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The W220 was a great looking car, but had a lot of problems, and some interior material issues etc. The LS430 of that era truly was a better car, just not as stylish.
Its pretty clear. Like AJT, the refresh made the 430 IMO a great looking car where pre-refresh I really thought it was ugly. Its the roundedness and lack of any aggression in the front of the pre-refresh.
Pre refresh:
Refresh:
Great example of what I meant, the 04-06 tries to look edgy and it doesn't work for me IMO unless they extended the body line into the doors starting from from the headlights back along the whole form. The 01-03 looks more visually coherent to me and is like a rounded off old world look like the Jags and Mercs of the 80s but smoothed out.
Eh they both look old but I prefer the pre-refresh since it looks more like an old world car vs the 04-06 that doesn't really look modern or classic.....the headlights of the 04-06 are some of the best in the automotive world with the AFS system and really powerful D2S bulbs, they hold up against my Audi and are almost as good as a pre-13 460 that holds IMO the title of best.
You are literally the first person I have ever seen that says they prefer the pre-refresh LS430 lol
Great example of what I meant, the 04-06 tries to look edgy and it doesn't work for me IMO unless they extended the body line into the doors starting from from the headlights back along the whole form. The 01-03 looks more visually coherent to me and is like a rounded off old world look like the Jags and Mercs of the 80s but smoothed out.
The W220 was a great looking car, but had a lot of problems, and some interior material issues etc. The LS430 of that era truly was a better car, just not as stylish.
Its pretty clear. Like AJT, the refresh made the 430 IMO a great looking car where pre-refresh I really thought it was ugly. Its the roundedness and lack of any aggression in the front of the pre-refresh.
Pre refresh:
Refresh:
Both look similar to me. I really don’t care for Lexus styling of that era.
The Bangle Butt as applied still looks dumb but the rest of the car has timeless proportions and body lines. Very clean and chiselled compared to the S and LS in that video. I don't feel like BMW has moved on much from this design language in the past 20 years other than their recent slapping on of beaver teeth.
I thought the LCI E65 looked fantastic and still looks good today. The pre-facelift model looks very dated to me though, with its too arge headlights and too small grille.
agreed - I had to re read it; I also prefer the 04+ in fact I owned a blk on blk ls430 05 sport for a while till i got the ls460. amazing car. I sold it cheap too.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
You are literally the first person I have ever seen that says they prefer the pre-refresh LS430 lol
Eh they both look old but I prefer the pre-refresh since it looks more like an old world car vs the 04-06 that doesn't really look modern or classic.....the headlights of the 04-06 are some of the best in the automotive world with the AFS system and really powerful D2S bulbs, they hold up against my Audi and are almost as good as a pre-13 460 that holds IMO the title of best.
QUOTE=Striker223;11248554]Great example of what I meant, the 04-06 tries to look edgy and it doesn't work for me IMO unless they extended the body line into the doors starting from from the headlights back along the whole form. The 01-03 looks more visually coherent to me and is like a rounded off old world look like the Jags and Mercs of the 80s but smoothed out.
A black pre-refresh with chrome wheels looks pretty good to me (there's one I see a lot), nice and classy, but otherwise (regular ones) I just can't agree. ' 01-03 just doesn't work for me. Looks are all subjective to everyone but I like how they made it more aggressive with the facelift (how does someone not see that making more aggressive was goal?) with the headlights pulled tight back over the quarter panel or whatever, those classy 5 spoke rims which are not dated at all and probably won't ever be, and the nice dual exhaust (hidden before) similar to the original LS400s. Like I said, IMO easily one of the best refreshes in car history. LS430 is huge inside which we all love, but it came at the expense of a tall car which they really threw just about everything at to mitigate for the refresh, and it worked. Worked wonders actually. Tall cars aren't the prettiest right out of the gate.
That's just a gorgeous car, has aged well and will continue to because it's so clean. I'm not a huge fan of chrome, certainly not rims but they work on an LS430 quite well because the styling down to the trim is restrained. I bought some myself, chrome, and the new look has completely transformed the car. I catch myself staring at it every chance I get. I never got around to posting any pics. Do the pre-refresh ones have the visible hood bulge (from driver's seat)? That's also a nice touch, conveys power.
The Bangle Butt as applied still looks dumb but the rest of the car has timeless proportions and body lines. Very clean and chiselled compared to the S and LS in that video. I don't feel like BMW has moved on much from this design language in the past 20 years other than their recent slapping on of beaver teeth.
I believe this is the refresh of the E65, its pretty amazing what a few minor changes can do for the styling of a car. The original car was much worse looking.
Its hard for me to rank my styling preferences of the LS's I've had. My favorite was the 98 LS400, but I think my LS460s edge out the LS430 for me.
I realllllly like the 98-00 too. I'll tell you one thing, the two tone color scheme looked awesome on those, regardless of color.
I watched that video, all you have to do is just look at the wood inside that LS (it's hard to miss) to see how nice it was in those Lexus hey-days. Especially compared to that S-Class.
Something is horrendously wrong with the suspension and/or steering in that S-Class, btw. My GMC isn't even that bad with the loose steering, and it's a 20 year old truck with a loose front end that needs work. Not exaggerating.
Its hard for me to rank my styling preferences of the LS's I've had. My favorite was the 98 LS400, but I think my LS460s edge out the LS430 for me.
This styling is very timeless, only thing that really gives away its age is the wheels and wheel fitment.
Would be great if someone like Singer or Guntherwerks retromodded one of these just to see what they could do with it.
