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Congrats! You will love it. And I LOVE Ultrasonic Blue - it looks good in any light.
I will say, once the car is broken-in, if you go Sport S+ or Manual mode and give it the beans, the transmission wakes up. It is a Jekyll and Hyde situation!
Thank you all!! I’m so excited - car is so freaking gorgeous - I just keep going to the garage to admire it every free second. But yes, the M340i might be the better car on paper but left me completely bored behind the wheel.
Took all your input (and those from the BMW forum) and went for a test drive of both cars this past Tuesday. Gave myself 48 hours to think hard about which one I enjoyed more. I got massively lucky that both dealers had 1 last car of each in exact specs I wanted (blue exterior, black interior). Needless to say, the IS500 won me over. Both cars definitely have their pros and faults, but at the end of the day, the IS500 just spoke to me and felt far more exciting. I just love the smoothness of the V8, even with a less-than-snappy tranny. There is more I can say about both, but the objectified facts have been already shared by you guys, and the subjective...well that's just for me.
Picked her up last night. CDK Global outage was a nightmare - everything we had to do with paper. But it's home now and can't wait for a real drive after I'm done with work.
Beautiful car! Congrats!
Where do you live? Southern CA dealers seem to only get white/black/gray cars. Nevermind red or blue.
Beautiful car! Congrats!
Where do you live? Southern CA dealers seem to only get white/black/gray cars. Nevermind red or blue.
This is sooo true - I live in Southern CA and finding anything other than white/black/gray seemed to be an absolute impossibility. I wanted blue but ended up settling for a storm trooper. I don't even recall ever seeing a blue 3rd gen IS in my area at all.
Yeah I am pretty sure I replied on your other thread as well.
After driving a G70 last weekend, I am realizing both Lexus and BMW could stand to study the steering in the G70. It feels a lot more communicative. However, I definitely appreciate what both Lexus and BMW are doing with their throttle calibration. The G70 seemed to take forever to wake up and go. This was the 2.5T, mind, not the 3.3T. But anyways, I liked that car a lot. The IS and 3-series feel a bit less like driver's cars than the G70, but I don't know that the G70 is actually a better car.
Just a third option to throw in there.
I second this. I recently became the owner of a 2025 G70 several weeks ago. Mine is the 3.3T Prestige trim, and it has every necessary luxury feature for its class. I am especially impressed by its build quality and materials (for example, the all-Nappa leather-wrapped interior and instrument cluster, and the suede headliners). Additionally, mine comes with Michelin PS4 tires from the factory. The throttle response of the 3.3L twin-turbo V6 with the 8AT has minimal delay. Compared to the IS500, it is lightning-fast. As another reference, compared to the Tesla Model 3/Y, I would say the 3.3T powertrain is about 95% as swift as the Tesla’s response to the throttle pedal. This engine has an abundance of mid-range torque; even when pushed semi-hard, it rarely needs to go above 3k rpm to provide sufficient torque. When it goes above 4k rpm, the acceleration becomes very wild. Unless you listen to the sound, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between this V6 and a V8.
Mechanically speaking, one major disadvantage of the 3.3 V6 is that it uses solid tappet/lifter for its valvetrain, requiring valve tuning every 60k miles to adjust the valve clearance.
I have owned another Genesis vehicle before, and the brand's major issue is the dealership service quality. Most Genesis dealerships are managed by the same teams as their Hyundai counterparts, so Genesis customers receive similar treatment to Hyundai owners, which is not a good experience. This is why I got rid of my previous Genesis and did not buy another one for several years until now. This time, I decided to give it another try, and so far, the impression is still positive.
I will still keep my IS500, but the G70 is becoming my daily driver because, honestly speaking, it is more enjoyable to drive.
Thank you all!! I’m so excited - car is so freaking gorgeous - I just keep going to the garage to admire it every free second. But yes, the M340i might be the better car on paper but left me completely bored behind the wheel.
Welcome and Congrats! Wait until your 621 mile break-in period is over, then hold on to your britches! 😂 Plus…most importantly…you’ve chosen the best color. 😜 #BlueCrew 💙👏🏽
Welcome and Congrats! Wait until your 621 mile break-in period is over, then hold on to your britches! 😂 Plus…most importantly…you’ve chosen the best color. 😜 #BlueCrew 💙👏🏽
My brother is counting down the 1000kms for us break-in folks in precise freedom units
I just went through this. I ended up with the IS500. I just feel like the IS has more of a "soul" if you understand what I'm saying. It mostly came down to interior for me. I hated the new huge curved screen in the M340. Was really impressed with the nice quality of the IS500 interior. Plus the sound of a V8 is just something you get hypnotized by lol.
