dumped430

Hello everyone, new member of CL here, but have been a member of the Lexus community for more than 3 years now. My Lexus journey began with a 2006 IS350 that I took from 190,000km to 260,000km until it's unfortunate demise in an accident, its excellent build quality and effortless ownership taught me a lesson however, and that is that there is no better vehicle than a lexus. I'm here today to introduce my 2004 LS430 CL build that has been ongoing for the past 4 months, a completely different vehicle than my old FBO IS was, but in all the right ways. I purchased this Mercury Metallic CL at 260,000km with 1 previous owner for only $7,500 CAD at the tail end of the pandemic inflation and though not in perfect condition, it has been an incredible value of a vehicle.

First day of purchase/registration


Shot from the first couple weeks of ownership
The first few things I addressed were maintenance items. The car had an engine light and I noticed some hesitation with the front passenger window when rolling up/down frequently, through info on this forum I determined the window motor to be at fault and my code scanner determined the bank 1 sensor 1 cat was causing the light. To address this I purchased an aftermarket window motor for 60 CAD and a denso sensor for another 60 CAD, install of the motor was a breeze but as the forums warned, bank 1 sensor 1 is a massive pain in the *** to replace, especially with no o2 sensor socket. I have some aftermarket parts I have purchased/installed since these pictures and will address them in future posts, the intention is to do a full cliche VIP first, then address power through some force induction shortly after. I am currently a student with a part time job so funds are limited, but with all of my effort put toward this build it should be no issue saving for what I want in the time frame I have set, time will tell regardless.

dumped430

One of the first significant "mods" I bought for the car was a set of 20" work varianza d3s wheels in chrome finish, simply because it was an irresistible deal at the time. I got the full set in beautiful condition (aside from a bend in one, hence the price) for 900 CAD, 2 with a set of rubber and the other 2 without. I've been quoted around 150 CAD for the repair, a small price to pay when considering I'm in a full set of "real" wheels for just about 1000 bucks. Here's some picks from the day I picked it up, I think my excitement is visible.

Who wouldn't have a **** eating grin?
I don't remember the exact specs, fronts are 8.5 wide and rear's 9.5, the offset is a little weak though so some spacers may be required....

dumped430

So the name "Mark Levinson" obviously comes from the Mark Levinson sound system in the car, something me and a buddy found humor from by describing different luxury quirks in the car as very "Mark Levinson" features. Though I don't expect anyone to find the same laughs we had in that, the sound system has importance as it was one of the main things I needed to address in the build. Reading different reviews written amidst the glory of the LS understandably made me very excited for the sound system prior to owning the car, something you can imagine I was disappointed by when I discovered the classic knock of a blown ML sub. I originally attempted to address this issue through the simply speakers refoam kit which did help, but certainly not enough to make it sound repaired.


Around this time I was gifted someone's retired Pyle 2200W amp and 12" sub in a custom enclosure, both for free. This brought me to a several week period of attempting to understand what would be required to install this in my own vehicle, this LS430 being a CL equipped with the ML amp and NAV made it much more complex than doing a double din like would be possible in a Base model. Though I wanted everything to be DIY, I decided for just this aspect of the build that I would leave it to a professional, especially after warnings of how sensitive the ML amp is known to be and how expensive they are to replace. I took it to a local shop who had me out the door for 280 CAD, including a brand new set of speaker/power wires plus tax.


Though the level of bass is certainly adequate, this chapter is not yet closed. In the future I do intend to upgrade the amp, sub and possibly even enclosure, but that will come after more important things are first addressed. The shop somehow still left the original ML sub wired into the system, so I do hear the occasional knock. This will likely be addressed through the addition of a dayton sub, which should improve the overall sound even more. Up until this point I had used a simple FM transmitter for bluetooth functionality for music, but a few days after the sub was installed my Bluemusik bluetooth adapter arrived. This option allows full bluetooth functionality minus handsfree calling, something I have never found useful so was of no issue to me. It was also only 60 CAD including the required y splitter cable to retain CD player functionality, which is much much cheaper than solutions like GROM.

dumped430

After spending months and months searching for affordable places to source VIP parts for our cars, I stumbled across someone on IG selling a debadged grille for my LS that didn't quite cost an arm and a leg. I pulled the trigger, purchasing this and an ASC680 controller because I am a complete moron and somehow did not realize only the UL was equipped with adaptive air suspension, duhhhh. The grille appears to be a plastic off brand version of the kbreak one, the border chromed and grille glossy black.

After install (ft the camping chair I used as a hood strut)
Although I originally planned to repaint the grille chrome to match the car's accents, there is a small portion of my roofs molding that is peeling off. This has lead me in the direction to wrap the entire roof, molding bars and all, in gloss black to match the grille, adding a major black accent. Along with this, I am in desperate need of new front/rear bumper moldings, the chrome has faded and almost completely peeled off in some parts, also may get rid of the license plate mount...

Ellesse

I dont ununderstand this part... if you dont have a ul why did you buy a controller?

dumped430

Because I was a moron who didn't understand the trim levels at this point, ordered it thinking I had air suspension smh

dumped430

Have been preparing over the last couple weeks to perform my second oil change of the car as even though I am not at the standard target of 10,000km, winter has reared it's ugly head and I do not feel like getting under my car to be showered with cold, salty water. Picked up royal purple 5w30 because it was on sale and my favorite to put in my old IS, along with a K&N gold filter because I've never seen them in stock at the Canadian Tire and more expensive = more better right? Oil change was a breeze, only had to take off like 3 undertray screws to get into the oil filter and the drain plug should already be exposed. Also decided to try on one of the work wheels to see if I might need spacers...


But I think I might be good (:

Ellesse

Test fit the front to make sure they clear the brake caliper