New to the forum and in the market for a new car. Let's just get this out there: I'm a long-time BMW fan and owner of multiple BMWs (currently and over the years). Just recently sold my 2014 BMW 550i and looking at a replacement. I want to get into something just as powerful but preferably lighter, slightly more compact, and a handling monster. I love V8s. The sound of them. The smoothness. The power. With that said, I've given up on BMW V8s. They're just...bad, in terms of reliability, maintenance and TCO. The obvious option for me had been the M340i (or M440i) with the glorious B58. That is, until I learned that the IS500 has a NA V8 and heard one in person with a Borla S exhaust. Needless to say I immediately fell in love. I've never owned anything but German cars, but had always appreciated and admired Lexus' design language. I genuinely love the way the IS looks.

I've read reviews upon reviews and comparisons of the two cars, but hoping to get a true first-hand perspective from IS500 owners. Have any of you considered the M340i before getting your IS500? What drew you to the IS vs M340i (or other way around)? What would I be missing on getting the IS500 over the M340i? What about the M340i over the IS500?

I already know of the following and factored into my decision (so far):

• M340i xDrive is gonna run circles around the IS500 (0-60). Don't really care. I'm not drag racing anyone. I'm 45 and just love the thrill of a fast acceleration on the road (and putting some annoying drivers in their place).
• IS500's achilles heel is the 8-speed tranny - no where as crisp as the ZF8. Again, not gonna be tracking the car, so not as much of a factor.
• IS500 has what journalists are calling "outdated interior". We already own a 2024 X3 M40i. I actually like the look of the IS interior much more than the cheesy, shiny & plasticy modern BMW interior.
• IS500 supposedly has far less modern tech than the BMW. GREAT. Less unnecessary intrusions to a driver's car experience. The absolute only modern tech I care about is CarPlay, and I've read you can just add a 3rd party adapter to get wireless CarPlay capability (vs wired).

Collecting as much input as I can from both the BMW forum as well as hopefully here before taking both for a test drive this week, so any input is highly appreciated.

P.s. My profile on the BMW forum - to be prove legit-ness

 

you'd probably get more replies if you post this in the IS500 forum. and i think there's a thread about this buried in there.

 

Thank you for calling that out. I wasn't aware there was a specific IS500 board. I posted it there as well since I couldn't delete this thread.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...bmw-m340i.html

 

moved the reply to the IS500 thread.

 

I can close this one out since there's not any real info in here. Let's use the IS 500 sub-forum thread. Thanks!