New SC430 / Luxury Motorworks
06-19-05 | 02:25 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Driver
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: CA
New SC430 / Luxury Motorworks / Parrot Bluetooth speakerphone
Just got my new (to me at least - it's a 2003, 16k mi) SC430 yesterday. Drove
immediately to Luxury Motorworks for installation of a LuxLink and a Parrot Bluetooth
speakerphone kit. Jason and company were a pleasure to work with, I feel really
lucky to live within a few hours of a shop that has the depth of knowledge and
concern for detail as they do.
I'm not a "car person" - the things scare me to death, and I don't much care about how
fast they accelerate, etc. That said, this car doesn't suck. I'm consistently amazed
with how much effort was put into the design -- it seems like many cars cost
more money but don't come close to what Lexus did as far as killing noise, etc.
Will be adding a Vaistech box as soon as they can ship one, and probably stop with the modifications after that.
Looking forward to learning more and making some new friends!
immediately to Luxury Motorworks for installation of a LuxLink and a Parrot Bluetooth
speakerphone kit. Jason and company were a pleasure to work with, I feel really
lucky to live within a few hours of a shop that has the depth of knowledge and
concern for detail as they do.
I'm not a "car person" - the things scare me to death, and I don't much care about how
fast they accelerate, etc. That said, this car doesn't suck. I'm consistently amazed
with how much effort was put into the design -- it seems like many cars cost
more money but don't come close to what Lexus did as far as killing noise, etc.
Will be adding a Vaistech box as soon as they can ship one, and probably stop with the modifications after that.
Looking forward to learning more and making some new friends!
Last edited by prex; 07-02-05 at 09:43 AM.
welcome to clublexus!! I gaurantee your time here will be well informative and enjoyable!
06-20-05 | 02:24 PM
#6
Driver
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
From: Florida
prex,
Lots of luck with your new ride. It is a great car and will provide you with many enjoyable miles. This is probably one of the best online auto clubs that you can belong to. These guys can usually answer any question you have, and you can learn a lot about your car from reading these forums.
Enjoy,
Flatfoot
Lots of luck with your new ride. It is a great car and will provide you with many enjoyable miles. This is probably one of the best online auto clubs that you can belong to. These guys can usually answer any question you have, and you can learn a lot about your car from reading these forums.
Enjoy,
Flatfoot
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07-01-05 | 07:49 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Driver
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: CA
Thanks so much for the welcome, everyone, and my apologies for being slow to reply re:
Parrot bluetooth kit. I got the Evolution kit as sticking a LCD display with buttons to the
dash would be equivalent to murder of a SC430. With the Evolution you can stick the small
controller under the steering wheel, so everything but the microphone is completely hidden.
Scheduled to go back next Saturday to fix it up and get my VAISTech adapter installed, can't wait.
Pros:
* It does what it is advertised to do.
* It will proably save my life - if only it could read email.
* Costs $120 from Expansys. Good value IMHO. I dislike spending money on electronics.
* Stereo automatically muting when phone rings, and un-muting when you hang up is great
Cons:
* Loud, but not loud enough - hopefully corrected by wiring it to the same speaker the Nav talks
out of as opposed to where it is now (the low driver on the bottom of the door)
* Callers say the sound quality isn't great if you ask them how it is, but no outright complaints.
Hopefully corrected by relocating the mic from where the air conditioner and gauges meet
to the rearview mirror.
* Bluetooth object exchange (OBEX) doesn't work with my iMate JAM phone (highly recommended, FWIW),
hopefully corrected by installing a unit with new firmware.
* Upgrade-via-Bluetooth wasn't supported in the code that my unit shipped with, so it
means swapping out the unit.
* Lack of Lexus-specific installation documentation
Parrot bluetooth kit. I got the Evolution kit as sticking a LCD display with buttons to the
dash would be equivalent to murder of a SC430. With the Evolution you can stick the small
controller under the steering wheel, so everything but the microphone is completely hidden.
Scheduled to go back next Saturday to fix it up and get my VAISTech adapter installed, can't wait.
Pros:
* It does what it is advertised to do.
* It will proably save my life - if only it could read email.
* Costs $120 from Expansys. Good value IMHO. I dislike spending money on electronics.
* Stereo automatically muting when phone rings, and un-muting when you hang up is great
Cons:
* Loud, but not loud enough - hopefully corrected by wiring it to the same speaker the Nav talks
out of as opposed to where it is now (the low driver on the bottom of the door)
* Callers say the sound quality isn't great if you ask them how it is, but no outright complaints.
Hopefully corrected by relocating the mic from where the air conditioner and gauges meet
to the rearview mirror.
* Bluetooth object exchange (OBEX) doesn't work with my iMate JAM phone (highly recommended, FWIW),
hopefully corrected by installing a unit with new firmware.
* Upgrade-via-Bluetooth wasn't supported in the code that my unit shipped with, so it
means swapping out the unit.
* Lack of Lexus-specific installation documentation
07-01-05 | 11:27 PM
#9
Driver
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: California
Re: Parrot Evolution
Do you know if it's at all possible to use the built-in microphones that are next to the map lights? That'd minimize a lot of cable routing. Were the installation instructions pretty easy to follow?
07-02-05 | 02:39 AM
#10
Thread Starter
Driver
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: CA
Good questions, what I did before the project started was pay the $10/day
for http://techinfo.lexus.com access and read up on the car's wiring diagram
and integrated cell phone. It looks like all cars up to a certain point in 2003
had "LexusLink", an integrated cell phone for emergency service use. There
was a service campaign to remove them, and that was that. The roof light panel
had a 2-wire microphone which connected to a box located underneath the
glove compartment. My car being a 2003 that never had LexusLink to start with,
we made the assumption that the mic wasn't there. There is a pattern of holes
that would make me think that there's one in there, and I'm going to ask that if
they're comfortable they pull it down to check. It looks like your car is a 2002,
so chances are it'll work great.
The directions that ship with the unit don't really apply to cars without a standard
ISO wiring harness, if you contact their support people they'll give you additional
information that will help. Basically you'll need ground, mute, +12v, +12v switched
(these four are on one pair of connectors), and speaker + (red), and speaker - (orange)
(on the other pair). I'd attach it and the wiring diagram if it was legal to redistribute
them.
Luxury Motorworks provides excellent documentation for taking the head unit out of the car
when installing their LuxLink product, but my favorite three words are "hire a professional."
People pay me to do what I do, so I'm happy to do the same where it makes sense. That
said, for someone with experience working on these cars, it's not too hard of an install.
The http://techinfo.lexus.com site has all kinds of useful information that's a fun read for
probably just about anybody reading this board.
Hope this helps.
for http://techinfo.lexus.com access and read up on the car's wiring diagram
and integrated cell phone. It looks like all cars up to a certain point in 2003
had "LexusLink", an integrated cell phone for emergency service use. There
was a service campaign to remove them, and that was that. The roof light panel
had a 2-wire microphone which connected to a box located underneath the
glove compartment. My car being a 2003 that never had LexusLink to start with,
we made the assumption that the mic wasn't there. There is a pattern of holes
that would make me think that there's one in there, and I'm going to ask that if
they're comfortable they pull it down to check. It looks like your car is a 2002,
so chances are it'll work great.
The directions that ship with the unit don't really apply to cars without a standard
ISO wiring harness, if you contact their support people they'll give you additional
information that will help. Basically you'll need ground, mute, +12v, +12v switched
(these four are on one pair of connectors), and speaker + (red), and speaker - (orange)
(on the other pair). I'd attach it and the wiring diagram if it was legal to redistribute
them.
Luxury Motorworks provides excellent documentation for taking the head unit out of the car
when installing their LuxLink product, but my favorite three words are "hire a professional."
People pay me to do what I do, so I'm happy to do the same where it makes sense. That
said, for someone with experience working on these cars, it's not too hard of an install.
The http://techinfo.lexus.com site has all kinds of useful information that's a fun read for
probably just about anybody reading this board.
Hope this helps.
07-02-05 | 09:50 AM
#11
Thread Starter
Driver
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: CA
Saturday morning boredom has already kicked in. I should promise all of you to never
enter the car with a screwdriver again.
The map/dome light assembly is removed by popping out the two lenses (there are
notches on both sides to insert a flat soft plastic instrument) and two screws
underneath, then it just pulls down.
Inside you may or may not find microphone(s). As expected, I have none. You
will see a wire coiled up with nothing terminating it at the end that you'll probably
hope is prewiring for a microphone. Follow it around, it's the antenna for the
Home(y)Link system. (did anyone else notice the documentation in the car's
manual is completely incorrect for programming this?). Minor disappointment
there. So it looks like removal of two panels are needed to get a mic up there.
As everywhere else, the leather and plastic are very soft in this area. Be careful.
enter the car with a screwdriver again.
The map/dome light assembly is removed by popping out the two lenses (there are
notches on both sides to insert a flat soft plastic instrument) and two screws
underneath, then it just pulls down.
Inside you may or may not find microphone(s). As expected, I have none. You
will see a wire coiled up with nothing terminating it at the end that you'll probably
hope is prewiring for a microphone. Follow it around, it's the antenna for the
Home(y)Link system. (did anyone else notice the documentation in the car's
manual is completely incorrect for programming this?). Minor disappointment
there. So it looks like removal of two panels are needed to get a mic up there.
As everywhere else, the leather and plastic are very soft in this area. Be careful.
07-04-05 | 11:24 PM
#12
Driver
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: California
prex-
Thanks so much for the advice...I'll take a look at my dome light wiring this weekend. I'm kicking myself for not visiting Luxury Motorworks before shipping my SC out to the other side of the country last August (I lived less than an hour from Monrovia!). Too late now. Hopefully I might be able to do this myself without short circuiting the entire car. I wish I could "hire a professional", however Boston isn't anywhere close to being the veritable automobile mecca that socal is. I wouldn't trust 95% of the blue collars here with someting as advanced as the SC-430.
One quesiton...you said that the microphone was connected to a box located underneath the
glove compartment? Did you mean to say center console--I thought I heard someone here mention some cell phone wiring under there, and on the SC-430 with Lexus Link I saw on the showroom floor a couple years ago, the Lexus Link control panel was in there too.
Thanks so much for the advice...I'll take a look at my dome light wiring this weekend. I'm kicking myself for not visiting Luxury Motorworks before shipping my SC out to the other side of the country last August (I lived less than an hour from Monrovia!). Too late now. Hopefully I might be able to do this myself without short circuiting the entire car. I wish I could "hire a professional", however Boston isn't anywhere close to being the veritable automobile mecca that socal is. I wouldn't trust 95% of the blue collars here with someting as advanced as the SC-430.
One quesiton...you said that the microphone was connected to a box located underneath the
glove compartment? Did you mean to say center console--I thought I heard someone here mention some cell phone wiring under there, and on the SC-430 with Lexus Link I saw on the showroom floor a couple years ago, the Lexus Link control panel was in there too.
07-05-05 | 07:44 AM
#13
Thread Starter
Driver
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: CA
Hi - I'm sorry about the whole Boston thing 
Re: microphone wiring - the documentation for the service campaign to
remove the LexusLink devices showed that the microphone wire did indeed
come down to a box under the glove compartment, probably from there it
went either to the trunk or the center console, couldn't tell.
Will try to take a picture tonight of where they mounted the control, we found
a spot that must have been made for it, really amazing.
I'm going to call around today and try to get some pricing on the original
Lexus microphones, figure at a low enough cost it's worth a try, might
perform better than the Parrot device, and nothing would make me happier
than having everything in this setup being hidden.
http://techinfo.lexus.com is really worthwhile.
best,
-b
Re: microphone wiring - the documentation for the service campaign to
remove the LexusLink devices showed that the microphone wire did indeed
come down to a box under the glove compartment, probably from there it
went either to the trunk or the center console, couldn't tell.
Will try to take a picture tonight of where they mounted the control, we found
a spot that must have been made for it, really amazing.
I'm going to call around today and try to get some pricing on the original
Lexus microphones, figure at a low enough cost it's worth a try, might
perform better than the Parrot device, and nothing would make me happier
than having everything in this setup being hidden.
http://techinfo.lexus.com is really worthwhile.
best,
-b
07-05-05 | 09:18 AM
#14
Lead Lap
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 404
Likes: 0
From: California
Consider the fact that the driver's side door speaker is mainly a bass/midrange speaker, and probably would not sound good with on a phone call, inherently bassless. Stock tele output is the left side dash speaker. In fact, if there is a passive crossover in between your phone setup and the speaker, it could be filtering out much of the signal anyway, thus accounting for the low volume.
07-10-05 | 12:43 PM
#15
Lead Lap
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,588
Likes: 259
From: Kansas
Prex,
Have you thought about trying to stuff your Parrot's microphone into the space in the map light housing meant for the Lexus microphone?
If the Parrot's mic is too big, you might find a small non-OEM phone kit microphone that would work. Some phone installers have extras just lying around.
In my fairly limited experience with installing and removing phone car kits in our personal cars, I found that the microphones were interchangable between kits and brands of kits. Most car kits use microphones with a 2.5 mm RCA type jack.
Attached is a photo of a Nokia mic. Some other brands of mics are smaller. I've got one from a 1990 President brand fixed phone kit that is really tiny once the foam is removed from the mic head.
Have you thought about trying to stuff your Parrot's microphone into the space in the map light housing meant for the Lexus microphone?
If the Parrot's mic is too big, you might find a small non-OEM phone kit microphone that would work. Some phone installers have extras just lying around.
In my fairly limited experience with installing and removing phone car kits in our personal cars, I found that the microphones were interchangable between kits and brands of kits. Most car kits use microphones with a 2.5 mm RCA type jack.
Attached is a photo of a Nokia mic. Some other brands of mics are smaller. I've got one from a 1990 President brand fixed phone kit that is really tiny once the foam is removed from the mic head.