aldo23

i had this monkey on my back..literally..i had some 2nd thoughts about the choice between the 745i and the LS430..so i went on sunday morning, the car was prepped ready to go, w/ 0 miles. my inital thought was the nice exterior, and a sweet grill but i was annoyed from the get go that all the doors dont unlock, i actually had to go into the car to let my wife in..already 1 down, than when i got inside i sat in the so-called leather, didnt excite me as much as i anticipated, considering my leather is perforated in a light brown interior. the next negative was the seat adjusments, they were on the floor, well thats where i felt it considernig that in the BMW its to my right w/ a little joystick and diagram. as for the wife theres 2 sets of controls one on the bottom right, and the front & back adjusment is to the left shoulder on her seat, whos the genius that came up w/ that. The interior wood looked cheap, to my opinion, i did like the navigation b/c of its touch screen, but once i figured out the "idrive" i 'll stick w/ that. The funny thing is the navigation is hard to see in the sun b/c of the postition, in the bmw its hidden inside the dash. the speed gauges are cheap looking compared to the sweet gauges on the GS. even the wind-shield wipers dont hide under the hood like the bimmer, and they look cheap, and this is a 65-70k car. The test drive was even worse(extended time and i was by myself), if i turn the wheel at 35mph, i felt like i was going to fly out of the car, or off the road for that matter. acceleration was good, but i was surprised on the wind noise, very overrated, i heard everything at 100mph, even wind from the sunroof. anyways, i pulled over, went to the backseat thinking i would have room if ur sitting behind me, not even, i had to squeeze myself in the chair. i couldnt even recline the chair b/c of the front seat position but my wife could, it was nice, but not "wow"..the massage is cool, but i have a massage on my drivers seat in my car which suits me better..the heat and cold controls(which is a cheap *** that u push to move it from blue to red was real cheap looking) the rear is cool, the radio controls is nice idea, but i dont want anybody messing w/ the maestro when i play my music so to end this bashing, the BMW has the drive on the steering wheel, at 1st i dint like it, but once u get used to the arm room, i enjoy it more that the usual set-up. but to be honest, i do love the 6-speed automatic tronic that lexus has)..
so to conclude, i stepped out of my car and realized i made a great choice, my car was easily a better car, i felt like a new man. if anybody was to know me personal they would know i love lexus, the name, quality, overall an excellent car. in the 2yrs i had my GS4, no problems, accept noise irritations. yes i read everything motortrend, car and driver, jdpower, all of them say the same thing. w/ that i went in the dealership to make the switch, but it didnt work. when i got back to the salesman after the drive, the manager was there to greet me, i explained the difference, he tried to explain my car will give me problems, i assured him i understood, but it hasnt yet..the technology has gotten better. i also threw in a cheap shot, i said" if u guys would of sold me the car for what i wanted i would of bought the car, but u did me that favor and allowed me to go somewhere else." they lost me for a measley $1000. so i got to thinking, alot of poeple that have bashed the 7-series probably never drove one extensively, and the ones that did and hated it, may have never drove the sport edition or just had bad luck, sort of like my luck w/ that faulty transmisson on the acura. as far as wind noise the bimmer has the shatter proof glass, that wind noise was minimal when i drove home at 120mph, 2 to 1 compared to the lexus. i love my suspension, and apparently i love my car, and apparently now i realized why so many people own the 745. on my way out, the salesman told me he'l give me a call when the gs430 comes out, he said this car will be the car to knock ur socks off, i was like u got my number, ill drive it, but i'll wait for the new LS430 in 3years, i happy for now..
maybe one day u guys will see me in the road w/ the angel eyes lit up coming behind you waiting for u to get out of the lane..thanks for the 2people that read this post..

jpcdmd

hey bro,
FYI - you press the door unlock button twice to unlock all the doors, and incidentally, you can change this setting to how you want it, press once or press twice. They're called the C-best settings, and there are six pages of them, so you can customize your car how YOU want it. Also, the passenger seat controls you mentioned (up high on the left seatback) are actually for YOU, if you want to move the seat, so you don't have to reach all the way over between the seat bottom and the passenger door. The passenger controls for the seatback are down there where they should be with the rest of them, your wife just couldn't find them for some reason.

aldo23

im sure the key can be manipulated, but i said at 1st..as far as the seat, it wasnt that it was hidden, it was just in an unusual place..i dint find it to convenient..neither did i find that on the back you have to bring down ur sunshade manually, instead of just pushing a button...especially for 68k..

Lexis11

When buying a 70k car you are busting blls and making a decision based on "a measley $1000?"

biker

The things people pick on in a 70K car.

fhumphrey04

Oh well, its a good thing you like your bimmer better, they are great cars

The LS430 is a great car dont get me wrong, but I would be in the same boat as you if I had to choose. Now you just have to deal with the monstrous depreciation of your car but it sounds like you have money to burn and it doesnt really matter. Definitely post a review when you drive a new gs430 too

lexusls430

Ok i just have to say one thing there is no way the bmw has less wind noise road noise or even engine noise ok. I test drove the 7 series its no LS430 almost two different cars one is sport luxury and one is just plain luxury. You say that the BMW has preforated seats if it is true that you tested the UL then it had high quality leather with many preforations. Anyways i hope you enjoy the 7 series and good luck. I my self am interested in the 645.

TLW

How tall are you ??

tofu_house

iTrader: (2)

are we talking about the 7 series here? cause if we are... i agree with TLW... you must be one tall dude if you were squished in the backseat of the 7 series...

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

No, they were both talking about the LS430 at this point.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

man, i don't know what to say. i guess it's all personal choice. drove the ls430 UL and the 740il extensively myself, and i puke every time i get inside the 740il. the only thing that the 740il wins over the ls430 ul (04+) is the handling, which can be fixed easily anyway

other than that, there is nothing else on the 740il i like about

glad that you made the right choice for yoruself though

aldo23

well to answer one of the questions, i am 6'3"..2nd my car is the UL 745 w/ the perforated seats, and reclinig chairs and heat in the back...as far as depreciation, i dont buy into that..and yes i do believe the lexus holds its value, but i felt it nasty when i sold my GS4, i got peanuts for it and that car was immaculate w/ very low miles. i always say the same thing, go into KBB and put up the numbers , let say a 745i, w/ 20k miles, and an UL LS430 w/ the same specs, and u tell me what the price difference is;
UL03'$49,610 year 00'- $23,420 / bmw745i03'-$60,340 year 00'-$27,735 ...i get confused about this whole retaining value thing when the numbers dont lie..when u go to trade in your car, they go by the blue book or the black book or what they get in auctions which i go to sometimes, when a bimmer comes out, they go nuts in bidding and yes they do for lexus but not as bad..bimmer holds its value b/c of its name, not quality over time, im sure u guys would agree. i bought mine thinking the worst, but ive been very happy.anyway, both car value books are usually close..so where do u see this huge depreciation..see, i just made a point about what i felt about the car..trust me w/ rominl and other guys, i wanted to make the switch, i really did, but after extensively driving the LS it didnt grab me as much as i wanted. it was like an overpriced loaded avalon, w/ essentially the same buttons you see on all toyotas..the 3series buttons look totally different than the 7-series. but the buttons and gadgets i see on the LS look exactly like my old GS...and i tried, lexus should pay the majority of you guys b/c of the influence alone...i will always respect lexus and the guys here that love their cars, b/c u guys are the best, but i just didnt agreee w/ the opinions of the LS and what i felt..but 2007 is a different story..thanks for allowing me to put an annoying thread again..will be the last of my 745 vs LS..
but i will post pics when i put on my staggered 22's w/ the fattest lip known to man

jpcdmd

you are forgiven only if you post pics with the 22s

Milla...

I will agree with you on some of your points. As you may or may not know I got rid of my LS430 as a result of shear boardom heck I gave it away to my aunt, yeah I was that bored. Although I never had room issues I do know what you mean regarding the buttons, It was never a big deal to me just something in the back of mine that I too noticed, and because of things like that yeah I can see the whole Avalon comparison thing you mentioned but hey Toyota is Toyota. Basicaly when little stuff like that starts bothering you its time for something different so enjoy the BMW.

aldo23

thanks, and ill post pics w/ the 22's..i just finished adding in 3 10" jlaudio and luckily my equalizer enables me to control it w/o using a bass adjuster. And for 800 dollars i purshased a kit that enable me to watch TV, DVD, and play mp3 on my dash...