VTEC_Junkie

my bro-in-law has an is350, and i am not a fan of the car at all. the car body rolls severely, the up/down shifts lag annoyingly, the interior is extremely tight, and there is not enough head room in the driver's seat for taller drivers like myself. but my main overall beef with the is350 is that i feel disconnected and lack confidence behind the wheels. the IS is overly "smooth" for a sports sedan and give very little feedback. that plus the excessive body roll and laggy shifts makes driving agressively more nervous than fun. the car has good techno gadgets and a pleasing styling, but overall i am not pleased with the car.

i guess in the end, which car is a better buy will depend on one's priorities. i love the way the 335i feels behind the wheels. and though the 335i may have its weak points, such as idrive, price, styling (for some), etc., i can easily overlook all those bad attributes and choose the 335i over the is350 without hessitation or doubt. in fact, i'd be more than willing to buy a 335i at a higher price and with less options and features than that of an is350 and still feel i have made the better purchase.

i'm still waiting to drive the new g35 when it comes out. from the reviews i've read about that car, i'm guessing i will prefer that car over the is350 as well. the question is will i prefer it over the 335i??

Penforhire

The IS is a great choice but I can't imagine how you felt there wasn't much body roll? My '06 test drive felt like an old Buick with big lean in turns, squat under acceleration, and dive on braking. Maybe the '07 is better?

Chris S

I can't confirm, but I've read that many dealers will discount the 335i significantly if you take European delivery since it doesn't cut into their allocations. Might be worth investigating on the bimmer forums.

I don't think I'd be able to pass on the 335i, I think about them all the time and am trying to resist the urge to stop by my dealer for a test drive.

y2ks2k

I

mav

[QUOTE=Penforhire,Sep 24 2006, 09:56 PM] The IS is a great choice but I can't imagine how you felt there wasn't much body roll?

VTEC_Junkie

1) no. the car did not have the sport suspension. from what i understood, the sport suspension, on the 06, can be had only by purchasing this every expensive option package that costs $6K-$8K, i forget exactly. this is the reason i believe, many of the 06 IS350s on the road do not have the sport suspensions. the same is true for xenon headlamps on the 06. since your car has the sport suspension, that's why you probably can't relate. nonetheless, the OP testdrove an IS without the sport suspension as well and i was merely relating to that. yes, the OP also stated that the IS he drove with no sport suspension cornered extremely flat. maybe his tolerance for level of body roll is different from mine, or maybe lexus has made some suspension improvements on the non sport suspension for the 07. who knows...

2) yes, i have lowered the seat all the way down, and have double checked each and every single time for the 20 or more times i've driven the car. unless there is a defect in his driver seat, then i personally feel the head room is inadequate. i'm 6'2", and i have to bend my neck forward when i drive the car which gets uncomfortable after a little while. my bro is only 5'11", and with the seat all the way down his head rubs against the headliner. my bro has a 350z and neither of us have headroom issues in his car, which was a huge surprise to us since we expected and anticipated a sports sedan to have more headroom than a sportscar. nevertheless, i really hope that it is just a defect in his seat, cuz the headroom issue from what i was able to experience is really unacceptable for me.

3) well, i've never driven an STI so i can't compare the two. maybe the fact that you own an IS350 and have spent more hours behind the wheels made you feel more accustomed and comfortable with its driving characteristics. i remember in high school i had a toyota corolla whose driving characteristics i knew like the back of my hands and felt extremely comfortable pushing that car to its limits in the corners even though the corolla was nowhere near a great handling car. nonetheless, my impression is based on my limited driving experience with the IS350 and 335i, and any comments i've made are relative to the 2 cars.

4) the only thing i liked about the tranny was the fact that it had a paddle shift. the tranny i had in mind and was comparing to when i made the comment was the auto tranny in the 350z and g35. compared with those trannys, the IS350 tranny lags noticeably and feels vague. the IS tranny also doesn't rev match when downshifting like the 350z auto tranny does as well as a handful of other contemporary manumatics. nonetheless, maybe the fact that you own the car allowed you to grow accustom to the shift timing of the car and that you intuitively tap the paddles a few ticks of a seconds before you actually want the tranny to shift gear. again, my impressions are based on limited seat time in the IS350, and those impressions are in comparison to my impressions of similar cars in that class that i've also had limited seat time in.

all in all, the IS350 is not a bad car. it's just, imo, more luxury than sport, which is the reverse of my priorities when it comes to luxury sports sedans. yes, the IS350 is fast and handles fine, but it does so so effortlessly and smoothly that it doesn't, imo, provide enough feedback to me, the driver, which makes it difficult for me to feel connected to the car. i'm sure if i owned the car i can and will get accustomed to its driving characteristics just like in any other car i've ever owned, but whatever confidence i develop for the car will be more or less a product of familiarity, and not because it is inherrently a superb sports sedan. again, the IS350 is not a bad sports sedan. it's just that compared with a 335i, the IS350 is a little difficient on the sports end...which is the criteria that matters to me most in luxury sports sedans.

heffergm

Like several others have said, you can't go wrong with either. What it came down to for me was $$$$... namely, because I have a connection at a Lexus dealership and I paid invoice for my car. For $15k less than what I could get a similarly optioned 335i for, there was never any real choice I'd not go with the IS.

That being said, I have no doubt the 335 is a better drivers car. However, given what the IS is, I'm quite happy with it. For a torque converter auto, the transmission is fantastic.

I also have no idea what people are talking about when complaining about body roll... admittedly, my car has the sport pkg, but there is hardly ANY body roll. Of course there's some weight transfer, but compared to my WRX which rolled like a pig, it's fantastic. (NOTE: if you've been test-driving the car with the standard 17" wheels and Potenza RE-92's, that could be a big part of your problem).

The steering is a bit light at speed, and weighting doesn't ramp up the way I'd like. But, it's an easy car to feel out regardless. Plus, there's so much grip and so little noise, I find myself carrying way more corner speed on the same stretches of road than I do in the S2000. I'm likely going to go up a size on the front tires (to 235's) when it comes time, as I think they under-tired the front to promote more understeer. The rear wears some nicely huge 255's.

As for looks, I don't think there's any comparison. The IS is gorgeous, the BMW is blah. Obviously a deeply personal opinion, but that was mine, and it certainly made the decision easier.


Oh... and as for the NAV voice, I'm 99.9% sure you can shut her up. I don't have NAV, but I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to disable the voice.

Penforhire

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r26372

I can't believe the IS350 is $43,000, seems about $10k overpriced for what you get. Haven't driven in the 335i, but several 330's and the BMW's have a much tighter feel and finish to them. Not sure how someone could hate BMWs but still love the IS350, they look similar to me, but the the BMW performs better. Lexus is still a semi-luxury brand, an upscale Toyota, while BMW is a luxury stand alone company.

clutchcargo

I'll bite

You mentioned BMW is a stand alone Luxury company.

We all know they own Mini.

Is Mini a luxury brand?

Beyond that, I liked my S2000 for six years but it was too uncomfy for commuting when I changed jobs.

I have had my IS 350 for nearly a year and like that a lot as well.

The Lexus as has been mentioned is more about comfort than sport and if that works for you, then you will be happy with it.

Regarding value and pricing, I feel by IS 350 was a better deal (based on list pricing) at 43 than my 04 TL at 33 (which after 2 years has a rattly poorly holding up interior).