So a friend of mine got it as a Loaner. Amazingly, he (who is not a car buff) thought it was an "old car" and was "upset at the Serviceman for giving me something that was so old and had a dash that reminded me of an old Cadillac with the huge gaping area".
Very rushed "Review" (might not be so coherent right now):
Styling: Having my (extremely dirty) E in front of it, to me really made the E look like it costs double, or triple. The E's complex yet restrained, tight and bulging sheetmetal made the GS's look bland, not as precise, generic, "thin", did I say bland?, etc. The E looks so much more dynamic, stately, solid, classic, aggressive, sporty all at the same time than the GS does. The chiseled and bulging yet lean and rigidly straight textures/lines of the E make the GS look slab-sided/formed. The E's angular cunning qualities give the GS a comparatively homely, matronly look, IMO, and I wasn't alone. Needless to say, to me the Benz oozes with "Soul", the Lexus seems to not know what it means.... On the other hand.... The GS, aside from an ugly front, isn't "ugly" at all I don't think. The sheetmetal is smooth, simple, fairly pure, the rear is pretty square, flat, and bland which makes it look quite Toyota-cheap. Overall it's an elegant design which is very mature, save for the ugly front and cheap-ish rear. In some sunset-style lights the very subtle lines show up and they can look even a bit sensual.
Interior: More soft touch surfaces than the E, but doesn't feel as solid, nor teutonic. The E's doors "clank" like it's a tank, everything feels heavy, solid, while the Lexus, everything feels light, though refined. I like the E's fit and finish better, and its design. The GS's screen is needlessly huge, and the interior design is not my thing really, but it's a great interior on its own. More "cuddly" than the E's. Something about the shapes, the forms, the contours of the parts' design in a Lexus (or most Japanese cars to me) just lacks "sexiness". The look/slant/shape of the A-Pillar from the interior for example.... something about them.... just ugly. :nix:
The Lexus infotainment system is HORRIBLE. I've NEVER used something so needlessly complex and difficult. I couldn't even figure out how to listen to the radio and switch stations! It's like they wanted it to be complex to make it appear "cool". The "mouse" is not intuitive or useful, etc. It reminds me of trying to use a Microsoft product after being used to an Apple product (complicated VS simple).
Drive: The drive is typical Lexus with a sporty flair. The motor feels peppy and effortless. Doesn't feel significantly more or less powerful than my E's, but I'd say a bit more pep and a tad extra "lightness" is where the extra HP show up. If I didn't know the HP differences, I'd probably think they're very closely powered. The tranny isn't as smooth as the 7G, and feels like it wants to kick around more. You find it downshifting a lot more and getting the engine to make more noise. On the other hand, this could be on purpose to make it feel more "sporty".... the tranny and motor tuning do feel more eager, but it's not as smooth operating as the E there. I feel like the tranny hampers the car from feeling all so much more powerful than my 38 less HP car.
(EDIT: I just realized the GS has a 6-Speed.... and that explains it.... you notice the lack of gearing in comparison.... it makes response less tight and you find the RPM's being more wild upon downshift/upshift.... i.e not in the right powerband).
Handling feels alright, the car can be tossed around a bit. It feels perhaps a bit more tossable than the E, though it doesn't feel as tight/firm/planted, so it isn't as confidence inspiring. It feels light and more nimble while the E feels appropriately heavy and "cruiser-ish" (the way I personally like it).
The E treks more solidly and heavily, while the GS is easier to drive. The E has more of a "sense of occasion" to me, but the GS has probably a more dynamic ride than the E. The GS is about as comfortable as the E350, it goes over bumps MUCH BETTER, it's about as quiet with perhaps less road noise, while handling pretty well. The E feels "safer", and it feels more "iron solid", more like it will plow through what's in front of it (I prefer the E's take again, but the GS has a ride that can please a lot of people due to it doing many things at once). I wanted to initially say that the GS might feel like it handles better, but considering both cars have that "float" when you turn, the E feeling more poised and planted makes me feel like it might feel better handling to me. Then again, the Lexus' steering feels more precise and on point, yet not as heavy as the E's. Considering I haven't truly tossed either around, it's comes down to what you prefer.
Other thoughts. Fit and finish on the E Class is much better in all areas I feel. The exterior of the GS I found to have some panel gaps that aren't perfect. Also, you have things like this.... Firstly, Lexus uses cheap looking plasti-chrome to line the windows, while M-B uses high quality aluminum. Also, the Lexus actually SHOWS YOU THE SEAM-LINE, which is unacceptable IMO, and something M-B doesn't do.
And for some bad pics (this was all I could get): *My car is WAY dirtier than it's ever been and the Lex is freshly washed, to note:*
Very rushed "Review" (might not be so coherent right now):
Styling: Having my (extremely dirty) E in front of it, to me really made the E look like it costs double, or triple. The E's complex yet restrained, tight and bulging sheetmetal made the GS's look bland, not as precise, generic, "thin", did I say bland?, etc. The E looks so much more dynamic, stately, solid, classic, aggressive, sporty all at the same time than the GS does. The chiseled and bulging yet lean and rigidly straight textures/lines of the E make the GS look slab-sided/formed. The E's angular cunning qualities give the GS a comparatively homely, matronly look, IMO, and I wasn't alone. Needless to say, to me the Benz oozes with "Soul", the Lexus seems to not know what it means.... On the other hand.... The GS, aside from an ugly front, isn't "ugly" at all I don't think. The sheetmetal is smooth, simple, fairly pure, the rear is pretty square, flat, and bland which makes it look quite Toyota-cheap. Overall it's an elegant design which is very mature, save for the ugly front and cheap-ish rear. In some sunset-style lights the very subtle lines show up and they can look even a bit sensual.
Interior: More soft touch surfaces than the E, but doesn't feel as solid, nor teutonic. The E's doors "clank" like it's a tank, everything feels heavy, solid, while the Lexus, everything feels light, though refined. I like the E's fit and finish better, and its design. The GS's screen is needlessly huge, and the interior design is not my thing really, but it's a great interior on its own. More "cuddly" than the E's. Something about the shapes, the forms, the contours of the parts' design in a Lexus (or most Japanese cars to me) just lacks "sexiness". The look/slant/shape of the A-Pillar from the interior for example.... something about them.... just ugly. :nix:
The Lexus infotainment system is HORRIBLE. I've NEVER used something so needlessly complex and difficult. I couldn't even figure out how to listen to the radio and switch stations! It's like they wanted it to be complex to make it appear "cool". The "mouse" is not intuitive or useful, etc. It reminds me of trying to use a Microsoft product after being used to an Apple product (complicated VS simple).
Drive: The drive is typical Lexus with a sporty flair. The motor feels peppy and effortless. Doesn't feel significantly more or less powerful than my E's, but I'd say a bit more pep and a tad extra "lightness" is where the extra HP show up. If I didn't know the HP differences, I'd probably think they're very closely powered. The tranny isn't as smooth as the 7G, and feels like it wants to kick around more. You find it downshifting a lot more and getting the engine to make more noise. On the other hand, this could be on purpose to make it feel more "sporty".... the tranny and motor tuning do feel more eager, but it's not as smooth operating as the E there. I feel like the tranny hampers the car from feeling all so much more powerful than my 38 less HP car.
(EDIT: I just realized the GS has a 6-Speed.... and that explains it.... you notice the lack of gearing in comparison.... it makes response less tight and you find the RPM's being more wild upon downshift/upshift.... i.e not in the right powerband).
Handling feels alright, the car can be tossed around a bit. It feels perhaps a bit more tossable than the E, though it doesn't feel as tight/firm/planted, so it isn't as confidence inspiring. It feels light and more nimble while the E feels appropriately heavy and "cruiser-ish" (the way I personally like it).
The E treks more solidly and heavily, while the GS is easier to drive. The E has more of a "sense of occasion" to me, but the GS has probably a more dynamic ride than the E. The GS is about as comfortable as the E350, it goes over bumps MUCH BETTER, it's about as quiet with perhaps less road noise, while handling pretty well. The E feels "safer", and it feels more "iron solid", more like it will plow through what's in front of it (I prefer the E's take again, but the GS has a ride that can please a lot of people due to it doing many things at once). I wanted to initially say that the GS might feel like it handles better, but considering both cars have that "float" when you turn, the E feeling more poised and planted makes me feel like it might feel better handling to me. Then again, the Lexus' steering feels more precise and on point, yet not as heavy as the E's. Considering I haven't truly tossed either around, it's comes down to what you prefer.
Other thoughts. Fit and finish on the E Class is much better in all areas I feel. The exterior of the GS I found to have some panel gaps that aren't perfect. Also, you have things like this.... Firstly, Lexus uses cheap looking plasti-chrome to line the windows, while M-B uses high quality aluminum. Also, the Lexus actually SHOWS YOU THE SEAM-LINE, which is unacceptable IMO, and something M-B doesn't do.
And for some bad pics (this was all I could get): *My car is WAY dirtier than it's ever been and the Lex is freshly washed, to note:*
