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I think that is a very fair and well-stated appraisal from RedStripe. The only thing I would add is that I've test-driven a number of Japanese cars that have excellent specs, get good reviews, and are uncontestably high quality products....but, when I actually go sit in them and drive them I come away disappointed. A lot of the value in a car like a BMW, and some other European cars, has to do with overall driving dynamics and refinement as well as intangibles (just the way it feels somehow.) I have test driven the G35 and Acura TL in the last year or so and they were nice cars but just didn't have that feeling of coming together. The driving dynamics were clearly inferior in my opinion. Although they had more horsepower, they felt like they were doing less with it. This reminds me of old American cars that were way more powerful than foreign cars but couldn't outperform them in most cases.
On the reliability side, Mercedes has had some bad initial quality problems in the last few years--often due to electronics problems. BMW had some rough spots with electronics with the 7 series and I think also the 5 series (probably are some owners on this board that can address this better than me.) I think BMW quality is good but I agree with RedStripe that Lexus will have better initial quality. But, it will also be less interesting and inspiring to drive.
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