Doog's Mercedes-Benz E350: My Biggest Update Yet
- Thread starter Doog
- 338 comments
- 50,062 views
- 4,213
- Puerto Rico
- motortrend
Cae looks super clean. Don't worry about camber wear, it's all about the toe so make sure it's aligned correctly.
- 6,092
- Phoenix, AZ
Things have been looking up for the BMW that rubs & bumps lately, but not so can quite be said for the other cars of the Doog household! As the Lexus comes up on 14(!) years old, a small oil leak has grown a bit over the past year to where it now leaves fresh drips on the garage floor. Other than that, it runs fine but I don't drive it that much anymore. Recently the brakes were redone, but driving the car for more than a few miles would yield the scary bright red Lexus warning ! triangle with BRAKE WEAR emblazoned below. How could there be brake wear on brand new brakes?! After a few nights at the shop and a part sourced from across the country to replace a defective one, the Lexus now recognizes that it does indeed have fresh brakes.
The Highlander runs fine too, but for a while it was a point of contention between my parents, who recently divorced. Rather than have to sell the Highlander because they couldn't agree on who should keep it, it was worked out that my dad would buy the Highlander for half its value from my mom, which amounted to $3k. This left my mom with just the Mini in her stable, which, combined with some other culminating factors, wouldn't work out. The Mini hasn't been around for a few months now, so I haven't had much of a chance to drive it. From what my mom told me, it seemed that it was becoming more expensive and frequent to maintain, now with 130k miles and not having much resale value left. I don't have any photos of the car that are less than a year old, but its cosmetic condition has degraded over that time. It's sad because this was my mom's favorite car that she ever had, and she kept it longer than any other car too. For now it's still around while my aunt decides if she wants to buy it. Whatever the case is, I'll drive it a last time and take a few updated pictures of it.
My mom wanted a new, cheap car with a warranty, so she found a '15 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport with 5k miles for a good deal less than MSRP. The Santa Fe is a perfectly okay car; it's a lot like the Highlander, except I kind of hate driving the Highlander and the Santa Fe is okay to drive. There sure are a lot of them on the road.
In the never-ending quest of intending to get the fenders rolled on the BMW that rubs, I finally took action today and took it to a very nice shop in Tempe to do just that! I left the shop not with roomier wheel wells, but instead with two 5mm spacers in the passenger footwell and a receipt for some shorter wheel bolts. The passenger side of my car is a little messed up cosmetically because it was hit some time before I owned it, and some very smart person decided to repair it with filler! Not only is my rear passenger door poorly fixed via this technique, but so is some of my rear fender. The shop was concerned that heating up that fender would cause it to crack quickly, but they did find out for me that I do not need spacers on my wheels to clear the brakes, so they took those off. This didn't do a whole lot to solve my self-made rubbing problem, so they kindly gave me the number of an alignment shop around the corner. The reason for this was that they noticed that my camber was not even on both sides, which was a bit of a satisfying revelation for me, as whenever my car rubbed it was almost always the right rear tire. I took the car there, and I learned that not only was this stupid filled fender a risk to roll, but it was also a thicker than my normal fender! So not only was the right rear side of the car screwed up from having less camber, but it was also being intruded upon by this thicker fender. The car was aligned back within BMW specs, but we deliberately gave the right rear a bit more camber (-2.3 degrees versus -2.1 for the left) to try and get the tire away from the fender. The car still rubs a bit, but it is a notable improvement from what it was! Rubbing or no rubbing, I am continually surprised at how much more enjoyment I get from the car after having modified it a little.
- 5,905
- West Yorkshire
- Katiegan
- KatieB53
How much do your wheels clear the brakes? If your brakes are worn, don't forget to take that into account, since when you fit new brakes they'll stick out more with the thicker pads and discs. We once fit some wheels on a customer's TT at work and they cleared at first, but a few months later when we replaced the brakes the wheels no longer cleared. Luckily we've got a bunch of spacers at work so we just fit them.
- 6,092
- Phoenix, AZ
I replaced the brakes right before having the wheels fitted for the first time with 5mm spacers all around back in September. I've put about 12k miles on the car since then, and the guys at the shop seemed pretty certain that the 5mm spacers on the back wouldn't be necessary, even after I told them that they were on there to clear the brakes.
ROAD_DOGG33J
Premium
- 14,252
- IL, USA
- holyc0w1
- holyc0w
- 6,092
- Phoenix, AZ
ROAD_DOGG33J
Premium
- 14,252
- IL, USA
- holyc0w1
- holyc0w
I see. My brother has a Porter Cable 7424XP. I'm trying to figure out what pads I would need to get rid of some of the swirls.
- 6,092
- Phoenix, AZ
It's been a little while!
So if you visit the Post a Pic of Your Real Car thread, you may know that I sold the BMW over the summer, continuing this year's tradition of Doog not having a friggin car and having to borrow other people's cars this year, as I was already aggravatingly acquainted with from when one of my wheels took forever to ship several months back. But it wasn't so bad, because having a random car is very preferable to not having any car at all.
Towards the end of the school year, I was busy trying to balance goofing off and actually studying for finals when a CEL appeared in my instrument cluster after being gone for a relatively impressive amount of time (it's an E39). Due to school and work and frankly not feeling like going back to the shop, I drove with the light on for a couple hundred miles. Finally, a couple days after graduation, I took the car in and left it there, a ritual I was getting increasingly tired of repeating. The shop called later in the day to tell me that not one, but three things were wrong with my car, and that it would cost $1800 to fix. The next day my mom called me and asked me if I wanted to keep putting money into the car. I thought about how I was tired of taking it to the shop all the time, and to a lesser extent, about how it really wasn't practical for my social life (rear passengers made it rub), and driving the Highlander was a real drag. To be honest, it didn't take me very long to decide that no, I didn't wanna do this anymore. Through a connection of my mom's, the BMW was bought for a laughable amount of money and will soon be returning to the used market with some mechanical fixes. The BBS reps were taken off and are still sitting at the shop, but I'm moving soon and am waiting until then to collect them.
Over the summer I split my mileage between the Mini Cooper, which my mom still hasn't sold (starting to think she may never sell it tbh), the Lexus, and for the past month, the Suburban. The car search could warrant a post in and of itself, but I'l try to keep it as concise as possible. The original plan was that my parents and I were all going to contribute money so that I could buy a newer car, so I spent some time researching and decided that I really wanted a '13+ Honda Accord Sport. I even went to the Honda dealer and test drove a brand new one and really liked it. To my dismay, the elusive Accord Sport didn't fall into budget, at least not with acceptable mileage. My mom asked the person who bought the E39 to keep a lookout for black Accord Sports at auction, and finally my mom told me that he had found a car matching the description. The next morning she described the car to me and I immediately knew that it wasn't what I wanted at all: a black LX with a beige interior. She tried to pressure me into getting it, but it didn't sound appealing at all. I began to realize that I didn't really like anything within the set budget and year constraints, so I decided to just buy something that I actually like with my own cash. I spent some time trawling Craigslist and inquiring within a few ads. During this time, our house sold and I told my parents about my intentions to live with mom after the move, leaving my dad by himself. He's not sure where he wants to live, so he pitched the idea that he give me the Lexus while he moves around and decides where he wants to be, but he conveniently redacted that just after I had gotten a parking pass for his car at college. So once again I returned to Craigslist to find that an LS400 I'd been keeping an eye on had been reduced in price yet again to $6500. I arranged with the seller to see the car that evening.
The whole process of viewing the car and buying it was extremely straight forward. My dad and I went to look at the car, I test drove it, I combed through the maintenance records, gave the car a good look over, decided my offer and shook hands with the seller. The next day, we met outside the seller's office to exchange the cash and the title, and I was on my way in the first car I bought with my own money. The moments following the acquisition were extremely memorable. It was lunchtime, my favorite time of day, and it was bright and sunny in Old Town Scottsdale. I pulled onto Scottsdale Road in my new-older-than-me Lexus, flipped the sunroof up and tuned into the local classic rap station for some very appropriate music. I called into work on the way home and asked to come in an hour later, but in hindsight I should've just called in sick, because I couldn't deal with work BS that evening; all I wanted to do was drive my new car. I've had the car for two days now, and in that short time my friends who have seen it, plus my girlfriend, all approve.
I arduously washed it after getting up this morning so that it could be mint for all of five hours, until it got rained on in rush hour traffic. Later I drove through a flash flood and then into the desert so I just about undid all my work... I like to get my use out of a car. lol
Some basic info about the car: the previous owner of the car picked it up in February as a daily driver to replace his Mustang, but got a new F150, so it was time for the Lexus to go. I don't remember if he said the car had one previous owner, or if it was a 'one family car', but the owner before that had the car for quite some time, and actually lives about five minutes away from me. The car was sold new in Missouri and appeared to be there until ~2005, but I haven't given the service records a super extensive look. The car itself is a '96 LS400, with the elusive Nakimichi audio (it bumps) and a set of legitimate OZ wheels, which I'm told were a factory option. I'll have to research that bit of minutiae, but I really do like how the wheels look on the car. For a 20 year old car, the LS is in pretty good shape. It doesn't really have any scuffs or fading anywhere on the car, or even a noticeable scratch. The grille has its share of rock chips, and I'd like to reinstall a chrome Lexus badge. Oh, and it has 120,600 miles right now.
Personal favorite feature so far? The antenna raises and retracts electronically whenever you use the radio.
So if you visit the Post a Pic of Your Real Car thread, you may know that I sold the BMW over the summer, continuing this year's tradition of Doog not having a friggin car and having to borrow other people's cars this year, as I was already aggravatingly acquainted with from when one of my wheels took forever to ship several months back. But it wasn't so bad, because having a random car is very preferable to not having any car at all.
Towards the end of the school year, I was busy trying to balance goofing off and actually studying for finals when a CEL appeared in my instrument cluster after being gone for a relatively impressive amount of time (it's an E39). Due to school and work and frankly not feeling like going back to the shop, I drove with the light on for a couple hundred miles. Finally, a couple days after graduation, I took the car in and left it there, a ritual I was getting increasingly tired of repeating. The shop called later in the day to tell me that not one, but three things were wrong with my car, and that it would cost $1800 to fix. The next day my mom called me and asked me if I wanted to keep putting money into the car. I thought about how I was tired of taking it to the shop all the time, and to a lesser extent, about how it really wasn't practical for my social life (rear passengers made it rub), and driving the Highlander was a real drag. To be honest, it didn't take me very long to decide that no, I didn't wanna do this anymore. Through a connection of my mom's, the BMW was bought for a laughable amount of money and will soon be returning to the used market with some mechanical fixes. The BBS reps were taken off and are still sitting at the shop, but I'm moving soon and am waiting until then to collect them.
Over the summer I split my mileage between the Mini Cooper, which my mom still hasn't sold (starting to think she may never sell it tbh), the Lexus, and for the past month, the Suburban. The car search could warrant a post in and of itself, but I'l try to keep it as concise as possible. The original plan was that my parents and I were all going to contribute money so that I could buy a newer car, so I spent some time researching and decided that I really wanted a '13+ Honda Accord Sport. I even went to the Honda dealer and test drove a brand new one and really liked it. To my dismay, the elusive Accord Sport didn't fall into budget, at least not with acceptable mileage. My mom asked the person who bought the E39 to keep a lookout for black Accord Sports at auction, and finally my mom told me that he had found a car matching the description. The next morning she described the car to me and I immediately knew that it wasn't what I wanted at all: a black LX with a beige interior. She tried to pressure me into getting it, but it didn't sound appealing at all. I began to realize that I didn't really like anything within the set budget and year constraints, so I decided to just buy something that I actually like with my own cash. I spent some time trawling Craigslist and inquiring within a few ads. During this time, our house sold and I told my parents about my intentions to live with mom after the move, leaving my dad by himself. He's not sure where he wants to live, so he pitched the idea that he give me the Lexus while he moves around and decides where he wants to be, but he conveniently redacted that just after I had gotten a parking pass for his car at college. So once again I returned to Craigslist to find that an LS400 I'd been keeping an eye on had been reduced in price yet again to $6500. I arranged with the seller to see the car that evening.
The whole process of viewing the car and buying it was extremely straight forward. My dad and I went to look at the car, I test drove it, I combed through the maintenance records, gave the car a good look over, decided my offer and shook hands with the seller. The next day, we met outside the seller's office to exchange the cash and the title, and I was on my way in the first car I bought with my own money. The moments following the acquisition were extremely memorable. It was lunchtime, my favorite time of day, and it was bright and sunny in Old Town Scottsdale. I pulled onto Scottsdale Road in my new-older-than-me Lexus, flipped the sunroof up and tuned into the local classic rap station for some very appropriate music. I called into work on the way home and asked to come in an hour later, but in hindsight I should've just called in sick, because I couldn't deal with work BS that evening; all I wanted to do was drive my new car. I've had the car for two days now, and in that short time my friends who have seen it, plus my girlfriend, all approve.
I arduously washed it after getting up this morning so that it could be mint for all of five hours, until it got rained on in rush hour traffic. Later I drove through a flash flood and then into the desert so I just about undid all my work... I like to get my use out of a car. lol
Some basic info about the car: the previous owner of the car picked it up in February as a daily driver to replace his Mustang, but got a new F150, so it was time for the Lexus to go. I don't remember if he said the car had one previous owner, or if it was a 'one family car', but the owner before that had the car for quite some time, and actually lives about five minutes away from me. The car was sold new in Missouri and appeared to be there until ~2005, but I haven't given the service records a super extensive look. The car itself is a '96 LS400, with the elusive Nakimichi audio (it bumps) and a set of legitimate OZ wheels, which I'm told were a factory option. I'll have to research that bit of minutiae, but I really do like how the wheels look on the car. For a 20 year old car, the LS is in pretty good shape. It doesn't really have any scuffs or fading anywhere on the car, or even a noticeable scratch. The grille has its share of rock chips, and I'd like to reinstall a chrome Lexus badge. Oh, and it has 120,600 miles right now.
Personal favorite feature so far? The antenna raises and retracts electronically whenever you use the radio.
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- 27,213
- United Kingdom
- 6,092
- Phoenix, AZ
Getting back into the 430 to drive home after looking at the 400 was very strange. The LS400 is a pretty quiet and comfortable car, but the 430 really takes it up a notch and you immediately notice the lack of NVH. Personally though, I prefer the LS400 due to its lower seating position and better feel of the road (relatively). The LS430 is a very nice car, but I don't get much enjoyment from driving it. It's crazy to me that the two cars are only six years apart, because it feels closer to ten. That doesn't mean the LS400 is outdated, though; both cars feel ahead of their time.
- 3,288
- Southern Carolina
- PeteWheet
I had a feeling you was going to get another Lexus. But you got the better one, the older ones. There's something about the older ones that makes it difficult to go to anything newer even if it's better and safer. I'm rather surprised you went for a LS and not a GS. I'm also surprised yoy opt for the LS that almost got the 5 speed auto but was towards the end of the cycle.
Either way, nice find. You won't see too many cleans ones out there.
Either way, nice find. You won't see too many cleans ones out there.
- 2,359
- Ventura, California
Nice car. A word of advice, make damn sure the timing belt has been replaced and if it hasn't, have it done. The 4.0 V8 is literally the only motor that Toyota or Lexus ever came out with that will have a valve/piston collision in the event of the timing belt breaking. These are awesome cars just the timing belt is the only thing concerning on a used car regardless of the low mileage.
- 6,092
- Phoenix, AZ
That's what I wanted to say in my post, but I didn't wanna be that type of Toyota poster.
Initially I was partial to the facelift UCF20 due to the power bump and 5-speed like you mentioned, but driving mine does not leave me wanting for that extra 30hp or another gear. In fact, I prefer how my transmission shifts around town compared to the LS430, although it gets a little confused in steady 0-20 mph traffic. I like some GSs, but they've never been the type of car that I've wanted super badly. The first gen's too nineties for me, and the second gen just looks too wide physically, and then I'm not sold on the interior of the third gen. Now if it was a modified second gen, that might've swayed my opinion as I really like the way they stance.
I specifically combed through the service records to find that the timing belt was in fact replaced a few years back.
- 3,288
- Southern Carolina
- PeteWheet
Yeah, I would skip the third gen if I were you. Not all that Lexus comfortable and driving it wasn't very interesting even if it was the sport sedan version- V6 or V8.
How modified are you talking? Stancing it as you said or the engine modifying like the GTE swap that's quite popular? Either or can be found in GS groups. I did find a silver GS with a lowered stance and purple colored rims for sale on Craiglist and I have a live picture of it- good god, they are nice when you take the time to do the changes.
I do have a keen eye on the older LSs when they're done up right. Do you plan on doing any changes to your LS or are you going to leave it as is?
- 6,092
- Phoenix, AZ
Yeah, the usual coilovers + wider wheels setup.
Ideally I'd like to lower it on Fortune coilovers and add some camber and maybe an exhaust down the line but we'll see how much I like the car and wanna spend money on it. I'm really enjoying it though.
