gee the 5 series has a whopping 4 inches more rear legroom, whoopty doo....rear shoulder room is 7 inches more for the 5 tho.

LOL Corolla has MORE legroom and Prius has the same legroom as the 5 series hahahha.

 

The RWD platform cuts into rear space a bit.

 

The 3rd gen GS isn't any better. Rear leg room is also around 36"

 

keep the GS and you can meet up with me and couple of others here for a GS meet in vancouver!

 

The new 5 series based on the 7 series is like a SWB 7. It doesn't drive like a 5 series at all and its really comfy and big inside. I never had an issue with room in the 5 series since the E34....the F10 is just HUGE inside front and rear.

The new 3 series grew a couple of inches but still is rather small and smaller inside than the 3GS. I'll be honest I already confused it with the new 5 and old 3 from the rear. Its like they just restyled the front, doesn't seem new at all.

So I say 5 if you want a new car and they lease very well.

 

Thank you all for your inputs. I really appreciate it!
I have do a little math before making any move and I will definitely keep the LS in consideration.

 

Totally agree with this. IMO, the new F30 3 series makes the F10 5 series kind of redundant. If you won't consider the new GS, my advice is to get the 328i in Sport trim.The rear seating and boot space is about the same as the 5 series. Only the quality of the interior fitments loses out to the 5/GS/A6 ie midsize luxury sedan standard.And it definitely drives/handles better than the 5.

Don't just look at internet numbers.SIT in the 2 cars(3 and 5 series) and you'll find that the real life interior volume is about the same.

The 5 series is for 7 series owners who want to hold on to some pretense of sportiness.The 3 series is now the true driver's car in the BMW line-up.

 

If you've been fine till now with clients sitting behind you, The 5 should be fine. I'm a big guy at 6'2" and 230lbs and my test is always to position the drivers seat, then go into the rear and see if I can sit comfortably. I can't really do that in the GS. Now I can in the Camry, but that won't impress clients. And the 5/GS just doesn't have the WOW effect as the LS. My S feels like a living room in the back even with my front seat positioned.

 

my m5 had tons of space and was comfy.
my m3, well it was a little race car, much less space.

took the m3 to dallas (from austin) and had two people with me. guy that rode in back was not happy at all.


go drive both cars, then buy.

 

Lol, I have a friend who is a realtor. For driving clients around, he rotates between his Honda Civic and his 2006 F250 crew cab(loaded though, really nice truck). He'd bought them both brand new back before the market crashed. I think he'd probably upgrade again, but all of his assets are tied up into some bad development investments he made just months before the market took a dive.

Personally, I think an LS would be a nice car to drive clients around in. But hell, I've already driven politicians around in my 20 year old LS400.

 

Well, my first response is to be careful if you, as an agent, drive your clients around. If you try to impress them with too expensive or impressive-looking a car, my guess is that they are going to think that you make too much and that your fees and commissions are too high. Clients may be polite and not come out and actually say that, but you can bet that at least some of them are thinking it.

I'd look for something reasonably nice (nice enough that you'd get some enjoyment out of it) but not expensive enough that they will think you are trying to play Donald Trump (maybe something in the 30-40K range). I agree with TOked...a Lexus ES350, Toyota Avalon, Buick LaCrosse, or Hyundai Azera might fill the bill. They are all fairly comfortable and reasonably smooth-riding for any of your clients that might have leg or back-problems. Hyundai is coming out with a new Azera, later this year, in that price-range, that is said to be a major improvement over the old one.