tallcaguy

Easy to assess the needs of current and future generations of drivers. Not everyone can afford (or want to) drive a luxury car. Successful government programs w/ real benefits for current and future generations include emissions control and safety standards.

toddmorr

Successful govt program defined by whom? a political interest group? That's hardly a rigorous cost/benefit analysis. Look, its fine to make decisions like CAFE democratically, which is what we've done as a nation, but one can't claim that they're "successful" in terms of maximizing economic efficiency.

lextout

is it me or does the gs350/300/430 post 2006 have the same dash n button interior as the yaris

tallcaguy

Agree. It's hard to make a general case for government programs maximizing "economic efficiency". Sometimes the complete opposite. However it's easy to make a statistics based case that the safety and emissions control programs are successful. Fewer fatal car crashes and reduction in severity of injuries. Data on improved air quality.

warminwisc

LS compared to newer cars lets see, Super headlights which never burn out(knock knock) still has a seat few cars have, auto up down buttons on windows, super quiet ride stab trac, traction control, subwoofer, little visor above the mirror and nice visors, rear camera and bumper beepers nice gauges just to start for the ML then the Ultra has a lot of stuff. Nav is poor blue tooth mediocre but hey technology no limits. I drive a lot of cars annually for the local Drive for the Cure, 15-16 a year still get back in mine loving it. There was the MB ML sedan that was super nice even with a stinkin 4 in it but hey I will keep the 70 k in the bank. New cars compared o the LS.... I hope everyone values the v8 RWD feature as much as I do which is being threatened with extinction. So many of the audis go to a v6 the MB go to a 4 cyl, BMW twin turbo 3.5's but if they break so does yur wallet. My car has been so cheap to keep and drives great keep her and spend money on other stuff not a new car.

warminwisc

MB e class was nice. all the new features don't get me too riled until I can get one like the MB soon to drive itself. then I can drive to ski when I hit 60 Y/O and she will drive me home when I am dead tired.

2KHarrier

+1 in agreement. I do appreciate the RWD platform, not to mention the V8... I'll drive these cars as long as I can.

Johnhav430

I bought a 2007 335i N54 coupe new, which is a 3 liter twin turbo. Man it drives well, I had to back it out last night to get the snowblower out, so I went for a short ride. Haven't driven it since mid Dec.

Whether it was a 325, 328, 330, or 335, or 340, all 3 liter. BMW is as guilty as any for making it such that the model designation no longer has anything to do with displacement, actually maybe it should be a 329, 2.9 but 2998 is close to 3000.

They took it one further, and made everybody feel they had a twin turbo. How? The motor would say, "Twin Power." Only the N54 that I have is a twin turbo with a true dual exhaust, the others are single. N55, B58, all single turbos.

imho, once numbers on cars do not represent the size of the motor, the bean counters and marketers have won.

They don't really break one's wallet the way a 7 series or 8 cyl X5 or 5 series can, though. When the car was new, yeah turbo problems were $6k. Not anymore, $2500, that's not fun but it's not outrageous anymore...that Audi S4 timing chain job for $12,000, now that's killer, or the 750 coolant leak for $10k....

tlhicks

We Currently have 3 Lexus. A 2017 LX570, a 2016 CT200H and a 2013 RX450H. They are all great vehicles. But none of them compared to the comfort, smoothness and quietness of the 2005 LS430 I drove for years before trade it in on the RX450H. I miss that vehicle.

warminwisc

Does my brothers new X5 have the twin turbo 3.5. I know its the 6 cyl but only see exhaust out of one of two tail pipes. It was 70k I told him to get the twin turbo but drive behind him and wondered.

Johnhav430

It should have a twin scroll N55, this version.....also on BMW usually one muffler has a flap that closes most of the time, and opens during acceleration, keeps things quieter. Some guys do what's called a golf tee mod, where they remove the vacuum line that opens and closes the flap, and they plug it with a golf tee. Now the flap is always open and it's a little louder....

What nobody can deny is how smooth a straight six is....N55B30M0


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N55

warminwisc

is the twin scroll or twin turbo a better motor? Newer is better? I noticed at idle it has like a pop pop pop sound real tight real consitent.

warminwisc

Last question did N55 solve turbo and HPFP failures, nice motor N54 for BMW 5 Engine of Year Awards 3 Wards best of 10 engine award but high pressure fuel pumps go though its like big money with all the schrapnel in fuel system and turbo gate bushing prolly t$$. They exended the warrantees but just a simple V8 is fine.

Johnhav430

I think for the most part the N55 did solve the hpfp problem, which I did not have...but it was solved, I think, because ABC news did a story on it. The turbos were extended/warranted to 8/82 but it was misleading, it was not for everything turbos, I believe it was rattling of the wastegates only. Then, the HPFP was extended to 10/120, again misleading, because imho the problem was solved, yet there could be other issues, could be the LPFP, etc. Some had lemons, I did not. Also, folks in CA got a lot of protection as they always do through the emissions warranty for CA.

I will also admit, the hype got me to buy a factory extended warranty, which, due to my low miles, ended up for naught. People who tune love the N54 (less the N55), it's so easy to just put in a JB4 and suddenly have 80 HP extra at the wheels, for < $500. I'm chicken to do any of that, but my coworkers say I'm a perfect candidate being out of warranty anyway....

So again, I think the LS430 lacking a lot of the stuff like turbocharging and direct injection, contributes to its ease of operation and potential longevity. yes the timing belt is a PITA but again @ $800 or so at an indie, it's small in the big picture across many miles.....I feel that I will sail through 200k, and prolly with proper maintenance go many more...