[FotiosF90M5]

Im curious as to how the performance is in that car. Has anyone test driven one yet?

[juuni]

Originally Posted by fotios330i

Im curious as to how the performance is in that car. Has anyone test driven one yet?

yeah. 3 times. never felt excited about it. i was really into this car until i test drove it, it was then a big deception. it was already a boring ride by the end of the test drive.

... then tried G35 / 350Z... and then E90 which finalized my decicion process as a no brainer.

[juuni]

otherwise the IS350 is fast and smooth / quiet. nice interior. not spacious enough though... it's just too boring to drive IMHO.

[SP330]

The car performs well, you just don't get many visceral thrills out of it.

[Minipuck V 2.0]

the car performs well but a bit small like others have said. there is a lot of power, but its weird that its quiet

[AndrewAZ]

Yes.. I got a younger sales guy that let me drive the crap out of it. In terms of strait line speed its fast I am not going to deny that but its not as fast as the 335i, but the difference is the feeling of acceleration is not a fun as the 335i in my opinion. The one I test drove had an auto (which all IS350 have) but it had paddle shifters (Dont know if all 350 have them or not) anyways the paddle shifters were worthless, you couldn't short shift and if you ended up going WOT the car would auto downshift. As for handling, all I have to say is if this car did not have all the computers that it as for traction control and stability you would be in trouble, the car had no feel or feedback, to me the cars computer seemed to make a lot of under steer when going around corner flooring it I felt a tendency to plow unlike the BMWs that the back end kicks out.

As for interior, I felt for $38k everything was cheap especially the buttons, I didnt like the dash layout or the instrument cluster it just seemed cheep, the exterior I wont even talk about it was just ugly standing next to it, one thing you dont notice when you see them on the street is the size of the mirror they are seriously larger than what you get on a hummer.

Overall the lexus people were full of crap... And they always tried to compare it to the BMW in terms of acceleration (one guy tried to tell me it did 0-60 in 4 seconds) , then they tried to pull the it handles better than the BMW... After the test drive I hopped back into my M3 and had a good laugh with my buddy who went with me.

[aznshrek88]

I test drove it too, one of my friends told me that it was too smooth, its very quiet and I agree that Paddle shifters weren't very good.

As for reviews, Stevens Creek Lexus in the Bay Area quick review:
My mom currently owns a Lexus and we pulled into the lot. At first we waited for 30 minutes without ANY help, and one salesperson even snubbed me, he went to another person who had just got there and I know he didn't have an appointment. So we left... when we got back , we still waited another 20 minutes before our test drive. The salesperson...some guy didn't even explain the features or benefits... so Thumbs DOWN on Stevens Creek Lexus...

Oh and my new bimmer is coming in, I got a graphite 328i coupe, i can't wait!

[TiAg335i]

Its VERY small and a bit cramped inside. The ride is smooth and isolated. If you are comparing the two if you want luxury and technology get the lexus.

[bmwzimmer]

Front end looks better than the E90 IMO but rear end looks too small for the car. It's pretty fast and smooth and was my 2nd choice when I bought my 335

[FotiosF90M5]

I personally wouldn't even think about buying that car over my bmw, it just seems to dull. Im just sick of some people saying that it outperforms the bmw and how fast it is. The new toyota camry is pretty fast but I would never buy one. nothing compares to the 3 series.The stance and solidness of it is simply unmatched.

[OC Guy]

Very nice sedan. You can get great deals in them, my gf just bought an IS250. I have driven the 350 hard though. The IS is a much quieter and luxurious car compared to the BMW. However the steering feedback is somewhat floaty and does not provide as much feedback as the 3 Series. In a BMW, you feel one with the road, in the IS, you feel somewhat disconnected. Some people like this and some people prefer to feel connected to the road. Both are great cars.

Other than the performance issues, two things about it's lack of rear room. Headroom is low, when getting out of the car, even if you are short, you need to watch your head. Not as much legroom as a 3, but unless the people in the front are very tall, I don't see it being a big problem fitting in the car. Lastly, the backseat does not fold down, for many, this could be a deal breaker.

The service in general in my experience is great. Lexus is known for this but there are always exceptions as noted in the post above.

[Insider]

I went around a turn that I take my M3 around and the IS350 leaned so much I thought I was going to crash. The transmission doesn't hold gears, pretty lame.

Also, people on here say how quiet it is. If you look at the various magazine reviews that measure interior noise levels you will find that the BMW is actually quieter than the Lexus. You will also find that Car and Driver rates the BMW as smoother riding than the IS350. Even though everyone always says how smooth and quiet the Lexus is. The stats show otherwise.

[HyperM3]

I liked it. Test drove it twice. Too small inside and no folding rear seats. No option of a manual. Everyone on my block has one. Not much personality. Come loaded with options though and the dashboard is really nice. If youre going to be sporty though, at least let me have the option of a manual.

[Javier]

I test drove the is350 before i drove the e90. It was nice and fast, felt great. Anyways, I ended up getting the 328i which is way slower than the is350 but the handling is way way way better. I'd rather have a barebones 328i (mine is pretty loaded though) than an is 350. Dont get me wrong its a VERY nice car, but the e90 is just so much more fun to drive.

After owning the bmw for about a month i drove my friends is250 and it just felt horrible and so inferior to the BMW (no offense to lexus owners) handlingwise...

the bmw is just a Better hadling better performing car.
The lexus interior is nice though.


on look and amenities the is has a slight edge.
but the BMW blows it clear out of the water in everythin else

[Javier]

in short The IS350 has good performance. (in a straight line)

Nowhere near the BMW 328i or 335i

[johnc_22]

My boss has a 3 year lease on one and I think he partially regrets not going for the S4 or 550i he was looking at (he had an E46 M3 a few years ago). It's definitely a fast car, and I spent a good 40 minutes in it yesterday as a passenger. It's not for me as I just like the aesthetics of Euro cars, but for a fun car for someone who's not looking for ultimate performance I don't think there's anything wrong with it so long as you don't frequently have rear passengers or need fold-down seats. I can't compare it to my 335i because well . . . I don't have it yet! As others have pointed out the center stack is very transparently metallic colored plastic which IMO should be something a bit more upscale in a car of this class. Everyone says the electronics are superior and obviously the rear camera is a nice to have. He accompanied me on my test drive of the 335i and said yesterday if the 335i had been available when he decided to get a new car he'd definitely have opted for the bimmer. The lease deals on the 550i and S4 at the time were not so good.

[pokerface]

it looks like a toyota inside. just higher quality materials, but the design is clearly toyota.

[tibbz]

I'm not bashing on the IS350, its a nice car but not my taste. The car is too small even though it has four doors. Visibility out the rear windshield is not good. Only comes in auto () IMHO Lexus is more a luxury sport car while BMWs are more a sport luxury. We just have to wait for the IS-F I guess....

[borsalino]

I drove the is250 and it was a very comfortable ride and it is car that you would buy if you don't like driving because the driver is not very involved. I really considering buying this car, but once I drove the 328i I had to get the bmw it is a far superior car in every aspect.

[krazykanuck]

I've driven both the 335i and IS350.

IS350:

-Quite quick
-Capable handling, but not a good feel with the road. You are pretty disconnected.
-Better quality interior materials than the 3
-Horrid back seat room
-Better NAV than the BMW (touchscreen vs. idrive)

3 series

-Much better road feel
-Manual option
-Feels faster due to torque (335i)

They're both great cars, but the IS is much more tame than the 3. If I'm not paying for the car I'd get the 335i, but for what the IS350 costs its a great car. That said, I would not take the 328i over the IS350. I care too much about power to make that trade off.

[scottwww]

After test driving the 335i coupe I did test drive the IS350. I couldn't see past the automatic transmission.

[dmboone25]

I agree about the transmission--when i found out that there was no MT available on the 350, i never seriously considered it again. To me, the far less expensive 328i E92 that i got felt superior in every way but straightaway speed--so if they think that car compares with the 335, they are REALLY fooling themselves--the bimmer is just much more of a driver's car. the lexus is a living room on wheels...

Also--i hated the way that Lexus "packaged" extras on the car--you had to get some absurd 8K package in order to get HID headlights--not the personal touch that BMW gives a buyer--build the car how you want and be happy with it! for the IS350....