Lexus IS220d F-Sport - Daily Driver
Discussion
These are 175bhp out the factory if i'm not mistaken, and it's been remapped by the previous owner but i'm not too sure on the power figures, probably around 200bhp currently i'd assume.
It's just ticked over 140,000 miles this week and is still sweet as anything mechanically with no issues, mind it did have a brand new engine at 80,000 due to head gasket failure which is a common issue on these 2.2 toyota blocks.
It's got full Lexus service history, and everything works. It's their ex demo car and is fully loaded, apologies for no interior pics but thought i'd get a thread up anyway, and I will add them soon.
It's crap on fuel, and I mean really crap for a diesel, i'm averaging 27mpg round the town, will probz get high 30's on a run but i've not really done a proper run in it yet tracking the mpg, I generally drive like a madman to help avoid any EGR / DPF issues. It seems to run better i've noticed when I put some reddex in when filling it... never thought much of reddex in a petrol, but in this it does seem to run better.
6th gear is virtually useless if you're going below 80mph, it's the most useless and stupid gearbox i've experienced in any car for some time, i've no idea what they were thinking when they designed the gear ratios in this car.
Despite it's flaws it's still a nice daily car, is loaded with kit and isn't costing the earth to run. It's a good looking car also, especially in F-Sport trim and the pearlescent white paint, which is quite a rare site on the roads, only currently 3 of these on auto trader for sale in the UK, but none are up to this spec level. The seats are great and heated, 3 memory seat options etcc... the mark levinson sound system is by far the best i've ever had in any car, and i've had a couple BMW's with harmon kardon systems and this is in another league vs those.
My current fleet includes this, and an EP3 Type R which is off the road for the winter. Previous daily prior was a 2.2 diesel Accord which was a fantastic car and I sold that on 160,000 still sweet as a peach.
First job I've done on the car was replace a headlight bulb, which was real fun getting access as you can see below the level of work required just to carry out a simple job...
It's just ticked over 140,000 miles this week and is still sweet as anything mechanically with no issues, mind it did have a brand new engine at 80,000 due to head gasket failure which is a common issue on these 2.2 toyota blocks.
It's got full Lexus service history, and everything works. It's their ex demo car and is fully loaded, apologies for no interior pics but thought i'd get a thread up anyway, and I will add them soon.
It's crap on fuel, and I mean really crap for a diesel, i'm averaging 27mpg round the town, will probz get high 30's on a run but i've not really done a proper run in it yet tracking the mpg, I generally drive like a madman to help avoid any EGR / DPF issues. It seems to run better i've noticed when I put some reddex in when filling it... never thought much of reddex in a petrol, but in this it does seem to run better.
6th gear is virtually useless if you're going below 80mph, it's the most useless and stupid gearbox i've experienced in any car for some time, i've no idea what they were thinking when they designed the gear ratios in this car.
Despite it's flaws it's still a nice daily car, is loaded with kit and isn't costing the earth to run. It's a good looking car also, especially in F-Sport trim and the pearlescent white paint, which is quite a rare site on the roads, only currently 3 of these on auto trader for sale in the UK, but none are up to this spec level. The seats are great and heated, 3 memory seat options etcc... the mark levinson sound system is by far the best i've ever had in any car, and i've had a couple BMW's with harmon kardon systems and this is in another league vs those.
My current fleet includes this, and an EP3 Type R which is off the road for the winter. Previous daily prior was a 2.2 diesel Accord which was a fantastic car and I sold that on 160,000 still sweet as a peach.
First job I've done on the car was replace a headlight bulb, which was real fun getting access as you can see below the level of work required just to carry out a simple job...
Edited by EnzoUK on Friday 20th December 09:26
Just a little update on the car since we're all locked down...
Mileage is currently sitting at 143k
It went into limp mode a few months back, crying about DPF blocked, cleaned the EGR hoping to get it working again, cleared the codes and took it for a blast, no joy... so got the car booked in at Edge Performance in The Wirral.
£350 got me:::::
- Remapped to 221 bhp (stage 1, they offered stage 2 also at around 233bhp I think he quoted, but was happy with a stage 1)
- EGR blanked and mapped out
- DPF removed, and exhaust temp sensor mapped out
- 5th injector removed and mapped out.
Car does run alot better and is noticibly faster, better on fuel? Slightly... These cars are still dogs under 1500rpm, then a sudden turbo surge at 2000rpm+ which is annoying to say the least. I average 30mpg bang on with a mix of motorway driving, and stuck sitting in traffic in the inner city. It'll achieve higher 30's on a sensible motorway run at around 65mph, which is crap for a diesel really MPG wise, my old Honda Accord was miles better, but it is what it is.
Here's a couple pics of how she's sitting, picked up some 4D plates also, as the original ones were looking tired so it's lifted the car a little along with some number plate surrounds.
Service
So I serviced the car the other day, I managed to get a service kit off eBay for £51 including 6L of fully synthetic 5w30 oil, cabin filter, oil filter, fuel filter and air filter, all Commline parts, so not a bad deal at all!
Anyway cracking on with the service, I found the fuel filter change is a b
d of a quid, and impossible without a ramp as the driveshaft was in the way, so that was a good start...
Anyway, no issue changing the rest of the filter it all went well, cabin filter was fkin filthy mind, and the oil had seen better days despite it being only around 9 months since its last service, up until this point in its life the car had full lexus service history...but with being on 143k and being 10 years old, is it worth paying £250+ for them to do the car? I think not... anyway... no sump plug washer, and no oil filter rubber seals present! So much for quality dealerships services (Lexus Liverpool)... and oil filter was 100% overly tight.... I have a special oil filter removal tool and you needed to be like arnold swarznager to get the fker off...I understand they have a specific torque they need to be tightened at but jesus... and im not skinny kid either.
Anyway... all in all job done, let's see how the old girl goes now.
Mileage is currently sitting at 143k
It went into limp mode a few months back, crying about DPF blocked, cleaned the EGR hoping to get it working again, cleared the codes and took it for a blast, no joy... so got the car booked in at Edge Performance in The Wirral.
£350 got me:::::
- Remapped to 221 bhp (stage 1, they offered stage 2 also at around 233bhp I think he quoted, but was happy with a stage 1)
- EGR blanked and mapped out
- DPF removed, and exhaust temp sensor mapped out
- 5th injector removed and mapped out.
Car does run alot better and is noticibly faster, better on fuel? Slightly... These cars are still dogs under 1500rpm, then a sudden turbo surge at 2000rpm+ which is annoying to say the least. I average 30mpg bang on with a mix of motorway driving, and stuck sitting in traffic in the inner city. It'll achieve higher 30's on a sensible motorway run at around 65mph, which is crap for a diesel really MPG wise, my old Honda Accord was miles better, but it is what it is.
Here's a couple pics of how she's sitting, picked up some 4D plates also, as the original ones were looking tired so it's lifted the car a little along with some number plate surrounds.
Service
So I serviced the car the other day, I managed to get a service kit off eBay for £51 including 6L of fully synthetic 5w30 oil, cabin filter, oil filter, fuel filter and air filter, all Commline parts, so not a bad deal at all!
Anyway cracking on with the service, I found the fuel filter change is a b
d of a quid, and impossible without a ramp as the driveshaft was in the way, so that was a good start...Anyway, no issue changing the rest of the filter it all went well, cabin filter was fkin filthy mind, and the oil had seen better days despite it being only around 9 months since its last service, up until this point in its life the car had full lexus service history...but with being on 143k and being 10 years old, is it worth paying £250+ for them to do the car? I think not... anyway... no sump plug washer, and no oil filter rubber seals present! So much for quality dealerships services (Lexus Liverpool)... and oil filter was 100% overly tight.... I have a special oil filter removal tool and you needed to be like arnold swarznager to get the f
ker off...I understand they have a specific torque they need to be tightened at but jesus... and im not skinny kid either. Anyway... all in all job done, let's see how the old girl goes now.
Cat is still going strong, on 154,000 miles now if i'm not mistaken.
Due an oil change using genuine Lexus/Toyota parts in a few weeks. It's gonna get a wheel refurb soon too and due some fresh MPS4 tyres on the back, also had some rear brake pads recently, and will probably need new discs n pads on the front next year.
It has a squeeky clutch peddle which is apparently common, and a creek from the rear suspension currently when turning at low speed
Here's a few pics of the car recently... well past 6 months etc.
all this to replace a headlight bulb
and a little pic of the current fleet i'm running...
EP3 track car
M4 for weekends / leisure
and the IS220d daily driver.
Due an oil change using genuine Lexus/Toyota parts in a few weeks. It's gonna get a wheel refurb soon too and due some fresh MPS4 tyres on the back, also had some rear brake pads recently, and will probably need new discs n pads on the front next year.
It has a squeeky clutch peddle which is apparently common, and a creek from the rear suspension currently when turning at low speed
Here's a few pics of the car recently... well past 6 months etc.
all this to replace a headlight bulb
and a little pic of the current fleet i'm running...
EP3 track car
M4 for weekends / leisure
and the IS220d daily driver.
Nice looking 2IS, seems to be the same pearlescent white as my car 
Yes changing the headlight bulbs is a bit of work, so i would recommend changing both sites at once. I've read somewhere that the headlight ballasts can fail on these cars, but if it works again you are good.
30mpg really isn't that great for a 2.2 diesel though
Yes changing the headlight bulbs is a bit of work, so i would recommend changing both sites at once. I've read somewhere that the headlight ballasts can fail on these cars, but if it works again you are good.
30mpg really isn't that great for a 2.2 diesel though
willmagrath said:
Nice car that and a good left field choice!
But that MPG is shocking! How could they sign that off?!
My 300hp petrol averages 31mpg and 40mpg on a cruise!
It's an interesting car to say the least.... the only diesel car Lexus ever made also. I'd be hard pressed to get 40mpg on a cruise to be honest as an average MPG, i'd have to make an effort aiming for pure mpg.But that MPG is shocking! How could they sign that off?!
My 300hp petrol averages 31mpg and 40mpg on a cruise!
Like all cars though, it has its perks, and it has its stinky parts.
The sound system in the car is unreal, and seats are fantastic for long journeys. The cabin is a really nice place to be, and it's from the era where cars were built to last, it's built and feels like a tank which is always nice vs todays cheap materials and 'eco' build quality.
Lexmaster said:
Nice looking 2IS, seems to be the same pearlescent white as my car
Yes changing the headlight bulbs is a bit of work, so i would recommend changing both sites at once. I've read somewhere that the headlight ballasts can fail on these cars, but if it works again you are good.
30mpg really isn't that great for a 2.2 diesel though
I've read that too, i've been through countless bulbs, but it seems the ones that died fast were eBay specials. I bought some Philips one's and I seem to get at least 12 months out of them this time. The cost of replacing bulbs each year is still more cost effective than replacing the ballasts and xenon units.Yes changing the headlight bulbs is a bit of work, so i would recommend changing both sites at once. I've read somewhere that the headlight ballasts can fail on these cars, but if it works again you are good.
30mpg really isn't that great for a 2.2 diesel though
Car still going strong!
mileage is 162,000+ at the min.
In the past few years it's had an alternator, water pump, aux belt, belt tensioner, brake pads, tyres, oil. All servicible items mostly.
It was crashed into while parked up a year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouj7p1di2-k @ 15 seconds. This wedged it against the wall which caused a fair amount of cosmetic damage... tarted it up myself though and it's not too bad for an old workhorse. It's got some mild rust round the drivers side rear arch which was repaired at some point in the cars history... annoying as job cost thousands to sort the arch and the passengers side has no rust at all!
Rear caliper was stuck on last week, and ended up making the inside brake pad disintergrate, so fresh pads on and cleaned and greased it up so hopefully it survives winter.
I'll try and get some pics this week to make the update here more interesting.
mileage is 162,000+ at the min.
In the past few years it's had an alternator, water pump, aux belt, belt tensioner, brake pads, tyres, oil. All servicible items mostly.
It was crashed into while parked up a year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouj7p1di2-k @ 15 seconds. This wedged it against the wall which caused a fair amount of cosmetic damage... tarted it up myself though and it's not too bad for an old workhorse. It's got some mild rust round the drivers side rear arch which was repaired at some point in the cars history... annoying as job cost thousands to sort the arch and the passengers side has no rust at all!
Rear caliper was stuck on last week, and ended up making the inside brake pad disintergrate, so fresh pads on and cleaned and greased it up so hopefully it survives winter.
I'll try and get some pics this week to make the update here more interesting.
EnzoUK said:
I've read that too, i've been through countless bulbs, but it seems the ones that died fast were eBay specials. I bought some Philips one's and I seem to get at least 12 months out of them this time. The cost of replacing bulbs each year is still more cost effective than replacing the ballasts and xenon units.
I've got an earlier '04 plate IS300 Sportcross that did a xenon headlamp ballast last year. Just shy of a grand from the dealer! I cross referenced the part number on ebay and got a new one from Lithuania for £49. So far so good, but, like yours, a bd to fit.I've previously had a 2008 IS250 and despite driving it like I stole it, got 30 mpg from that, so, as someone mentioned, if you ever need to replace yours, it's worth thinking about. They don't have the engine probs the diesels suffer from.
IS are good looking cars.
But don't seem to deliver on performance or economy.
I had a BMW 123d from 2008 to 2014 with a twin-turbo 2 litre 201 bhp diesel that averaged 48mpg for the 80K miles I had it!
And it didn't bog down at low revs because that was one of the benefits of 2 turbos.
But it's good to see you still have it - you must like it!
But don't seem to deliver on performance or economy.
I had a BMW 123d from 2008 to 2014 with a twin-turbo 2 litre 201 bhp diesel that averaged 48mpg for the 80K miles I had it!
And it didn't bog down at low revs because that was one of the benefits of 2 turbos.
But it's good to see you still have it - you must like it!
So I had a good go at refurbing the brakes this weekend as the car is in need of some love!
https://youtube.com/shorts/l4ht1pFOQSU this was the state of the rear calipers... well mostly the slider pins!
before
after some paint and ebay discs n pads
Old pads vs the new!
I actually managed to snap a slider pin out of the drivers side slider it was that seized... so a pair of new sliders is on order for £99 each, should give the fronts a lease of new life
Old vs new discs, i picked up a set of discs for around £35 off ebay
All done.... Would be nice to get the wheels refurbed, but ultimately this is the high mileage daily shed!
So incoming a new pair of front sliders this week, paired with new discs and pads she should be good for a while longer, the caliper pistons were absolutely fine, but it's the slider that had really suffered n seized as seen
https://youtube.com/shorts/l4ht1pFOQSU this was the state of the rear calipers... well mostly the slider pins!
before
after some paint and ebay discs n pads
Old pads vs the new!
I actually managed to snap a slider pin out of the drivers side slider it was that seized... so a pair of new sliders is on order for £99 each, should give the fronts a lease of new life
Old vs new discs, i picked up a set of discs for around £35 off ebay
All done.... Would be nice to get the wheels refurbed, but ultimately this is the high mileage daily shed!
So incoming a new pair of front sliders this week, paired with new discs and pads she should be good for a while longer, the caliper pistons were absolutely fine, but it's the slider that had really suffered n seized as seen
I bought a bargain basement 2010 IS220d at the end of last year (£600 off a mate)
When i got it, the front brakes were a crime (although somehow passed an MOT like it the day i got it), but sorted for £65 at Halfords trade prices
As for the air filter
Picture doesn't do it justice. It wasn't just black, but packed solid with grot. I sorted the utterly clogged EGR while i was about it and transformed it into a totally different car.
So as of now;
Motorway driving sees over 40mpg
Lethargic below 1500rpm, like a non turbo diesel then off it goes
6th gear utterly useless at anything below 70mph
Sound system is epic
When i got it, the front brakes were a crime (although somehow passed an MOT like it the day i got it), but sorted for £65 at Halfords trade prices
As for the air filter
Picture doesn't do it justice. It wasn't just black, but packed solid with grot. I sorted the utterly clogged EGR while i was about it and transformed it into a totally different car.
So as of now;
Motorway driving sees over 40mpg
Lethargic below 1500rpm, like a non turbo diesel then off it goes
6th gear utterly useless at anything below 70mph
Sound system is epic
BTCC_racer said:
Lovely write up and motor. I love my Lexus IS. Will be selling soon as I’m going travelling / working abroad.
Built like tanks and made to last, certainly not like cars nowI don't know what i'd replace it with for the money these days that would serve luxury shed duties so well.
Getting the new sliders on later today as just had an 'overnight parts from Bradford' delivery, will post a better update either later today or tomorrow
littlebasher said:
I bought a bargain basement 2010 IS220d at the end of last year (£600 off a mate)
When i got it, the front brakes were a crime (although somehow passed an MOT like it the day i got it), but sorted for £65 at Halfords trade prices
As for the air filter
Picture doesn't do it justice. It wasn't just black, but packed solid with grot. I sorted the utterly clogged EGR while i was about it and transformed it into a totally different car.
So as of now;
Motorway driving sees over 40mpg
Lethargic below 1500rpm, like a non turbo diesel then off it goes
6th gear utterly useless at anything below 70mph
Sound system is epic
they can be had for so so cheap man it's great for what you get. Sorting my brakes today so will update later, i've not touched them for 5 years so.When i got it, the front brakes were a crime (although somehow passed an MOT like it the day i got it), but sorted for £65 at Halfords trade prices
As for the air filter
Picture doesn't do it justice. It wasn't just black, but packed solid with grot. I sorted the utterly clogged EGR while i was about it and transformed it into a totally different car.
So as of now;
Motorway driving sees over 40mpg
Lethargic below 1500rpm, like a non turbo diesel then off it goes
6th gear utterly useless at anything below 70mph
Sound system is epic
Can agree with the rest, Mark Levinson system is fantastic, and yeah, worst 6th gear of any car i've ever drove
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