2013 LS460 60k miles. I removed all the plastic parts necessary to access the throttle body. Gently moved the butterfly plate open (you can feel the resistance of the gears) and inserted the rubber handle of a screwdriver to keep it open. I had a can of MAF cleaner and a shop rag to spray it down and wipe it clean, top, bottom of throat and front, back of butterfly plate. It wasn't very dirty, but it felt good to do it. I also brought my dust buster and vacuumed the white filter media that's attached to the underside of the airbox/filter lids. Many of us aren't aware of their presence but they were pretty dusty and the vac helped a lot. The only way to replace them is to purchase new airbox lids. I might do that at 120k. But quality air filters protect them pretty well. Haven't run the car yet, but even if the idle is out of wack, it'll reset itself after a few drives. Overall, pretty simple and fast.

 

The question is when you vacuumed rough filters from which direction did you do so?

 

the replaceable filters were vacuumed from the raw air/bottom side. the lid filters were also done from the raw side. I don't think the lid filters are easily removable anyway. If I had an air compressor, I'd do it differently

 

Did you also clean both MAF sensors? With the lids removed, it's an ideal time to do so.

 

I cut those secondary filters out with an x-act-o blade. MPG improved drastically, by like 3.5mpg on the highway. Poor car was choking to death.

 

I imagine that replacement lids with new filters are very expensive. I'm hoping that giving then a vacuuming every time I replace the air filter elements will avoid deleting them. Does anyone know if they can be rinsed clean? I'm not sure what they are made of or their intended function. Sounds like your LS runs good without them.
EDIT: someone revived a thread about this filter. It's carbon/charcoal, likely for emissions absorbing hydrocarbons and due to it's characteristics unlikely to impede enough air to actually matter. A quick vac is all that should be done IMHO.

 

Thanks a lot for bringing this up.
wonder where is the air box lid filter located? could you point it out in attached diagram.
If you could attach a photo showing it that would be great.

 

found it, its shown in photos in this post:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...box-mod-2.html