Made partially in 2.49 and then in 2.5x branch (when it became more stable).
As long as I couldn’t find a working version of luxblend or any other external renderer for 2.5x, I made some complex lighting setup for blender internal.
Almost 9GB of screencasts in 720p were made 
So, here it is:
Sorry, but so many areas are washed out that this is not proof that complex lighting in BI (in most cases) is going to get close to the quality of a true GI solution.
I find it nice people are trying to find new realistic lighting techniques in BI, but in some cases it’s just trying to find a reason for BI to exist when production-grade GI renderers are being integrated into the 2.5 UI itself.
Sure, I’m not trying to replace GI renders with BI. It’s just a try to make semi-realistic image when no working exporters for yafaray or lux available. At least I had no luck running them 
PS: what do you mean “washed out”? There is just a simple shader for the walls so they are really looking dull. I don’t think GI would be a “pushbutton for awesomeness” in that case.
Is there any GI? It looks like there’s only AO.
No GI. Only AO.
Actually… GI is pretty much a “Push button for awesome”…Imagine not having to setup any complex lighting, AO or anything like that, only one lamp will do all the work. Besides, the scene would look 100x better then it does now.
BI sure lacks that…
I think GI is absolutely necessary for realistic visualisation renders. AO is not enough and only darkens all the edges of the room.
I’ll try exporting this scene to some unbiased renderer to compare. But it is pain doing this without any good exporters.
It doesn’t have to be unbiased. Good GI is provided witk Yaf(a)ray for instance.
But there is no working exporter for 2.5x
You could try the Silvio Falcinelli’s script. It’s not the official exporter but it works for some scenes: http://www.rendering3d.net/it2008/index.php?lang=en&do=Main.php?mainpage=Download&lang=en