B@tm@n

Show me your modded and better looking ES

twister

Holly Batman!!! You are in a wrong forum asking for ES350 mods. The only thing gets people excited in here is threads like "Show me a trouble free, noise free, engine ticking free, tranny flare free ES350". We started awhile ago a thread about moding to go to a bigger wheel (17" to 18", perhaps) or anybody getting different tires. That didn't last for too long with everybody just asking who is going to do it first and share their experience. ES350 is still a brand new 1st year car and most of the people get it for a quiet and soft ride. So, don't expect too many people (if any at all) getting bigger rims with lower profile tires or dropping it with Tanabe springs The closest anybody comes here to moding is getting 3m clear bra, Sirius/XM, tint, and maybe extra wood press-on kit. Performance tuning? Well, maybe in a year or two when used ES350 gonna become available for a more affordable price to be picked up and modded. Just my humble opinion. Although, I would love to be proven wrong

ES350Bob

In line with Twister's post, people are uncomfortable with or about mods on these, just look at the side moulding thread.

dreyfus

Hey, I put the cargo net up in the trunk every now and then. Does that count as a mod?

ES350Bob

Only one of those actions would be a mod, either the putting up or the taking down, not both.

toneman

Well, it's just a small mod but I swapped out the filament front marker bulbs for brighter LED ones--the nice whitish tint complements the HID headlight color very nicely. I also swapped out the door panel filament bulbs for similar LED counterparts; although the LED ones brighten up the interior a bit better than the original ones...the one "problem" I'm getting is that since those door panel LED bulbs are "directional" (i.e., the emitted light is directed in just one direction), it makes the door panel light cover look half-lit.

"Let's see some pics...", you'll probably say; yeah, yeah--I'll take some pics of the door panel/front marker LED setups after I'm done figuring out how exactly I'm gonna hook up my Wii and PS3 to my plasma...priorities, priorities...

jeffofla

mods (except tinting) gets a from me.

osokuko

I would love to Mod the car but I'll have to wait and see if I still have the same car after the trans issue is resovled.

rboyle23

I mod'ed the heck outa mine. I did have a Black Sapphire Pearl ML/UL but decided that was not enough....I have mod'ed mine into a Gold Almond Metallic Premium loaner, pretty sweet huh????

BillP

Actually I've been looking into some wider tires. Not crazy wide; 225 or 235/50s. 235/50-17s are the same diameter as the OEM tires. My wife's G-35 coupe has the same bolt pattern as the ES-350, although I don't think the offsets are quite the same, but close enough to see if there will be any clearance issues. So I may take some time to swap the wheel/tire assembly and get an idea of how the ES will look with wider tires. Some of the BBS wheels would look good on an ES-350. I'll probably get through the winter before I make any changes.

dreyfus

Actually, I did install the manual nav hack switch that is detailed in the sticky thread of the same name.

But I doubt that is the kind of mod you were looking for.

I was thinking of painting flames coming off the nose and down the sides of the car, but my wife talked me out of it.

osokuko

Actually I’m planning a future mod when things settle down to the interior door panels. I want to find a wood mold maker or interior pro shop to design and install real wood trim (not sick on wood) to the inside door panels just below the top on the door and where the vinyl insert starts. Following the curvature with a slow decreasing taper to the arm rest oem wood on all 4 doors. I’ve made some mock ups on some interior pictures I have and it makes the doors look like there finished as it should have been.

Sickwitit

How to you propose to apply those additonal wood items, are you planing on modifying and redesigning and then having those area's tooled where wood would be added (If so how inquiring minds)?

osokuko

With planning a project there are many step that need to take place first before actual design is made. I have the idea of how it is to look. The fastener system would be supplied by an expertise shop that deals with customizing car interior, that’s the hard part. Finding the right vendor. There are other issue also like warping in hot temperatures so there would be a backing applied. When the time comes to start the project I’ll first call dash wood providers that already make those sick on wood parts to see if they would like to take on the project. Probably be good for there business.

As for the type of fasteners to use my first thought is to use rare earth magnetic insert. Those thing are incredibly strong, small in size and easy to install. They even come with a hole in the center for mounting.

ES350Bob

This may be a stretch to call it a mod but I did turn over the floor matts so that the black side is up ( I have a cashmere interior and it looks like a great contrast) and so far the friction of carpet to carpet keeps them in place though on driver's side it needs checking for movement toward accelerator as an over the top safety look every now and then. Actually reversed not only do they look good IMO, but no worries about dirt or water on them at all ever, and there is more clearance of cutout where accelerator pedal is though as I said, checking it now and then is still a good thing to be sure it does not slide near gas pedal even though it looks like it couldn't.

Turned over they do double as all weather matts and no extra expense, though no barefeet of passengers is advised when on that side