Key silicon for Lexus IS300

Been doing a lot of online shopping lately. Luckily most of it are not expensive items. This is Key Silicon for my Lexus key remote. When I bought my car they actually gave me a leather pouch but only for one key. I requested additional but you know they give you million excuses such as "oh we ran out" or "we only give one leather pouch per car". Cheapskate is all I can think about NBT.

Anyway this is a silicon for my spare key which I am currently using (my wife is using the leather pouch on her key). I am avid car lover so I took good care of my car keys as well.

This is from an online store called JACKETSTORE. Check it out!


Cost $12.00 including shipping. I know, its quite expensive for just a key condom.... but I can't find this anywhere in Brunei.... (if you guys know please do notify me)



Fits like a glove!

Made In Germany..... or Finland?

Ever wonder where your car is manufactured by who or in which country? You will probably answered Japanese car from Japan, German car from Germany or Korean car from Korea ?

In the current market, many car manufacturers had outsourced their vehicles to be assembled elsewhere by some other company OR in another country. Good example are Toyota Vios from Thailand, Honda City from Thailand, Honda Freed from Indonesia, Mercedes Benz C-Class from South Africa and Porsche Boxster/Cayman from Finland.

I won't go into much details about other manufacturers but instead will talk about Porsche. In Porsche, some of their Boxster/Caymen are assembled in Finland by this company called Valmet Automotive.



Valmet Automotive is located in Uusikaupunki in Finland, they had been assembling Porsche Boxster/Caymen for quite sometime. In the past they also assemble other makes such as SAAB models and Renault Clio V6. More recent Fisker Karma also joined their lists.

I always thought that my Boxster is Made in Finland but recently after watching Discovery Megafactory - Porsche, I noticed that there were a few Boxster and Cayman in the show. So I was wondering is my car from Germany or Finland?

So I took a picture of my VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) as shown in the picture below and decide to decode it using Porsche VIN decoder from some Porsche forum.

This is taken from my Porsche Boxster S


WP0ZZZ98ZAS7206--
(sorry, not going to show my full VIN details so I will omit the last 2 initials)

W - County of Manufacture - Germany
P - Porsche
0 - Vehicle Types or Manufacturing Division
ZZZ- Engine, body style, series
98 - Model
Z - Accuracy check?
A - Model Year - in this case is 2010
S - Assembly Plant Initial - Stuggart
720637 -Sequence number as it roll of production line

I was a bit surprised, hehe and of course happy about it too after finding it is manufactured in Stuggart, Germany. Paying for a premium car like Porsche, you would expect it to be made from its country of origin.

Project : W210 [ Day 39 : Parts Arrival - SportPedal ]

Day 1 : Announcement

Day 5 : The Ride
Day 8 : The Big Problem
Day 14 : The Big Plan
Day 15 : Parts Arrival - Key Blade
Day 16 : The Small Problem
Day 34 : Parts Arrival - O.E Hood Emblem
Day 37 : Problem Fixed - Windscreen Panels
Day 39 : Parts Arrival - Sport Pedals

Day 39:-
Yay! Another parts arrived last week on Thursday! Ok, is more like accessories that parts. Lol. Anyway, these are Sport Pedals that I got from online. Cost me BND$50.00 included shipping charges. These are made in Taiwan.

These pedals actually are replica AMG Sport Pedals. It replicated the pedals that come standard in AMG ranges. The set comes with 3 pedals that will fit our Project:W210. Nuts and bots are included as well. The quality and build is top notch.

Brake Pedal, Gas Pedal and Foot Brake Pedal


All three pedals come with rubber grip

Project : W210 [ Day 37 : Problem Fixed - Windscreen Panels ]

Day 1 : Announcement

Day 5 : The Ride
Day 8 : The Big Problem
Day 14 : The Big Plan
Day 15 : Parts Arrival - Key Blade
Day 16 : The Small Problem
Day 34 : Parts Arrival - O.E Hood Emblem
Day 37 : Problem Fixed - Windscreen Panels

Day 37:-
Good Morning! Just had this fixed last week at Jati Transport. I couldn't source this item online so my last resort is always go back to Mercedes Benz Dealer and order O.E from them. The items cost me BND$73.10 including labor charges. Quite pricey for two pieces of plastic panels which gain no performance or looks on the car. Oh well, it has to be replaced or else it is an eyesore everything I get in and out of the car looking at the million pieces of broken plastic held by some tapes...

When I picked up the car I was surprised to see the parts were not identical to the original broken parts. To my surprise Mercedes Benz Germany actually acknowledge that the original parts is full of craps and will not last long in our weather so they have the old design replaced with a newer design.

Before the replacement


These are the newer Windscreen panels replacement!



Plenty of air vents, for what hell to go in or out that I do not know...



Here are the unwanted replaced parts.... ready to go to the Bin!


Seriously sh*t quality from Mercedes, even when I am holding it now it broke into more pieces!

Project : W210 [ Day 34 : Parts Arrival - O.E Hood Emblem ]

Day 1 : Announcement
Day 5 : The Ride
Day 8 : The Big Problem
Day 14 : The Big Plan
Day 15 : Parts Arrival - Key Blade
Day 16 : The Small Problem
Day 34 : Parts Arrival - O.E Hood Emblem

Day 34:-
Hello readers, just a small update for another part arrived yesterday. This is Original Equipment (O.E) from Mercedes Benz. I got this from an online store in U.S for about BND$48.00. I tried to source this at our local Mercedes Benz agent but they quoted me about BND$80.00! It's a no brainer that I chose to purchase it online then locally~

I just don't understand why it is more expensive to purchase parts locally then oversea....


Oh did I mention that BND$48.00 also included shipping. The shipping charges is $15.00


....anyway I am happy about this purchases as I saved well over 40 bucks!


Original equipments are preferred if price is right

Project : W210 [ Day 16 : The Small Problem ]

Day 1 : Announcement
Day 5 : The Ride
Day 8 : The Big Problem
Day 14 : The Big Plan
Day 15 : Parts Arrival - Key Blade
Day 16 : The Small Problem

Day 16:-
During Day 8, I was pointing out the major problems of PROJECT:W210 which were mostly focused on exterior body works. Today post will focus on W210 interior. The interior is actually doing quite well given the age of the car. Nothing major here just some points that needed to point out.

Check out the Rear boot switch below... looks fine here....


....but the switch is broken when you pulled it to open the rear boot. At the moment we can only open the boot from the outside. Replacement can only be ordered at Jati Transport, which cost a staggering $129.00 for a tiny plastic switch. I am still considering about this item.


Broken AC switch (broken fine line can be seen here)


This part is an easy job, replacement visor mirror bulb....

Project : W210 [ Day 15 : Parts Arrival - Key Blade ]

Day 1 : Announcement
Day 5 : The Ride
Day 8 : The Big Problem
Day 14 : The Big Plan
Day 15 : Parts Arrival - Key Blade

Day 15 :-
Just received the first PROJECT:W210 parts from an online store yesterday. The item is a replica Key blade. It's nothing major but I think is worth some mentioning.

Ordered the item last week and it arrived in just 5 days!

Mercedes Benz Key blade is actually a spare key that is used for opening door, glove box and rear boot in-case the remote controller key is not working. The key blade cannot be used to start the car.


Here is the full story why I decided to get a key blade. In 2004, both the original remote controller keys(right) that came with the car had decided to malfunction, so we have to order another replacement controller key(left) from Jati Transport(Mercedes-Benz Dealer). Our car was left in Jati Transport workshop for a month while we wait for the replacement key from Germany. The replacement key need to be programmed in order to work on our W210.


When the remote controller key finally arrived, I was told it doesn't come with a freaking KEY BLADE as we didn't request it. I was so damn furious!!! Firstly, nobody mentioned to me that both items were sold seperately!!! Secondly, the bloody replacement key controller cost over $400.00!!! Oh, did I mention the key blade from Mercedes Benz in Germany will set me back another $150.00 as it required laser cut to my car model ID. My parent decided to just screwed the whole drama crap and used the original remote controller key blade as spare.


So now Project:W210 is a go, I decided to browse the web for some parts and came across a company that actually sell blank key blade for Mercedes Benz! Immediately I contacted the store and had one shipped to me. The key cost $9.00 and shipping was $5.00. Total it cost only $14.00 for the key blade. Of course the draw back is the key is a blank key blade but at least now I have a hole to hang something on the key controller!


Comparison of new key controllers and old key controllers

Project : W210 [ Day 14 : The Big Plan ]

Day 1 : Announcement
Day 5 : The Ride
Day 8 : The Big Problem
Day 14 : The Big Plan

Day 14: The Big Plan :-

Now, the Big Plan for Project:W210 is to gather all the new parts from both Jati Transports and Online store that cater for W210. There will also be some additional add-on parts or accessories on W210.

Like all project, this is gonna take times to complete and will definitely be a slow progress project. I am setting a tight budget for this car as we know money do not just fall from the sky (lol).

Here is the plan and budget I set for Project:W210

Replacement and additional parts - $1500 max
Full respray of the whole car - $1000 max

18" AMG wheels with tires - $1500 max

Under consideration:-
Full Bodykit

Those are the prices that I am willing to spent on Project:W210. It is just an rough estimation and hopefully it will not break my piggy bank....

Readers can keep track the budget on the left corner of our blog.

Expecting completion date is set on Dec 2010.

3ric
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