The 3 series is better than the five series but if you buy the I-drive be prepared to be disappointed. The navigation unit is 4 generations behind the Lexus Nav and pretty much useless. If you can don't let her get nav which will include the I-Drive. Go to some BMW forums and you will see how many people complain about software updates for their BMWs because of the I-Drive which controls everything in the car including transmission shifting. BMW basically gave the whole car over to IDRIVE so when it crashes you can say good buy to almost all basic functions. I would never buy a BMW only lease one. If you keep any current BMW with IDRIVE past warranty period you will have to pay 205 dollars per software update and they release a new one every month. I started out with CIP version 11.0 and stopped at 26.0 and it crashes every three weeks for 3 days at a time. Also avoid the rough riding run flat tires they ruin the ride of the BMW cars and make them so rough and noisy. Also tell her to be prepared to loose massive personal storage bins like in the Lexus vehicles, little things like places to put keys, wallets, purses, sunglasses, cds, say good bye to all that. Cup holders are horrible. BMW cars look great and drive great above 75mph and through corners but that will only consist of less than 10% of your driving so the other 90% you will be miserable in stop and go traffic.

335i engine makes the 550, 650 and 750 engines obsolete thats a great turbo engine. Try to talk her out of it, if you can. BMW cars are like dating a hot chick with no brains, sure its fun for about 2 weeks then you start asking yourself why am I with this person. In your wife's case its like dating Brad Pit great looking but clueless. For us guys its like being married to Pamela Anderson, why would you torture yourself. My cousin is desperately trying to figure out how to get rid of his 07 750il without loosing his shirt but that car is the worst for resale right now, he will be lucky to be negative 20k dollars.

Also if you like the AC/Heat functions and efficiency of the Lexus vehicles you will loose that in BMW. I live in Vegas and the 550 takes at least 20 minutes to cool the cabin down. In my RX400H it takes 5 minutes.

Tell your wife to get the GS or IS save some serious bucks and you will love the car. I wished I would have bought the GS HYbrid but I read so many positive reviews from online sites about the 550 I fell for it and regretted ever since. If she is looking for AWD you are limited in choices, I think the only AWD sedan for Jap brands is Infiniti. Thats why I opted for the RX400H AWD for daily commutes, hauling gear and gets good gas mileage but drives like a car, its a winning combination.

You have to remember when these car magazines test out the cars in the sports sedan category they always test them on the track and of course BMW will win and Lexus will be last. How many times do you drive to the track or on a track? You never see these guys test these cars on a packed freeway, running to the grocery store, dropping off kids or taking your parents to dinner. I promise you if they did these things, the IS and GS would beat the 3 and 5 series all day long in comparison tests which is what 100 percent of us do daily. I would venture to say 99.9 of us have ever tracked a car or taken it on a track to see the true benefits. Canyon runs are far and few between, why suffer living with a car built for the track when you need one for daily driving.

I learned the hard way and spent way to much on my 06 BMW 550 and 06 Porsche 911 CS. I am in the process of selling both and revising how I think about cars. I think I am growing up.

 

LOL.....I preach all of what you said to the wife and she insist on getting a BMW! I swayed her from our previous 04RX into a new 08RX instead of her BMW and we love the car--zero problems but she will not be happy until she gets her "dream car". So if it happens I will go the Lease route so I can turn it in, in the end..lol.

If she could afford it she would have an "Ozzy car" 750

 

Your RX350 will most likely develop an oil leak at the timing chain cover seal. (the engine must be removed for the repair, Junkxus V1.0) The majority of them will leak. However in the climate that you live in (Alaska) the failure rate will be much higher due to the extreme conditions. I dumped mine yesterday, see my new thread. So good bye, good luck and God bless.

 

You are forgetting about the GS350 AWD, IS 250 AWD and the Acura RL. Soon the 09 LS460 AWD

 

here is Junkxus's new up market European car

 

maybe if we all move on he really WILL go away. just as cars have traits, so do customers. some people go through life cursed by self assessed bad luck and the knack for complaining and making everybody who deals with them miserable. it's good to have a skill

 

The good bye thread got locked before I could post this ...

Junkxus:

Did you tell the private buyer all the problems you are having with your RX? Or even tried talking the buyer out of buying a junk vehicle.... I think this was your complaint against Lexus that they sold you not once but twice junk vehicles?


Salim

 

SURE it will--like I believed a word you ever said, I visit and talk to my 1-Lexus tech we have up here and I told him what you said..he laughed and said right......he has never replaced one yet!! Hows them apples

Se ya