I'm debating on an entry level sports luxury sedan, and have been checking out the 3 series lately. I must say that Lexus absolutely blows their interior away! That is the most bland interior I think I've ever seen on a sports sedan. It looks like something from an early 90's benz or something. Horrible.

The 3 series does seem to be a lot roomier though, and everyone touts it's handling and driving performance. It's too bad the inside is sickening.

 

Dont hate! haha I think the e90(3series) interior looks simple and to the point while the 2IS looks great in it's own way. I'd hate to see another of the e90 vs 2IS thread starting so lets keep it neutral. Im biased becasue I own the 2IS but it can be said that if you want reliability, lexus is the way to go. However, if you are looking for great handling and not too shabby reliability(as I see from the bmw forums), go for a BMW. They are both great cars but I chose 2IS becasue I personally liked it's looks(inside and out) and wanted to stay in the toyota family.

 

Yup, you got it! If you're in the market for an entry-level luxury sports sedan, the IS is in fact the most well-rounded car overall. It sure does make the choice much simpler!

 

hater...the 3 series is nice too..i wouldnt mind having it. i love both cars equally..comes down to personal preference.

 

Same here. When I was debating between the 3 series and 2IS back in June, the interior of the IS + standard eqpt are what convinced me. I asked myself which one makes me feel good while I'm in it. Of course a BMW enthusiast will say the engineering and performance of the car is what's more important. Oh don't forget the free maintenance. Since I was in the middle and never owned a BMW, I went with a Lexus. Still, IMO, I made the right choice going with the 2IS. I don't see many out on the road (at least not yet) compared to the 3 series.

 

exactly what i was thinking, check it out:




The BMW interior on the 5 series is also sucks, i loved the old center console which was turned to the driver like in the good old E38.

 

Last November when I was car shopping I compared the IS250 to the 325i and Mercedes C280. While both the 325i and C280's base prices were lower than the IS250, the fact that I had to pay thousands extra for leather seats, push button starting, sunroof, and other features drew me towards the IS250, which has all these things standard. On each company's website I priced each vehicle with the same options as close as I could. The IS250 was about $6000 less expensive than the 325i and almost $8000 less expensive than the C280!

 

Coming from an E39 M5 and an E46 328i, I HATE the new E60/E90 cars. I'll agree that the interior sucks. That's why I picked the IS over the BMW. Don't let BMW fool you, the maintenance and repairs are significant over time. The Lexus shouldn't come close to BMW in that department. The M5 had better handling and more power, but at the expense of higher maintenance costs as well. As never, ever forget ///M stands for Markup...

 

Good thing you didn't go with the C280. The MB salesman told me the re-design is coming in 2007.

 

I love both cars too. I used to think I was going to get 325I or 350, but I don't know why. I ended up with 250. LOL, anyway, IMO I planned to keep this car long (more than 4 years for sure). So, I just stick with a more reliability car and I am just too tired of the electrical problem from European cars (No offense, just personal experience)

 

I'm not "hating" on the E90....I seriously considered it for a while. I tried talking myself into getting used to the interior, but it's absolutely horrible. I don't understand how you can produce such a nice looking and driving vehicle, and then totally bomb on the interior. I liked the 3 series because it feels more roomy and just seems bigger. But I couldn't live with looking at bland dashboard and weird hump in the top for the NAV.

 

The interior of the E90 is quite conservative for their best-seller, especially when it's a wood dash rather than the metallic one.

If anything in the interior beats the IS, it's their sports seats. Those are nice!

 

First i went and test drove the lexus, then the next day i went to the bmw dealer,
as soon as i got into it, I saw the gross interior and didn't even bother test driving it

 

Moved to car chat, nothing about the IS in the title of this thread. The 3 interior is not its selling point but lets not bash it.

 

i am sure you get used to it over time... but what I find funny is that they decided to make it simple, which is great for a lot of people, yet then they complicated the hell out of it with idrive.