Lexus IS 500 vs BMW M3 — V8 Glory or Track Toy?

By Michael S. Palmer - March 11, 2021

Don’t buy a sports sedan in 2021 before reading our Lexus IS 500 vs BMW M3 comparison.

To address the elephant in the room, sadly, this isn’t a head-to-head in-person comparison. (We won’t get to drive the IS 500 for a few months.) Rather, this post aims to be more of a philosophical debate based on spec sheets, videos, photos, and my personal experience with other BMW M cars and other 2UR-GSE-powered Lexus vehicles. To be clear, you can’t go wrong with buying either one; this guide is more to help you decide if you’re on the edge.

Also, yes, the IS 500 is an F Sport Performance vehicle, which slots in between F Sport and F on the Lexus performance hierarchy. So it’s not quite apples to apples, F v M. But I still think it’s worth the comparison because both models are new for this year. And both are the best small sports sedans offered by each brand this year.

Lastly, full disclosure, as I write this, I’m wearing both an M shirt, acquired after attending BMW Performance Driving School in Palm Springs, as well as a Lexus Performance Driving School hat, acquired last weekend in Laguna Seca. (More on that experience soon!) To say I am a fan of both brands would be an understatement.

IS 500 vs M3 Specs

Let’s begin with a quick specs breakdown to set the stage. The BMW M3 is all-new for the 2021 model year and available in two trims. The base M3 and the M3 Competition. The base M3 features a 3.0-liter BMW M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder, making 473 hp at 6250rpm and 406 lb-ft of torque at 2650 RPM, putting power to the ground via a six-speed manual and rear-wheel-drive. BMW claims a 4.1-second 0-60 time and pricing starts just under $70,000.

The M3 Competition bumps power to 503 ponies at 6250rpm and 479 lb-ft of torque at 2750rpm, which drops the 0-60 time down to 3.8 seconds. Pricing starts just under $73,000, but you can only opt for the 8-speed M STEPTRONIC automatic transmission. Rear-wheel-drive comes standard; all-wheel drive is optional. BMW lists the weight at 3,890 with “the automatic” on both M3 spec pages, despite only offering a manual with the base M3. We suspect the manual version is lighter.

This IS 500 F Sport Performance will debut this year as a 2022 model year Lexus. Weighing 3,891 pounds, the IS 500 features a 5.0L dual overhead cam V8 making 472 hp at 7,100 rpm and 395 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 4,800 rpm. Available only with an 8-speed-automatic and rear-wheel-drive, Lexus claims the IS 500 will hit 60mph in 4.5 seconds despite being lighter than the RC-F, which is faster. Pricing is not yet released, but with the IS 350 F-Sport starting just under $43,000, we expect the IS 500 to start under $60,000 (and possibly under $55,000 since this isn’t a full F vehicle).

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