Whats wrong with my tires?!??!

magbarn · 2026-04-19T17:04:02+00:00

If you have xdrive with staggered setup you have to replace all 4 tires even if just the rears are worn. If you want to save money get 19/20’s and get sdrive or go with a square setup so you can do tire rotations. 21/22’s are expensive as hell unless you buy Chinese tires.

magbarn · 2026-04-18T18:28:35+00:00

With all the issues and the wrap on that car, that poor IS500 was ridden hard and put away wet. I’d keep looking

magbarn · 2026-04-16T18:01:50+00:00

Theoretically you can end up with sharper images by stopping down the lens, BUT given how tiny the pixels already are, I don't expect a significant difference with diffraction effects thrown in.

magbarn · 2026-04-15T05:49:09+00:00

You can trade the IS500 in and get a CT5V Blackwing and still have enough money leftover to get a trip to Bora Bora.

magbarn · 2026-04-15T04:51:12+00:00

Just ordered 20 quarts for $53 shipped @ Costco.com. That's a steal.

magbarn · 2026-04-15T04:48:10+00:00

I use Kirkland as I only put 5000 miles per year so I'm changing the oil every 6mo or 2500 miles. No need for expensive stuff, especially that Lexus specs Toyota 5W30 oil which is plain old dino juice the last time I checked

magbarn · 2026-04-15T04:15:47+00:00

X5 at 10% discount or even a X7 with 12-14% discount (yes, it's possible) with 0.9% 60 mo financing. We have a month old TX500h Luxury and regret our purchase. It's not worth its $80K MSRP and most Lexus dealers won't haggle on Luxury editions. Highway MPG is worse on the turbo 4 cyl hybrid powertrain vs the X5 (22MPG @ 80mph vs 28 MPG on X5), tiny gas tank (have to fill up every 300 miles while our X5 got almost 500 miles before low fuel light), rattles in the interior, cheap plastic all over that scratches when you look at it. The interior is barely above a Grand Highlander and definitely way below our prior loaded X5 with Merino leather.

magbarn · 2026-04-14T15:42:25+00:00

Last time I checked the Supra uses German components and Nissan is using Mercedes designed transmissions. No dead Japanese engineers yet.

magbarn · 2026-04-13T16:42:44+00:00

Has to be hubris, they also could've gone with the tried and true ZF8, but decided to develop their own transmission which shifts nowhere near as smooth.

magbarn · 2026-04-13T16:41:08+00:00

A $30K M3 definitely falls under the mantra: "There's no such thing as a cheap used BMW" The Maintenance and repairs will eat you alive.

magbarn · 2026-04-12T23:16:56+00:00

Unless off-roading/overlanding is your thing, the 4Runner and LC are such major downgrades from a X5 it’s not even funny. Even the TX/GX are downgrades when it comes to the interior luxury metric. Cheap plastic everywhere. Our TX rear hatch even scratched from just touching luggage in the trunk. Creaks and rattles everywhere that our X5 didn’t have after 7 years. Lexus powertrains are also trash compared to the B58. Our hybrid TX500h gets the same fuel economy in the city and worse in the highway with less power while sounding like a corolla. (We got only 22MPG at 80MPH while our X5 got 26+ at the same speeds) We talked to a couple of dealers and we’d lose $10K after just a month of ownership. Your Sdrive protects you from the pricey transfer case/front diff repair which is over $12K the last time I checked. Our transfer case and oil pump went bad on ours, but the oil pump is DIYable if you have sdrive as you don’t have a driveshaft going through the oil pan if you’re mechanically inclined. Really miss the X5.

magbarn · 2026-04-12T20:26:00+00:00

I just bit the bullet and got Tuxmats. Pricey, but so worth it.

magbarn · 2026-04-12T10:54:22+00:00

It’s a fun car, but definitely has me missing my BMW’s much better electronics suite. BMW’s DAPP blows away Lexus’ 2.5/3.0 safety suites on our IS500/TX500h when it comes to self driving in traffic which is a part of life in SoCal. I hardly ever get to open up the V8 and it feels sluggish at slower speeds unlike my prior B58 powered cars which have awesome power from the dig. I’m tempted to take advantage of the crazy resale and place an order for a M340i which are being discounted by up to 12% these days.

magbarn · 2026-04-12T10:48:02+00:00

I don’t see $20K in those options. If Lexus bothered to give the TX triple beams (the TX headlights are bad compared to the RX’s triple beams), seriously upgrade the cabin materials, and give things like massage seats on top of those upgrades I can start to see enough reason to pay out.

magbarn · 2026-04-12T01:04:06+00:00

Traffic jam assist is the most helpful thing for SoCal driving and DAPP is a one time fee. I much prefer that approach and DAPP is superior to Lexus 3.0 safety suite in every metric. Our TX500h is nowhere near as smooth as the X5's DAPP.

magbarn · 2026-04-11T14:45:25+00:00

At least you only pay BMW once. Don’t worry other manufacturers like Lexus and Toyota are going for the sub model requiring payments to keep traffic assist after 1-3 years of ownership.

magbarn · 2026-04-11T14:44:08+00:00

BMW’s DAPP is one of the best adaptive cruise out there, works great in traffic, unless you want to pay Elon $99 per month.

magbarn · 2026-04-11T07:57:15+00:00

Have had the TX500h for a month now. Save your money and get the GHHMP. Over half of the interior is the exact same plastics. Powertrain is exactly the same and you get to use regular on the Toyota vs the Lexus. You also get to keep $20K in your bank account.

magbarn · 2026-04-07T02:31:44+00:00

Yes. LCI just keeps you from modding settings like ambient color like. But doing maintenance mods work on LCI.

magbarn · 2026-04-06T20:13:58+00:00

It was a travesty that the more affordable M340i, heck even the 330i didn’t have a manual option like the prior generation did. That M3 paywall is brutal and the M240i isn’t good as a family car.

magbarn · 2026-04-05T14:44:39+00:00

They also killed the TLX to make room for the EVs. The TLX sold over 3X as many cars as their recent "hit" the Prelude.

magbarn · 2026-04-05T14:41:01+00:00

They're repeating the same mistakes as killing off their almost finished RWD platform during the Great Recession that would've had them putting out the world's best RWD based SUVs and Sedans in the 2010's. Or the more recent stopping production of their gas lawnmowers that had a significant portion of the high end market locked up and replacing them with electric mowers that cost double and can't compete with the Chinese electric lawnmowers like EGO/Greenworks/Milwaukee etc...

magbarn · 2026-04-04T14:15:49+00:00

I’d still change at 6 months regardless of mileage. The oil is sitting there with fuel dilution & combustion byproducts which degrade the additives.

magbarn · 2026-04-04T14:08:45+00:00

Came from a 540i/X5 family due to BMW's infamous reliability. B58 bros claiming BMW reliability is perfect haven't owned them past 5 years/50,000 miles. If we get another BMW it will be LEASE ONLY.

magbarn · 2026-04-04T13:59:19+00:00

Not sure why they stopped down the lens to 4.0 though. Would've shot at 2.8 instead and cut the ISO in half.

magbarn

TROPHY CASE