ggarriso

shoot guys did not mean to cause such a stir

greatly appreciate everyone chiming in and offering some perspective and I think I decided that for now that I am going to keep the //M - I am well aware of the performance differences b/t the two cars however figured maybe the IS350 would be a little more practical for my area (DC - M3 == Civic in dead standstill traffic) and safer from costly /m repairs; that being said theres not a scratch on the car and I just put new rubber on -- I am going to give this 6 months and revisit and if I am still interested look into a slightly used IS350 where I am not eating that first year of massive depreciation (poster above if you still have yours at that time I'll call you first )

Slust

I lived in NoVA/DC for awhile. That is truly the worst traffic I've had to manage. In addition to the constant traffic (even at 3am WTF!) the cops out there are the worst. Talk about not letting you slide even a bit.

I think you are making a smart decision but if you do switch over to Lexus at some point I think you will be amazed by depreciation in comparison to BMW. My 3-4 year old second generation IS only depreciated $7-8k. I wouldn't have been able to lease the car cheaper than what I lost per month on it.