I've always kinda liked the look of the IS300; I like the gauge cluster, too. Unless it's an M3, go for the Lexus

 

the bmw has better mileage, packaging, basic maintinence, handling, road feel, and looks 283974938798432 times better.

get the bmw.

 

I test drove a 330i 6-speed with sport package. It had a few other options as well but certainly wasn't fully loaded. Sticker price was $42k. :eek3: A comparably equipped G35 sedan clocked in at $35k. I will admit, I didn't really like the style of the sedan when it first came out but Infiniti made it less frumpy looking and upgraded the interior materials for the '05 refresh.

Of the two, the Bimmer had a way nicer chassis and was much more flingable out in the twisties. Oddly enough both dealers without me even asking just kinda directed me out into the back roads. The Bimmer motor likes to rev a lot and is much more comfortable doing so than the Infiniti, but it's kind of nervous below 2500 rpm whereas you can lug the Infiniti at 1500 rpm all day long and it won't care. Either car struck me as quite nice and were I to choose between them it would really be up to whether or not I wanted to spring the extra 7 grand for the Bimmer.

As for the Lexus IS, I haven't driven one. But it's got a bunch more torque than the 325i. Downsides are you're buying into a car that's about to be obsolete, the interior is more Corolla than Lexus in character, and the back seat is pretty worthless. The new IS personally looks quite nice to me, but if you want a stick shift you'd be stuck with the IS250 (201 hp) for now as the IS350 is not getting a manual transmission option at time of introduction.

What sort of price range you lookin at here? The options list for the Bimmer means it could vary all over the place.

 

What about the new Audi A4 2.0T?

 

I bought the IS tonight.

Graphite exterior, black leather interior, navigation, LSD, e-shift, heated seats, snowboard rack, and clear bra.

I went to the BMW dealership and they didn't have a single '05 around or available around the US, nor did they have the '06 325i available before January '06. They wanted about $41k for the car that I wanted anyway. Meh, I'm happy. I should have the IS next Thurs/Fri.

Pics to come. Thanks for all the input evereyone.

 

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! joint he toyota club...

 

pretty funny...friend had a mrs spyder which detonated b/c it had an engineering defect causing the rings to wear out eating a quart of oil a week...spend $2k to get fixed (this was a common problem and toyota never recalled)

he proceeded to by an es300 which wound up having the engine sludge problem (if you don't change the oil on a strict schedule the engine runs too hot which it bakes and blocks oil passages causing starvation and you have to get a new engine)...$3k later he's got his reliable 2nd toyota (this is also a common problem and toyota never recalled)

 

im not a bimmer fan

 

oh. w0000t. :thumbup:

 

Congrats. You can tell by your posts in this thread as well as some of your previous thread that the IS was the car yoiu truely wanted. How much was it?