I have finally made the choice to get rid of my 2002 IS300. It had 107,000 miles and never had a problem. I have started looking around for a new ride and have narrowed my choices down to 2 completely different cars.

First is the 2004/05 BMW M3 or a 2007/08 IS250. Both cars are in the same price range including insurance. If I go with the BMW, I will get a CPO with 100K warranty. The lexus would be new. Anyone want to weigh in?

There are several plus and minuses for each car. IS is slow, but new and very nice. The BMW is an older car but sporty and fast. IS is a 4 door and M3 is a two door....but I have no idea what I will be happier with in the long run.

8/15/2008 9:52:57 PM

the M is significantly more car, if that matters to you. the IS is a jazzed up camry and though RWD, isn't not performance minded in any capacity. I would never buy new again, as I don't feel the need to take the major brunt of depreciation and I also enjoy performance, so I'd take the M3.

8/15/2008 10:04:01 PM

1. an 07/08 is not really new, only an 09 at this point
2. how many doors do you need? 2 or 4
3. an is350, if you can swing it, is much closer to the m3, but still doesnt compare

... sounds like u just need to decided what you want to do with the car, none the less both great choices

8/15/2008 10:09:48 PM

^^are you trying to say its just a boring Toyota car, b/c the IS shares nothing with the Camry.

Go with the M3. 333hp sports coupe from BMW or 215hp (i think) Lexus 4 door. Not even close.

8/15/2008 10:28:54 PM

I do need to add that the 2008 IS250 that I am looking at does come in AWD. The 2009 IS250s aren't out as of yet hence Lexus is trying to clear the lot of their 2008 stock to make room. I can get about 3000 off MSRP.

I like having 4 doors, but I hate being the one who needs to drive all the time. If I get the M, since its a 6 speed not everyone can drive it (a plus and minus) but I would be less likely to be the DD most times out.

I have been in 2 different toyotas...and the IS is not the same car.

The reason for the questioning is : New OK car VS Older Badass car.
I don't know if I want to drop $33K on a 2004/5 car when I could have a brand new IS250 for the same price.

[Edited on August 15, 2008 at 11:07 PM. Reason : .]

8/15/2008 11:05:16 PM

If you get the 100k warranty then who cares that its older. Its way more pimp.

Unless you live somewhere it snows all the time, why would you want AWD? Heavier, slower, worse gas mileage. Does not compute.

8/15/2008 11:14:38 PM

Get the M3, but be aware that CPO is bullshit.

Quote :

"I would never buy new again"

You mean youll parents will never buy you a new car again. Because you wrecked the first two.

Dont think we forgot that shit either.

8/15/2008 11:31:46 PM

^pwnt

and

Quote :

"3000 off MSRP"

lol

8/15/2008 11:46:00 PM

I get that trolling is the only way to make the garage fun these days, but come the fuck on. I wouldn't be ashamed that my parents aren't poor, but my parents have yet to buy me a car unfortunately

yes, I meant just a boring toyota car. its obvious they don't share anything distinguishable.

8/16/2008 12:01:46 AM

Quote :

"I like having 4 doors, but I hate being the one who needs to drive all the time."

get better friends.

8/16/2008 12:46:11 AM

thought about finding a year old 335i for just a wee bit more than the $33k you're looking at?

8/16/2008 8:29:01 AM

I am going to test trive a 335 today. I am not opposed to looking at other cars. I also considered the G35 Coupe.

^^What did you mean by look out for the CPO? Is there a problem with that?
Also, BMWs pitch of 15K miles between oil changes is new to me. I Thought 5K was a long time.

AWD in the Lexus IS250 is just an option. I am not sure I would go with it, but if you get an AWD IS, it comes loaded with everything except Nav.

8/16/2008 10:48:27 AM

5,000 miles between oil changes these days is nothing. If you're running synthetic oil 10,000 isn't even breaking a sweat.

8/16/2008 11:31:27 AM

part of the reason why bmw oil changes are $125 is that they use a lot more oil that a typical japanese econocar. it's also synthetic at a high markup. i'm not a big fan of their long oil intervals.

of course my econobox can go 10-15k on 4 quarts too ($25).

8/16/2008 11:56:43 AM

drive your BMW hard? 5K oil interval. baby it? 7K. IMHO 15k is out of the question, I have yet to see a BMW filter last that long without coming apart. Diggler can weigh in, he would know more about it than anyone else here, even Ahmet.

8/16/2008 12:23:53 PM

^Thats what I was thinking. Thanks for the feedback. I am headed to Charlotte to test out 2 different M3s next week. Buying a new/used car is just stressful.

8/16/2008 12:47:27 PM

^i take that you've never bought a car yourself before?

8/16/2008 1:35:43 PM

I bought my Lexus and my Maxima. The difference was last time, I knew exactly what I wanted. This time, not so much.

8/16/2008 1:41:45 PM

Instead of an 07/08 IS250, I would pick up an 06/07 IS350. They will cost you the same, but the IS350 is way quicker and more powerful than the IS250.

Actually I just checked, and a NEW IS350 starts at just 2K over the IS 250 AWD. Or get the IS 250 Manual, which is 4K less than the IS250 AWD.

Also check out:

G35/G37 sedan/coupe (they also have an AWD version)
A4/S4
Golf R32 (sounds like a jet!) (MSRP same as IS250's)
Passat VR6 (MSRP same as IS350s)
TL, TSX

8/16/2008 5:38:20 PM