I personally have owned both the BMW 323is and a 330I. I just sold my latest BMW (2001 330I Sport pkg.) and bought into the Lexus family. Unless you are all about " BMW status", the Lexus gives you so much more bang for the buck, and is probably as fast if not faster than the Beemer with the auto tranny. Do a comparison search on the net and you can see for yourself all of the options that the Lexus offers that the BMW doesn't offer. Basically, if you set the two side by side, the body lines are similar. The Lexus from the back is SWEET looking with the dual exhaust that the BMW does not have. The ride of the Lexus is smoother. The Beemer will leave you cramped after about 300 miles, even though the interior room is bigger, the seats leave something to be desired if you drive any distances, not to mention, both BMW's that I had, needed the ball joints replaced after 40K miles, and depending on where you are in your warranty, the repairs will run in excess of $1000. If you can find info on the web, you will see that they are notorious for the ball joints going out at about 35 to 40K miles.
