BMMIS

I owned a 2002 IS200 for 13 years which I absolutely loved. It literally never went wrong and I'd kept it in fantastic condition, with just a few subtle mods keeping a clean OEM look.

TRD front splitter
TTE rear skirt
2004 facelift headlights and foglights
Rear spoiler
Genuine mesh grill
Aluminium kick plates and pedals
Custom heater dials
Altezza chrome shift gaiter
Pioneer Apple Carplay double din with reversing cam








Last year a family members IS300h was offered to me so I decided maybe it was time for a change... although it was really difficult to let this one go

The IS350 has never been offered in the UK, Lexus briefly offered the IS250 and IS200t with the IS300 hybrid dominating sales.
I actually really wanted an F-Sport... however as this was the highest Premier spec and I knew the history of the car, it made sense to purchase.





Compared to the my IS200, this car is incredible in terms of being more powerful and about three times cheaper to run. It lacks the smoothness of the straight six but the hybrid power train can deliver almost instant torque when in sport mode.

Despite being the highest spec, I couldn't believe it came with plastic kick plates so I installed the illuminated versions and also aluminium pedals including footrest:






I noticed that the quality of some trim panels is really poor, no way near as well put together as my previous IS200. The passenger electric seat motor was noisy and there was also a screen flicker. Whilst the cars are clearly not the same as they used to be, the service from my Lexus dealer was exceptional. They replaced the seat motor and screen under warranty, checked a few other items too and at the same time made sure I was never inconvenienced without a car.

Finally I added a subtle rear spoiler and thought that would be all I wanted to do with this car.




I then saw Noobierices fantastic bumper conversion thread and realised how much better the F-Sport front looked. I looked at various conversion kits however the options available in the UK were limited and shipping costs were high.

Then one day this used F-Sport bumper came up for sale on eBay, in silver with minimal damage... along with a complete F-Sport grill from another supplier. Being close to Christmas, I waited for eBay's next site wide discount promotion and purchased both along with a set of WinJet fog lights. As my car already had foglight wiring, these were plug and play. I couldn't justify purchasing the crazy expensive OEM LED fogs, as I hardly ever use them. The switch on UK cars requires you to switch on the rear fog light first, which is only ever needed in extreme fog.





Foglights and grill both arrived damaged fortunately they were still usable and I negotiated some further discount to keep them.

Whilst this probably would have been enough to swap over, looking into parts diagrams I realised that the all of the air ducts were different between base and F-Sport models. I made the decision to just replace all, thinking it would make the conversion easier for my bodyshop.

Duct, Air Intake, Lh, Toyota 52822-53030

Duct, Air Intake, Rh, Toyota 52821-53030

Duct, Cool Air Intake, No.1, Toyota 52811-53010

Duct, Cool Air Intake, No.2, Toyota 52812-53010

Duct, Cool Air Intake, Toyota 53209-53080

Duct, Cool Air Intake, Toyota 53208-53050

It took me a while to source all the parts I wanted, with a combination of used parts from a breakers yard and other online parts suppliers.

Below is an example of the difference between the ducts that sit behind the bumper... F-sport first then the Base version:



With all the parts collected I finally handed the car over to the body shop... with clear instructions to carefully keep everything they remove from the car.

As the old bumper, grill, fogs and air ducts were all in perfect condition, I was fortunate to sell everything for a decent price. Recouping most of the parts cost meant this conversion ended up costing just under £300 including paint and fit.

I was absolutely ecstatic with the finally outcome, the bodyshop did a great job. Bumper needed minimal prep, silver was great base coat for the grey and there were no issues with fitment.






Recently took the car on a road trip to the Lake District... which was also a great experience. It handles really well on twisty roads and eats up miles with ease:






Next up is to do something with the wheels... a refurb or new set of rims.

Sasnuke

Great write-up and the car looks awesome!