We were speaking about Prestige, not which one is better. Ask anyone and they will tell you BMW makes performance cars, Lexus makes reliable comfort cars. Period.
Only in your fevered little mind.
BMW has morphed from the "Ultimate Driving Machine" to "Fill Every Niche with Bloated Porkers". Except in Russia, where it shifted into "Blinged Out Mafia Staff Car".
Lexus has every bit as much prestige as the Germans. A huge chunk of Lexus loyalists come from German cars where the finally had enough of detonating HPFPs, cooked turbos and myriad random electronics failures.
"Only in your fevered little mind." - maybe in your pea size brain is NOT like that. Everywhere in Europe BMW is still the ultimate driving machine. Also, can you tell me please, what are the sell stats BWM against Lexus in China, the largest luxury car market?
Last time I looked, we weren't in Europe. Their jingoism doesn't translate to North America. Neither are we in China, where they still have a bit of a grudge over the whole WW2 thing, and the ongoing issue of territorial waters.
A substantial number of people in North America simply won't sacrifice reliability for a particular badge. It's the main reason why VW continues to implode in the US. They have very low retention rates for conquest customers.
For those who desperately want a German brand, they invariably lease for the duration of the warranty, then ditch for a new one before they get worked over with insane repair bills. It works for them, but I wouldn't tolerate it. I haven't been to a dealer for an unscheduled repair since my long gone 1995 Corolla wagon.
All you have to do is look at the tail draggers in reliability scores. They are almost always European brands. Even when those brands are surveyed in Europe, the Japanese are invariably at the top.
Here's the result of a poll of the 20 best car brands printed in the Telegraph. The number one brand? Lexus. Benz was 5th, Audi was 10th, Porsche was 13th, BMW was 15th, VW was 16th.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/10018481/The-20-best-car-brands-listed.html?frame=2343119The best individual car to own? Lexus IS. The BMW 3/4 is down in 19th place.
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars/driver-power/91218/best-cars-to-own-in-2015