Kermee

iTrader: (1)

It's a never ending cycle... Got to love competition.

Cheers,
Kermee

y2ks2k

Whats kind of funny is that every single person in this forum had the option to buy a 330 and didnt, they bought an IS350... I'm sure every single person had a 330 on the short list.

STIG

I just found out today that if you are sitting in the back seat of the IS, the car feels much faster than sitting in the front. It's a lil offtopic (i guess alot) but it's true to me. lol. I guess my vestibular organs are lying to me.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

You mean every single IS owner in this forum right? I guess every single BMW owner on the BMW forum had the same option to buy the IS but bought the BMW. I'm not sure what you are trying to get at. If you are saying everyone that posted here bought an IS I think you are wrong. Many of us own other Lexus cars. Anyway, both BMW and the IS were on my list of possible next cars. I've since dropped one of them not because it is a junk car but it doesn't quite fit what I'm looking for after I had a chance to check it out in person. Both are great choices though.

Lexus3oi

so why are there more 330 owners than IS350 owners ?!?!?

and everyone on this forum also had the option to buy a boat....what's your point?

y2ks2k

[QUOTE=CK6Speed] I'm not sure what you are trying to get at. QUOTE]
I guess you can’t read through the lines...

The point is that this is an IS owners forum and getting bent out of shape because people here clearly think the Lexus IS350/250 is better is ridiculous.

Now, if you come here without an IS350/250 and bag on it.. That’s why they call people trolls.

aka... don’t go hit the 330 forums and argue that the IS350 is a better car... And get angry when people actually *gasp* disagree with you.

Scotty99

LOL, the IS350 handles very well thank you very much. Its been discussed numerous times that if the rags disabled the VDIM during the reviews then the 350 would have most likely easily beat the 330i in the slalom. The double wishbone suspension on the 350 is a very good handling suspension so you get very little points there. Suspension and handling wise on a scale of 1 to 10 we are talking maybe going from a 8 on the IS350 to a 9 for the 330i. As for the performance factor we are talking about maybe a 6 on the 330 and a easy 9 or possibly 10 for the IS350. So sorry thanks for playing, but you lose.


Yeah, I wonder what kind of premium BMW will charge for the turbo 335i, not to mention the insurance premium increase the owners will face. Oh by the way, don't forget about the gas mileage penalty in turbo cars. You will most likely be looking at somewhere around 16 city and maybe at most 25 highway. Also sorry about the huge depreciation hit your 330i will take once the 335i comes out

Thanks again for playing and enjoy your 330i.

diablo1

Actually that's not technically true. I'm sure a lot of people on the BMW forums bought the 3-series before the IS350 was available. Not everyone, obviously, but a lot of people on there would have bought before the IS350 came out. Whereas every single person who bought the IS also had the option of the new 330i, since the BMW came out first...

If I had been buying a car a year ago, there is a good chance I would have gotten the BMW instead. I was not a fan of the IS300. I bet there are some people who bought a 330i who would have bought an IS350, had it been available. And if the 335i had been out when I bought my car, there's a decent chance I would have gotten that instead of the IS. To some extent, it depends on your timing... But at the time I was making my purchase, I thought the Lexus was the best choice. That doesn't mean it always will be.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

i was begining to think that i was alone with this thought
i would have to disagree with you here though, not all but many do

diablo1

I still think most status-conscious buyers would opt for a European car in the same category to get the prestige and exclusivity that come with those brands. And several BMW buyers (including one on this thread) have said they can't go with Lexus precisely because it doesn't have that aura of prestige, and is too close to "other Japanese cars"...

You just don't think of hot-shot guys in their 20's buying a Lexus to impress girls they take on dates. Most people I know in that category bought an M3. Most older people would get a 7-series or S-class to impress people - or a Masterati Quattroporte, Bentley, etc. if they could afford it.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

but most ppl arent car fanatics and dont really know about vale and prestige. yeah i wanted a 7 series when i wasshopping for cars back in the day but i came upon lexus and figured i could have an evenly matched car in MY opinion for less money, plus my maintenance costs would be cheaper so i went with the LS and havent lookede back since, by the way im on my 2nd one and i do consider it prestigious. but i would buy a MB or BMW in a hot minute without all the electrical problems that i hear about of course i do agree that lexus doesnt have the tradition like the others they are coming on fast and hard and in another 10-15 years that argument will no longer be valid

mcfly

It's gonna take a damn sight more than 15 years for Lexus to gain the rep that MB and BMW have. You do realize those marques have been around since the early 1900's?

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

i realize they have been around a long time, but MB loses more money than they make off the brand these days and all the ppl that were around in the begining will surely be gone by then, do you really believe its going to take toyota/lexus that long to muscle their way into the old boys club toyota has been around for awhile and lexus just 16 years but look what they have accomplished in terms of the big 3 automakers. ******* America is only 200+ years old but where do we stand these days? many countries considered us an upstart country that wouldnt make it , including the germans

Tony1

Yes and i'm sure the models they had in the early 1900's were more reliable
then the ones are today..

Rockville

for 6 years in a row. Last year 301,182 Lexus were purchased. That is the all time Luxury import record.....BMW was second and had an excellent year at 266,200. M-Benz brought up the rear with 224,275. All three gained market share which shows that the lux market is still strong. Lexus made signifigant gains with the new GS and IS models and they were the real reason that Lexus sales increased 5.2%. The hybrid factor will eventually increase the Lexus brand dominance even further. BMW and MBZ have only diesels to counter with and face it folks the fuel costs are only going to go up from now on....

The reason that the IS350 spanks the 330i in the video has less to do with the drivers from AMCI (which is an independent co. that works for BMW also) but with the engine technology leap of the new Lexus vs. the older BMW design. It will be a lot fairer when the BMW has a newer and larger displacement engine to bring to the contest. I drove both the cars at the DC event for the Lexus associates and I found the BMW very relaxed to drive aggressively but I wasn't pushing the limits either as it's considered bad form to wipe out the cones. It was different in steering heaviness too. The electric power steering on the IS250/350 is way quicker so it feels lighter automatically. I came away impressed by the 330i Sport package in handling feel. The DC venue was at FEDEX field parking lot. The difference in acceleration 0-100 between these two cars is greater than a football field with the endzones included....Lexus will race the IS350 in this years Grand AM series so don't think it's a poseur either...

Here are a few other Lexus advantages...

drag coefficient IS350 .28 vs. BMW 330's .30
Learjet leather interior vs. standard leatherette
smartkey standard vs. optional type that you still put in slot then push a button..
heated/ventilated seats vs. not available
Homelink std. vs. optional open up the garage door
6 CD changer in dash std. vs. optional open up the trunk changer ( try that while your driving)
turning circle 33.5 ft. vs. 36.1 ft.
17.1 gal fuel tank vs. 15.9 gallon (drive a lot?)
paddle shifters vs. nada
VDIM vs. older Dynamic Stability Control ( VSC equivalent technology)
Mark Levinson optional vs. lesser system
Knee airbags vs. ouch that hurts!
Park Assist front and rear vs. rear only detection
#1 ranking in dependability vs. #11 (better than M-B )
#1 in Initial Quality Survey vs. #3 ( that's not bad at all )
#1 Sales Satisfaction Index vs. #16 (Oops, what happened?)

51 more ponies and 57 ft/lbs. of torque under the hood

Let's just say that BMW is working hard to even up the comparison and benchmarks are made to be broken...

Rock