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Lexus IS 250 AWD vs BMW 328i xDrive

JMapleton

JMapleton

Diamond Member
I'm considering these two cars right now. I don't need a new car, but I'm seriously considering getting rid of the ol' Scion Tc. It's served me well, but I think I may need to step up my game.

Give me your opinions on the two cars.

Please note however, I do not care much about power. I know most of you are power junkies. You'd rather have a 500hp Ford Escort than a 200hp Mercedes. I currently rock a 4 banger and it's just enough for me. I'm more about features, ride, and reliability.
 
bmw. the IS is a wannabe.

i've driven both, my cousin owns a 3 series that I have driven for an extended trip.
 
If power's not your bag, a loaded Focus is actually nicer than an IS or sub-loaded 3-series for the $. Honestly. And your insurance, fuel, and reliability will all be as good or better. FWD w/traction control and decent tires is 95% of the ability of AWD unless you're gonna offroad the thing anyway. AWD does dick to help you turn or stop if your traction is over the limit.

If it's a badge you want, but still a good car, a G37x is better than the 250 or 328 by a fair margin, and they've proven to be reliable with good resale.
 
Arkaign said:
If it's a badge you want, but still a good car, a G37x is better than the 250 or 328 by a fair margin, and they've proven to be reliable with good resale.
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I honestly think the Infiniti is fugly. It's kind of a "lost brand". They've had a hard time rebuilding their model line after many of their models have bit the dust.
 
What's your budget and is AWD necessary?

You'll need to option out the 328 to make it anything but an average car in its segment. That will cost you. Assuming you want Nav, go to the dealer and test it out - some people love iDrive, some hate it.

The Lexus is kind of bland, but it will be comfortable and probably more reliable than the BMW. Whether you like the looks better is your call. It will probably offer fewer features/options than the BMW.

I'd go test drive both and then think about what you really want. If you're really focused on gadgetry, you might want to throw a Mercedes in there, as well as a Ford.

I just did my own shopping. AWD was a requirement, and I later decided I wanted more ground clearance and cargo space, so I went with an Outback. I'm not exactly killing it on style points, but I did save 15-20k by not buying the 328 wagon, which honestly wasn't that exciting either. But I was shopping wagons.

Most interesting thing I've driven this year is the Ford Focus Titanium w/ Nav. If you spend a lot of time in the car, it's hard to beat unless you need a mid-size or AWD. The interior entertainment/electronics are the best on the market, its comfortable, etc. Again, probably not what you're shopping for, but if you have a chance to drive one do it anyway.
 
My wife drives an IS250, we have almost 80,000 miles on it and it has been pretty good overall. Only problem we had was a kind of growling noise when you first start it cold, the dealer replaced all 4 camshafts under warranty. Only issue we've had with it really...other than the lack of power. Even my wife has commented that we probably should have gotten the IS350.

The only other complaints I have are the size, it is a smallish car so if you're going to be hauling 4 adults regularly, look elsewhere. For our family of 2 and one child it works fine. Last is how low it sits. You really have to watch it pulling into parking spots so as not to hit the lower edge of the front bumper on the curb.

We have owned 2 3-series BMWs. Never again. You just can't put extended miles on these cars without spending a lot of money in repairs.
 
I've driven many 328xis, and personally I think the AWD kind of kills the car. Why are you thinking AWD? I drive a RWD BMW all winter in Minnesota, and it works great with snow tires - it's actually the best winter car I've ever had. Also, don't buy a 3 series without the Sport package.
 
I'd vote for the 328xi.

And it may sound weird, but I also think it would be worth checking out a loaded Focus. It may be a waste of time but you may fall in love with it and save yourself several grand.
 
mb said:
I'd vote for the 328xi.

And it may sound weird, but I also think it would be worth checking out a loaded Focus. It may be a waste of time but you may fall in love with it and save yourself several grand.
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That's what I was trying to get at.

I just went to the Lexus site and did the MINIMAL IS250 AWD w/NAV. Zero other options. Total? $40,565.

It *is* a nice car. But it's not worth $40k by any stretch of the imagination, not even close.

A Focus Titanium will have about the same interior quality, with better audio/nav/BT/etc. It will also be about identical in performance. All with dramatically better fuel economy, cheaper insurance, and cheaper maintenance. A lexus badge isn't worth $10k+ initial cost imho.
 
JMapleton said:
I honestly think the Infiniti is fugly. It's kind of a "lost brand". They've had a hard time rebuilding their model line after many of their models have bit the dust.
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I'm not sure what this means? The G-series is a sales monster. And it's a very good car, although I have HUGE reservations about the neutered G25.
 
Arkaign said:
That's what I was trying to get at.

I just went to the Lexus site and did the MINIMAL IS250 AWD w/NAV. Zero other options. Total? $40,565.

It *is* a nice car. But it's not worth $40k by any stretch of the imagination, not even close.

A Focus Titanium will have about the same interior quality, with better audio/nav/BT/etc. It will also be about identical in performance. All with dramatically better fuel economy, cheaper insurance, and cheaper maintenance. A lexus badge isn't worth $10k+ initial cost imho.
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What do you need NAV and AWD for? We paid $33k for our IS250.
 
Arkaign said:
FWD w/traction control and decent tires is 95% of the ability of AWD unless you're gonna offroad the thing anyway. AWD does dick to help you turn or stop if your traction is over the limit.
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It sounds like you have never run a good AWD vehicle into the corners. I have driven a modded A4 and a stock STi hard. AWD is truly something to behold with cornering. I have only ever owned R/FWD vehicles. My next car will be an AWD vehicle, but i am considering RWDs too. The torque steer and lift-off over steer are things i do not want to deal with anymore.
 
homercles337 said:
It sounds like you have never run a good AWD vehicle into the corners. I have driven a modded A4 and a stock STi hard. AWD is truly something to behold with cornering. I have only ever owned R/FWD vehicles. My next car will be an AWD vehicle, but i am considering RWDs too. The torque steer and lift-off over steer are things i do not want to deal with anymore.
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Wuss...:awe:

Only drawback to AWD is complexity, added weight, and propensity to break when launched hard...at least that is certainly true with the turbocharged Subarus, especially once you start adding power.
 
homercles337 said:
It sounds like you have never run a good AWD vehicle into the corners. I have driven a modded A4 and a stock STi hard. AWD is truly something to behold with cornering. I have only ever owned R/FWD vehicles. My next car will be an AWD vehicle, but i am considering RWDs too. The torque steer and lift-off over steer are things i do not want to deal with anymore.
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Eh. I've driven well modified DSM and WRX (no STIs, sadly) really hard. I like them, but I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe that they are any better at handling than a good RWD provided you're on a decent surface. As for taking an AWD vehicle to the limits on loose surfaces, I honestly don't have the balls to do that in any situation where there's a ton of trees/ditches/dropoffs/etc off the course. If you go into a turn too hard, AWD is not a magic bullet that can magically bend physics to your will.

Lap times on the 'Ring, TG track, C&D Hot Laps, Laguna Seca road car tests, etc, all bear this out. STI's put up good times because of good grip and power/weight.

Like anything it's a bit of a tradeoff. I can totally understand choosing AWD in certain parts of the country. Here in TX it's a bit of a waste. The added weight and drivetrain losses usually penalize AWD variants of the cars, as is true with the IS250 vs. IS250 AWD, 328i vs. 328xi, and G37 vs. G37x. In each case the RWD variant is lighter, faster, cheaper, and more fuel efficient.
 
I'll say it again, the Focus is a car that surprises (in a good way) car people. It's worth a look to anyone considering a compact.

I love my Outback, but if I didn't have to commute 40 miles in the winter in Northern New England, I'd have gotten a loaded Focus. Sync and My Ford Touch are awesome. The car is comfortable. Seats 4 adults comfortably (in a compact!) and has decent cargo space, with an available hatchback if you want that.

It's a compact for car people, and I never thought I'd say that about a domestic, let alone a Ford.

If it has to be a luxury brand, the 328 is a nice enough car, but it's not really exciting in any respect. I'd go for the IS on reliability or step up to the 335, but I prefer that for the power.
 
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sjwaste said:
I'll say it again, the Focus is a car that surprises (in a good way) car people. It's worth a look to anyone considering a compact.

I love my Outback, but if I didn't have to commute 40 miles in the winter in Northern New England, I'd have gotten a loaded Focus. Sync and My Ford Touch are awesome. The car is comfortable. Seats 4 adults comfortably (in a compact!) and has decent cargo space, with an available hatchback if you want that.

It's a compact for car people, and I never thought I'd say that about a domestic, let alone a Ford.

If it has to be a luxury brand, the 328 is a nice enough car, but it's not really exciting in any respect. I'd go for the IS on reliability or step up to the 335, but I prefer that for the power.
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I couldn't agree more except for the 335i comment, that thing seems plagued with problems BMW cannot cure. I wouldn't want to own one out of warranty that's for sure.

I've driven the 2012 Ford Focus Titanium and it is a very attractive car in many respects. Great fuel efficiency, reasonably sporty, loaded with technology and upscale interior, good looks, and useable space in the hatch version. This is a car I would seriously consider buying to replace my aging Nissan Maxima...it hasn't quite reached that age yet though.
 
Sometimes I wonder if any the people that comment drove either cars. Some of the information given seems like straight up what they hear through the grapevine or as "common knowledge".

Go and test drive the cars that you want to buy and make a well informed decision for yourself.

That said, I would never buy an IS 250.

And the only freaking problem with the 335i seems to be "plagued" with is the HPFP, which is covered until 100K.
 
SSSnail said:
Sometimes I wonder if any the people that comment drove either cars. Some of the information given seems like straight up what they hear through the grapevine or as "common knowledge".

Go and test drive the cars that you want to buy and make a well informed decision for yourself.

That said, I would never buy an IS 250.

And the only freaking problem with the 335i seems to be "plagued" with is the HPFP, which is covered until 100K.
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I own an IS250 and I wouldn't buy another one but that's just because it really is a bit too small for our needs. As for the 335i (which isn't even being considered by the OP), I wouldn't want to own one out of warranty...which is what I said. We'll see how that DSG holds up over time. I won't try to refute your comments with third party anecdotal evidence but suffice it to say that the Lemon Law was used in one case.

Honestly, I wouldn't buy either one.
 
Arkaign said:
I'm not sure what this means? The G-series is a sales monster. And it's a very good car, although I have HUGE reservations about the neutered G25.
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The G series is their entire line, everything else has faded away. Their SUV sales crashed when they turned the QX into a school bus. They stopped producing their flagship sedan the QI because they couldn't compete with Lexus. No one buys the M. FX gets decennt sales but I think they're super fugly.

It's a one model brand, the G series, nothing else. The whole brand would fold if it wasn't for the G. I don't foresee Infiniti lasting much more than 10 years if they don't expand their brand.
 
sjwaste said:
I'll say it again, the Focus is a car that surprises (in a good way) car people. It's worth a look to anyone considering a compact.
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I'm sure the Focus is a great car and it's come a long way, but I would like some luxury and style. I would just rather keep my Scion than get a Focus. I'm trying to upgrade.
 
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