Hey, hey, hey. Just picked her up from Carlsbad Lexus. Non F-Sport, Obsidian/Flaxen, Premium, etc.

Quick impressions:

1. Drives a lot like my ex BMW E60 (old 5 Series), same dynamics. That's good.
2. Feels luxurious, like the F10 (new 5 Series). Good.
3. Feels slower than my 2012 328i. Because of the turbo, the Bimmer accelerates very hard from low in the RPM, effortless. The GS is very sluggish down in the RPM, it needs to be reved all the way up and you only have a very narrow band where it feels like it's moving, between 5k and the red line. It sux, but I'll get use to it.
4. Driver's elbow rest is very poorly designed. It's narrow and it curves up, so my elbow is permanently slipping.
5. Very good quality overall, fit and finish, materials, everything checks out.
6. Oldish and cartoonish entertainment UI.
7. Standard sound system so much better than the standard in the BMW. Sounds like the BMW's Hartman Kardon.
8. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Next I'll remove the engine sound generator and swap the tires with P7 Cinturanto Plus.

Overall, happy. The biggest drawback, the engine, doesn't bother me too much as I don't track my cars. I'll just have to drop two or more gears before it can move

Thanks for answering my dumb questions and convincing me to buy the car

 

Congrats in your new car. My Luxury was Black/Flaxen too. Beautiful just too much effort to keep it swirls free. Now let's see a picture, shall we?

 

Congrats metrathon! Great write-up with your initial impressions. I'm always curious to see how the car compares for others who have owned competing vehicles in the same class (more or less).

Definitely share some pics of your new ride when you have a chance. Enjoy her!

~ Im2bz2p345

 

Congrats and enjoy!

 

Congrats! Glad to see you finally get your car.

 

Congrats on your new ride. Glad to hear you're enjoying it

 

Congrats on the new ride!

 

thoughts, congrats on your purchase and safe driving with it,
there seems to be a common theme appearing of bmw drivers searching for more with the lexus product but in reality falls short,
for those who want handling and ***** out fun the gs is better than a 528 or 535
for those who want luxury, sport occasionally, tech, design, prestige, and cutting edge motor technology bmw is the clear choice.
this v6 should have been retired 4 years ago, ridiculous economy in todays 3 and 4 dollar gas per gallon
safe driving to all

 

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Looking at the '16 GS pictures, I'm not sorry I got the '15. I like both in equal measure, there are some improvements in the '16 for sure, but I'm also sure I wouldn't have been able to get the same deal on a '16 that I got on the '15.

Excited to see the 2.0T in the GS tho, I take it as a promise for a soon coming 3.0T or 3.5T. If that happens, there no foreseeable reason for going back to Germans. IMO all this car really misses is more torque.

Pics coming soon.

 

I'm always always in S mode, sometimes S+ if the road is exceptionally smooth. One thing I have noticed, though, is that the computer is very conservative on how it doles out torque thanks to the stability/traction control. Go into S mode, then hold down the traction control button for about 10 seconds. That totally disables the nanny system and you will get more torque from a dead stop. This car just tries not to spin the rear wheels, and sometimes it tries too hard for my taste.

 

On item 8, I have been contemplating the sound generator also. I think there are three options:
1. Replace with a 3GS air intake
2. Plug the air intake portion of the sound generator.
3. Take apart the sound generator portion of the air intake and remove the generator (if possible).

On 2 and 3 I don't know what the effect would be on the engine, will it cause problems, reduce horsepower, reduce gas mileage, etc.

Anyone have any insight? Please indicate whether you are surmising or have real experience.

 

I think this is the safest option. How expensive can it be?

 

Or u can just get the K&N kit for the 4GS, that will eliminate the sound generator and looks cool too. It will still use the factory box, ur basically just swapping the intake tube.

 

Whichever is cheaper, I never look under the bonnet

 

Maybe look into the F-sport CAI, since it removes sound generator. That way if something goes wrong, Lexus won't blame it on your aftermarket parts. It says for the IS, but it's the same engine. Someone on this forum fitted it to their GS.