In 1998, vehicles destined for General Export and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council countries) received a facelift. Wider fenders, new headlights, grille, bumper, fog lights and sidesteps were all part of the redesign. The wide fenders are often called "blister flare fenders". Driver and front-passenger SRS airbags were made standard on models equipped with the 3.5-litre DOHC V6 engine, whilst still remaining optional on GLS models with the 3.0-litre SOHC V6. 1080 of these units were also assembled in Iran by Bahman Khodro Group before being taken off production. An upgraded interior wood trim was made available on 3.0-litre GLS and 3.5-litre models. A leather-wrapped or leather and wood trim steering wheel was also made available, alongside an upgraded suspension and steering system. The 3.0-litre 12-valve SOHC engine was now available with a 24-valve configuration. Models without wide fenders remained as base models (GLX), available with a 2.4-litre 16-valve DOHC engine, producing . The 3.0-litre 12-valve engine was optional on these GLX models, and remained the base engine on the GLS.