I love your hood shield - where did you get that and did you install it?

 

If you are building your car and want the bodyside moldings, add it to the build rather than afterwards by the dealer. For my 2017 RX it added $209 to the build cost at the factory, whereas in 2014 when I had a dealer add the moldings to my 2014 ES350 they charged $432 ($133 for the moldings and $299 for labor). And I felt more comfortable knowing it was added at the preferred factory location/height.

 

u can find it on ebay..its a canadian lexus dealership. i like it for both the contrst color and protection. you can also find lexus side moldings arou.d $100 on ebay...

 

both are easy to install

 

The factory molding is easy to install yourself as good as any professional can do. Just clean off the paint surface with 92% isopropyl alcohol to remove all dirt and wax residue. The factory molding kit has instructions for exact mounting locations based on distances from reference points on the car. There is no guessing on the mounting height. I did mine of the 2015 RX and will do the same for the 2017 I have now. Also did the mudguards which took me 1.5 hours for the 1st one and 15 minutes each for the other three LOL. Goes without saying that any handy person can do a perfect job on the guards with just a bit of patience. The factory installers and local Lexus mechanics are not specially qualified for this sort of work.

I like the look of the BSM. IMHO it enhances the look of the doors and the whole side of the RX. I never had high hopes of getting lucky enough to have it prevent door dings!

 

Absolutely agree with BSM. Personally, it's more of protection than aesthetics.

 

For protection the BSM might be great, and that can be important. For aesthetics, IMHO they suck. Of course it is ‘different strokes’ and all of that, but I am surprised that anyone really thinks that they actually look good.

 

Where did you find the bug shield?

 

In my opinion they look fine, no worse than neutral...and if they deter big bruises - then they look really wonderful!

 

u can find it on ebay..its a canadian lexus dealership. bugs arent the worry. with todays sloping hoods, they take a beating from rod chips on the highway. on certain colors imo they can be a good accent..ie white or black rx

 

As I said, some folks (primarily those that have installed them) think they look fine. And, ruining the lines of the car may indeed be worth it if you don’t care about aesthetics. I just think it is disengnious to justify the value of BSMs in preventing ‘little bruises’ by saying “they look fine”. They don’t.

 

Obviously, BSM is a personal choice and I do not believe it is up for debate. To each their own or different folks different strokes. No critique required unless you're just expressing your personal opinion. Remember one man's trash can be another man's wealth. Just my opinion, of course.

 

can anyone share the effectiveness of these BSM ??
getting atomic and thinking about them as a add on to the build sheet. if atomic is so dramatic changing colors, thinking if a ding would stand out terribly, and just thought if the molding is 1 color, is it the brownish, or silver or somewhere in between, just thought of the color match if the atomic always looks different,
thanks

 

If you purchase the OEM BSM they come in identical color as your vehicle as shown in the pics above. I have the Eminent White Pearl 4RX and ordered the BSM in the same color and yes, exactly the same color. How effective? The way I see it is that it's better than nothing.