Hi guys,

this is my first post on the forums,

ive been trying to decide between the lexus IS 250/350 or BMW 335i. this is my first car purchase, im 25 and freakin excited. all the long nights of coding finally paid off

from my research it seems the IS kicks *** in so many aspects, especially value for your money, but the one complaint i see alot is the back-seat is tight?

i did some comparisons at cars.com checkout http://www.cars.com/go/compare/trimC...,USB70BMC312A0 it looks like the backseat really is crammed, even hatchbacks like the Matrix beat the IS in rear-legroom.

how has your experience been with this issue, im 6' tall and in shape so im not worried about the front but maybe the passengers in the back. any feedback will be awesome.

was the IS included the toyota recall?

 

the way i see it is this. I dont sit in the back seat. Most importantly when people sit in the back seat it means more weight. more weight = less speed. less speed = less fun. so pretend it is a 2 seater with 4 seater insurance breaks. Buy the lexus. dont buy a BMW. SO many problems for you.!

 

Lexus was not affected by the recall. If your main focus is carrying passengers then the IS is definately not the car to get. I cant comment on the bimmer cause I have no experience on it. I did drive my sisters GS350 and it has quite a bit of room.. then again different car and price range.

 

honestly, the handling of the BMW vs Lexus is a no brainer 'stock for stock', but if you add some suspension mods on the Lexus then its actually a better deal cuz its a toyota and it dont get more reliable than that.

As for back seat passenger space, only you can decide that... honestly if you carry alot of ppl all the time, the 2IS or 3series is the wrong car for you.

 

I rarely have passengers, its mostly just me or my girlfriend. I treat it as a coupe more than a sedan, but just think of the back as a bonus and everything should be fine.

 

i wont be driving many people around so i guess im okay. its just something that would have made the car perfect if it had a little more room for those days that you need it.

its interesting that you say the 3-series is not much of a passenger vehicle too. i haven't gone for any test drives yet, but the 3-series offers about extra 4" legroom than the X50, and it sounds like that's small too.

since this is my first purchase I've learned a lot about cars actually, lol, a lot of things that i took for granted before are now deal breakers.

where can i get cheaper or used f-sport accessories online? i live in toronto, canada

 

Depends... What type of passengers are you looking to take?
If they are pretty small or children, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Also, it depends on how far back you put your seat (and the front passenger, too)... I've driven it with 2 adult passengers in the back, and they didn't complain - I guess it depends on the person, too... :P

 

i guess im going to go with the 250 :-)
theres too many bimmer 3's on every parking lot anyways, the IS X50 FTW

 

Wrong. Get the IS 350. 0 to 60 in 4.9, it's not just 102 HP difference from the 250, it also has far more aggressive gearing, poising it for powerful low end acceleration.

http://archive.roadandtrack.com/asse...car_dp.pdf.pdf

Get the IS 350 or the 335i. I've had both. Only got rid of the 335i due to hassle of far too many fuel pump replacements. This was not a $ issue as the replacements were free, it was a hassle/peace of mind issue. I could not deal with it for the 7+ years I need the car.

For BMW, I would get the M3, though. They do not have fuel pump issues.

As far as 3 series go, I could not drive anything less than a 335i as it would invariably be significantly slower than my IS 350 right now

 

that is true.

there everywhere..

good choice!

 

Value wise as you said, though, IS 350 beats BMW hands down. You can get IS 350s for the same price as BMW 328is which is ludicrous.

IS 350 is brilliant though, powerful as **** acceleration, especially low end, great GREAT value.

Don't get the 250.

 

Are you a person who mods cars or will you be keeping this car stock?

Also, the vendor Sewell sells F-Sport Accessories, and I think I heard one of the moderators on here say they will be having a sale in April.

I would look at a variety of other brands if you are looking at f-sport parts. Personally, to me, the only thing I like from F-Sport are the sway bars. I've heard good things about the exhaust (I heard it's quite loud, but I love my HKS exhaust; it's very meaty), and if you just want to drop your car a tad bit, the F-Sport springs are good. The intake, unless you are in California, is a waste. Just buy a Joe-Z intake and cut a whole in the airbox if you wish for it to make more noise. I am suggesting simply search around other brands.

I rarely have a passenger in my car. I'm 5'4 so my front seat is pretty close to the steering wheel, but when I've had passengers, I've had people up to 6'4 sit in my backseat, and while they were a little cramped, they weren't uncomfortable.

 

Im with KEVIN.IS since its gonna be your car and you wont really be riding in the backseat anyways i say u shouldnt care about the space in the rear for another person (unless you have a family).sounds selfish but to me it aint.haha cuz its your car, worry about how YOU FEEL in it since ur payng for it.cuz in the end ur the one who stuck with it.and if backseat space really is the BIG factor in this purchase then out of the two cars you've chosen i say IS350 for sure..u go 335i if your lookin for performance. if it helps i have a son and i have a car seat and other than that its just me and my lady.and were fine,space wise. yeah it feels a lil tight but you get used to it and the rest of the car makes up for it. =) i do pack my car every now and then tho and a few of my homeboys r big dudes but they fit fine jus gotta move the seat up a lil.haha

 

If u worry about back seat then probably wanna throw out all small sports cars. Get a GS.

 

Even the C-class Benz (current gen beginning with model year 2008) has a much bigger backseat, if you really need a usable backseat.

I tend to use the IS350 as a 2+2, so back seat space is not an issue.