I had my car for about a year, and its had two issues that really bothered me. The first being the fact that if I had one window or the just the sunroof open, the smell of the exhaust would overwhelm the car. Yes my guts were catted, so I attributed it to that, and yes I purchased brand new Bosal exhaust gaskets, which got rid of a small exhaust leak but didn't do anything for the smell. The second problem was the fact that the Mark Levinson system sounded absolutely terrible.


I stumbled across this thread, that got completely derailed by name calling: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ot-solved.html

I decided to take a look at my vents, and to my amazement, on both sides my flaps were completely gone. Now, on most cars, this isn't a big deal, however on the IS-F, the exhaust tips DO NOT extend past the bumper, so all of this time I was smelling my exhaust fumes through the trunk, and giving me and my passengers Carbon Monoxide poising in the process, though I rarely drove with all of the windows up. So I taped mine up, and I'm going to order new ones. I drove the car to work last night, with just the sunroof open, and alternating it with just one window at a time being open, and I DID NOT smell the exhaust at all, for the first time since I've owned the car.

Now I know a lot of you might jump on the fact that the Roof Side Ventilators are very important, and yes I am sure they are, however I rather have mine taped off for a few days until the new ones arrive then run the risk of getting Carbon Monoxide poising which you can't smell, and well smelling my exhaust all the time. My car has less then 70K on it, and it was a Florida car, so it hasn't been exposed to the winter at all, and my flaps were completely going, so everyone, just do yourself a favor and just remove the covers in your trunk on each side, and look at them. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for the occupants in your car.



Here is the replacement part, so check, and order away: http://www.oemautopartsandaccessorie...fda5abfe3bccd/


Now, the Mark Levinson system IMO was an absolute disappointment. I had been looking into small powered subwoofers for awhile to fix the lack of bass, and my friend who has been doing car audio systems for years, commented on it as well while he was putting a REMOTE START IN MY IS-F. One day I was bored, and messing with the settings, and it turns out when I changed the output to a front bias, instead of in the middle, it made it sound 32x better. Perfect highs, great mids, the mirrors shake now at my favorite EDM/Rap tracks etc. I'm completely happy with it now, so go into your settings, and move the fade control about half way past center to the front!!!!

Yes you can do a remote start with the IS-F. I have a two way Code Alarm CA4554 which is designed to work with cars with push button starts. I use the factory fob to lock and unlock the door, the remote start is just there for starting the car, and it opens the drivers side door when I instruct it to, and after I close the door, I wait about 5 seconds, press the brake, and I'm able to drive off.

http://www.voxxelectronics.com/code-alarm/remote-start/


Happy Motoring
Steve

 

I'm more interested to know how you acquired 3 MKIV's.

 

I pull out

 

lol....took me a minute :P


Digger08

 

Wow! Thank you OP! Huge difference in the ML sound! Much appreciated! I'll check my vents soon.

 

Just to help anyone out visually.......









Digger08

 

Thank you Pharnhyte for the tips, especially on the ML issue.

 

Great tips, thanks for posting!

 

Cool gonna try that ML setting when I get home

 

Thanks for the advice, I was very disappointed in the ML sound on my '12 F versus my '07 IS350.

Great price on the remote starts found here....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/291610566268?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

 

The ML audio is pretty disappointing really. My wife's C300 has the factory no name "premium" audio whatever that is and sounds worlds better. Doesn't even have a factory sub and has better bass.

I'll be adding a sub to the F for sure just haven't decided which route to take yet.

 

Hey pharnhyte, when you upgrade your AMP, lemme buy your ML unit

 

I just replaced the rear door speakers on both sides. The 6.5"s and the tweeters(previous owner blew them up). Next will be the front doors. I'll have to try out this fader trick.

I'll have to check out the flaps, cuz the smell into my car is heavy.

Thanks for the tips!

 

I have my bass and mids set to 4, treble set to 3. Fade is about 70% up front. For the side vents, you can pop them out without taking off the bumper. Just make sure all 4 clips snap back in.

 

The ML optional "premium" system is one of the biggest pile audio system I've ever heard. The base system in my 2011 IS350 was infinitely better.

Going to mess with the settings right now and report back.. OP do you leave Surround on or off?