Lexus versus BMW: Battle of the Brands

For those of us who are lovers of the luxury vehicles of all time, you must have found yourself in augment on which of the car bands between BMW and Lexus is actually better than the other. We must appreciate that they both poses different brand personalities and that is what makes them what they are any way. The German made engine BMW has been able to maintain a reputation for high performance and excellence. On the other hand, the Toyota Lexus is also famous for its luxurious look and heavy weight making it one of the automotive heavy weights in the market. However, we must not confuse reputation with the face value; we must go into the tiny details to determine which among the two the best, hence, Lexus versus BMW in the battle of the brands.

• 10. Reliability
• 9. Safety
• 8. Performance
• 7. Warranty
• 6. Luxury Small Cars
• 5. Luxury Midsize Cars
• 4. Super Luxury Cars
• 3. Hybrid and Electric Cars
• 2. Luxury Compact SUVs
• 1. Luxury Midsize SUVs

10. Reliability

Winner: Lexus

The vehicle from German and those from Japan always have distinct features and reputations. To determine how reliable they are and even maintenance level that they will require one would need to go down into very tiny details. This study has been done for us by the J.D Power and Associates and we can be sure that the results obtained by them from the study of both LEXUS and BMW are very accurate. The study too keen interest in the dependability of the vehicles and gave a score of 3 out of 5 to BMW when it comes to overall dependability.
Lexus managed to scoop all the five points in this category. it can easily be concluded that BMW and Lexus are even when it comes to performance and even overall design. They both managed fort stars in this, however, the overall winner is not hidden and you can also tell.

9. Safety

Winner: Lexus

In this category, Lexus has 4 vehicles lined up and all of them managed to earn the Top Safety Pick + honors. One of the Lexus vehicles also managed to be awarded a Top Safety Pick Designation by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). If you think that is all that Lexus has in store then you are terribly wrong because we expect more of the Lexus vehicles to be scored and awarded but we don’t really expect anything different, in fact, we expect them to be scored highly. On the other hand, BMW has also tried and has been able to get for itself two Top Safety Picks for the x1 and x2 series. The x3 series has also been able to earn them Top Safety Pick +.
Earning the Top Safety Pick honors is not easy as the vehicle must have passed a variety of test before being given such award. For front crash prevention, it must have not less than advance ratings and that is not all. It must have also acquired good ratings from the IIHS crash tests and in addition to that, the vehicle must have good overall ratings from IIHS. For the vehicle to be awarded the Top Safety Pick + honors, it must have convinced the IIHS that it is indeed safe so as to earn good ratings from their crush tests. That is not all, it must also have an advanced rating when it comes to the technology used to ensure that front crush is prevented. This category also takes into consideration how good the headlight rating is.

8. Performance

Winner: BMW

The enthusiasts of BMW do not refer to it as the ultimate driving machine no reason. Taking into consideration the terrific acceleration that come with BMW vehicles, vehicle handling and even the overall sensation make the BMWs deserve the title. And that is not all as the current BMWs seem to have a lot more to offer as it comes with lots of such thrills. Allow me to say that every BMW that we have rated has been able to score not just high but very high with all of them scoring at least eight point three out of 10. It must also be noted that these are scores in the performance category.
Three of the BMWs ,that is 4 series, X5 and X3 scored 9.0 while the 5 Series gave them a huge boost by managing 9.1 out of 10. Now let us also look at Lexus which seem to have made it a tradition of giving priority to comfort, quiet and smoothness other than performance. This tradition has not changed and that is very evident from the confessions of several test drivers. The Lexus top performers include GS Hybrid. The Hybrid managed to score 8.5 while its non-hybrid sister, the GS managed to score 8.4. That is not all for Lexus as it has six other vehicles that managed to score performance ratings of eight to eight point four and six other vehicles that managed 7.9 and bellow.

7. Warranty

Winner: Lexus

When it comes to warranty, we look at the period of the warranty and also the mileage. Now both of the Lexus and BMW come with very good offers with each giving a four year warranty that come with fifty thousand mile warranty from BMW. The Lexus Lexus vehicles have a slightly higher warranty rate than the rival BMW. It comes with sis years and seventy thousand miles warranty. This ensures that the guts of the vehicles are well covered for more years as compared to the whistles and bells.

6. Luxury Small Cars

Winner: BMW

When it comes to small cars the clearly the king is BMW. Am tempted to say that BMW is best at producing small cars and if it were upon me, maybe I would have ensured that they specialize in the production of small luxury cars. It has been said not ones and not twice but severally that BMW is the best when it comes to small cars so what I say is not originally my thought but an echo of the thought of several other cars enthusiasts. The BMW has been able to dominate the three of the top most five positions in our ranking on the best small luxury cars and this is backed with enormous evidence.

The 4 Series, 3 Series and 2 Series would be dominating the top positions in their class if it were not for the stiff competition that they have from Alfa Romeo and Audi. On the other hand, Lexus did not perform well in this category. Its top ranked was far at position seven out of the possible twenty while its second best car was at position nine. The RC and the IS may have tried to make Lexus proud but their best was not good enough to outdo their rivals BMW.
The IS is just fine as it assures the driver of poised ride and the interior is very nice. However, the test drivers testified that they found the joystick used to control the car very confusing and if you were not careful you may find yourself making a reverse instead of moving forward.

5. Luxury Midsize Cars

Winner: Lexus

When it comes to the luxury medium size vehicles, the competition was not as tight as we may have expected with the Lexus taking the lead once again. In the ranking that identified the top fifteen luxury midsize cars, Lexus was able to secure four positions though it is very important to mention that the classification considered the GS hybrid and the GS as different cars. One of the features that make these two cars outstand is the 338 horsepower engine that has enabled the GS and the GS hybrid to have an upper hand when it comes to acceleration and also an excellent twenty nine mpg.
You should watch this vehicle drive in the city you will know what am talking about. On the side of BMW, we only had one vehicle presented in this category and that was none other than the 5 Series. It did perform well though and am tempted to say that the BMW family may have had lots of confidence in the 5 Series, no wonder they only presented one vehicle for this category and it definitely did not disappoint them. Position four out of the possible fifteen is not a small thing, in fact, it deserves a celebration. I must not conclude without mentioning that the fuel economy characteristics and the performance vary depending on the engine you choose. Do not expect me to say which of the two won this class as you can see it for yourself.

4. Super Luxury Cars

Winner: BMW

When Lexus was first introduced into the market in the year 1989 it was a hit and the talk of the town. It firs vehicle which was the LS 400 was manufactured with the sole aim at the German Luxury sedans of that time and it did got the attention. Attention that it enjoyed for some time. However, twenty eight years later the Germans may have just grabbed back the throne with the introduction of the BMW 7 Series. It did not manage to be ranked first but a third position is not bad. If it were Olympics then it would still get a medal.
Out of the six super luxury cars it was able to secure a position two post ahead of the main rival Lexus LS. When it comes to performance, I must not be afraid to say that the 7 Series of BMW and far much advantage as compared to the rival LS. The test drivers have confirmed that the LS disadvantage come from the sluggish nature when accelerating and also its sloppiness around canners. While they were saying this about the LS they also lauded the 7 Series for the powerful V8 engine and a nice balance too.
In addition to that, it was also said that it has excellent handling capability and adequate comfort for the ride. For this category I will say without fear or favor that Lexus was beaten pants down.

3. Hybrid and Electric Cars

Winner: Lexus

For this category we have six luxury hybrid and electric cars. Out the six, three of them are Lexus but that does not mean they had an upper hand. If you ask me, I would say that it was a way of ensuring that atheist one of them ranks among the best. The strategy may have worked anyway as the Lexus GD Hybrid managed to secure position two with the electric BMW i3 coming very closely at position three. The competition was very tight and you can tell from the distribution of positions as the Lexus ES Hybrid managed to capture position four leaving position five for the CT Hybrid.
I hope you don’t mind if I don’t mention which vehicle tool the last position as we are only interested in the best and not the bottom of the list. It would be very accurate if I said that other than Tesla Model S, i3 is the only electric vehicle that you should even think of dumping your gas pump for. But don’t misquote me, I did not say that but of cause am tempted to say so. All in all you will agree with me that Lexus has more to offer and is more powerful. You must also consider that they had a lot to pick from and this may have worked to their advantage.

2. Luxury Compact SUVs

Winner: BMW

Test drivers say the X3 performs well in a variety of driving situations, and even though it’s an SUV, it provides powerful engines and sporty handling. The NX is less powerful than the X3, but its supportive seats and composed handling make it a strong competitor. BMW was able to appear among the top rated luxury compact SUV. Its X3 managed to be third in a pool of fourteen with the Lexus NX coming at position 7 while the NX Hybrid had to be satisfied by the tenth place. The BMW X4 was second last, but that does not mean it is no t good, it means it got strong competition.

1. Luxury Midsize SUVs

Winner: Tie

In this class, something that rarely happens took place, and that is having a tie. The BMW and Lexus could not outdo each other in this category. Lexus RX350 Hybrid, BMW X5 and Lexus RX 350 all found themselves in position four. However, the BMW X6 managed number five while the Lexus GX was able to get position 21. Ranking vehicles in this category was a little bit challenging, but you will agree with me that X5 and RX 350 have a lot in common to warrant a tie.
Consusion
Looking at the outlined standards of measure, one can tell the winner brand. However, having the outright brand winner is debatable given that each brand is best in a given class. Having said that, it remains that at any given time, your best brand between the two will always remain the one that best suits your preference. Nevertheless, going by the weighing scale in this piece, Lexus is the winner brand with 5/10 as BMW comes 2nd and last with 4/10 in totality given the tie in point number 1, luxury midsize SUVs