BrettKA7

I'm right around the 6-month anniversary of owning my 2019 Lexus IS 300 F sport after selling my 2012 BMW 328i. If you only want to know pros and cons, feel free to skip to the bullet points below because I think this will be a long post. Also, please ignore any random periods or double spacing as my 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard is already going bad

I'm sure I'm not the only one who considered the IS alongside the 3-Series. I've been saying "My next car will be an IS" since 2007. Every time I went to upgrade I got distracted; got a CT200h for the MPGs (most regretful purchase I've made because a. I didn't get the options I wanted and rushed myself and b. I wasn't ready for the slow acceleration), moved to an Acura TL Type-S for the styling and change of powertrain after the slow CT. Then I fulfilled an option I had always considered: a German car. The Ultimate Driving Machine.

My BMW had a lot of problems, admittedly. They say you get a good BMW or a bad one; mine was a bad one. It was the first model year of what enthusiasts call the worst BMW sedan of all-time and on the worst suspension BMW offered. My front bumper started peeling weeks after picking it up from Carmax, but that was the previous owner's fault as it was cheaply resprayed. Thankfully the rest of the body was factory paint and I had a GREAT shop that specialized in exotics and British cars. I ordered an aftermarket M Sport bumper and they matched my color and texture perfectly and my extremely discerning eye couldn't tell it wasn't factory paint. At the same time, I upgraded all the base silver plastic trim to the M Performance Carbon Fiber and Alcantara trim kit. I fell in love with the car all over again; it was beautiful.

Eventually I swapped my suspension to ST X coilovers. ST is a sister company of KW so the ST X coilovers are essentially KW V1 coilovers without stainless steel enclosures. I knew my F30 wasn't a forever car so saving $1k for galvanized steel was fine by me. These coilovers oddly started out on the softer side and. got firmer over the next few weeks. I loved them combined with my Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires but my family hated them. I wasn't too worried about their opinions on my suspension but I definitely had to be extra careful about potholes.

My F30 had the steering rack groaning / popping many F30 owners experience. It kept getting worse and worse over time right up until I got to the BMW dealership. It then fixed itself temporarily every time!

Then the infotainment crashes began. The whole center stack would randomly crash, killing and rebooting the A/C and radio. Bluetooth would disconnect or audio would stop working but I was never able to duplicate it for a BMW tech.

Then my left turn signal went out... came back... went out. This lasted about 5 months before I was able to duplicate the issue for the BMW dealership. They replaced a body harness and the tail lamp socket and the issue never reoccurred.

I had the oil filter gasket leak before 50k miles which is just unacceptable for any modern car, period.

It got to the point that when I got in my car, I expected to hear the BMW beep / gong alerting me something is wrong. I couldn't trust a car that started falling apart before 50k miles and just kept getting worse to 70k miles. Not to mention BMW should have issued a recall for the timing chains that are a ticking time bomb. I loved the car but I was done.

Newport Lexus settled at $5,500 off the IS after a full day of negotiating, me leaving, coming back, the whole game. On top of that, Lexus offered $4k cash back if I leased the car during December to Remember. The cost to lease is $1,500 and includes free GAP insurance so it was a no brainer; my $43.5k car essentially just became $34k. You'd be hard-pressed to find any other brand new RWD luxury sports sedan at that price.

Now that I've gotten through my life story, here are the pros and cons of both cars:

Interior

Lexus

-Materials are smoother than the BMW. Even though they are synthetic, they feel very similar to nappa leather. I can tell the seating materials are synthetic but everyone else says it looks, feels, and smells like leather.

-Very few items creak when you press against them. Everything feels tightly screwed & clipped together and I don't expect abundant rattles.

-Fake metal trim on door switches and glovebox is FAKE. I don't like how it looks or feels and I hope to be able to swap RC F carbon fiber pieces in eventually.

-Non-nav screen is small. Infotainment interface is terrible but reliable once animations are disabled. I don't ever leave the bluetooth screen because it's just not worth it, plus I exclusively use Apple Music.

-Gauges are a whole different story. I love everything about them and they have a surprisingly nice interface compared to the main Lexus Enform screen.

-I will never have another car without ventilated seats again if I can help it. LOVE that feature!

BMW

-Interior has a cleaner look compared to the "LFA inspired" look of the IS. I prefer to be inside the IS but a BMW diehard would probably hate it. The carbon fiber and alcantara trim made massive (positive) differences in how the BMW felt inside

-Dakota leather is garbage. It looks bad and once the top layer starts to wear, it looks worse and feels rubbery. It was clean but had a sheen to it I could never improve. It did not feel built to last.

-Door handles melted on every door... in Orange County heat. WTF BMW.

-iDrive on my 2012 BMW was so far ahead of Lexus Enform on my 2019 IS that it isn't even funny. Lexus' system feels like it was developed in 2000, skinned for 2008, and then put in a 2019 model. CarPlay could help this but it isn't even an option on the 2019 IS, GS, or RX.

-Every plastic piece in sight on the BMW creaked when I pressed against it. Everything felt clipped together with no felt or foam lining to even pretend they were luxury car materials. I did appreciate how matte and soft touch everything was though.

-The M sport has probably the most attractive steering wheel I have ever seen in a car. My base model had an ugly, thin steering wheel with more Dakota leather that had to be replaced way before 50k miles because the grain wore off. That may have been the first owner's fault.

Exterior

Lexus

-The Lexus has a lot of presence. I like how the body line in the side skirt continues through the rear wheel well to the rear bumper. The 2017 - 2019 changes made all the difference in the world for me. The 2019 looks like a mini GS to me, for the most part.

-Lexus paint is better than BMW's without any doubt in my mind. It is thicker, smoother, and has super even orange peel.

-The LFA-inspired wheels are gorgeous and have a lot of presence

BMW

-I admit that even though I wasn't fond of the designs of the headlights or tail lights, the BMW was a more conventionally beautiful sedan. The M Sport front bumper was a must-have once I realized what my car was missing.

-One thing I really hated was only the 335i got symmetrical exhaust tips in the rear. I think the 328i had the ugliest exhaust.

-I had random paint drips in the factory clear, especially in jambs. The paint wasn't bad by any means but wasn't as professional as I'd expect on a $50k sedan. F30 paint is THIN. I unfortunately thinned one spot out too much trying to remove the previous owner's unnecessary touch up paint where only a compound and polish would have been needed.

Drivetrain

Lexus

-The Lexus drivetrain is smooth as silk and quiet as a mouse when the Active Sound Control is turned off. I keep ASC on just so I can hear the engine at all.

-Turbo lag is REAL. 6.5-7 second 0-60 puts it closer to a 320i than a 328i.

-I've never, ever experienced a transmission that shifts as smoothly as this car. I have to concentrate on the shifts to actually feel anything and it's only certain gears I can feel the change at all.

-The transmission is geared toward fuel economy. Paddle shifters are a must if you want to have any fun. The shift ****'s manual mode has the + and - in the wrong directions (opposite of BMW or other enthusiast brands), sadly.

BMW

-BMW's engine isn't as smooth as Lexus and it sounds like a diesel. The timing chain, again, is a ticking time bomb. I had an oil leak before 50k miles. Those are the only negatives I can think of.

-My 328i had no discernible turbo lag in Sport mode. It was unbelievable to me how responsive the car was for a turbo-4. I did not miss my Acura's V6 at all when moving to the BMW.

-The transmission was a joy to use despite my base model having no paddle shifters. It could be pretty jerky at times but it wasn't a bother.

Suspension & Handing

Lexus

-I prefer the Lexus suspension to the base F30 suspension, the 704 sport / M Sport suspension, and the ST coilovers without a doubt in my mind.

-With the 2017 model year, the IS essentially got a transplant of the GS' suspension. It absorbs and dispatches bumps in the road with no problem. it feels cool, calm, and collected despite the factory tires that I'll be replacing with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S ASAP. It is comfortable in a straight line and takes curves as flat as an E90 when you push it. I really do think if Lexus put Michelins on the F Sports that it would have been much, much higher reviewed.

-I truly have nothing negative to say about the suspension or handling besides the complaint about the tires.

BMW

-The F30 base suspension was soft and boring. All of the F30s have too much body roll for my taste. The 704 suspension just felt straight up boring to me and I'm not sure how some people enjoy it so much.

-The ST coilovers helped a lot but even when combined with Michelin tires, I still had a lot of rectification to do to make the F30 corner flatter and feel inspiring to drive. I wasn't going to spend thousands to continue to correct BMW's deficits on this model.

-The suspension was a deciding factor when it came to selling this car. I honestly don't have much positives for this car but I can say coilovers helped tremendously and I'm sure thicker roll bars would have alleviated a lot of my complaints.

Flash5

Nice comparison! I love my 2018 IS 300 RWD F Sport, it's so sexy and that makes up for how slow it is lol. You just need to lower yours a tiny bit so it doesn't look like an SUV d: Also I totally agree this car needs Michelin's. I usually run their Pilot Super Sports or PS4's, but I went with the Pilot A/S 3+'s because I knew I was coming to Germany and that meant snow. I'll probably go with the Firehawk Indy Summers though during the summer season here since they are much cheaper and almost as good as the Michelin's.

dakest

iTrader: (2)

They are both nice rides, I went from a 530i to a 2014 IS 250, I love Bimmers but the reliability issues drove me to drink, I constantly had a sucking sound coming from my wallet.
Enjoy your IS, they are not BMWs but are fun to drive!

aniks

I think I recognize you from the Bimmer forums! But I made the same switch as you! Except having the 3is with AWD. Also I never got to sell my F30, it got totaled

I've been telling myself that the Lexus is a touring car, not quite grand touring , but a touring car. It's sporty when it needs to be, comfortable and very smooth (minus a few rattles here and there).

While the F30 was very much a sports car. The F30 I had was special ordered by the previous owner. It had the sports line package but with M-Sports suspension installed upon delivery. But it definitely wasn't as comfortable or smooth as the 3IS. The F30 did feel properly quick compared to the 3is. But that isn't my lifestyle anymore, i prefer the smooth, reliable luxurious car.

I will say that I'm doing my first oil change this weekend and I haven't paid for service on a car in 5 years. So not looking forward to that.

wthrman2

Brett - Great review and very spot on! Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed in your review and helping other who will be considering an IS.

EZZ

In a straight line, a 340 is easily faster but the Is350 FSport felt far sportier with better handling and feel. I test drove back to back before making my purchasing decision. I also had a buddy with the 340 with Msport package I've driven a couple times so I know how the 340 feels. I hear the G20 is far better though. Let's see if the next IS can give it a run.

rolyexpres

Excellent story, I'm looking for a new car and don't want to spend too much time fixing one. Lexus is the way to go!