mustang

Hi Amanda, thanks for the post. I've already bought a BMW 325. I loved the IS250 but the wife prefers BMW, or more to the point, her ego-maniac family prefer the BMW. I was thinking of taking an IS for an extended test drive, but I didn't want to waste the nice salesperson's time, as I'm sure my wife would have still selected BMW. And since she'll be driving it mon-fri... I do have a slight preference for BMW's engine/gearbox/handling but overall I was quite ready to move to Lexus. BTW, in your friend's BMW, if it's the E36 shape, they were known to have a sticky throttle response. Later models' throttle is more modulated. Ps: see everyone, I told you I'd come back and visit lexusforums every so often. :)

I haven't updated my website (www.harego.com) to give a full explanation but I will soon. But in a nutshell... The IS250 is such a beautiful car and incredibly exclusive. The dealers are a world apart from BMW and I only had one extremely minor (I'm nitpicking because Lexus dealers are generally of very high standard) with one dealer. With BMW however it was the other way round, I only came across one dealer who was genuinely very good, though still not as good as Lexus. The BMW has certain qualities that I like such as torquier engine, lower (I hope) running costs (not including depreciation). The Lexus however has so much exclusivity it's unbelieveable. One would think that car costs £100k since there are so few on the road, and despite many of you talking about rattles, I have more confidence in Lexus's reliability than BMW's. Some examples of prices are £23k will either get you a 2 year old IS250SE + auto/mm (cost new £31k) or a 2 year old BMW 330iSE + auto/nav (cost new £36k with options), so despite the BMW being vastly more powerful, it's shredded a lot more of it's value, and these incidentally, are dealer prices. Perhaps the private seller got a few thousand less in each case. So why did I choose a BMW 325iSE + auto/nav? Firstly, it was the price. There was no way I could get an IS250SE + auto/mm for the price I was looking at; if I didn't want the mm then we have no problem. But with nav.. that's a different story as mm is an extremely desirable option. Secondly it was the dealer; he was a maturer person, polite, professional, and honest. Compare this to the other BMW dealers who had younger sales people who wanted to make a quick buck (reminds me of Audi). I'm glad the Lexus is more expensive, because although I dont have one, I still want it to remain exclusive, and I will still admire it from a distance. There are some other things I liked better on the BMW such as ride and handling/ the sportier kickdown on the gearbox, larger boot and a little more space in the rear of the cabin. But all of these things would pale into insignificance if I were behind the wheel of the Lexus. But who knows, I may change my mind once I take delivery. Good for all of you for having an IS, it's a truly splendid car. And many thanks for your help and views over the last few weeks. I'll continue to visit here as I'm still a Lexus fan, just without a Lexus. Many people say I'm a BMW-lover. It's not true. I just love good cars and BMW and Lexus make some of the best, they just have a different focus on the same subject. EDIT: It's 5:30am on the day after getting the BMW. And my thought remains as above: I still desire the Lexus and if I was willing to spend the extra money, that would have been my choice. But nothing will give me the same pleasure as the day when I got my 330Ci Sport Convertible. This got me thinking: before I bought the Convertible, it was the car I desired the most. Eventually, when I realized I had to buy a 4 door car, I started looking around, and the Lexus was the car I desired. But it was a little out of reach, so I had to buy the car that I had no desire to. So if I need to convince anyone which car is better: I still think BMW is the better car (for my circumstances) but the Lexus is definitely the more desirable car, and that includes the treatment you get at the dealer.

Hi Debi, my wife has grown up with the view that their are only 2 brands and 2 colours in this world: BMW and Mercedes Benz, black and silver. Although I really love the red with beige (seen in showroom, not in sun), my wife just wouldn't go for it and in all honesty, it's one of those attractive colours that I couldn't live with as I couldn't bare to see it dirty (I already wash my car every one or two weeks and am want to break the habbit... ... that's why my next car will be silver with <what>) or black with beige or perhaps grey. While we're talking about colours, I love Sargasso Green; I dont know if any of you have seen that but it's stunning and attract much admiration. I'd love to see Mesa Red on the road however, it's probably the nicest colour. @Kam: thanks for your reply. My take (and I'm just being candid) is that I love the new 5 series, I love everything about it and thought about getting a used one, but now my mind is made up elsewhere (hence my reason for being on this forum with you fine people).

With one day to go (I will most likely drop some £££ on something tomorrow (sat, 29 sep)), here are my thoughts: Plus points for Lexus: Beautiful Exclusive Dealers Minus points for Lexus: Higher running costs and I will continue to take it for dealer servicing (I'm not sure why, I just think it should be cared for more or something like that :)) Bubbling alloys, once my warranaty runs out, I need to splash out £50 per wheel Knocking noise from dash, from what I see, most dealers cant fix this, even if car *is* in warranty (I would TRULY hate this in a Lexus) Err 3 code on the radio, once out of warranty, I'm screwed (financially) Plus point for BMW: Cheaper to buy used After one year approved BMW warranty runs out, I'll just service it at a private garge (lower costs, less bull5h!t) Servicing every 2 years Lower price road tax disk Sportier feel in the drive Wont be lacking power from 330 More space in the back Bigger trunk Journalists say better handling/engine/gearbox Minus points for BMW: Facelift next year Common 330 I'm getting will look just like a 318 Talking to dealers, but only a one-time thing during the purchase phase Since I'm planning on keeping hte car for 7 years, BMW makes more financial sense (I dont think I would care for the BMW as much as the Lexus). Just to clarify some of your minus points for the Lexus, there is a fix for the dash rattle, and the newer models dont suffer with it, and there are a lot of early models that havent suffered at all. The err3 on the cd player, is on the previous model IS. And your servicing costs shouldnt work out more as it will mostly only need servicing. Bubbling alloys was on the previous models, ive not heard of it being too much of a problem for the new IS, and it is not unique to Lexus either Hope this helps Thanks for the info. 1. Dash rattle - phew thanks, that was in fact my biggest concern, having such a refined car and being plagued by a rattle. I would have gone nuts with that. 2. Another phew, since I plan on keeping the car for about 6 years, I'd imagine a new MM is pretty expensive when bought in isolation. 3. Mmh I'm not sure about that. I thought, because the BMW has variable servicing, I would only need it every two years (like on my current BMW). 4. I called my local Lexus dealer's service dept today and quizzed them about the bubbles. The rep said it was a common problem afftecting about 1 in 20000 cars - I'm not sure if I heard that right (my mobile was in a bad reception area).

Hi debgreg (I assume you're Deb)... yes you are right. The perforamnce potential thing I refered to was the acceleration to pop into a gap (ah those wonderful BMW drivers :) - I will miss that). I *still* think BMW makes more financial sense, but (and you may not have seen my edit in the original msg) but my wife called me up in a humph, in the rain. "There are so many idiots on the road today in this rain. And I saw loads of BMWs. I want exclusivity in the next car." - I couldn't beleive my ears so obviously had to proceed with tact and caution. She went on "I hardly see any Lexuses, we should get a Lexus!" - is this a test question I wondered to myself. SO I told her all the benefits of the BMW (read "BMW plus points" in my post above) and it came down to her saying "yes it's more expensive, but it's exclusive, we should get the Lexus!". So, my fears of her testing me are over - we are getting a Lexus, I guess. She wants black, who am I to argue. But they're not cheap and out of my price range but I'll see what kind of deal can be done. Better stop typing and make a few phone calls. I really realyl should blog this shouldn't I? Thanks everyone for your opinions, keep 'em coming and perhaps see you in a club meet some time.

With one day to go (I will most likely drop some £££ on something tomorrow (sat, 29 sep)), here are my thoughts: Plus points for Lexus: Beautiful Exclusive Dealers Minus points for Lexus: Higher running costs and I will continue to take it for dealer servicing (I'm not sure why, I just think it should be cared for more or something like that :)) Bubbling alloys, once my warranaty runs out, I need to splash out £50 per wheel Knocking noise from dash, from what I see, most dealers cant fix this, even if car *is* in warranty (I would TRULY hate this in a Lexus) Err 3 code on the radio, once out of warranty, I'm screwed (financially) Plus point for BMW: Cheaper to buy used After one year approved BMW warranty runs out, I'll just service it at a private garge (lower costs, less bull5h!t) Servicing every 2 years Lower price road tax disk Sportier feel in the drive Wont be lacking power from 330 More space in the back Bigger trunk Journalists say better handling/engine/gearbox Minus points for BMW: Facelift next year Common 330 I'm getting will look just like a 318 Talking to dealers, but only a one-time thing during the purchase phase Since I'm planning on keeping hte car for 7 years, BMW makes more financial sense (I dont think I would care for the BMW as much as the Lexus).

If I opt for one of the other wheels in the Lexus range, do they have the same problem?

Hi - yes that's right, I'm only interested in the V6 2.5. I know there are many diesel fans out there but I am not one of them. I cover a mere 5000 miles a year (if that) and dont want to put up with the noise. As an aside, I believe the biggest complain about IS220 is lack of auto and top gear too high.

I thought the mpg figure was better on BMW? "There are so many Beemers on the roads, it's nice to see something different" I am thinking along the same lines, my wife prefers BMWs but I would like to give Lexus a shot.

Over the last few weeks I've been looking at 330s and IS250s. Here's a take on what I felt about the dealers. BMW dealer 1: tested a 330 with 11000 miles, had not gone thru showroom prep and I was informed of this (good). Was taken for test drive (20 mins and pre-arranged). The salesperson was an Ex Ford salesguy who also worked at Mercedes before BMW. His Ford'ness showed. BMW dealer 2: Pretty helpful salesperson but didn't have the right car for me in stock. BMW dealer 3: He had the car I wanted to buy but didn't return my call. When I called him later he helped me out. On a subsequent phonecall, the car had already sold. I wish he called me back before. Could have been more professional, but no big deal, maybe it's the younger age. BMW dealer 4: Currently waiting for his call, he has the car I want but check out this website for a review of this dealer. I'm not sure I want to buy a car from here (just search for the word "Bristol" and check the huge number of -ve comments) http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/garages_seng.html BMW dealer 5: I didn't book an appointment so not surprised if no one was available to see me. AFter we re-scheduled an appointement but I didn't go back (I'm not sure how bad I feel about this). There was something funny about that sales guy. Lexus dealer 1: IS250 was advertised with mm but didn't have it. I only found this out after travelling to the dealership, after which sales guy informed me they could isntall satnav. I didn't wait around long enough to enquire if they meant a complete mm or a TomTom. Sales guy had the aura of a BMW sales guy from dealers 1 and 3 above. Lexus dealer 2: very helpful, young guy but professional. I have spent the most time with this person because and has alwaays been courteous. Lexus dealer 3: I went there late on a Saturday evening, not too far from closing time (I called before hand but no one got back to me). They obliged me with a test drive (20 mins) and demonstrated the mm and various specs. Always highly professional. The finance guy called but we're playing telephone tag at the moment. EDIT Those arrogant bas-(am I allowed to say that on this forum? I didn't quite read the "I agree" thingy)-tards at BMW. Maybe I should give Lexus a shot this time round. Having said that, all I have to do is buy a BMW, run it for one year (used car warranty period) and possibly never see a dealer again as I'll use a private garage. I will decide this Saturday (29 Sep 07).

EDIT: *** WOOHOO!! Wife has decided BMWs are too common, going for a Lexus! *** Some of you may have read my other thread of a similar nature, but in this thread I want to talk specifically why BMW drivers have moved to Lexus IS250. Was it reliability issues, you didn't like the dealers, or perhaps you've had a few BMWs and fancied a change? Maybe you just got a better deal. Let us know what BMW model you had prior to getting your IS250 and why you made that switch. I haven't made the switch yet, I'm choosing between used 330SE/auto/nav 4dr or IS250SE auto/mm. The reason I *might* move over are: Try out a more exclusive brand I know Lexus will look after me Apart from "rattle-under-dash", overall I guess more reliable. Reason I might stick with BMW: Cheaper More power. Wife prefers BMW over Lexus. My current car: 330 Sport Conv. Had a couple of problems with battery but were fixed after I told dealer what to check (yes, really, after a few visits). Other than that, I didn't feel the need to go fast to enjoy it, it's a great car for me.

Comparing an M3's ride quality to an IS is somewhat unfair (as I won't explain). Out of interest, if you only had to have one car out of M3 or IS, which would it be?

I guess the BMWs auto may be quicker, but the paddles on the Lexus are far better (down on the left, up on the right) and proper paddles instead of weird buttons (unless they've finally changed that) I agree about parking sensors, I prefer them to having a camera (if I had to choose just one) - what I meant was that it wouldn't cost much to have them fitted so shouldn't really influence the decision much. Ignoring everything but the actual car itself, I guess you need to decide whether you prefer to have a sharper drive, or more comfort - current BMWs are not comfortable at all, but if that doesn't bother you, it may be the right option for you........ Is the 325 really that much faster than the IS250 though? Or are we talking about the 330? Hi Parthiban - thanks for responding - in fact I started wondering how much those parking beepers will cost. I'd image around £200 ball park but I'll find out tomorrow. BMW only have the paddles for 2007+ cars otherwise you need to snick the gear lever left and then use fwd/back movements - no steering wheel paddles. You asked about 325 being not much faster than a 250 and on the whole yes you're right. I was refering more to the torque; both cars have around 1805lb ft but the IS produces this at 4800rpm whereas 325 is around 3000 (maybe lower) rpm, so I guess you dont need to rev as much to get useful torque. Having said that, I was comparing a 330 which has about 220 lb ft, also produced quite low down. However it's unfair to compare a 2.5 Lexus to a 3.0 BMW. I still found the Lexus to be around £1000 dearer (with mm and auto) so obviously Lexus is a lot more exclusive (a very good thing).

Actually I was thinking the other way round. If I buy Lexus I'll wonder if I have the power I like. With BMW I know I will.

Yes, I have been here for a few months before deciding to post (just about to buy - woohoo!). The thing is I'm not interested in going fast, I just like the idea of having the power there if I want to go fast. I understand what you mean about the VXR, but I also want a prestiguos badge and would neveer consider a VXR.

LOL. Yes I do use the foglights but only when the sun is low and visibilty in the direction towards the sun is limited. I see less floglights during daytime running these days however.

I did prefer the straight-gate selector and feel of the gear stick on the BMW. And it changed gears in manual mode quicker (no, I wont use that, but I like that it's there). My current car (330 sport conv) has parking sensors and I adore them so Iwasa looking for a similar feature in my next car.

Hello everyone - my first post is a question. In a few days I will buy either a Lexus IS250SE (auto+mm) or BMW 325/330 (auto+nav), used. Has anyone here who's had a BMW then went to Lexus have any regrets about not going for BMW again? I'm not talking about after sales service, just the car itself. For example, to me, the BMW has following benefits over Lexus (sorry if this offencds, i'ts not meant to, it's just IMHO): Smoother, more powerful, torquier engine. Faster gear changes Nicer gear selector (straight line selection instead of jagged like old Mercs) Sportier driving. Parking beepers* Lexus strengths: MM Build quality * = I prefer the parking beepers because when reversing, I can look at hte side mirrors and listen for the tone changing in the beeps. With the Lexus, I have to view the side mirrors AND the camera because hte camera does not show what's to the rear and side of the car, the beepers do. But mainly I'm interested in hearing how you felt moving from a sporty driving BMW to a less-sporty driving Lexus. If you want, you can add your thoughts about dealer service as well, but I've already searched for that and would imagine Lexus are better than BMW. Also at BMW you get the odd non-professional sales person. With Lexus, I have yet to encounter that (exccept for the chap at Milton Keynes who suggested he could install a sat nav into a non-mm car!). TIA. *** EDITS *** Thanks very much for the responses. I'll reply to each below (instead of cramming all in here). Beepers: I didn't know you could get these fitted from Lexus. My dad (LS400) only told me this today and now I've read the same comments here. However, after test driving an IS250SE A/MM, I only want an IS with MM. Also I am now choosing between a £24k IS250SE a/mm and 330SEa/nav for £1000 less. I know the BMW is more common but I'm concerned that the days I want to 'push it', the IS wont have enough power enough of the time compared to a 325, let alone a 330. The Lexus is certainly more exclusive and I love that. My wife has been brought up on a mantra of "german cars are awesome" and so is reluctant to go with Lexus. Someone here mentioned that the drive on a 330 was boring. I test drove one a few days ago. My expectations were high, and the car delivered the goods which left me adequately amused (was expecting greatness, got greatness, big deal). With the Lexus, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it delievered greatness, and perhaps that's why I was so impressed by it. There are other very minute little things that I like about BMW that aren't available on Lexus (please someone correct me). Firstly I like the central locking in the BMW, it does just that. Locks everything, unlocks everything. If I'm in traffic and need something from the boot, I hit one button (unlock) and I can access the boot. With the Lexus, I hit two buttons - unlock doors, release boot. And the lights, I like the way the BMW's interior lights gently turn on/off (probably some kind of variable resistor?). Very tiny things, but even now, after owning my 330 for 3 years, I look at the lights coming on/off. I do design work so I guess it's in my nature to watch out for these things. :D Maybe a 24hr Lexus test drive will push me over the edge, because that's where I am right now, on the edge. Anyway, I'm going to buy something within the next 4 or so days. Oh in case you're womndering, I dont have something like this posted at any BMW forum. One more thing: running costs. The BMW needs servicing every two years (for the low miles I do), Lexus is every year. BMW also has lower emissions (how the heck do they do that?) so lower road tax. Insurance: only £65 difference per year. So road tax and insurance is no big deal, but servicing over 7 years might play a part. Who knows what road tax figures wil be like a few years from now.