I've used Cinema 4D & Maya, and I am currently learning LW... actually I'm just sniffing around, as all three apps are on my college's computers.
I started with Maya, because that's what I'd heard about, but when I opened C4D one day, and tried a tutorial I found online, I was completely taken aback; it was so much nicer (at least I thought so). And most importantly, I could get it to render stuff smoothly... something I couldn't get Maya to do for me.
And now I'm on to LW. I must admit that since I stuck with C4D for a long time, I had only a faint clue as where to begin with LW. I didn't understand much of it... also I had gotten used to HyperNURBS in C4D, and I've yet to find a substitute in LW.
however, I must say that LW does have some excellent features, abeit convoluted if you're used to C4D.
I still go back to C4D when I need to create something fast that still has to look great. But simply me being more used to it
I spend a lot of time in LW nowadays, trying to learn.
So if you switch from C4D to LW, expect a somewhat steep learning curve (at least in the beginning).
To sum up: Try LW before making any decisions (as others have rightly said). I have it easy, because I don't have to pay for the software, as long as I'm on a college computer, but if you're looking to invest in software, try it out.
If you want to hold out longer, I suggest you work towards the limits of C4D (such as the work on this site
http://www2.jan.ne.jp/~yutakai/ It's amazing! But of course there's a lot of specialist plug-ins and such involved in making somthing like the stuff on that page), before moving on. The learning curve when switching to LW, after getting really pro in C4D, will be steeper than it would be right now, but as all 3D apps have a lot in common, learning one will give you alot of background and help you learn another (once I got a few basics down in LW, things started to make sense).
anyway, what do I know? I'm just fooling around with this stuff...