Has anyone moved to Lexus from BMW ?

[stevegant]

I'm not a Lexus driver yet but may be in due course !

I currently run a BMW 420D Auto as a company car and I've had several BMW's as company cars over the years.

Having done the maths (company car tax etc,)  it would appear (on paper) that the IS would save me an appreciable amount of money.  F-SPORT spec with plus pack would tick all my boxes.

I have a 3 day test drive next week but I'm interested if anyone has moved from BMW to Lexus and if they have an opinion on this move?

My only reservations are the foot operated parking brake but I guess I'd get used to that ?

 

 

 

 

[Thackeray]

5 minutes ago, stevegant said:

My only reservations are the foot operated parking brake

It isn't really a practical issue as you don't need it for hill-starts. (The hill-start function stops the car rolling back when you take your foot off the footbrake to press the accelerator.) It also operates more smoothly than some of the Mercedes versions of  foot operated parking brakes.

Coming from an automatic you won't find the e-cvt transmission hugely different. Drivers used to manual gearboxes sometimes find it difficult to get used to. But the main difference compared with a conventional automatic is that there are no pauses or lurching between gears - there are no gears as such!

[BrunoLeal]

Hi there.

I moved in August from an 2011 330d Coupé to the Lexus IS300h.

The car has a very good drive, silent, etc. but it's not for car enthusiast. I really can't compare the pleasure of driving that BMW with this one. Actually my main driver to change to Lexus was maintenance costs (road tax, insurance, etc), try to help the little I can the environment and speeding... 😐 Got 5 points on my license so I had to change.

One other thing to take into consideration is that actually despite the Lexus easy services they are very expensive and it's not easy to find proper mechanics for Lexus. I had very good Lithuanian garage here and they serviced my BMW perfectly! (of course this makes less sense for new cars as I bet BMW charges more for services)

Apart from that I'm happy with Lexus and probably you are better served there in the UK than I'm in Ireland...here the main dealer is a complete crap!

In regards to the foot operated parking, as I did with BMW I don't use the hand/foot brake...I just park the car in P and that's it!

[lordlen21]

I moved from a 2013 F31 320i to an IS300h Exec (now have an Audi A4 tdi btw) and here’s my pros and cons:

Pros
Better quality interior.
More relaxing drive.
More luxurious and upmarket feel,even compared to my Audi.
Very smooth around town.
Much better standard audio system.
Great dealers.
Petrol engine so no need for Adblue (PITA) or feet covered in diesel.
Very quiet at speed.
Very reliable. My bmw broke down and had loads of trim issues and road noise was terrible. All I had on the Lexus was a buzzing cup holder.
High quality paintwork.
Sound insulating glass as standard.
Very economical, averaged around 46mpg in mixed driving.
Good standard kit : keyless entry, folding rear seats (Audi also have this), folding mirrors.

Cons
Expensive servicing.
Felt a bit unstable at high speed (probably a good thing as it made me slow down on the motorway)
Not enjoyable to drive on a country road.....just relaxing. The gearbox is not really connected directly to the wheels (eCVT) and doesn’t compare well to the 7 speed ZF auto that BMWs use. However, that does make the Lexus super smooth.
Infotainment is way behind but tbh, that is probably a good thing as there’s too many distractions in modern cars.
High depreciation and dealer pricing for used is way too high. Check the price against webuyanycar and you may be surprised as the premium is often 4K above the trade in price.

I’ve looked at going back to an IS a couple of times as they’re very nice, compared to the BMW, and the foot brake is no problem I only used it twice in a journey due to the hill start assist.

Reading the above list, looks like I’ll be looking at one again soon as diesel rattle is jarring.



Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

[wharfhouse]

I have had a long string of BMWs (company cars and also cars purchased myself but used on business) before moving to Lexus (which I purchased myself but use for business) - including more recently a BMW 330i and going back a few years the legendary BMW E39 528i (I put 200k+ miles from new on that car I liked it so much). Much as I liked driving all the BMWs I had become rather bored with them - as the generations moved on it felt like same old, same old. After a lot of consideration about what I could change to, I decided to make a break and go with something left field and take the plunge into hybrid with an IS 300h. I was sold on the IS 300h after a 24 hour test drive (I bought a 2 year old used one from a Lexus dealer to get into the car quickly and also in case I wasn't convinced longer term to minimise losses). Yes it hasn't quite got the raw power of my previous 330i and the E-CVT is a little different to the conventional auto (but not in a bad way IMO), but for everyday driving (so not lapping the Nürburgring!) which let's face it, as you live in the south of the country like me, other then the very odd occasion, is a life full of road works and traffic, it is one of the best cars I have driven. I liken it to my E39 528i for the serene way in which it just eats up the miles in silence and comfort - more of well mannered and nicely handling long distance tourer than a point and squirt. I look forward to undertaking long journeys of a few hundred miles again now and get out at the end still feeling refreshed - similar journeys were starting to feel tiresome in the BMW 3 series (to which the IS 300h compares - not sure how a new BMW 5 series would feel). In terms of my best cars ever I now have the BMW E39 528i and the IS 300h in top slots! I had a Mercedes C class for a couple of months last year as a hire car (due to an accident in mine meaning it was in the repair shop for quite a while) and I was so glad to get out of that car and back to the IS 300h - the Mercedes just did not live up to any expectation I had of the brand. And I have a colleague who has had a couple of recent BMW 335d's - again a lot of raw power but just sound so agricultural - and the stop-start system was just tiresome. On your question of the foot operated parking brake, like Bruno it really isn't needed much as the car has hill start assist which works perfectly and on the flat I also just leave it in P (as I used to do with conventional auto boxes) - I only use it when parking on a hill and then it works fine. Simply press to engage it before moving into P and press again to disengage with right foot on the foot brake while in D or R and ready to move off (hill start assist holds the car once the parking brake disengages and you move from the foot brake to the accelerator). 

As you have a 3 day test drive that should give you a chance to feel the car in your normal driving routine. With a short test drive it's all too easy to drive the car in a different way to day-to-day and then take away a wrong impression - and this IMO is where a lot of the journalist reviews fall foul and why the IS 300h tends to drop some stars for the drive train as they generally expect every car they test to compare to a track car... floor the throttle everywhere! Whether you love the IS 300h or not will to a large extent depend on your driving style and needs and so assess it against that - if that's like lapping the Nürburgring assess it on that, if it's soldiering along the motorways and A roads in long distance driving comfort or stop-start through the cities day-after-day assess it against those criteria.

Good luck with the test drive.

[stevegant]

Thanks for the amazing detail in the replies.  Some really useful comments presented.  Fortunately I'm not worried about maintenance costs/depreciation as they are covered via my employer.  Hadn't really thought about  the quality of the infotainment/Sat Nav so i'll check that out when I get my test drive next week.  Going to be a tough decision but the saving of £150 per month on car tax/trade-up is appealing.  Actually, looking at the depreciation, I could look to opt out of the company scheme and buy a new-ish IS300?  Going to be a tough decision !

One final question - looks as if the alloy wheels on the F-Sport are painted and not diamond cut?  Can anyone confirm?  I've just about had enough of the diamond cut rims on my current BMW which don't like the British winters.......

[wharfhouse]

5 minutes ago, stevegant said:

Thanks for the amazing detail in the replies.  Some really useful comments presented.  Fortunately I'm not worried about maintenance costs/depreciation as they are covered via my employer.  Hadn't really thought about  the quality of the infotainment/Sat Nav so i'll check that out when I get my test drive next week.  Going to be a tough decision but the saving of £150 per month on car tax/trade-up is appealing.  Actually, looking at the depreciation, I could look to opt out of the company scheme and buy a new-ish IS300?  Going to be a tough decision !

One final question - looks as if the alloy wheels on the F-Sport are painted and not diamond cut?  Can anyone confirm?  I've just about had enough of the diamond cut rims on my current BMW which don't like the British winters.......

I opted out of company run cars to buy my own car some years back (the company gave me a fixed monthly amount towards the cost of the car and a mileage allowance) - it takes some number crunching to work out what is best at a personal level though, especially if a company also pay for all fuel (business and private). More recently I run my own business (a limited company) and looked at the best way to run a car for business use and came to the conclusion I would buy privately and claim the full mileage allowance (45p per mile of business use) plus reclaiming vat (as my company is vat registered) on the petrol element (using HMRC guidelines for the % of the mileage allowance that can be reclaimed against vat). The Lexus IS 300h therefore made a good case for itself for my business and of course I had the flexibility of purchasing new or used.

[stevegant]

41 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

I opted out of company run cars to buy my own car some years back (the company gave me a fixed monthly amount towards the cost of the car and a mileage allowance) - it takes some number crunching to work out what is best at a personal level though, especially if a company also pay for all fuel (business and private). More recently I run my own business (a limited company) and looked at the best way to run a car for business use and came to the conclusion I would buy privately and claim the full mileage allowance (45p per mile of business use) plus reclaiming vat (as my company is vat registered) on the petrol element (using HMRC guidelines for the % of the mileage allowance that can be reclaimed against vat). The Lexus IS 300h therefore made a good case for itself for my business and of course I had the flexibility of purchasing new or used.

Thank you -  food for thought.  I'm going to do the maths later !

[doog442]

I've just moved from a 3rd Gen IS (IS200t) back to BMW (F30 340i.) for my sins - I've had two Lexus and two BMW's since 2007 . I've been back and forth twice and its getting a little expensive . The previous move from BMW to Lexus was two years ago.   

Performance is night and day different as to be expected with the BMW and the reason I went back -again. Auto gearbox in BMW is sublime as is the straight six.

Build quality - both seem similar but the forums will tell you otherwise- read this forum and you will see IS faults are as rare as rocking horse poo, unlike BMW . 

Cabin noise - as above, F30 shades it on the motorway, wind noise on passenger side of IS above 60 ish worth listening for. 

Infotainment / Sat nav- BMW by a country mile - if this is a thing for you it could be a deal breaker. 

Cabin : prefer Lexus although not much left leg room, it feels quite compact for a tall bloke. More room in F30 in rear.

Looks : prefer the Lexus at some angles but its obviously subjective. 

alloys - IS are soft, really soft - softer than cheese (the hard cheese) 

Boot space - Both practical within reason in that the seats go down - Important to me but not enough to buy an F31.  

Air con / heating : Lexus warms up very quickly but I could never get the temp right. One part of me was always hot or cold.  

Reliability : No issues with IS  (or my previous BMW's) - there I've said it but wait - I've got a 3 year warranty 🙂

Dealers : Mixed experience with Lexus since 2007 -  no issues with BMW / MIni (two minis in the house)

 

To get a decent feel have a good read of the forum. Its pretty quiet because not much goes wrong with the IS its fair to say so it has to be an excellent choice (along with your monthly saving)

[olliesgrandad]

I had an f sport IS300h and can confirm wheels are not diamond cut and had no problems with them

[Steve44]

I haven’t owned a BMW, but have been in and driven a few journeys in one. Have run a 1st Gen IS300h Fsport as a company car for 3 yrs 80k miles and then opted out and bought a facelift one with my own money, 18mths and 31k in.

Have loved both cars. Looks, style, interior, drive, ride, performance and economy are all great IMHO. You will be an oddity, you will see only a couple of Lexus a day if you’re lucky, rather than a few hundred 420’s!

Yes the infotainment maybe isn’t as slick, but with an Iphone it all works fine. You don’t get as many fancy gadgets as you Can option on a BMW, but spec a BMW 3 series to the same spec as an FSport IS and see the cost difference! The chassis on an IS is really pretty good, yes it’s not as a powerful as a 330, but it is more than capable of hustling on a A or B road.

FSport alloys are a weakness, they are soft, the tyres offer no protection, and the paint colour can’t be matched (it’s a kind of smoked grey) my advice, buy alloy insurance as you will kerb them.

Also if the std F sport suspension seems too stiff, then spec the Adaptive suspension, it softens it slightly to similar to standard cars and also gives you a customisable drive mode as a bonus! FSport leather is a must and the quality is a step ahead of BMW Daytona hippo hide!

Enjoy the test ride, hope the car meets the expectations. We would be interested in your thoughts post....

[MadJam250]

I've owned 3 Lexus (including my current CT200h) and 2 BMWs (2003 E46 320Ci and 2011 E81 116i). The Lexuses (?) beat BMW hands down especially for reliability, refinement and exclusivity. The BMWs had a plethora of expensive and major issues whereas the Lexus had just one (a squeaky dash in my IS250). Visit a few BMW owners' forums and you will see stacks of threads on issues/problema  (many serious), which just about says it all. So much for being the alleged Ultimate Driving Machine!

Delighted to be back in a Lexus and if possible I hope to stay with the brand ad infinitum. As many of us know, they may be an expensive buy, but the reassurance of their overall reliability, refinement/luxury and excellent customer service is hard to equal elsewhere for the same price point. BMWs are so common too; it's nice to own something much more exclusive  (let alone far better on all counts, at least in my opinion).

[Pink]

A few months ago I came from an E60 BMW (530d) to an IS300h Executive. The two are not immediately comparable, as the IS is a 3-series equivalent rather than a 5, but my early observations are :-

Interior – I prefer the Lexus. The quality of the leather is much softer than the hard Beemer stuff, and the cabin generally is brighter, more interesting and a nicer place to be. Whilst the infotainment is a bit clunky it’s not really an issue. The relatively high drive shaft and centre console actually reminds me of an old E30 318is I owned back in the day, and feels driver-focussed and much like a cockpit. Only real downside for me is the cheap & nasty plastic used on the lower door areas. Passengers I’ve carried in the car also prefer the Lexus, except for the weird placement of the cup-holders in the front, where the passenger rests their arm.

Exterior – Marginally prefer the Lexus. I still love the styling of the old E60, but the IS styling is sharper and definitely more unique and individual than both my 5 and also the current 3 series in my opinion. Whilst the IS has that rarity factor though, it noticeably has less of a “presence” on the road than the E60.

Ride – The Lexus is lovely and quiet and personally I love the CVT transmission’s smoothness, but it not even close to my 530d for driving experience, although not immediately comparable. The Lexus’s handling is surprisingly stable and poised though, but it’s definitely less well insulated from outside noise, both wind and tyres. It also seems much more sensitive to the road surface than the Beemer, and feels that tyre choice can make quite a difference here.

[Vlady]

Hi, I am like Gareth (@Pink) above came from an e60 525d and BMW was better from driving point of view, seats had more support in them and much better heaters in them. I think Lexus is much comfier and quieter, I am much calmer driver in Lexus too so better for my license. My Lexus is more expensive to insure though.

CVT box, I guess it takes time to get used to, CVT is very smooth and I liked in BMW a kick in the back when you floor the accelerator!

Interior is better quality on my Lexus, cooling seat option is great, great Mark Levinson music as I hated the quality of the music in e60.

I preferred an e60 i-drive system to Lexus but I think by now I got used to it so no biggy.

I also like the rarity of the car on the road, it is too many BMW out there just now, plus Lexus is more relaible and I do not have on a back of mind mind that something will go wrong shortly - EGR, DPF etc.

 

[stevegant]

WOW - I am simply amazed and grateful for the level of response.  Just had confirmation that my demo car will be with me on Monday so looking forward to the 'test'.    The maths tell me that this is a sensible plan and the feedback above also tells me that I'm not barking mad to consider the switch !  Just need to see what 3 days with the Lexus is like. 

[royoftherovers]

1 minute ago, stevegant said:

WOW - I am simply amazed and grateful for the level of response.  Just had confirmation that my demo car will be with me on Monday so looking forward to the 'test'.    The maths tell me that this is a sensible plan and the feedback above also tells me that I'm not barking made to consider the switch !  Just need to see what 3 days with the Lexus is like. 

Stephen,

When one reaches a certain age, level of experience  and responsibility, in life the decision is really a no brainer.

When one has not reached those levels, the decision is also a no brainer, but one with possible adverse consequences  for one`s pocket and licence.

Do enjoy the 3 days and good luck with whatever decision  you make.

And do please let us all know what happens!

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, stevegant said:

WOW - I am simply amazed and grateful for the level of response.  Just had confirmation that my demo car will be with me on Monday so looking forward to the 'test'.    The maths tell me that this is a sensible plan and the feedback above also tells me that I'm not barking mad to consider the switch !  Just need to see what 3 days with the Lexus is like. 

I've maxed the IS out and it doesn't feel unstable at speed as someone else mentioned. Felt no different to a BMW 440i at speed tbh. 

[TBi]

23 hours ago, rayaans said:

I've maxed the IS out and it doesn't feel unstable at speed as someone else mentioned. Felt no different to a BMW 440i at speed tbh. 

Probably due to tyres. I've replaced the dealer fit Bridgestones with Michelin PS4's and it's transformed the car. It was always good (no issues on motorway) but now it's a lot more planted and hugs curves better.

To answer OP, my biggest issues coming from a BMW (e60 520i) are:

- Stupid automatic wipers stay on so next time you start the car in the rain the wipers 'wipe. Grand until the windscreen is frozen and you panic as the wipers self destroy themselves.

- The heating is grand but on long journey's i find it randomly blows in cold air. So you are driving along all snug and cozy and then you are freezing... May just be my car though.

- Stupid touch controls for heating. Can't use them with a glove on and they beep loudly, not good when you have a sleeping child in the car.

- Radio turns off when you turn off the car. On a BMW it will stay on for a while until you lock the car.

- Even worse you can't open/close the windows unless the car is on, not just accessory mode but ignition on. Stupid stupid design. My car has electric steering wheel which moves away when you turn car off. So every time i want to adjust the windows i have to turn the car on, which makes the wheel move.

- I miss having everything controlled by iDrive. e.g. the tyre pressure monitoring.

 

Otherwise i love the car. Much more relaxing to drive than the BMW. I love the cvt for lack of gear transitions when driving.

[rayaans]

16 minutes ago, TBi said:

Probably due to tyres. I've replaced the dealer fit Bridgestones with Michelin PS4's and it's transformed the car. It was always good (no issues on motorway) but now it's a lot more planted and hugs curves better.

To answer OP, my biggest issues coming from a BMW (e60 520i) are:

- Stupid automatic wipers stay on so next time you start the car in the rain the wipers 'wipe. Grand until the windscreen is frozen and you panic as the wipers self destroy themselves.

- The heating is grand but on long journey's i find it randomly blows in cold air. So you are driving along all snug and cozy and then you are freezing... May just be my car though.

- Stupid touch controls for heating. Can't use them with a glove on and they beep loudly, not good when you have a sleeping child in the car.

- Radio turns off when you turn off the car. On a BMW it will stay on for a while until you lock the car.

- Even worse you can't open/close the windows unless the car is on, not just accessory mode but ignition on. Stupid stupid design. My car has electric steering wheel which moves away when you turn car off. So every time i want to adjust the windows i have to turn the car on, which makes the wheel move.

- I miss having everything controlled by iDrive. e.g. the tyre pressure monitoring.

 

Otherwise i love the car. Much more relaxing to drive than the BMW. I love the cvt for lack of gear transitions when driving.

I think the heating is down to temperature in the cabin. So if you've set it at 22 for example and it goes to 23 it'll blow in cold air to push it back down.

You realise you can use the infotainment system to change the temperature right? 

[TBi]

1 hour ago, rayaans said:

I think the heating is down to temperature in the cabin. So if you've set it at 22 for example and it goes to 23 it'll blow in cold air to push it back down.

You realise you can use the infotainment system to change the temperature right? 

My BMW never did this. It would blow slightly warmer or colder air to gradually cool the temperature down. On a long journey i never noticed it. The Lexus just blows cold air and gets noticeably colder in the cabin for a good few minutes.

 

[BrunoLeal]

q

16 minutes ago, TBi said:

My BMW never did this. It would blow slightly warmer or colder air to gradually cool the temperature down. On a long journey i never noticed it. The Lexus just blows cold air and gets noticeably colder in the cabin for a good few minutes.

 

Indeed this is a very crappy system from Lexus. BMW is way ahead on this and some other small stuff like the parking sensor sound synced with the entertainment system sound... it's so stupid to have the parking sound always at same level... 

[gdh300]

47 minutes ago, BrunoLeal said:

BMW is way ahead on this and some other small stuff like the parking sensor sound synced with the entertainment system sound... it's so stupid to have the parking sound always at same level... 

Well, as long as we are concentrating on the important things of car ownership... 🙄

Jeez. All spoilt today, aren't we?

[BrunoLeal]

16 minutes ago, gdh300 said:

Well, as long as we are concentrating on the important things of car ownership... 🙄

Jeez. All spoilt today, aren't we?

I still drive a Lexus so... When I pay premium I like perfection, otherwise I would have bought a Toyota... 

[gdh300]

7 minutes ago, BrunoLeal said:

I still drive a Lexus so... When I pay premium I like perfection, otherwise I would have bought a Toyota... 

Depends what you want to pay 'premium' for. Snazzy infotainment or 200k mechanical integrity and reliability. I'd take the latter and forego the former.

And a Toyota (or Lexus) is more likely to make that it than a BMW (which nowadays appears just a means to sell 3 year's finance).

But let's not fall out about it. I think we are all on the same side... 😉

[BrunoLeal]

2 minutes ago, gdh300 said:

Depends what you want to pay 'premium' for. Snazzy infotainment or 200k mechanical integrity and reliability. I'd take the latter and forego the former.

And a Toyota (or Lexus) is more likely to make that it than a BMW (which nowadays appears just a means to sell 3 year's finance).

But let's not fall out about it. I think we are all on the same side... 😉

You missed my point. I paid premium for a Lexus. Toyota has the same level of reliability with much lower cost. Of course I would expect that every single detail in a Lexus was perfect. I wouldn't care much if the same happened in a Toyota as my standards would be lower. 😉