I am looking to buy a 2001-03 BMW 3XX or 2001-03 IS300 for my next family car. Ethier car would have to be under a 100k in miles and under $12.5k cost. Any thoughts?
I test drove '01 325i and enjoyed it, smooth ride, no road noise, great ride over all, but the paint sucked!
I am not mikeineedapollforeverything, but what are some thought on both cars? something i might not thought about… like disadvantages of either?
ive been looking at the last gen IS over the past few weeks and I dont see many at all going for less than 12.5 and the ones that are are either salvage or high milage
edit: nm you’re right thats not out of reach
I vote Lexus. More reliability less douchbaggery.
MY gf’s IS300 was ROCK solid… only issue we had was a coil pack went bad… cost me 14 bux and 20 minutes of time
Definitely the lexus.
Just don’t Dos it up.
As a BMW guy… I would take the IS300 over a 3 series from that yea… With BMW M-series or nothing…
325 I’d go with the IS.
330 I’d go with the BMW.
184HP for the 325 just isn’t enough IMO. Going up to 225 in the 330 makes a huge difference.
wow, everyone is going IS300.
d.o.t.
IS really don’t hold there value, you can get a nicely kept IS for like $15k, <1/3 of MSRP
:shithitfan:
this smiley rocks…
the back seat of the BMW 50x > the back seat of the IS300. the front feels a lot more crowded in the IS also… I don’t feel like I’m rubbing elbows as much in the 3 series.
Agreed.
[quote=66impalass;910087]d.o.t.
IS really don’t hold there value, you can get a nicely kept IS for like $15k, <1/3 of MSRP
quote]
correct me if im wrong but didnt the IS300’s only go for like 32K fully loaded?? i dont think ive ever seen one over 35K…so 15K is half which is still pretty good
i miss my friends white IS300, it looked sweet in my driveway when hed come over. Every body has 01 3XX series bmws and about 85% of the bmw peeps ive seen think they are the most awesome thing since sliced bread, like yoo man dont mess, i drive a bimmer
correct me if im wrong but didnt the IS300’s only go for about 30K brand new? idk if i ever saw one fully loaded for more than 32K…so half of what the car was originally worth is pretty good for being 5+ years old…
IS300 was not a $45k+ car…
I vote bmw… im still debating if getting a new one after graduation next month.
so i might have mine f/s 
pm me if you have questions
i guess i will have to drive an IS300, i have always like that car. i really like how the soild the BMW felt.
I have a 2001 IS300 and love it. I’m biased ofcourse so I’ll have to vote IS300. Few things to check for depending on how you’re going to drive it… LSD not a standard option (you can look on the sticker inside the door frame to tell if the car is equipped with it). Also in 2001 it was only available in Automatic. Different years had different interior options (armrest, etc). Also not sure if you’re interested in Navigation or anything of that nature but that was also an option a few years later. Goodluck w/ your search and feel free to PM me if there’s anything you’re questioning. I’ve had mine for 2 years and am no where near ready to get rid of it yet.
STI, evo, Bimmer, now IS. make up your mind dan.
the 300 is a pretty sweet car.IMO.
I <3 the new ones. too.