Maybe BMW listened to what customers actually wanted and not heated Internet forums and meaningless magazine comparison results.

Edit: as I typed this, a Lexus IS ad came on tv with the car ripping around a track with smoking rear tires... . I'm sure most can relate on their morning commute.

 

I did not mean to imply that I am comparing the RX to the 335 only the electronic packages and the IS350 package is still behind our fully optioned BMW 335 I Sports addition. Road and Track tested the 335 sports addition with the Audi, Lexus IS 350 etc. BMW was the winner. Zero to 60 4.4 seconds tied with Audi but overall went to BMW Lexus IS was last.

I guess what I am saying is we want to stay with Lexus on our SUV GX replacement. It is the same desire we had when we replaces our ES. But Lexus has not given us a reason the stay. Their 2015 RX 350 based on the Harrier is their last shoot for our $$ as we buy new and will replace the GX SUV next Fall.

 

Do you have a link? The only comparison test I've found that Road and Track did with the new IS pits the IS against the 335i, the Q50, and the ATS. The IS350 won.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-revi...?click=main_sr

 

We drove both the Full decked out BMW 335I sport addition and IS 350. Given that I run hard and drive a lot of miles (I live close to laguna seca) the BMW had more punch and handling. I agree that the stock BMW 328I is softer etc. The key was the sports edition etc. A better drive. Plus you can replace a chip if you need it do more than 155 MPH.

I would say at 59 years old and an old Mopar head (Dodger Charger (69) sorry I sold that one) that a chicks car it is not. I think the wallet speaks and 2013 was a record year for sales all manufactures did well. I am hoping Toyota, (We have owned Lexus and Toys since 1985) hears that they need to change. If you look at Japan's auto salon 2014 you will see that they came out with a sports edition of the Harrier which is the US type Lexus RX 350 replacement. They have lost us for a while on the sport sedan but maybe not on the SUV. Time will tell.

 

C&D did a similar comparison test and the IS won that one too, by 1 point. The BMW was M series and the IS was F Sport.

 

Maybe he means this comparison on Motor Trend?

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/..._sport_sedans/

Here the IS350 AWD (non F Sport) came in third of five, beating the Volvo and Cadillac, but behind the BMW and Audi. Can't with them all.

 

Are you comparing the 335i M-Sport to the 2nd generation IS or to the current 3rd Generation IS? Have you driven the 3rd Generation IS?

Because Car and Driver, Road And Track as well as several other reviews/comparisons basically disagrees with you. Both magazines are unanimous that the THIRD generation IS significantly outsteers and outhandles the F30 3 series. And they are talking about 2014 IS350 F-Sport vs 2014 335i M-Sport.

Of course if you mean the F30 335i vs the 2nd(previous) gen IS, then you may have a point. But then again, you would be making an outdated comparison since we should be comparing current generations of both cars ie 2014 3rd gen IS vs 2014 3 series.

See here another review of the Lexus IS vs the BMW 3 series :

http://www.carsoholics.com/the-best-...is350-f-sport/

These are some choice quotes from that review:

.

Seems like many new BMW owners are suffering from placebo effect, where the fading halo of its past reputation for handing has blinded them to the real and actual handling deficiencies of the the car that they own, especially with respect to the Lexus competition which has quietly overtaken BMW in the handling/chassis/steering stakes...

 

Hey, customer is always right... i am not selling Lexus, so let me correct you a bit - Lexus and Toyota had best sales in their history last year, and Harrier is based on Rav4, not RX... So, similar to upcoming NX, nothing to do with RX.

 

I didn't know he had Alzheimer's. Like you, I feel sympathy for him under those conditions (Alzheimer patients rarely if ever recover from their condition, and the disease is fairly common among older and retired adults). But that doesn't mean that I approve of some of the silly or irresponible things he did behind the wheel, like the Cannonball high-speed coast-to-coast runs that put him and many other drivers at risk. Even some of his former colleagues at C&D like Patrick Bedard and Csaba Csede agreed he went too far.

 

BMW, for years, has excelled in making a chassis with BOTH a good ride AND good handling. Their chassis-engineers, IMO, are arguably among the best in the world for mass-produced cars. The main problem with the very latest-generation BMWs is not necessarily a so-called (soft) chassis, but the switch from the superb BMW hydraulic power-steering to the much less tactile/informative electric system. The electric systems, of course, have less complexity, are (probably) cheaper to produce and install at the factory, don't have fluid or hoses/pumps to leak or wear out, and take less HP out of the engine for better MPG and power. But, in doing so, they have robbed BMW products of their traditional steering feel/response.

 

Early AWD F10's had hydraulic steering and it was still numb, btw. C&D did an article about it. For what it's worth, I never really thought my previous BMW's excelled at the ride part like the ones do now. My E46 (sport package), non-sport E60, and particularly dealer loaner non-sport E90's I drove all crashed on bumps that wouldn't upset the current cars or their MB/Lexus counterparts.

There's many threads on the E90 forums especially complaining about the harsh ride and the suspension's tendency to bottom out- this all even after people replaced their run flats.

 

Of the previous BMWs and their excellent ride/handling combo, the one I was probably referring to the most was the previous-generation 335i....though the 550GT was also quite impressive. I did a full MM-review of a RWD 335i, and its ride/handling balance, even with the harsher Sport Package and 35-series high-performance tires, was, IMO, nothing short of phenomenal. That, IMO, is what separated it from the substantially more expensive M3. M3s (I also reviewed one in 2008) may indeed corner on a track like they are on rails, but, IMO, are simply too harshly-sprung for rough roads and general street use. They are clearly at their best on a glass-smooth racetrack, where their stiff underpinnings and high-RPM HP can come into play. The 335, in contrast, handles almost as well, but rides much more comfortably, especially on rougher roads. And its turbo in-line six actually produced 5 more ft-lbs. of torque (300 vs. 295) at lower RPM than the M3's V8, though the V8 had 416 peak HP to the six's 300.

 

Yeah he's pretty sick last I read. His son operates an Alzheimer's charity in his honor:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...imers-disease/

 

does the new IS have full flat folding rear seats now? I was in shock when I got my IS that it did not.

 

Let's just say that the RX choice of materials is of a more delicate nature, whereas the ML definitely exudes clean, crisp, yet tough looks. I should know. I switched from a RX to a ML last year. Here is a picture of mine.