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I had one of these threads for my CT200h and people seemed to enjoy it. Instead of making multiple threads every time I do a mod or upgrade to the car I'll just have this one. I won't be slamming it or blacking this or that out. My mods will be tasteful like audio, lighting, or things like paint care.
2021 ES300h non-luxury.
I'll post about my mods one by one, I'll do a short write-up here and extensive reading on these mods can be seen on my blog by clicking the link in my signature where I write about my mods or maintenance including on other cars.
So the first mod I will post about is my dash cam install. I found one specifically made for the 2019+ ES350/300h which is 100% plug and play and looks 100% stock. I was skeptical but decided to pull the trigger. To my amazement it was easy to set up and install! And looks stock. I'm very happy with it. I'll report if any issues.
Requires no tools and you just use your fingers to install. No cutting wires, no running wires up the pillars no worrying about fusing. I've never seen any aftermarket dash cam specifically designed for a car so we're lucky to have this.
Bought and installed Lexus illuminated door sills for $209. They came without instructions but i couldn't wait so I installed them. Install went fine except I installed them backwards after reading the instructions. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at it but there's a small detail where the Lexus logo is biased towards the front of the vehicle. Anyway i'll fix that tonight. but i'm happy and the install is easy once you know which way they are oriented!
Bought and installed Lexus illuminated door sills for $209. They came without instructions but i couldn't wait so I installed them. Install went fine except I installed them backwards after reading the instructions. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at it but there's a small detail where the Lexus logo is biased towards the front of the vehicle. Anyway i'll fix that tonight. but i'm happy and the install is easy once you know which way they are oriented!
New on top, old on bottom.
Is it straight plug and play for the light to work?
I had one of these threads for my CT200h and people seemed to enjoy it. Instead of making multiple threads every time I do a mod or upgrade to the car I'll just have this one. I won't be slamming it or blacking this or that out. My mods will be tasteful like audio, lighting, or things like paint care.
2021 ES300h non-luxury.
I'll post about my mods one by one, I'll do a short write-up here and extensive reading on these mods can be seen on my blog by clicking the link in my signature where I write about my mods or maintenance including on other cars.
So the first mod I will post about is my dash cam install. I found one specifically made for the 2019+ ES350/300h which is 100% plug and play and looks 100% stock. I was skeptical but decided to pull the trigger. To my amazement it was easy to set up and install! And looks stock. I'm very happy with it. I'll report if any issues.
Requires no tools and you just use your fingers to install. No cutting wires, no running wires up the pillars no worrying about fusing. I've never seen any aftermarket dash cam specifically designed for a car so we're lucky to have this.
The form factor is awesome, but the image quality is low end. I read though the reviews on amazon. Lot's of helpful comments there. Here are the highlights.
Some minor complaints include the small 32GB card size limit, which is unfortunate, and the 1080p video resolution is on the low side for reading license plates, also the blue LED indicator light cannot be turned off...
I would give it 5 stars if I could view it remotely when I am not in the car.
1080p at 30fps is not that great. The Sony sensor that comes in it is commonly found in $30-40 dashcams, and it looks like it. Image quality is somewhat blurred and making out license plates while moving can be challenging. This camera is useless for hit and runs, but will work just fine for someone not yielding right of way, coming into your lane and hitting you, pulling in front of you and slamming on brakes for no reason, etc.
There is no second channel or rear-view, but that wasn't expected.
Features - Lots of great features, love the wifi connectivity so you're not having to constantly pull the MicroSD card out. The app is very spartan, but worked perfectly. Wish it supported more than 32GB card capacity. Included a spare y-cable which was very nice. It has accident detection which protects the files from being deleted. Also included a USB-MicroSD adapter. Honestly though, I would much rather have thrown a lot of the features overboard to have a better camera sensor. There is a blue flashing light you will notice when it's dark, no way to disable it. A small piece of electric tape will handle that problem though. 4 stars for features.
1. The lens is too far from the windshield glass that cause too much reflection coming fron the dashboard.
2. Wiring harness is too long which made it difficult to stuff it in the shell casing.
I bought the exact same Camera for my 2020 ES350 UL maybe a year ago and so far its been pretty good. In fact if you search you will find a thread here in this forum where a few of us ordered it and discuss it.
The camera works great for me. I'll sacrifice image quality for form factor and functionality. If I want image quality, I'll resort to my photography kit lol.
Back to the car, swapped over the illuminated sills to the correct sides and routed the wires per the instructions (there's a really specific way to route them so they don't pinch and get shorted)
i'm at about 250 miles. car is doing great. still have well over half a tank.
I plan to tint the windows myself this coming weekend... but first i have to deal with the front side windows having stains on them that won't come out. streaking from rolling up/down. I've tried rubbing alcohol, aerosol glass cleaner, plastic scotch bright pad. may need to try vinegar next. not sure how a brand new car has stained glass. either the factory did it or the dealer did it. anyone encounter this on their brand new ES? yeah it's a new car and i can just take it in but taking the car to the dealer is such a chore.
Plus i already took my car to the dealer for something else and they put the plastic cone on top with the # and yep i knew it, they caused a scratch on the roof cause they just toss that thing up there like animals. i'll buff it out myself no biggy... but this is what i say when i talk about dealers being filled with idiots.
Oh also I bought some Noico insulating mat and cut factory-sized squares and placed them on the insides of the door skins over big void areas. the doors shut better than ever and there's almost zero panel resonance/flex/vibration when you shut the doors. before, as a baseline i shut the doors while looking at them from the outside you can see the door skins flex and sort of rattle a bit. now they're solid as the mats help dampen the movement and visibly they're nearly completely steady. the doors feel more solid.
the factory only uses one square per door. now there's 4 per door.
Here's a pic showing the factory insulating mat on the door. i forgot to get a pic of when i added 3 additional squares, but you get the idea.
as far as speakers, i decided to keep the 7" woofers in the doors factory for now. the 6.5s i installed nearly fit but the door panel wouldn't go back on due to a clearance issue. i could resolve it by modifying the adapters but don't feel like doing that.
also as it turns out the 7" woofers (of course) are receiving a crossed signal so the 2-way 6.5s aren't really a good choice.
listening to both side by side, the stock 7"ers had better bass, but the 6.5s had a bit more depth to the sound, but just a bit more.
i may revisit this in the future but overall i'm happy with the JBL Club 3020s i installed in the dash, they made a big improvement to the sound overall and can't recommend them enough. 100% plug and play (with the right red wolf adapters)
I'll throw that car off a cliff lol been there done that. i am so much more happier with my ES. already owned a 3IS. too boxy, too old, too upright, a kid's car.
I'd get a G20 if i was going the compact RWD sedan route. vastly superior car to the ancient 3IS
Bought Carista bluetooth dongle and set some cool features.
-Auto open all windows/sunroof with key fob
-Triple blink blinker from 3 to 6 blinks - I like classy take-your-time lane changes. I feel like 3 blink rushes me and doesn't give drivers enough notice.
-Auto unlock doors when shifting into park disabled (why allow access from outside from someone to do a sneak attack on you if the doors open from the inside automatically when you pull on the handle)
-Auto close all windows and sunroof with key inserted into door lock (I'm puzzled by this cause there are no keyholes on the ES exterior doors) anyone know how this works?
I also lowered the door lock chime beep volume just a tad.
I tried enabling the passenger side mirror tilt in reverse, but no luck. Seems there is some kind of hardware module needed. This is silly because the mirror glass is obviously capable of moving, so it's just a matter of a software unlock or some simple harness. Kind of dumb. My BMW from 2002 had this from the factory. Here we are 20 years later and it's optional. lol.
There's also a whole bunch of stuff you can do with the Carista app. You can enable noise reduction for the AC compressor and control how fast you want the fans to ramp up which is weird. I left those alone though. I'm fine with how the car operates.
Also it should be noted you can disable Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and ESE (Engine sound enhancement). Seems you do not need to have a "special module installed" by a "competent audio installer that knows what they're doing." I haven't tried disabling it through Carista though. No need at the moment.
The exterior mirror "selection" switch must be in the left or right position for the reversing auto-tilt to work. Middle position disables the tilt. Once you've manually set the tilt to what you prefer then it gets added to your seat/steering wheel position selector button by doing a "reset". At least it does on the Gen 6 so I'm guessing that didn't change to Gen 7.
Also it should be noted you can disable Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and ESE (Engine sound enhancement). Seems you do not need to have a "special module installed" by a "competent audio installer that knows what they're doing." I haven't tried disabling it through Carista though. No need at the moment.
ESE is actually one of the reasons I decided against the LS in favor of the ES. Good to know for future reference that it can be disabled.
The exterior mirror "selection" switch must be in the left or right position for the reversing auto-tilt to work. Middle position disables the tilt. Once you've manually set the tilt to what you prefer then it gets added to your seat/steering wheel position selector button by doing a "reset". At least it does on the Gen 6 so I'm guessing that didn't change to Gen 7.
I'll try that but I remember reading somewhere reverse tilt is a feature of the luxury package. i have base.
So when I lean in my seat, the seat presses up against the armrest causing it to squeak.
I removed the armrest upper padded portion by removing the screws and insulated all contact points with gaffers tape. worked like a charm. Armrest is now quiet.
02-17-21, 09:06 PM
E46CT's ES300h Diary
