Rocklad

I have just purchased a 2007 Korean import LS470 SWB with ML but cannot find any options for the hard drive or to rip music from CD. It’s got 19 speakers and on centre console it’s branded ML.

I have owned the car for 3 days and the music to HD option has always been missing. Today I took it to be reprogrammed with the Middle East maps and get rid of the Korean text in some of the nav menus. I believe they did that by changing a box behind the glove box. Then they inserted a DVD to give it the latest map updates.

I love the new car, but would like to be able to rip cds if possible.

Anybody's thoughts?

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Cars for North america (US and Canada) came with this feature but ROW cars may be different. US cars Nav can't be updated with DVD whereas EU (and apparenly, Korean) cars can. So it's possible that your car doesn't have CD ripping.

Rocklad

Thanks for the reply sktn77a. I also can’t find he TPMS display when cycling through the dash information. Presume that it’s another missing option. there’s no self park either, only a diagram showing proximity sensors.

A bit more detail on my purchase
I had a comprehensive car check before purchasing. They picked up on cracked worn bushings on the front. Weak shocks on the front. Everything else came back good. The car had no service history with it, which is normal for an imported car in Dubai. I had test driven maybe 15 before hand and this felt the smoothest ride and cleanest interior- the wife and I fell in love straight away!
Just changed the oil. It was low (had maybe 6.5 liters in engine) and was dirty.
Got a garage to change all 10 front bushings as a few were cracked and could hear some noises at low speed turning (while parking)
New tyres as the car had obviously been stored for a while and they were bumpy, one rimmed needed straitening.
Changed out the interior yellow lights to bright white.

Whats left to do
I want to have the transmission serviced and reading the advice on the forum is take it to Lexus. I would prefer to have it serviced at an independent- anyone’s thoughts
The breaks feel a little lumpy from speed, but it’s improving the more I drive it, imagine they just need some breaking in after being sat dormant for a while.
There is still a little creak from the front suspension over speed bumps. The control arms look fine so presume it might be the weak shocks. (Are shocks/ air suspension the same thing)
Want to do the wind noise fix. Starts on drivers side at 70kmh. Passenger side at 90kmh. Also after 120kmh wind noise seems to come from the windscreen as well. Trying to find some metal mesh today.

Doublebase

Regarding the transmission...taking it to Lexus wouldn't be a bad idea, at least they'd use the right fluid. Toyota could probably handle it as well and it'd be cheaper. All they're going to do is a simple drain and fill - they'll get around three quarts out and charge you a bunch. It's too bad you couldn't do it yourself, I've done it many times...just measured what I took out and replenished the measured amount with new fluid. But you'd need a transfer pump (you can buy them for $8 bucks at almost any hardware or auto parts store). So between the pump and three quarts of fluid it'd run you around $32, compared to having a dealer do it at around $200. But that's just me, others swear by taking it to the dealer for this.

A creaking noise from the front end? Whenever I hear a creak from the front I always assume ball joints; when they go dry they will creak, but strut mounts could do it on turns too, but the LS460 struts don't swivel like a traditional McPherson strut design, so I think that would eliminate that (but who knows?). I have heard sway bar links creak before...same as a ball joint...when they become dry at their ball socket they will creak, then seize, then snap. I hate diagnosing suspension noise! Lol.

Rocklad

Thanks for the input doublebase. Lexus wouldn’t touch the car because it’s an import and their computers wouldn’t work with it... I don’t believe that.

Went to to an independent who ordered in all the parts from Lexus and he is currently walking me through the steps of changing the trans oil by dropping the pan. He reckons by the color and mess in the pan it had never been changed. Will report back if it drives better.

Earlier today got the brakes skimmed and new oem pads as they needed replacing and I had read somewhere on these forums that bad breaks could cause the noise/knocking that I was hearing. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. It’s particularly noticable when driving over pavedtiled brick roads.

think I’ll get the brakes done now as well as I don’t think this car has been serviced well.

either way I’ll show it some love and get it back to it’s former glory (with the help of some mechanics and advice from this forum.

Rocklad

Just drove car back home and it still has a heavy shift when kicking down at high revs.

Doublebase

How many miles are on the car and how bad did it look in the pan? Was there metal? I wouldn't worry too much about the color of the fluid, the WS Toyota fluid always looks bad after it gets some miles on it...it doesn't hold that reddish color like other tranny fluids do.

A heavy shift when kickindown? But it's not slipping, right?

Rocklad

There’s 140000km or 88000miles on the car. The car doesnt slip, in fact it’s very smooth when not driving aggressively. There was a bit of metal sludge around the magnet but the mechanic wasn’t concerned - called it carbon powder. So no pieces of metal. I should have taken a photo but it looked like thick cola with a very light tint of red.

Doublebase

Well that sounds good, plus the mileage isn't high. I think the downshift you're experiencing is probably normal, a lot of people complain of a harsh shift when the car is cold as well, then it goes away when it warms up. I have noticed my car shifts a little hard when I'm cruising and my speed decreases and then I go to accelerate again. It sometimes will be a little harsher of a shift, it's more like when I cost down a hill and the car Pisces up speed, then I try to give it gas...sometimes I'll feel a little something there. But other than that these transmissions are pretty bullett proof. Good luck!