chiawei

This is what i heard from a friend of my that works for BMW in Asia. The 325i/330i is to be replaced by 328i and 335i from march build in oversea.

chiawei

yeap, bought it outright 10/29/05 from delon BMW in oregon and drove it 600 miles to fremont the very same day. Fun car to drive insane in. But utterly boring in everyday driving due to lack of low end punch and in order for you to appreciate M5's ability you will need to drive it way past triple digit speed. I almost hit 80 in 2nd gear.

This is the only BMW that i have right now. Although my wife's CLK is being replaced by an ED 330i in march.

kobechrome

I leased the 01 325i and never had one problem and only took it in for scheduled maintenance. Those who are bashing BMW's reliability - do you own one? I'm guessing for most of you - no.

Lexus has a great reliability reputation undoubtedly but BMW was above average with their E46 model. Plus, even if Lexus's are reliable (which they are - my parents have an ES and love it) - you will have to pay for all scheduled maintenance and it can get expensive. BMW offers the full maintenance warrantly for 4/50.

That being said, the new IS probably gives BMW the biggest run for it's title that it has seen to date - however it says something that every other post in this forum is about how much the 3 series sucks and how great the IS is. Go check out E90post.com or bimmerfest.com. You have to "advance" search to find a post about the Lexus. BMW owners just don't care. They're happy about their cars and just talk about them. Are the cars perfect? no. Are there problems? Yes. But in the end - once you get into a 3 series - it's hard to drive anything else.

I test drove the IS350 and and it has some serious raw power. Put it on a strip next to the 330 and it's probably no question. The IS smokes the 330. Now - how often are you on a strip going 0-60 - probably not very often but if that's what's important to you then the IS is a good choice. Interior stying - another no brainer - Lexus knows how to build luxury and they definitely didn't disappoint with this model. The backseats are a little cramped but this isn't a family sedan anyway. I was impressed but somehow it reminds me of a Corolla and it just doesn't excite me. It's kind of a chick car.

At the end of the day what car is the best value for performance, reliability, and luxury? The IS350. What do you want to drive? the BMW 3 series.

Xs2kGuy714

Very well said, this is almost exactly how I felt. Somehow the IS350 doesn't excite me.
What I like about the IS350: comfort, technology, gadgets, the tachnometer display is much more beautiful than the sterile 330i.
Dislikes about IS35: Steering feel, shift delay, no HID standard (big minus) and if you opt for HID you have to pay steeply for the whole package. Backseats

Likes about the 330i: Steering feel and handling, shorter shift delay, standard adaptive HID, styles, Sport Seat, this is much much much (did I say much? ) better than in the IS350. The seats hugs (bolster) you like racing seats.
Dislike about 330i: Tachnometer display, so plain and cheap looking compare to the IS350.

Something that pisses me off was that we agreed on the 1k above invoice plus matts for the 330i. When the numbers come out, they tagged me $330 for some advertising cost (MECA if I remember correctly) as part of the invoice. The saleman prints out the invoice sheet and that included that nonsense fee(Emmanuel Soultanakis is very nice and honest guy and I would recommend him if you ever go to Crevier BMW and tell him Chinh referred you so he can give you give you a good deal on upfront and give you more extensive test drives.) . Even the manager had to come down to explain to me (I still think it's BS since it makes no sense for me to suffer the advertising cost of BMW). I was nearly walking away from the deal, not because of the $330 (got $130 back after negotiation), but because of the reason I will state below.

But here's the funny part. As I start the paper work for the Bimmer, my gf gives me all kind of faces, comes up with many drawbacks about reliability problems, how expensive it is to maintain, and strongly suggests I should ge the IS350. The main reason I go for a sport sedan is that we both can enjoy it, if it's only for myself I would have kept my S2k since it's more fun to drive than either. As I was about to walk away, she admits that the main reason she doesn't want me to get the Bimmer was that I got way too many looks from girls during my test drives. "I hate all the "*!tches" staring at you when you were in the Bimmer" my gf said . But later on she told me to get it if I really like it. That seals the deal.

tim817

hahahaha. My wife always do the same shiet like that to me too man. I'm asumming she's asian rite, i think we asian like Lexus better than BMW cuz they last longer. I wasn't a fan of Lexus cuz everyone has them, BMW badge seems a lil more flashy, u'll have more better look from people when u drive a BMW car vs a Lexus, even they cost the same. But i guess it all start to change now. I get more looks from girls when i drive my new IS than when driving my BMW X5, so u better get ready, ur gf is gonna be more angry..lol...jk... just go with what u like bro. U can't go wrong with either one.

Tony1

[QUOTE=kobechrome]I leased the 01 325i and never had one problem and only took it in for scheduled maintenance. Those who are bashing BMW's reliability - do you own one? I'm guessing for most of you - no.

BMW offers the full maintenance warrantly for 4/50.

I test drove the IS350 and and it has some serious raw power. Put it on a strip next to the 330 and it's probably no question. The IS smokes the 330. Now - how often are you on a strip going 0-60 -

I was impressed but somehow it reminds me of a Corolla and it just doesn't excite me. It's kind of a chick car."

I've owned a 2001 CLK430 for about 11 months, then a 2002 BMW 330cic for over 4 years,
and also have had 3 friends that have had 330ci's and one with a 323ci, and collectively
we can all positively say, German cars are GARBAGE.. I've had more problems with my brand new CLK430 and BMW330CIC, than with my old 1994 300zx TT, which i bought with
30k miles on it...(Best car I've ever owned BTW)

2nd- All you really get with Bmw full maintenance is 1 free oil change every
15k miles,, Big deal... The $2,000-$3,000 more you'lll pay for the Bmw negates
thaT and your still left over with extra $$$.. Not to mention all the
aggravation of all the extra trips you'll have to make to the dealership to have
the "check engine" light on the Bmw reset, or repaired every 6 months or so..


Chick car? What is more of a chick car than a 3 Series Bmw? come on
For a second i could of swore you were comparing the IS350 to an M3..

You say when do you get a chance to go 0-60 MPH? Well honestly,
if your referring to the BMW , your right,, not many places,, because it
takes quite a distance for the BMW is actually reach 60MPH,, but
for the IS350, I can do it at just about every Stop light in NYC....

kobechrome

[QUOTE=Tony1]
Touche! Well refuted arguments - but what else would I expect from posting a pro-BMW article on clublexus . The only thing I would say is that the 4 yr/50K maintenance is for normal wear/tire - that means brakes, wipers, etc. These things wear out thru normal driving regardless of whether it's a bimmer or lexus. BMW fixes this for free - Lexus doesn't.

Dr C

Honestly, I did not get that many stares/looks in the 3 years that I drove my black/black BMW. Nor I have noticed that much interest in my white IS 250 AWD. But, my Ferrari was just a magnet. Virtually anywhere I drove it people (men and women) would come up and start a conversation.

If you really want a chick magnet, don't get a BMW or a Lexus, get a Ferrari! Even if they don't know what it is, they know that it is special. I'm pretty sure that the color, Verde Pino (metallic green from the Ferrari factory) helped in terms of its uniqueness.

Penforhire

I don't care about the status-symbol. In fact, I hold it against BMW that they're considered a yuppie (DINK, SINK, whatever) car. But in the end... I drove off with a new 330i last night. Probably for a lot of the same reasons Xs2KGuy714 states so well. The darn thing is just "in the groove" when it comes to driving. My vette-friends are telling me I'll miss the Z06 but I've bullied enough other cars with it and today I'm all smiles.

The hardest thing to find was the Comfort Access option. That's my concession to pure luxury and I feel it is stupid to have a keyless entry and start button but still have to insert a fob. The C.A. works great (getting to where the Lexus begins). My 330i is sparkling graphite with Premium, Sport (awesome seat & wheels), Nav and Auto (wife required those last two).

I'll still tell anyone who asks, that the IS350 beats it in pure luxury and its ferocious engine. A big 'thank you' to those of you here who helped in my decision process. See you on the Bimmer forums (I use the same handle everywhere)!

furqan8421

Yeah my McLaren F1 gets lots of stares too when I take it out

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

Actually, thats not bad reasoning at all. Car companies with preceived quality problems have longer warranties.

IE Hyundai, or a company that has had 2 major recall scandals in 4 years might want to offer a 100K Powertrain warranty. More reliable companies can get away with "Lesser" Warranties.

diablo1

You also don't find tons of Lexus fans all over the BMW boards, saying how their car must be better because people who own it don't talk about the other car. There is discussion of the BMW 3 series, the Infiniti G35, and other cars, because the IS350 is still new and people want to know how it stacks up. The BMW is its closest competition in terms of luxury, power, and price, so that's what it gets compared to the most.

Why are BMW people so happy that no one talks about Lexus on the BMW forums? To me, that just means that these people are closed-minded and not even willing to consider another type of car. I think my Lexus is fantastic, but when the lease is up, of course I will see what else is out there before I get another Lexus. I welcome comparisons to other cars. Maybe BMW forum users don't talk about the IS350 because they are scared to acknowledge that it is superior in many ways?

nois3504me

No thanks I would rather drive my IS350. sorry but the BMW 3 series just does not float my boat... Yes, yes yes it will handle better than my IS 350 on the race track or the twisties, but that depends mostly on the driver. put me behind a maclaren and put a professional driver in a yugo, he could still kick my ***!

Not saying i dont like bimmers. i loved the way the old 6series looked back in the 80s. probably my all time favorite car is the bimmer 850csi. think those things still rock. But the body design of the new bimmers are just fugly imho.

but in the end, Drive what you like!