BMW M235i vs Lexus IS350

What's the difference?

Sometimes a name change can make all the difference.

Google used to be called “Back Rub”. The Spice Girls started off as “Touch”. And – particularly in Germany – some premium sedans became known as “coupes”, as they struggled to stay popular against SUVs.

Case in point: what is essentially a 1 Series hatchback with a boot has been more glamorously badged the “2 Series Gran Coupe” since 2020.

Still following the sedan script with four doors, it’s BMW’s tilt at Mercedes’ booted A-Class hatch, the rakish CLA, unveiled early last decade as the Concept Style Coupe and now in its third series-production iteration – though since 2019 a more conservatively styled A-Class Sedan has also existed, that goes up against Audi’s A3 Sedan.

But we digress. Now there’s a “new” 2 Gran Coupe, coded F74, though it’s really a heavy facelift of the superseded F44. Oh, and the ‘i’ no longer exists in the badge, so (M-enhanced models aside) it’s just numbers from here on in. 218. 220. M235.

Regardless of names, does it live up to the BMW promise?

No it isn’t an all-new car. It might look like it, but the 2021 Lexus IS is actually a heavy facelift of the existing model, which originally went on sale way back in 2013.

There have been significant changes to the look of the new Lexus IS, including a revised front and rear end, and the company has widened the track and made “substantial chassis changes” to make it handle more adeptly, too. Plus there is a whole raft of newly added safety features and in-car technology, despite the cabin being, largely, a carryover affair.

Suffice to say that the new Lexus IS 2021 model - which the brand describes as having been “reimagined” - carries over a few strengths and weaknesses of its predecessor. But does this Japanese luxury sedan still have enough quality traits to compete with the likes of its main rivals - the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Genesis G70 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class?

Let’s find out.