E46CT

As everyone has different levels of car/3IS knowledge, I thought this may be helpful where people such as new and old owners alike can ask casual questions about their 3IS, maintenance, operation, service, etc. without feeling like they're asking dumb questions. Anything at all! There are no dumb questions (within reason of course).

Anyone with knowledge of course is welcome to help answer peoples questions as all of us don't know all the answers. We all have to learn somehow. Just make sure it's solid information. =)

So how about it, any very basic/simple or "dumb" 3IS questions you've always wondered about? Such as what's this light for? What's this button do? What happens when you ____?

a1rh3adsz

^This is a good thread. The same thread over at my Audi forum is very helpful with over thousands of questions and answers.

ShrinkDoc

Great thread...thanks!!!!!

Question: There are numerous threads on the 3rd edition IS. Essentially, what are the top 5-10 issues noted in this forum for the 3rd generation IS, especially to some one looking to buy one, or to a newbie?

What I've read has been:
1) The infotainment system, such as the endless looping on the screen
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

E46CT

Common problems?

Off top of my head:

2014 250/350 battery draining problem. It's apparently fixed with an updated part/tsb? I'm not sure. Someone else can chime in

Accelerated Inner tire wear on front tires. Normal on 2IS and 3IS. All models including F Sport and F models.

F Sport front pad and rotors fast wear. 10-18,000 miles is average. Normal. High performance/high wear. Some install alternative pads to get low wear, low dust.

nan88

iTrader: (1)

Great opportunity!
Odometer question:

Has anyone experienced this issue?
Where the odometer LCD is completely white.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/clu...-clusters.html
http://www.taninautoelectronix.com/R...ter_repair.htm

Flash5

Any idea why the front tire inner wear occurs and why Lexus didn't do anything about it as they released new models?

E46CT

The inner tire wear is due to dynamic toe change particularly under braking and cornering. Basically as the tire is rolling down the road on a slightly negative static camber, it's also "wiggling" under load. So the inner tire experiences a lot of pressure/rubbing/wear on the very inside of the tire. The 2IS uses the same basic front suspension/bushing design and experiences the same wear. Was at a grocery store the other day and noticed a bone stock grandma 2IS with severely worn inner front tires.

The upside is you have a lot of compliance and stability/traction under bumpy conditions (the conditions you'd experience on most streets) For example, in a theoretical solid suspension (lets say we make this bushing solid aluminum), the shock wouldn't be absorbed and if you were cornering at the same time you hit a bump, the tire would lose traction and thus you'd lose control. So for the street, there has to be some compliance. On a race track with perfect smoothness, theoretically you'd want 0 movement. But our cars are made for the streets and therefore we have a high performance/high wear situation. The stiffer you make that bushing, the more noise and vibration that enters the cabin. But remember this is still a mass-market "luxury" car. So as with most things, there's a tradeoff. I wish a company made a stiffer rubber bushing. Meyle does something similar for the E46 BMW which has a similar problem. They make a solid rubber bushing vs. the stock BMW fluid filled. Lasts longer, stiffer, without being overbearing.

Flash5

Hmmmm this is the first car I've heard of that has inner wear problems like this and I've owned quite a few cars haha. So would you say the front tires get changed at about the same rate as the rears because of the inner wear problem (considering RWD)?

yohan81718

Wouldn't front wear out quicker regardless of FWD/RWD (because of steers and turns)? Now with the inner wear, I'd assume front wears out much quicker than rear.. but what do I know about cars =)

Flash5

E46CT

When I changed my fronts at around 15,000 miles, the very inner on the front tires were bald while the rest of the front tires had about 75% left--a huge waste I know. Now my car was lowered slightly (less than half an inch) so this could've sped the wear up. I got a custom alignment with my toe zeroed out so we'll see this time around if it wears the same. My rears wore much better with 10% remaining (maybe less than 1mm to the wear bars) and inners about bald. That was 21,500 miles. So about every 20,000 miles you'll need a new set of tires, assuming you are running summer tires. You can probably get 30-40k on all seasons.

yohan81718

Unless you always screeching tires, front does all the turns and gets impacted by breaking. Maybe it should do more even front and rear wears compared to FWD but shouldn't wear out more rears just because RWD.... is how I was taught.

Flash5

RKSTRAT

Flash5