Woo hoo! New to me 2008 Lexus RX 350!
10-24-17, 11:30 AM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Woo hoo! New to me 2008 Lexus RX 350!
Hey folks!
Just picked up a very nice 2008 Lexus RX 350 in a gray Flint Mica, has a bit over 163,000 miles and drives great! The other car I'm driving is a well modified 2008 4Runner V8 Limited with a bit over 250,000 miles (I'm over on T4R.org) and it's still going since I picked it up new.
So going to need to go through the various options and updates, but there are a few things that are jumping out on me. Let's start with ...
The Lexus has adaptive and HID lights ... but they're dim compared to the LED lights that I've put into the 4Runner. The high beams appear to be easy replacements, but the adaptive lights are a bit tighter of a fight. Has anyone upgraded their bulbs to LED (Cree 55w) out there, without changing the housing? The headlights appear to have a nice cut off so dropping in LED's should cause any glare problems.
Fog lights. They're definitely not as bright as what I'm used to for fog lights, more like markers or DRL's. But again, LED's ... but more importantly, on the 4Runner we were able to change the wiring such that the fog lights would be "independent" of your high beams (or you could just turn them on without the lights being on. Ideas?
Marker / interior / exterior lights. I generally swap out the bulbs with LEDs for a more "white" look. Any gotchas like the map light?
Reverse light ... ugh. How do you see at night backing up in that rear view camera! I think I saw someone mount an additional light but still!
Noise. Climbing the curb into the driveway, at an angle can be met with a slight noise. In my past experience, it turned out to be needing to lubricate the sway bars. Since I haven't been under the car ... challenge factor?
Tow hitch. I have had a tow hitch to mount a bike rack - but there appear to be different options out there. Some complaints seem to resonate around how certain racks "wrap" the muffler, but the OEM is good. Not finding a lot of OEM options out there (e.g. ebay.com) and if I went for something that was easily available ... suggestions?
Aux audio plug ... I'm surprised that this vehicle didn't have it, so the $4.99 tape to connector (and then to BT) made a 4 hour drive more comfortable. Am I missing something here?
Antenna on the back ... is it for the radio, or does the vehicle have a diversity antenna that's part of the window ... somewhere?
Roof rack ... my 4Runner has positions marked for "least wind noise" but I didn't see it on the Lexus. Not that I noticed noise after coming from my offroad tire equipped Toy... but do you just put it full forward / back?
Big dashboard. Yeah, it's big and I'm reading about a recall / replacement. My usually goto product is Aerospace 303 ... but wow, what do you guys put up there besides feet?
Since I'm in Tahoe, weathertechs (and good mountain rated snow tires) are almost a requirement. But that sliding central console thing ... Do the weathertechs in the back interfere with the backward movement of that console?
Tape deck ... really? Well, even the newer 2010's I was looking at had tape decks ... but really? What's a good compliment to the stock navi / backup camera, and does it integrate with the steering wheel controls?
Finally, anything else that is a "must do" or a nice to have? Usually we tell folks to drain the front / rear diff, and do the transmission (ours is sealed so you can maybe get one-third at a time without dropping the pan) and don't forget to change the air filters (both), etc. Got a "pre- / post- buy checklist floating around?
And TPMS, when it gets cold, with a spare tire ... lol. I of course changed out my sensors about 2 years back, and these seem to still be going...
Thanks all!
PS. It's not for me, but for one pretty girl who is working on getting her DL
Just picked up a very nice 2008 Lexus RX 350 in a gray Flint Mica, has a bit over 163,000 miles and drives great! The other car I'm driving is a well modified 2008 4Runner V8 Limited with a bit over 250,000 miles (I'm over on T4R.org) and it's still going since I picked it up new.
So going to need to go through the various options and updates, but there are a few things that are jumping out on me. Let's start with ...
The Lexus has adaptive and HID lights ... but they're dim compared to the LED lights that I've put into the 4Runner. The high beams appear to be easy replacements, but the adaptive lights are a bit tighter of a fight. Has anyone upgraded their bulbs to LED (Cree 55w) out there, without changing the housing? The headlights appear to have a nice cut off so dropping in LED's should cause any glare problems.
Fog lights. They're definitely not as bright as what I'm used to for fog lights, more like markers or DRL's. But again, LED's ... but more importantly, on the 4Runner we were able to change the wiring such that the fog lights would be "independent" of your high beams (or you could just turn them on without the lights being on. Ideas?
Marker / interior / exterior lights. I generally swap out the bulbs with LEDs for a more "white" look. Any gotchas like the map light?
Reverse light ... ugh. How do you see at night backing up in that rear view camera! I think I saw someone mount an additional light but still!
Noise. Climbing the curb into the driveway, at an angle can be met with a slight noise. In my past experience, it turned out to be needing to lubricate the sway bars. Since I haven't been under the car ... challenge factor?
Tow hitch. I have had a tow hitch to mount a bike rack - but there appear to be different options out there. Some complaints seem to resonate around how certain racks "wrap" the muffler, but the OEM is good. Not finding a lot of OEM options out there (e.g. ebay.com) and if I went for something that was easily available ... suggestions?
Aux audio plug ... I'm surprised that this vehicle didn't have it, so the $4.99 tape to connector (and then to BT) made a 4 hour drive more comfortable. Am I missing something here?
Antenna on the back ... is it for the radio, or does the vehicle have a diversity antenna that's part of the window ... somewhere?
Roof rack ... my 4Runner has positions marked for "least wind noise" but I didn't see it on the Lexus. Not that I noticed noise after coming from my offroad tire equipped Toy... but do you just put it full forward / back?
Big dashboard. Yeah, it's big and I'm reading about a recall / replacement. My usually goto product is Aerospace 303 ... but wow, what do you guys put up there besides feet?
Since I'm in Tahoe, weathertechs (and good mountain rated snow tires) are almost a requirement. But that sliding central console thing ... Do the weathertechs in the back interfere with the backward movement of that console?
Tape deck ... really? Well, even the newer 2010's I was looking at had tape decks ... but really? What's a good compliment to the stock navi / backup camera, and does it integrate with the steering wheel controls?
Finally, anything else that is a "must do" or a nice to have? Usually we tell folks to drain the front / rear diff, and do the transmission (ours is sealed so you can maybe get one-third at a time without dropping the pan) and don't forget to change the air filters (both), etc. Got a "pre- / post- buy checklist floating around?
And TPMS, when it gets cold, with a spare tire ... lol. I of course changed out my sensors about 2 years back, and these seem to still be going...
Thanks all!
PS. It's not for me, but for one pretty girl who is working on getting her DL
10-24-17, 12:05 PM
#2
Hey folks!
Just picked up a very nice 2008 Lexus RX 350 in a gray Flint Mica, has a bit over 163,000 miles and drives great! The other car I'm driving is a well modified 2008 4Runner V8 Limited with a bit over 250,000 miles (I'm over on T4R.org) and it's still going since I picked it up new.
So going to need to go through the various options and updates, but there are a few things that are jumping out on me. Let's start with ...
The Lexus has adaptive and HID lights ... but they're dim compared to the LED lights that I've put into the 4Runner. The high beams appear to be easy replacements, but the adaptive lights are a bit tighter of a fight. Has anyone upgraded their bulbs to LED (Cree 55w) out there, without changing the housing? The headlights appear to have a nice cut off so dropping in LED's should cause any glare problems.
Not that I am aware of nor would I put LEDs into a HID projector. The beam pattern of LEDs are just not there yet regardless what housing you put it in. Your 4Runner with LED's may seem bright up close but its depth that HID's excel at. I have a full HID retro on my Camry which I gave up cheap HID kits and CREE LED's for. Although in the city, the street lights wash out the HID color, in the country it excels. I've noticed this on both my RX330 with AFS and my Camry. My Lexus HID is much better than my retro but I blame that on the Denso ballast which run a pretty penny compared to the Hella's I took off an Audi for my retro.
Fog lights. They're definitely not as bright as what I'm used to for fog lights, more like markers or DRL's. But again, LED's ... but more importantly, on the 4Runner we were able to change the wiring such that the fog lights would be "independent" of your high beams (or you could just turn them on without the lights being on. Ideas?
Fogs on the RX330 run with the low beams, haven't found the solution to this yet, on my camry it's a bit of wiring but nothing crazy. They also have that stupid halogen cap within them unlike most Toyota's which is just a reflector housing. Haven't touched my RX yet but I have HID's in my Camry (bad, I know) and they are much brighter.
Marker / interior / exterior lights. I generally swap out the bulbs with LEDs for a more "white" look. Any gotchas like the map light?
I have a full conversion on my RX, got a kit off eBay for like $17. Just go slow and look for the indentations for a flathead screw driver as the surrounding plastics scratch easily.
Reverse light ... ugh. How do you see at night backing up in that rear view camera! I think I saw someone mount an additional light but still!
Also did an LED conversion, helps a but but isn't too bright, bad design from Lexus in my opinion. What really helps is a LED's in the license plate bulbs which light up the area around the camera and bumper.
Noise. Climbing the curb into the driveway, at an angle can be met with a slight noise. In my past experience, it turned out to be needing to lubricate the sway bars. Since I haven't been under the car ... challenge factor?
Tow hitch. I have had a tow hitch to mount a bike rack - but there appear to be different options out there. Some complaints seem to resonate around how certain racks "wrap" the muffler, but the OEM is good. Not finding a lot of OEM options out there (e.g. ebay.com) and if I went for something that was easily available ... suggestions?
No hitch on mine so can't say much.
Aux audio plug ... I'm surprised that this vehicle didn't have it, so the $4.99 tape to connector (and then to BT) made a 4 hour drive more comfortable. Am I missing something here?
Wasn't much of a thing before around 2007+, I myself just installed a GROM IPD4 with bluetooth adapter, finally have USB and bluetooth and the car feels more modern. I do not have the ML sounds and even the basic stereo isn't too shabby.
Antenna on the back ... is it for the radio, or does the vehicle have a diversity antenna that's part of the window ... somewhere?
I believe that is for the GPS if you have it. I know most Toyota/Lexus use the back window as a diversity antenna but the radio does have two antenna jacks when I was installing the GROM.
Roof rack ... my 4Runner has positions marked for "least wind noise" but I didn't see it on the Lexus. Not that I noticed noise after coming from my offroad tire equipped Toy... but do you just put it full forward / back?
No idea as I don't really use it, nor did I use it on my last Highlander.....
Big dashboard. Yeah, it's big and I'm reading about a recall / replacement. My usually goto product is Aerospace 303 ... but wow, what do you guys put up there besides feet?
I just keep it clean with Armor all.
Since I'm in Tahoe, weathertechs (and good mountain rated snow tires) are almost a requirement. But that sliding central console thing ... Do the weathertechs in the back interfere with the backward movement of that console?
My 330 doesn't have the sliding console but I assume Weathertech accounts for that. I have the full floor liner package besides the trunk (went OEM for the trunk) and cannot live without it. Also the window visors, love those.
Tape deck ... really? Well, even the newer 2010's I was looking at had tape decks ... but really? What's a good compliment to the stock navi / backup camera, and does it integrate with the steering wheel controls?
As mentioned before I used the GROM IPD4, yes it works with steering wheel controls and stock nav. You do need to turn off the stock bluetooth though.
Finally, anything else that is a "must do" or a nice to have? Usually we tell folks to drain the front / rear diff, and do the transmission (ours is sealed so you can maybe get one-third at a time without dropping the pan) and don't forget to change the air filters (both), etc. Got a "pre- / post- buy checklist floating around?
You're lucky the 350 doesn't use a timing belt...... But I put on step bars on my RX, I am kind of short so that helps maybe its not the case for everyone as the RX was lower than my Highlander but still high enough when getting in can be difficult for me.
And TPMS, when it gets cold, with a spare tire ... lol. I of course changed out my sensors about 2 years back, and these seem to still be going...
Thanks all!
PS. It's not for me, but for one pretty girl who is working on getting her DL
Just picked up a very nice 2008 Lexus RX 350 in a gray Flint Mica, has a bit over 163,000 miles and drives great! The other car I'm driving is a well modified 2008 4Runner V8 Limited with a bit over 250,000 miles (I'm over on T4R.org) and it's still going since I picked it up new.
So going to need to go through the various options and updates, but there are a few things that are jumping out on me. Let's start with ...
The Lexus has adaptive and HID lights ... but they're dim compared to the LED lights that I've put into the 4Runner. The high beams appear to be easy replacements, but the adaptive lights are a bit tighter of a fight. Has anyone upgraded their bulbs to LED (Cree 55w) out there, without changing the housing? The headlights appear to have a nice cut off so dropping in LED's should cause any glare problems.
Not that I am aware of nor would I put LEDs into a HID projector. The beam pattern of LEDs are just not there yet regardless what housing you put it in. Your 4Runner with LED's may seem bright up close but its depth that HID's excel at. I have a full HID retro on my Camry which I gave up cheap HID kits and CREE LED's for. Although in the city, the street lights wash out the HID color, in the country it excels. I've noticed this on both my RX330 with AFS and my Camry. My Lexus HID is much better than my retro but I blame that on the Denso ballast which run a pretty penny compared to the Hella's I took off an Audi for my retro.
Fog lights. They're definitely not as bright as what I'm used to for fog lights, more like markers or DRL's. But again, LED's ... but more importantly, on the 4Runner we were able to change the wiring such that the fog lights would be "independent" of your high beams (or you could just turn them on without the lights being on. Ideas?
Fogs on the RX330 run with the low beams, haven't found the solution to this yet, on my camry it's a bit of wiring but nothing crazy. They also have that stupid halogen cap within them unlike most Toyota's which is just a reflector housing. Haven't touched my RX yet but I have HID's in my Camry (bad, I know) and they are much brighter.
Marker / interior / exterior lights. I generally swap out the bulbs with LEDs for a more "white" look. Any gotchas like the map light?
I have a full conversion on my RX, got a kit off eBay for like $17. Just go slow and look for the indentations for a flathead screw driver as the surrounding plastics scratch easily.
Reverse light ... ugh. How do you see at night backing up in that rear view camera! I think I saw someone mount an additional light but still!
Also did an LED conversion, helps a but but isn't too bright, bad design from Lexus in my opinion. What really helps is a LED's in the license plate bulbs which light up the area around the camera and bumper.
Noise. Climbing the curb into the driveway, at an angle can be met with a slight noise. In my past experience, it turned out to be needing to lubricate the sway bars. Since I haven't been under the car ... challenge factor?
Tow hitch. I have had a tow hitch to mount a bike rack - but there appear to be different options out there. Some complaints seem to resonate around how certain racks "wrap" the muffler, but the OEM is good. Not finding a lot of OEM options out there (e.g. ebay.com) and if I went for something that was easily available ... suggestions?
No hitch on mine so can't say much.
Aux audio plug ... I'm surprised that this vehicle didn't have it, so the $4.99 tape to connector (and then to BT) made a 4 hour drive more comfortable. Am I missing something here?
Wasn't much of a thing before around 2007+, I myself just installed a GROM IPD4 with bluetooth adapter, finally have USB and bluetooth and the car feels more modern. I do not have the ML sounds and even the basic stereo isn't too shabby.
Antenna on the back ... is it for the radio, or does the vehicle have a diversity antenna that's part of the window ... somewhere?
I believe that is for the GPS if you have it. I know most Toyota/Lexus use the back window as a diversity antenna but the radio does have two antenna jacks when I was installing the GROM.
Roof rack ... my 4Runner has positions marked for "least wind noise" but I didn't see it on the Lexus. Not that I noticed noise after coming from my offroad tire equipped Toy... but do you just put it full forward / back?
No idea as I don't really use it, nor did I use it on my last Highlander.....
Big dashboard. Yeah, it's big and I'm reading about a recall / replacement. My usually goto product is Aerospace 303 ... but wow, what do you guys put up there besides feet?
I just keep it clean with Armor all.
Since I'm in Tahoe, weathertechs (and good mountain rated snow tires) are almost a requirement. But that sliding central console thing ... Do the weathertechs in the back interfere with the backward movement of that console?
My 330 doesn't have the sliding console but I assume Weathertech accounts for that. I have the full floor liner package besides the trunk (went OEM for the trunk) and cannot live without it. Also the window visors, love those.
Tape deck ... really? Well, even the newer 2010's I was looking at had tape decks ... but really? What's a good compliment to the stock navi / backup camera, and does it integrate with the steering wheel controls?
As mentioned before I used the GROM IPD4, yes it works with steering wheel controls and stock nav. You do need to turn off the stock bluetooth though.
Finally, anything else that is a "must do" or a nice to have? Usually we tell folks to drain the front / rear diff, and do the transmission (ours is sealed so you can maybe get one-third at a time without dropping the pan) and don't forget to change the air filters (both), etc. Got a "pre- / post- buy checklist floating around?
You're lucky the 350 doesn't use a timing belt...... But I put on step bars on my RX, I am kind of short so that helps maybe its not the case for everyone as the RX was lower than my Highlander but still high enough when getting in can be difficult for me.
And TPMS, when it gets cold, with a spare tire ... lol. I of course changed out my sensors about 2 years back, and these seem to still be going...
Thanks all!
PS. It's not for me, but for one pretty girl who is working on getting her DL
10-24-17, 04:24 PM
#4
Racer
This is the kind of hitch you need for the RX. It is like the one from Lexus -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Curt-Class-3...3TKAlg&vxp=mtr
This will interfere with the tailpipe -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Curt-Class-3...lWpl1A&vxp=mtr
This one is a maybe -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CURT-Class-3...JYIdwB&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Curt-Class-3...3TKAlg&vxp=mtr
This will interfere with the tailpipe -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Curt-Class-3...lWpl1A&vxp=mtr
This one is a maybe -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CURT-Class-3...JYIdwB&vxp=mtr
10-24-17, 05:52 PM
#5
Lead Lap
Welcome to the forum. I have Weathertec's all around and rear mat does not interfere with console. Must thing to check is vvti line on top passenger side of motor (was a recall, most were done) and oil cooler line passenger side low near oil filter housing(Limited ServiceCampaign). Search through the forums for these and you can read about it. They were both rubber oil line hoses that can fail.
Lower control arm bushings on the front go bad, have a look at yours since you have noises. They crack and tear.
I'd go through and do all the fluid, nothing is lifetime. Again search the forum and diy sticky thread at top 2nd gen homepage.
Lower control arm bushings on the front go bad, have a look at yours since you have noises. They crack and tear.
I'd go through and do all the fluid, nothing is lifetime. Again search the forum and diy sticky thread at top 2nd gen homepage.
10-24-17, 06:16 PM
#6
Unless they've changed the design in the last few years, there is a small center piece on the rear weather tech that needs to be trimmed if you want to slide the console back. Here is a thread showing one already trimmed:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx3...floor-mat.html
For the TPMS, you can store a second set of sensor codes for winter wheels and tires so all you'll need to do at each swap is push the "main/2nd" button under the glove box. Seven years ago I had to have the dealer program in the second set of codes but there's likely cheaper avenues now.
I believe the Lexus hitch is the same as the first gen Highlander, that may help find a factory one for less $.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx3...floor-mat.html
For the TPMS, you can store a second set of sensor codes for winter wheels and tires so all you'll need to do at each swap is push the "main/2nd" button under the glove box. Seven years ago I had to have the dealer program in the second set of codes but there's likely cheaper avenues now.
I believe the Lexus hitch is the same as the first gen Highlander, that may help find a factory one for less $.
10-24-17, 07:04 PM
#7
Drop a pic, interested to see what you did. Glad it works for you, wasn't so much when I had a run with them. I now have Acura MDX D2S projectors on my Camry, my RX is bone stock as that HID system is fantastic, if I want to go LED, I'll go the whole 9 yards and get an LED projector for it like the Morimoto M LED kit. Been pondering on putting the Acura LED jewels on my RX, but that's just a thought.
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11-08-17, 01:19 PM
#11
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Anemic lights
Finally back from China!
I've off-roaded a bit, and even on the dark highways of US 50, I was disappointed with the lights that the Lexus had! In the past, I've upgraded the high beams to HIRs but ultimately found that there is no substitute for LED's. On my 4Runner, I have a light bar, but often the high beams and upgraded lights are sufficient - and by that I mean upgraded with LED's
I replaced the stock high beams with 55W LED's off of eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/292187645488), just a basic swap and here are some pictures (who doesn't like pictures?!?) Note that the fence is 90' away. And if someone knows how to make "tables" with BB Code, I'd do a side-by-side! Anyhow...
The first two are stock (high beams off, and then on) ...
Down to one high beam
And swapped ONE high beam with LED
Note both high beams out - scorched! But here is what they're being replaced with
And with both high beams out and upgraded
Full size pictures should be linked - I kept the same exposure & camera settings throughout (50mm fixed prime, full frame Nikon, F1.4 and 1/40s shutter speed) to keep things consistent
I've off-roaded a bit, and even on the dark highways of US 50, I was disappointed with the lights that the Lexus had! In the past, I've upgraded the high beams to HIRs but ultimately found that there is no substitute for LED's. On my 4Runner, I have a light bar, but often the high beams and upgraded lights are sufficient - and by that I mean upgraded with LED's
I replaced the stock high beams with 55W LED's off of eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/292187645488), just a basic swap and here are some pictures (who doesn't like pictures?!?) Note that the fence is 90' away. And if someone knows how to make "tables" with BB Code, I'd do a side-by-side! Anyhow...
The first two are stock (high beams off, and then on) ...
Down to one high beam
And swapped ONE high beam with LED
Note both high beams out - scorched! But here is what they're being replaced with
And with both high beams out and upgraded
Full size pictures should be linked - I kept the same exposure & camera settings throughout (50mm fixed prime, full frame Nikon, F1.4 and 1/40s shutter speed) to keep things consistent
11-08-17, 01:36 PM
#12
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
55W LED Fog Lights
I also took the opportunity to replace / upgrade the fog lights. Found water in the wiring wrap on the passenger side while changing it, but not a big deal.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/292305714554 at $15 or so (shop around, you'll find typos and pick them up for cheap - seller changed it to the correct price later on)
And here is the stock lights, anemic - and with one pulled out (barely noticed it)
However, adding one 55W LED to the right side showed a marked difference
And then replacing both made things much brighter
All the photos were taken at the same exposure (640 speed, F1.4 and 1/40s with a 50mm prime)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/292305714554 at $15 or so (shop around, you'll find typos and pick them up for cheap - seller changed it to the correct price later on)
And here is the stock lights, anemic - and with one pulled out (barely noticed it)
However, adding one 55W LED to the right side showed a marked difference
And then replacing both made things much brighter
All the photos were taken at the same exposure (640 speed, F1.4 and 1/40s with a 50mm prime)
The following users liked this post:
bigdaddygr (10-24-19)
11-08-17, 02:18 PM
#13
Driver School Candidate
Looks like a good amount of light increase. Does it throw the light far like a high beam should? I'm not quite familiar with the headlight set up on my 2008. Can the low beams be replaced?
I see you got the 6000K bulbs. You like that blue tint. I guess I could find the same bulb in a 4000K.
I see you got the 6000K bulbs. You like that blue tint. I guess I could find the same bulb in a 4000K.
11-08-17, 02:26 PM
#14
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Looks like a good amount of light increase. Does it throw the light far like a high beam should? I'm not quite familiar with the headlight set up on my 2008. Can the low beams be replaced?
I see you got the 6000K bulbs. You like that blue tint. I guess I could find the same bulb in a 4000K.
I see you got the 6000K bulbs. You like that blue tint. I guess I could find the same bulb in a 4000K.
Next step, let's see if I can get those fog lights to stay on with the high beams. It used to be one wire and a bent leg off of the fog light relay...
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