New car soon...Help me pick...(pics long to load)

[firstyearclay]

I think I am going Beemer. I used to be a consultant (sales cough cough...) for them a few years back. They really make a nice car; combining safety, luxury and performance.

I am thinking a 6 or 7 series as I will be driving out cross country. (east to west coast). I was doing some research today and I came across the new 3 series hard top convertible. With the 300 horse power (twin-turbo) this might be a hot shot. Well...here are some pics...and some feedback on cars and/or others you have in mind would be cool. I am trying to stay under $60k (nothing over $100k), but I will spend more if I love it.

Automatics please.

I have heard Spring of 07' for the release here; perfect for not getting raped on the "its so new" premium, and not too far out it will be hard(er) to get then some other cars.




Thanks,

FYC

[illeagle]

Be sure to take a look at the Lexus 460L while you're at it. Reliability is a nice aspect in a vehicle sometimes.

[blackize]

BMW > Lexus in every category: Looks/Style, handling, reliability, and most importantly balla-ness

OP,

That's a very nice car but I wouldn't go with a 3 series if you're going cross country since I'm sure you want to bring some stuff with you. The 3 series is really quite small and that one looks even smaller than they've been in the past. 5 series seems like the way to go.

[LandonM]

New Cars = Asset Drain.

I think the beauty of being married (and faithful) is that you no longer care about picking up tail, thus you're free to spend your "cool car" money on useless baubles like equities and real estate.

Use your new beemer bread to buy a used Civic and a rental property.

[edfurlong]

Plz buy my civic, I'm tired of paying for parking.

[dinopoker]

[ QUOTE ]
BMW > Lexus in every category: Looks/Style, handling, reliability, and most importantly balla-ness

OP,

That's a very nice car but I wouldn't go with a 3 series if you're going cross country since I'm sure you want to bring some stuff with you. The 3 series is really quite small and that one looks even smaller than they've been in the past. 5 series seems like the way to go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, speaking as someone who works as a consultant in the auto industry, Lexus LS460 >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>> >>any BMW in every category except maybe ballerness.

[firstyearclay]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
BMW > Lexus in every category: Looks/Style, handling, reliability, and most importantly balla-ness

OP,

That's a very nice car but I wouldn't go with a 3 series if you're going cross country since I'm sure you want to bring some stuff with you. The 3 series is really quite small and that one looks even smaller than they've been in the past. 5 series seems like the way to go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, speaking as someone who works as a consultant in the auto industry, Lexus LS460 >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>> >>any BMW in every category except maybe ballerness.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok the major categories of category are as follows. Tell me if I am wrong dino, because I have been out of the industry for about 4 years.

Luxury - Maybe the Lexus has more bells and whistles, but who cares. I heard the auto-park feature sucks. Other then more supple leather, I can't imagine the Lexus being much nicer. This is truly an opinion and not a fact.
Performance - The Lexus has about 80 more horses then this car in the above picture, yet its 1/10 of a second faster. I would take this car up and down the side of a mountain 100x more then I would the Lexus.

Safety- At the time, BMW had the among the best safety systems in the world. They had a passive system that worked to prevent you from getting into accidents and an active system in the event you did. I can't imagine that the two are much different safety-wise.

I think it all depends on who the buyer/driver is, but I remember that all Lexus people wanted discounts and we would wow them with the driver experience which is HANDS DOWN better. They usually wanted to save $100 a month in lease payment for the same price car and generally did go buy the Lexus. The Lexus buyer (to me) is the car noob/old man who drives 30 miles to work on the highway everyday. The BMW is a way more articulate owner who is willing to drive out of the way just for the sake of driving.

Does Lexus offer a full maintenance package with a similar car loaner? The BMW lease covered everything but gas, glass and tires/rims. Does Lexus do that now?

IMO... The lexus is a nice Sunday afternoon car passenger vehicle..while a BMW is a driver's car.

FYC

[dinopoker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
BMW > Lexus in every category: Looks/Style, handling, reliability, and most importantly balla-ness

OP,

That's a very nice car but I wouldn't go with a 3 series if you're going cross country since I'm sure you want to bring some stuff with you. The 3 series is really quite small and that one looks even smaller than they've been in the past. 5 series seems like the way to go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, speaking as someone who works as a consultant in the auto industry, Lexus LS460 >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>> >>any BMW in every category except maybe ballerness.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok the major categories of category are as follows. Tell me if I am wrong dino, because I have been out of the industry for about 4 years.

Luxury - Maybe the Lexus has more bells and whistles, but who cares. I heard the auto-park feature sucks. Other then more supple leather, I can't imagine the Lexus being much nicer. This is truly an opinion and not a fact.
Performance - The Lexus has about 80 more horses then this car in the above picture, yet its 1/10 of a second faster. I would take this car up and down the side of a mountain 100x more then I would the Lexus.

Safety- At the time, BMW had the among the best safety systems in the world. They had a passive system that worked to prevent you from getting into accidents and an active system in the event you did. I can't imagine that the two are much different safety-wise.

I think it all depends on who the buyer/driver is, but I remember that all Lexus people wanted discounts and we would wow them with the driver experience which is HANDS DOWN better. They usually wanted to save $100 a month in lease payment for the same price car and generally did go buy the Lexus. The Lexus buyer (to me) is the car noob/old man who drives 30 miles to work on the highway everyday. The BMW is a way more articulate owner who is willing to drive out of the way just for the sake of driving.

Does Lexus offer a full maintenance package with a similar car loaner? The BMW lease covered everything but gas, glass and tires/rims. Does Lexus do that now?

IMO... The lexus is a nice Sunday afternoon car passenger vehicle..while a BMW is a driver's car.

FYC

[/ QUOTE ]

BMW might be for the guy that loves to drive everywhere, but not if he wants a car that won't be in the shop most of the time. I mean, buy what you want, but when I was in the BMW plant they had 40-50 reject cars in buffer for various issues. This was their standard for a week. At the Lexus plant they had 3 - for the MONTH, one of which was that a spare key didn't work.

Nope, I've been to plants everywhere and I would buy only Toyota or Honda products (Lexus or Acura). Nothing else comes close from a quality, reliability, or engineering point of view. A friend of mine just bought the LS 460 last month too, and I can tell you that the car is totally awesome in just about every way - comfort, power, handling, gadgets, ergonomics, paint quality, whatever. They really nailed it this time.

[DrNo888]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
BMW > Lexus in every category: Looks/Style, handling, reliability, and most importantly balla-ness

OP,

That's a very nice car but I wouldn't go with a 3 series if you're going cross country since I'm sure you want to bring some stuff with you. The 3 series is really quite small and that one looks even smaller than they've been in the past. 5 series seems like the way to go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, speaking as someone who works as a consultant in the auto industry, Lexus LS460 >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>> >>any BMW in every category except maybe ballerness.

[/ QUOTE ]

[jbrent33]

I recently bought a 04 545i with 27K miles for a little under $28K. It is my first German car and it is a joy to drive. If it holds up for the next 100K miles it will have been a great purchase.

I looked at the 3 series but they were a little to small for me to travel in. I'm 6'2" 205. The 7 series were sweet but I'm 31 and I couldn't shake the feeling I was driving an old man's car.