Sometimes you don't know how good you have it . . .

[cruisermark]

I had to drive a family BMW 335D today on a few local runs . . . . 

Every so often when I get dreaming I look at these (BMs) cars and think they look good, nice lights, techwise they are ahead of Lexus, maybe I should get one . . 

I have just come back all flustered and bothered and need to sit down somewhere quite just to calm myself lol

Too much cabin noise - I couldn't listen to my music as it was intrusive - when I turned up the music my ears started hurting after a while???

start stop is an annoyance - yes you can switch it off

wipers making clunky sound

lots of creaks/cabin noises

I couldn't live with every day - it was painful seriously!

Positives: sharp brakes, precise steering and fast acceleration when required and the HUD

Hopefully will have mine back tomorrow.

 

 

[Tinonline]

For the Mk4 LS 400:

1999 Lexus LS 400 0-60 mph 6.2 Quarter mile 14.6

🤫

[royoftherovers]

16 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

I had to drive a family BMW 335D today on a few local runs . . . . 

Every so often when I get dreaming I look at these (BMs) cars and think they look good, nice lights, techwise they are ahead of Lexus, maybe I should get one . . 

I have just come back all flustered and bothered and need to sit down somewhere quite just to calm myself lol

Too much cabin noise - I couldn't listen to my music as it was intrusive - when I turned up the music my ears started hurting after a while???

start stop is an annoyance - yes you can switch it off

wipers making clunky sound

lots of creaks/cabin noises

I couldn't live with every day - it was painful seriously!

Positives: sharp brakes, precise steering and fast acceleration when required and the HUD

Hopefully will have mine back tomorrow.

 

 

Thanks Mark. It is good to sample other cars from time to time. It certainly does make one appreciate what we have.

If it is good enough for Numero Uno in Monaco, it is certainly good enough for us !

[Cotswold Pete]

It has been many years since I drove a Beamer, I recall it as M3 of some sort, yes it was fast, yes I nearly put my head through the windscreen a few times when stopping, yes you could hear the low profile tyres beckoning every ant crossing the road to its death. 

Have been a passenger in many a Beamer since then, I do not have heart to tell my mates they could get a much better car for the money, but I am the only Jap driving person at work and with my mates, most have been smitten by the German bug (or Range Rover wallet eaters).  Mind you they always like going out in the LS and watching me put the foot down now and again (well pre Covid they did)

[BigBoomer]

Every so often I have to drive my better half's 08 Focus. I know it's a wholly different class of vehicle, but the noise and lack of power and lack of space <shudder> <LOL>

[Malc]

only ever driven two BMWs ..  fine cars at the time ... a 540i that was a dream to drive ( I didn't own it thankfully .....  the gearbox went one day ) and an old K reg 318i saloon ........ wow, like s..t off a hot shovel .....  brilliant car ........  one we owned at my garage sales business long long time ago

Malc

[Tinonline]

I had a couple of BMW 635 coupes of the ‘80s which were very nice. But head gasket, rust, rear swing out under hard cornering, tyre grip from cold (limited metric choice) awful.

Passenger in the old 3M series lhd this is a racing classic with amazing grip on a wet road...

Owned a modern one but average.

Jags...done them they are expensive scrap. Lovely designs. Best was 95 XJ 4ltr.

currently looking after my eldest son’s 2007 clk 350. Nice car. Just after the appalling engine failures...yet solenoid magnets x4 need replacing as per usual...not expensive at 30quid each but please what of quality control?

He’s peeved as it’s “slower” than my 2000 Lexus 400 🤭😁🔧

[jenkiadr]

Before I bought my LS 430, I had a BMW 330i coupe. Coming from an Audi A8 before that, the seats were like granite and the car audio system was horrific in terms of sound quality. It turns out that there are a number of in car audio specialists out there who specialise in replacing BMW OEM amplifiers and speakers. So I know exactly what you mean! On the positive side, the straight 6 3 litre engine was an utter delight.

[Spacewagon52]

I once had a Mini Metro 1.0 litre for a second car.

ANY car driven after that is like a Rolls Royce!

To appreciate our Lexus cars even more, we should run an unreliable banger. 

What heap of junk would you consider buying as a second car?   Sadly Metros are off the list.

[royoftherovers]

2 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

I once had a Mini Metro 1.0 litre for a second car.

ANY car driven after that is like a Rolls Royce!

To appreciate our Lexus cars even more, we should run an unreliable banger. 

What heap of junk would you consider buying as a second car?   Sadly Metros are off the list.

Toyota Corolla for me.

[Spacewagon52]

19 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Toyota Corolla for me.

Sorry John, you have missed my point. A Corolla would be a good second car - I want you to pick the worst rubbish you can think of! Just imagine som eone left you a car in their will - you took one look at it and said, "Oh my goodness! What on earth possessed them to leave this to me!"

[Spacewagon52]

21 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Toyota Corolla for me.

That is the SENSIBLE choice!

[royoftherovers]

1 minute ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Sorry John, you have missed my point. A Corolla would be a good second car - I want you to pick the worst rubbish you can think of! Just imagine som eone left you a car in their will - you took one look at it and said, "Oh my goodness! What on earth possessed them to leave this to me!"

Your point was not very well expressed young David.

One man`s heap of junk is another man`s limousine.

Now I understand your perspective, I would not wish to be bequeathed a Vauxhall FA Victor.(the one with the wrap around windscreen and obsolescence in the form of rust built into the spec).

[First_Lexus]

41 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

What heap of junk would you consider buying as a second car?   Sadly Metros are off the list.

When my Father had said he’d buy me a new car for my seventeenth birthday (so I didn’t have to drive his!) he set a strict cash limit and made it being brand new an equally strict condition.

I remember him test driving with me as a passenger (I was still only sixteen at the time) a Lada Riva 1200L - which is what I eventually chose - a Skoda Estelle 105S, a Yugo 55 and an FSO Polonez. All were truly terrible, although I loved the Lada in a strange way, but the worst of all was the SEAT Marbella which was an original Fiat Panda made far worse!

It often makes me think how far cars have come since those days, as even a ‘bargain’ Dacia Sandero is an entirely reasonable vehicle. Anyway, for me I’d have that SEAT Marbella now, in order to serve as a reminder of just how lucky I am...

EDIT: As suspected, I still have the LADA brochure. Different times!

[Phil xxkr]

On 3/27/2021 at 8:37 PM, Tinonline said:

I had a couple of BMW 635 coupes of the ‘80s which were very nice. But head gasket, rust, rear swing out under hard cornering, tyre grip from cold (limited metric choice) awful.

Passenger in the old 3M series lhd this is a racing classic with amazing grip on a wet road...

Owned a modern one but average.

Jags...done them they are expensive scrap. Lovely designs. Best was 95 XJ 4ltr.

currently looking after my eldest son’s 2007 clk 350. Nice car. Just after the appalling engine failures...yet solenoid magnets x4 need replacing as per usual...not expensive at 30quid each but please what of quality control?

He’s peeved as it’s “slower” than my 2000 Lexus 400 🤭😁🔧

Jags-expensivescrap? My XKR is the same age as yours and appreciating in value, how about your LS? And Brits will always have a deep-rooted emotional attachment to the brand which goes way beyond transient talking points such as performance and cost😎

[toffee_pie]

5 hours ago, jenkiadr said:

Before I bought my LS 430, I had a BMW 330i coupe. Coming from an Audi A8 before that, the seats were like granite and the car audio system was horrific in terms of sound quality. It turns out that there are a number of in car audio specialists out there who specialise in replacing BMW OEM amplifiers and speakers. So I know exactly what you mean! On the positive side, the straight 6 3 litre engine was an utter delight.

Modern BMWs are pants but kudos to the marketing gurus for getting so many cars out to punters - anyone can lease them out now they are all over the place and with grills exponentially increasing in size. Quality certainly has taken a hit. 

The Inline 6 was a great engine, the only BMW I would get would be with one of them engines, robust and reliable. 2 words than cannot be used on modern BMWs

[toffee_pie]

18 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

Jags-expensivescrap? My XKR is the same age as yours and appreciating in value, how about your LS? And Brits will always have a deep-rooted emotional attachment to the brand which goes way beyond transient talking points such as performance and cost😎

I am looking at a XFR as a potential purchase, they seem to have gone completely under the radar

[Malc]

1 hour ago, Spacewagon52 said:

To appreciate our Lexus cars even more, we should run an unreliable banger. 

What heap of junk would you consider buying as a second car? 

I think an older Rolls Royce or Bentley could well fit that category ...  a total moneypit forever ......  and a day,              total unreliability for the average guy............ 

Malc

[Phil xxkr]

26 minutes ago, toffee_pie said:

I am looking at a XFR as a potential purchase, they seem to have gone completely under the radar

 

2 minutes ago, Malc said:

I think an older Rolls Royce or Bentley could well fit that category ...  a total moneypit forever ......  and a day,              total unreliability for the average guy............ 

Malc

But what style Malc🍾 and as the Americans would say, there reaches a certain juncture of maturation in one's life where cost is not necessarily the number one consideration. 

[Malc]

4 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

where cost is not necessarily the number one consideration. 

absolutely agree ...  reliability to me is the main factor in my motoring

I have toyed with the idea of buying a Bentley S3 for some years and my indy mechanic quite assures me ( and I believe him )  that it will be as much on the trailer down to him for " fixing " as I would ever use it on the road ....  he also assures me that I would never get the 12 / 15k miles a year reliability and ease of mind that I get from my present Ls400

so there we are, not the ££££ so much, nor the delight of seeing a beautiful old Bentley parked outside,  just the ever present knowledge and years of experience that come with owning a Ls400

Malc

[toffee_pie]

1 minute ago, Malc said:

absolutely agree ...  reliability to me is the main factor in my motoring

I have toyed with the idea of buying a Bentley S3 for some years and my indy mechanic quite assures me ( and I believe him )  that it will be as much on the trailer down to him for " fixing " as I would ever use it on the road ....  he also assures me that I would never get the 12 / 15k miles a year reliability and ease of mind that I get from my present Ls400

so there we are, not the ££££ so much, nor the delight of seeing a beautiful old Bentley parked outside,  just the ever present knowledge and years of experience that come with owning a Ls400

Malc

A Bentley is a sight to behold on the driveway - as long as it stays there..

[Las Palmas]

On 3/27/2021 at 8:37 PM, Tinonline said:

Jags...done them they are expensive scrap. Lovely designs. Best was 95 XJ 4ltr.

Disagree with you. Here is a beautiful Jag.

[Phil xxkr]

48 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

Disagree with you. Here is a beautiful Jag.

And here is another😎

 

[First_Lexus]

39 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

And here is another😎

 

Lovely, a previous next door neighbour had one and it was glorious!

Here’s another one I just love - but only really the original before the various facelifts. Awesome!

[Phil xxkr]

3 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

Lovely, a previous next door neighbour had one and it was glorious!

Here’s another one I just love - but only really the original before the various facelifts. Awesome!

You are right, some now fetching serious money!