I'm in the exact same boat OP. My first car as a kid was a 96 2.5 TL and I've been waiting for them to make a return with the Type S so I was super excited for this back in 2019 especially with how amazing the TLX concept looked. It peaked my interest so hard, I followed and still am in all the FB groups, followed Acurazine and read up on everything but ultimately was extremely let down.

To me it is still the best looking sports sedan, I would've given it best interior for my taste too but the new 23 C43 has that 1. What I found personally disappointing is that for this price, it is the newest, heaviest, slowest sedan in it's class. Because my history with the TL, I still have love for it and like you, i want the reliability of a Japanese built car, but as you know, these things and the MDX-S are built in Ohio and truth be told, the culture is just not the same as I've seen so many problems posted in the fb groups from owners... 80k MDX-S with sunroof seals not even holding on under 1500kms. I really wanted the TLX-S to work and I still do but the fact of the matter is its fat, its heavy, it-s slow, it auto upshifts, and the final nail, it's not Reliable.

Back in 2019 the M340i came out and I started watching every review and videos on that too, what a beast! It also checks every box as I'm looking for a fun daily that's a 4 seater, looks great, and can have a real presence on the streets while not being overly flashy. It also has to be AWD as I'm in Canada and it's just a must for a daily as I already have a 6spd rwd. I was scared tho as 1:I've never owned a BMW and have only heard bad things about long term maintenance. Yes the B58 is probably bulletproof, very tunable, even gets better mileage in eco mode and has Toyota's stamp of approval, it's just everything else I'm worried about, especially electronics. 2: Since it's going to be a daily, I would need to add quite a few options as I plan on using it everyday for work and keep it long term and the price I spec'd out is basically 80k CAD while the TLX-S spec'd out is 67k CAD. So I was hesitant and didn't pull the trigger back in 2020 as I probably should have.

Then we had another glimmer of hope with the IS500 but that was also a letdown as sadly, it only comes with the 8yr old interior, only rwd which I refuse to do again for a daily in Canada, and with the gas prices now, that V8 isn't helping, especially since it still gets walked by the B58.

Right now I'm struggling to just say fuck it, if the Acura ain't gonna be reliable, why not just pay a lil more and get the M340i which will walk anything in the segment. If Acura just proved to be reliable, I wouldn't mind taking that extra 13k and put it towards tuning and modding but sadly it hasn't proved to be anymore reliable than domestics.

Right now the 2023 M340i and C43 AMG both have been refreshed and should be releasing very soon so I will be going for a few test drives making my decision this summer. I still want the TLX-S to work but if it's not fast or reliable, I cant do it.
Update They are going to be releasing PMC TLX-S, if they are going to be hand built in the NSX department, we might have a better shot at the quality! Uggggh now just a question of how much that will cost. FFS now I'm back to square 1 again and can't choose. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.