Mason1993

Hi, im new here, and im buying a car from my company and dont know what to choose....im in love with BMW, but the IS is one of my favorite cars... and its more reliable...which should i choose? I didnt get much friendly feedback from the E90 post forum....so please just be respectful...thanks in advance for the comments!

Here are the Links
BMW
http://www.parkplacetexas.com/web/us...as-TX/4661663/

Lexus
http://www.parkplacetexas.com/web/us...ne-TX/4628414/

ifx

honestly, the IS looks better, and WILL be more reliable.

Those are facts my friend

Mason1993

it does thanks for replying! but the IS does have more miles...but then again the BMW will probably require $$$$ in maintenance.. even with a good extended warranty....ugh

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

IS hands down. The 325i has a horrible interior that is both bland and the quality of materials used are unbefiiting a car in this class.

oramos23

IS hands down, without question!

obby

iTrader: (9)

lexus FTW !!

Mason1993

whats the most i should worry about with the IS? any known issues since its the first year?

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

I think the IS definitely is a better looking car. Those 325i's are pretty reliable actually though. It's the 335i's that bear most of the problems. 328i's are OK in reliability too, aside from some minor things i've heard of. For the 325i's one of the common issues was the rear window not coming up...free fix under warranty, not sure how much outside of it. IS250 has the carbon build up issue, so its not a perfect car as far as reliability goes either. I say you go with the car that you like better overall in the end. Being luxury cars, if things do break it will be expensive with either car. As long as both cars have been taken care of and serviced well, you shouldn't have any big issues tho.

Aside from reliability, I think the IS interior is much better quality then the BMW.

I say go for the IS unless you are absolutely in love with the BMW!

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

I would get the IS, looks better, better interior, and more reliable ... BMW has little better handling.

Carbon build up seems to be a problem with the IS250.

Mason1993

Its such a hard choice...thing is the BMW is cheaper....but more prone to break down..the lexus wouldn't... but its more expensive....but the sales manger is trying to match prices.. so if it works the lexus shouldnt have as many issues as the bimmer right? i want the car that will exceed 100K miles and will not have issues left and right..u kno?

NimaM

iTrader: (1)

I was in the same exact situation 4 or 5 years ago. I was looking at 2006 IS250 and BMW 325 or 328. The interior of the IS is not even comparable with the BMW. As far as reliability, there is no doubt Lexus is far more reliable. I drove both cars, and for sure BMW is a little bit quicker and may have slightly better handling, but the reliability of Lexus and its luxury made me choose the IS250 AWD over BMW 325 or 328. Even back then, the IS was a little bit more expensive. I never had any issues with my IS250. There couple of recalls specific to 2006 models. If you choose to get the 2006, it will be a good idea to make sure the startup rattle noise was taken care of. That is not going to cause failure, but rather it's annoyance.

As others have mentioned, the IS250s suffer from carbon build up. I personally didn't really have problems with that issue and my 2006 IS250 never caused any CELs. I only experienced rough idling a few times during summers. I think occurrence of carbon build up may be dependent on climate/temperatures. We usually have cooler weather in the northwest, and the cars run at higher rpm. Maybe that is the reason I only noticed rough idling only in our summer. Altogether when I had my IS250, I probably experienced rough idling less than 5 times in 4 years. Other than that even though many people bash on the 06 models I didn't have any other issues. I would say the 2006 IS250 is a reliable car.

ajfinoak

I had an 06 325i and got rid of it and got an 08 IS 250. There was a problem with an engine noise that the dealer could not fix and I made them buy it back under the lemon law in CA but I think that was an unusual problem for that particular car. That said, the BMW was an auto with sport suspension and rode like a truck on our crappy San Fran Bay Area roads but handled unbeleivably well. The sport seats were amazing and I loved to drive it. I replaced it with an IS 250 as I had a '97 ES 300 and while boring never had a problem and I was pissed about the BMW being a lemon. I think the Lexus rides better, has a nicer interior, better equipped for the $$ and is quieter but I still like hearing the BMW in-line six purr. Of course, I have now had carbon build up issues with the Lexus (and still have a rough idle), a front end/ brake issue, and a very annoying rattle fixed 3X. So, which is better? Which ever makes you smile more. I will likely get another BMW at some point but not sure about the Lexus. I think of the Lexus as a "sporty" luxury car while the BMW is a more "luxury" sports car.

Ls400RR

IS my friend

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I'm a big BMW fan but the IS looks way better in my opinion. Go with the IS.

Mason1993

Man this is hard... Lol I'm 19. So which ever will not consume my wallet since I am not yet made out of money, I'll go with that one haha