You cant say that of course a sedan feels better than an SUV ?? especially a BMW535 that's no doubt several years old . I have driven a 2016 X5 and its not nearly as smooth or quiet as a 2016 RX350 . There is zero wind noise and certainly no vibration in the 6 vehicles I have now driven . I would suggest that something is not quite right with the vehicle

I will have to agree. Each person perceives noise differently and this "drowning sound" might just be the regular engine noise at low rpm under load. It does go away starting at about 1500rpm and up.

Still might be a good idea for the OP to go to the dealer just to set their mind at ease. As I drive my 4RX more and more I understand how to get the smoothest operation out of the motor and tranny. Still question the need for 8 years when 6 would have possibly been just fine but it is all about mileage and the EPA these days.

Ever a get a resolution to this?

Side note: Since refinement, in regards to vibration and noise is personal preference, when you test drove the vehicle, was this an issue or just your particular vehicle?

When the Benz dealer told me after having a bad flat that I need to replace both tires on that axel . . . well no more German cars for me. My ML,and Cayenne had more problems that I care to remember and other than regular service not one of my Lexus has needed anything.

See thats not Benz the mfgs fault at all. Thats more like the service dealer was pushing for more $$$.

I`m not going to stand by and say that BMW or any european brand is somehow more reliable then Lexus, cause thats not true. BUT what I will say is that their cars designed differently.

When you purchase a BMW coming from say a highly hands-off maintenance such as those from Toyo/Lexus/Acura etc, BMWs maintenance schedule will be a pain and you will naturally associate it as being more troublesome. 50K water pump replacements and other things become a requirement in their service intervals rather then an afterthought at 200k. Thats cause the vehicle is being pushed to the limit. Your driving a high performance vehicle.

Coming from a BMW to a Lexus, new owners would be surprised to know no water etc. But that extra reliability comes with much safer vehicle tuning. Alot of the cars components from the same parts bin since the 90s (just look at the cruise control stalk).

Now in relation to refinement, after being a loyal Bimmer fan and knowing how bank vault like the interior is, Lexus has really not disappointed in that area. However again this is highly subjective. If the OP has an issue, that he or she didnt notice in the test drive vehicle, then im sure there is a defect somewhere.

We had a loaner for a week and I did find the 350 idle to be unacceptably rough. Mind you, this is not like a diesel truck level, but compared to a 5 year old RX350 which is rock solid at idle, the 2016 vibrated at idle.

it seems that direct injection engine tends to have rough idle.

Then the service dealer also wrote the manual and indicates that new tires must be installed in pair on the same axle. There was not only more Maint but in I was averaging a trip a month for several days for all kinds of trouble on both vehicles. There was no a week gone by that there was not some error message indicated. It got to the point where the dealer told me to just ignore it!

I can not say much good about the service people either. Most rather arrogant.

LOL. I call bull**** on this one. I'm yet to come across these "bank vault" BMWs you speak of. Every BMW including the new 7 series had some form of noise be it the engine, tyre roar or wind noise. I won't accept that they have less noise than equivalent Lexus models simply because they dont. You can carry out a dB test and it'll prove that to you

This just confirms what I said before. A good dealer would take the time to solve the issue rather then ignore it. Unfortunately this is what really diminishes a brand; their certified service rep is ignorant. These type of service reps are found in almost every brand

Well thank you for the testing method, it seems your in the know.


Noise level in decibels (dBA) at different speeds 100 km/h 130 km/h
BMW 730d Blue Performance 58 62
Jaguar XJ 3.0 V6 Diesel S Luxury 58 63
Audi A8 4.2 TDI DPF quattro tiptronic 59 64
VW Touareg 4.2 V8 TDI DPF Automatik 59 66
Jaguar XF 3.0 V6 Diesel 60 66
Audi Q7 3.0 TDI DPF quattro tiptronic 60 63
BMW X6 ActiveHybrid 60 65
Mercedes R 350 CDI L DPF 4Matic 7G-Tronic 60 65
BMW 520d Touring 61 65
Mercedes S 400 Hybrid 7G-Tronic 61 66
VW Sharan 2.0 TDI BlueMotion Comfortline 61 65
Audi A4 2.0 TDI DPF Ambition 61 65
Saab 9-5 2.0T Aero 61 65
Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid Tiptronic 62 66
Mercedes-Benz E 200 CGI BlueEfficiency Avantgarde 62 66
Volvo S60 D3 Summum 62 66
BMW 135i Cabrio Automatik 62 68
Audi A7 3.0 TDI quattro S tronic 62 69
Seat Alhambra 2.0 TDI Ecomotive Reference 62 65
Citroën C5 HDi 165 FAP Exclusive 62 66
Ford Galaxy 2.0 TDCi DPF Titanium 62 67
VW Touran 1.4 TSI Comfortline 62 67
Mercedes C 180 T BlueEfficiency Avantgarde 62 70
Mercedes-Benz ML 250 BlueTec 4Matic 7G-Tronic 62 71
VW Tiguan 2.0 TDI DPF 4Motion DSG Sport & Style 62 67
Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDI DPF 62 67
Lexus RX 450h Impression Line 63 70
Land Rover Range Rover Sport TDV6 63 66
VW Polo 1.2 TSI DSG Highline 63 67
BMW X3 xDrive28i Automatik 63 68

http://elevatingsound.com/the-top-30...-by-auto-bild/

we have a 2016 RX fwd with no problems...

Just moved from a 2013 ES to a 2016 RX Fsport and the wind/road noise is significantly less than the ES it replaced. The engine noise in the RX Fsport is significantly louder than the ES during acceleration (which we like), but during cruise it's very refined and quiet.

So highlighting the 3RX in the 4RX section from a 2013 article proves your point does it? The new RX is much quieter than the 3RX

Even then I can't see the X5 on there and the X6 is a hybrid model which costs much much more

When accelerating from a standing stop, I feel more drone and vibration at ECO mode than Normal and Sporty mode. Sporty mode has the least vibration. I think this relates to the RPM. With ECO mode, it always wants to stay at very low RPM around 1200 even in acceleration unless press the gas really hard.