It's blatantly obvious that your in for plugging Audi and BMW. If that is how you feel, you can join the others on the side of the road or in the old shop.

-Anthony

 

touche


I like the new GS and RX if it makes you feel any better. Im really not that biased, just say what i think.

 

What some people fail to understand is that putting well tested and market ready technology in your car is not a fault, whereas rushing out untested and unproven gadgets just to impress on paper, making guinea pigs of your affluent customers is, & ruining your own reputation on top of that.

'BTW, I'm not biased neither, I think the A8 is the best looking large sedan on the road right now, that is before they put that hideous new grille on it as well, like they are doing with the V12 version.

 

I've had the pleasure of driving both the 7 series and the LS and I will tell you, the LS seens so much more natural. No goofy e-brakes, or key cards, or starter buttons, or gear shifts, just natural layout. Everything you need is there, and although the dash is full, it does not look cluttered. Hidden compartments all the way from in the dash to under the driver's seat allow anything you need to fit. The lines, both in and out, are classic.

When people ask me why I love Lexus so much, I ask them what's most important, luxury and peace of mind, or power and sportiness. Usually, the people who disagree with me (and what you seem to be from your other posts) state they prefer the power and sportiness. That's fine and I don't think we're trying to convert you, but realize there are people who would take a luxurious riding car with a near silent engine, comfy seats (not sporty), and ergonomics that work for the majority, over a car with cutting edge design where there are those who hate it and those who love it. Personally, I hate the new 7, 5, X3, Z4, and parts of the 6 because the cars just do not seem to work for me. Bring back the good ole E39s. Some of the best syled sport luxo sedans ever, bar none.

James

 

if BMW don't know how to put reliable parts on their cars, then don't do it. Having gadgets is no excuse for a sub-par quality product.

Having gadgets that don't work = no gadgets. Even worse, sometimes the electronic problems render the car undrivable.

Not biased, just stating facts.

 

best post ever and i totally agree. My 60 year old father loves luxury and peace of mind, so there are always buyers for that.

 

http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=04515625

ah damn

 

Top Gear, June 2004

" 'Our new design was wrong'
BMW Boss's Shock Admission

You knew it, we knew it, anyone with any taste new it - BMW's 7-series is horrible. Now it seems BMW knows it too.

BMW has finally admitted what everyone in the car world has long known: the current 7-series is a disaster. In an interview with American business magazine Fortune, Helmut Panke, BMW's chairman, said: "I admit the intensity of the public debate over our new design (which began with the 7-series) did suprise me. There are still too many articles focusing on 'I wish this car looked different blah, blah, blah.' The 7-series was a combination of completely new technology with new design direction. The key point is that we should never make big steps in strategic directions without preparing our customers."

Panke is the first BMW executive to publicly acknowlege what many Munich insiders have privately been saying about the 7-series - that BMW made a big mistake in launching Chris Bangle's new design direction and the complex i-Drive system at the same time in the most conservative sector of the market with no explanation.

Panke's comments have been greeted with relief in Munich. "It's a weight off everyone's shoulders," one insider said. "Panke has finally said what we all knew but could not say - that we tried to do too much, too soon with the 7-series and we did it in the wrong market. We were too far ahead of the audience and lost a lot of goodwill. It was a real own goal that has overshadowed the launch of the very good cars that have followed the 7-Series." (This last sentence doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but it is verbatim from the article - RON430)

Panke's admission is part of a new PR approach by BMW. As sales of the Z4, the new 5-series and the 6-series rise, BMW execs are admitting past failings. At a recent private dinner in Spain, one senionr BMW board member told jounalists that BMW had done "an absolutely lousy job" of explaining the firm's new design and its minimalist cabin controls.

Even Chris Bangle himself has admitted making mistakes - although not when it comes to design. At a recent lecture at the Design Museum in London, he said: "Did we move in the right direction with design? Yes. Could we have done more to explain what we were doing and why? Yes."

Privately, Bangle believes that the BMW board were too slow to wake up to the scale of his design changes. They failed to explain his new modernist style and when it became clear that customers loved the 7-Series' performance but hated the looks and i-Drive, they acted too slowly to address the concerns.

The top-of-the-range 7-Series was launched two years ago. In spite of the chorus of criticism it attracted and sluggish sales - in particular in BMW's core German market - BMW insisted customers would learn to love it. However, last year executives rushed through a facelift designed to smooth the car's sharp edges, reduce its bulky profile and soften the clunky bootlid.

The new 7-Series will be unveiled later this year. BMW hopes its launch will mark the end of one of the most awkward chapters in the company's history."

Sure glad Top Gear feels that BMW has admitted its mistakes, I don't get that feeling from reading the article. You combine the awful reliability of the seven with the dubious design and I am convinced that most of the ones on the street are the result of good deals instead of people rushing out to fulfill their dreams.

That charming arrogance of BMW that endeared them to me so much is still evident. This "The designs are great, it is just that our customers are too dimwitted to see how good they are" ranks right down there with some of the biggest miscues GM ever made in figuring they knew better than the customer. Sure glad people still value that roundel so much. Worse part of a Lexus is boredom. They rarely break and don't degrade much, if at all, as you own them. They always start and generally everything works. But that doesn't seem to generate much automotive passion. As for bimmer, the best part was wanting one, not owning one. Or maybe no one at bimmer service ever explained to me how good I had it and I was too dimwitted to figure it out on my own.

 

Panke's comments are correct.....BMW and Chris Bangle DID make a big mistake with the new 5 and 7-series, ( as I have said many times in these forums), but NOT for the reasons he indicates. BMW was NOT ahead of the customer market, as he suggests. The I-Drive was a tremendous step BACKWARDS, not forwards, as he thinks. It replaced the simplicity and reliability of buttons, slides, and ***** with a frustrating, poorly designed, computerized joystick that forced the driver to take his eyes off the road far too long trying to figure out what mode and function he is in just trying to do the simplest things like bump up the fan speed or change radio stations. We can understand BMW's reasoning in trying to clean up the dash, but the I-Drive was (and is) clearly the wrong way to do it. In addition, the overall quality of the new 7-series, as has clearly been documented, is not the equal of its predecessor either.
So Panke is half-right....now he has to admit that it was a mistake for the correct reasons.

 

Well ..i have only add 1 problem with my beast....burned out rear bulb. I can't complain.

As for driving comparisons..i've never owned a LS...so i can't really say which one i would prefer better. I tell you what though...the 745 is a little more fun then the GS i had before.

Is it as much fun as when i got the GS for the first time....hard to say!