones to help protect the carpet, or perhaps I will have to order a set of Black ones to hide any dirt marks. I'd love to get front mats cheaper overseas, but you guys have LH drive cars so the front mats don't fit mine.

 

If you guys look around on the internet or ebay I have seen kits and companies thart re-cone speakers.
There is nothing wrong with your speakers except that the rubber surround is deteriorated and needs to
have a the cone replaced and as I recall is not very expensive.
A local hi end audio dealer may be able to recone it for you if you have a replacement cone kit....

 

I was planning on going aftermarket but after reading all the threads I didn’t want to risk damage to the ml amp. I found a local guy that will do a complete recone for $40… It’s worth a shot!

 

hmmm, I wouldn't want to remove the seats just to replace the sub. Why can't it just be like the sub in the 1GS; they are easily accessible through the trunk.

How can the garage prevent the subwoofer from blowing up?

 

The direct sunlight and heat deteriorates the foam around the cone.