2006 BMW 330i vs. Lexus IS 350 vs. Mercedes-Benz C350 Road Test & Driving Comparison

The Road
Surprising. The one word all three drivers uttered after exiting the Mercedes. "One loop, and if I hadn't known this was a C-Class, I never would've guessed by the way it devoured Angeles Crest," said Walton. "The biggest surprise of the bunch," declared Mortara. Take this Benz for a spin, and you realize how fun and able a C-Class can be. While softer than the BMW and the Lexus--the C displayed more pitch, dive, and body roll--the Benz nonetheless chewed up and spit out curve after curve, inspiring confidence with each turn of the wheel. Moreover, the C's softer legs afforded it the most compliant ride, smoothing out even the bumpiest roads. Though saddled with a subpar shifter and a brake pedal a bit too high for ideal heel-and-toeing, the Mercedes featured light, linear steering, communicative and strong brakes, and a soft spot for mild understeer, which made spirited driving easy and predictable, not to mention more fun--especially with Mercedes's unobtrusive ESP, which didn't rob the car of what it was capable of doing. A set of 18-inch wheels and grippier tires would undoubtedly help performance, not to mention aesthetics. As it stands, the C350 looks identical to its entry-level stablemate, the C230. All said and done, the Benz came across as quick, capable, and subdued. A sleeper. Did it just not wake us up? When the ballots were submitted and the votes counted, there were two cars ahead of the Benz--the winner and the biggest threat to the winner.

While the IS was the most rewarding on the dragstrip, the same couldn't be said for it out on the open road, be it straight or twisty. Compared with the ride of both German cars, the IS's bordered on harsh, transmitting every nook and cranny in the pavement, leading us to believe the sport suspension had been tuned more for track purposes than for public roads. The IS did make up for some of the harshness with its plush, luxurious cabin, which featured the softest leather, the highest-quality plastics and wood, and the most euphoric audio system.

A session of tight and high-speed turns through the mountains, based on our 8/10ths driving, proved the IS wasn't the ideal weekend hot-lapper, either. It exhibited needless understeer, continually pushing and sliding the front end beyond our intended arc. Yes, part of the blame can be attributed to your scribe and the other testers, but much of the culpability goes back to the IS, which has a numbing effect on the pilot. Sure, from one side of the mountain to the other, the IS is arguably the quickest car--0.85 g on the skidpad, 60-to-0 in 121 feet, and 306 horses is a strong recipe--but it'll take the checkered flag with the driver at arm's length, minimizing his involvement, mostly because the Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system is too meddlesome, too often interfering with the driver's throttle and brake inputs.

Walton opined, "There's not much feel in any of the controls [steering, throttle, brakes]. I felt a sense of distance when I drove this car. It's good, but it's a transistorized performance that can't ever be as involving as the other two's." It was simply too difficult to know how much was too much or how much was left when it came to pushing the IS or dialing it back. In a sport sedan, that's not the sort of feel that wins tests. At the end of the day, it was that artificial flavoring that placed the IS behind the most organic of the group.