2013 and earlier BMW 3-Series Prices Paid and Buying Experience

spicy320

I have a trade-in but they don't know about it yet :]

However, it worries me that I just read some negative comments (from this forum) about the guy I'm working with now. (Part of the name is disguised but there are enough clues for me to recognize the salesperson.)

kyfdx

This forum is for Prices Paid/Buying Experience only...

If you are having other issues with your car, please feel free to post here:

BMW 3-series 2006+

regards,
kyfdx

timny

I trust the lights are being fixed now???

Alarm ... hmm. You may be in my boat and not have an alarm (audible). Do you have iDrive? If so, one way to check is to look at the Confirm Locking menu under Vehicle Settings: if you see only two items (instead of three, wich includes an option to have an acoustic alert when you lock the car), then you probably don't have an alarm installed. I think it's page 34 or 131 of the manual.

A first aid kit is supposed to be in the car, and I believe a road-side assistance bag is, too. They are providing me with both, and I can't see why they would unless it was owed to me in the first place.

You're right -- the repair center is in NY! Why didn't I think of that?? At anyrate, they said they couldn't do the inspection. I will have to follow up on that.

I'd like to believe everyone is doing their best there. I understand it's a business and they have to make $. And I don't mind paying (obviously) a good amount of $ for a good product; what I do mind is the amount of my time being eaten up with this constant back-and-forth. (I can always make more $, but lost time with family and friends can't be recovered, if you know what I mean).

... I do have to say, though, the ride's (almost) worth it!

timny

I'd say discussing issues of major components missing from a purchase or lease contract relate to the buying experience -- wouldn't you?

kyfdx

Evidently not...

timny

Well, consider it evolution!

davidd3

Looks like we'd better move our future discussions over to the forum for the new 3.

I've had the feeling that we should perhaps move our discussion even before seeing the message from the HOST, but like you, I felt that our discussions were relevant here for the reason that they relate to our buying/leasing experience - in particular, problems with our deliveries. I thought that our discussion could be beneficial for prospective buyers/lessees, so that they know some things to look out for at delivery (i.e., make sure your CA is thorough, make sure that your SAT is activated, make sure your alarm is working, make sure your first aid kit is there, etc., etc.). Maybe others could benefit from our misfortunes.

Here's a striking contrast for you: My G35 did not have to brought in for troubleshooting a single problem until the last week of my 3-year lease. My 330i had to be brought in for troubleshooting multiple problems in the very first week of my 3-year lease. I choose to think of it like a baby, annoying at times but otherwise oh so loveable.

petesamprs

In the northeast US, being quoted 2.8% over $35.5k invoice price ($38.8 msrp). How competitive if this? How much better could I reasonably do. This is for an '06 330i with very few options (and therefore has to be ordered).

kyfdx

$1000 over invoice..... on a car exactly the way you want it?

I'd say that is pretty good....

petesamprs

Thanks. I felt it was good too but just wanted a sanity check. Once the deal is done (this week) I'll post the details and people can contact me if they want a reference to a good dealer/salesman.

kyfdx

Great.... but, no salespeople names, please.. Dealer names are okay...

regards,
kyfdx

bmw0531

This is from a private seller who is asking for $29,900.

This is the detail about the car.
Color: Orient Blue Metallic
Miles: 13,350
Body Style: 4-Door Sedan
Transmission: Automatic

Description: 2003 BMW 3 Series 325xi 4DR 2.5L 6CYL Loaded! Orient Blue Metallic with Sand Leather seats, Cold Weather Package including heated front seats, Retractable headlight washers, Split fold-down rear seats, Ski bag, Rear armrest and Premium Package with moonroof, auto-dimming rear view mirror, Myrtle wood trim, Power seats w/driver memory, on-board computer, rain-sensing windshield wipers, auto headlight control

What do you think is the fair price for it? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

kyfdx

I'd say he is about $5K too high, at least..... Usually, when you find someone that is this far off on price, it will be hard to strike a deal..

I bought almost the same exact car in December of '03... except mine had the sport package, xenons, and the HK stereo upgrade in addition to his options.. The car I bought was 8 months old and had 7600 miles... and, I paid less than what he is asking.... this was almost two years ago...

Just an FYI.. All of those options listed are part of the premium and cold-weather packages.... Other than metallic paint and automatic transmission, I don't see any other options listed.. I would estimate that the original MSRP was about $35,500..

You could try pricing the car, here on Edmunds..

Additionally, some of our other members may have an opinion..

regards,
kyfdx

vsaxena

I know that BMW MV/Fremont are owned by what is now AutoWest.
However it is not fair for them to "refer" you to one another. If they are interested in making a sale they should deal with you. Referring to one another is like dividing territory and a clear "anti-trust" violation.

I have bought from both BMW MV and SCBMW. I do not think SCBMW is an AutoNation/AutoWest dealership; it is owned by Sonic Automotive.

I personally feel that the $500 over invoice deal on the 2006 3 series is a too good !

What do you have as a trade in. You might want to try Carmax too. Only problem is that they are in Sacramento

If you need the name of the more information, let me know via email.

kyfdx: Your edmunds email address is bouncing emails from roadfly.org. I do understand that edmunds does not want salesmen to advertise through boards but deleting a post which suggests an off-line conversation.... :confuse:

bmw0531

Thanks for the post. That helps in my decision. I think the seller has high expectation so it is hard to get a fair deal on ịt. I orginally thought 27K would be a fair deal.

Thanks again

vsaxena

As kyfdx wrote this is too high. You could do a European delivery and get a brand new car 2006 325Xi in the early to mid 30s.

As a general rule,

1. Spec out a brand new car at edmunds (add metallic paint,cold weather package, premium package, steptronic) as options.
2. Use midway between the MSRP and the invoice as the buy price. or the TMV
3. For year 1 subtract 20%. For year 2 subtract another 10%. Add a 10c/mile for milage above below 10K/year.

This should be the high retail value for this car (around 30% less). My calculations suggest something in the mid20s, right where kyfdx feels it should be.

bdr127

I would say, IMO, that that is a decent price for that car.... AWD with really low miles... I assume the car is certified? That extra long warranty and lower interest rate alone will increase the value considerably. A quick search on Autotrader shows almost all 03's going for a few thousand more with higher miles... Any that are selling for less aren't certified.

A new 2006 325xi (which haven't even come out yet) similarly equipped would be $38,520. I don't know how much discount you could get on a pre-order. FYI: European delivery would be $1640 less.

Taking into account that 20% & 10% depreciation, plus the low mileage, it looks like the car would be valued at about $29,500. Add the certification and some profit for the seller, and you are well into the $30k's. I'd say $29k+ is a decent price. My two cents.

y_xie

I bought my 325i two weeks ago with following packages

2006 BMW 325i
ZPP Premium Package
609 i Drive/On-board Navigation System w/ Voice Recognition
205 STEPTRONIC 6-Speed Automatic Transmission
4AC Poplar Natural Wood Trim
693 Satellite Radio Preparation
Sparkling graphite metallic exterior
Black interior
The invoice including destination fee was $34,630 from Edmunds.com at that time.

I paid $35400.00 without tax and DMV fees. The deal is $500.00 above invoice, but the dealer insists $270.00 ad and training fee (MACO) as part of invoice. After negostiation, I got an all weather floor mate ($78.00). So I paid $692 above published invoice price at that time.

I thought this was a good deal at that time. But recently, I checked the Edmunds.com again, it show $0 for paint color adjustment. At the time I bought my car it showed ~$450.00 for sparkling graphite metallic paint. I am not sure I got good deal any more. But on www.bmwusa.com, the paint price still is $475.00. Confused? :confuse:

bdr127

I thought this was a good deal at that time. But recently, I checked the Edmunds.com again, it show $0 for paint color adjustment. At the time I bought my car it showed ~$450.00 for sparkling graphite metallic paint. I am not sure I got good deal any more. But on www.bmwusa.com, the paint price still is $475.00. Confused?

Strange... Edmunds doesn't show the metallic paint charge for any metallic paint on the 325i. The charge is definitely $475... Where did you see the $450? On the window sticker?

gaussd

thx!

In fact, the invoice including destination fee of the car i wanted is $33,555, which includes:

national base price 27,755
premium package 2,640
steptronic 6 speed 1210
adaptive Xenon headlight 730
heate front seats 455
satellite readio preparation 70

destination fee 695
-----------------------------------------------------
so the invoice price is 33,555 (it is an existing car with these options, so the base price is the old one before Sep 1). And the MSRP is $36,545.

but the dealer only gave me $34845 as the final price, and he said no for any lower price. It is $1,290 above the invoice.

I find that in this post, the price is always at most $1000 above the invoice, so maybe this dealer asked too much.

Any advice or comments?

y_xie

two or three weeks ago, invoice column. But not now.

vsaxena

This is a private party sale so no certification or extended warranty.

I am not sure how you came up with ED being $1640 less. The MSRP are about 7% less (~$2600), plus you *CAN* negotiate a better discount with ED if you go to the right dealer; the car is a bonus sale for them since it does not come out of their allocation.

The ED invoice for this car is in the low 30s. Assuming a $1500 profit (very doable), this car should be easily available in the mid 30s. No way I would pay $29K for a car which is 3 model years old when I get a next gen car for 20-25% more.

kyfdx

Yeah.. I missed the AWD part.... But, that still puts the original MSRP at $37,500 or so.....

From a dealer, CPOed.... you are right... I would expect around $29K... but, not from a private seller, with no extra warranty...... In my experience, the AWDs aren't bringing any more used, than the RWD cars... BMW's own residuals seem to bear this out..

regards,
kyfdx

gaussd

Now it is $1700 off based on the msrp.
it is $1290 above the invoice (i use the old base price before Sep 1. ,cause it is an existing car and i think the dealer also payed the old price for this car).
I need to pay $34,845 (only include the destination fee $695) before tax and other fees.

it seems that everyone got a better deal than i got!

Should I accept this price?

The poor truth is there is only one bmw dealer in my town, and the other nearest bmw dealer is 70 miles away.

gaussd

now I got $1700 off of msrp.

any comments?

y_xie

The operating cost of a dealership is not going to be double or triple for selling a new model or different makes. So dealers always make money. The profit margin is driven by demand and supply. The demand is up to buyers. Ideally, if all buyers stay firm on price, dealers has room to lower down thire profit margin. In reality, use the lowest price found in Edmunds as a general idea of market price. Then use your negotiation skills.

General idea on negotiation
1. Use invoice price to add up. This will show how much dealer's profit will be, instead of how much discount from MSRP. (I did it this way)
2. Have firm mind set (ex, $500 above invoice) when negotiating the price. (I didn't do it. I always thought $1000 or less above invoice is a good deal.)
3. Drag the salesman into long negotiation. He will waste his time and opportunity without making a final deal. (I didn't do it. I talked to sales manager through email - a half month, and spent a hour in his office to make a deal.)
4. Prepare all the details of accessory price and make new proposal when necessary. (I made a mistake. I thought all weather mate was worth $145. But it is not.)

thr61

I am just wrapping up a deal and will be signing tomorrow. We went over the signing costs and everything looked fine except for a $725 acquisition fee. I thought that this fee was $625 through BMW finance? Did it go up in September with a new program? Or is it a way of them recouping the reduced money factor and purchase price I negotiated?

I hate to stall at the last minute and really want to take delivery, but it is annoying.

Others' experience here?

Thanks.

vsaxena

BMWFS allows the dealer to mark up the acquisition fee by $200 and the MF by 0.0004. If you are getting the buy rate MF, a $100 is a justifiable fee for the finance department. They need to pay for the folks who are doing all the paper work for the lease.

wla10000

Read my post #4873

The is BMW of Mountain View. Anyone in the bayarea reading this be warned. He baited and switched me. :mad:

He gave me a quote for $44,695. I called and emailed 5 or 6 times to
confirm, and always got the same price. So I finally decided to sign the
authorization of $1000 deposit last week. After he received my personal
info (SSN, driver's license and credit card #), one day later he called
and told me he miscalculated the price by $1700. How could that be
possible? And he said he made a mistake and apologized, and gave me the
real quote of $46,300. I told him that I am not a fool.

bdr127

This is a private party sale so no certification or extended warranty.

I am not sure how you came up with ED being $1640 less. The MSRP are about 7% less (~$2600), plus you *CAN* negotiate a better discount with ED if you go to the right dealer; the car is a bonus sale for them since it does not come out of their allocation.

The ED invoice for this car is in the low 30s. Assuming a $1500 profit (very doable), this car should be easily available in the mid 30s. No way I would pay $29K for a car which is 3 model years old when I get a next gen car for 20-25% more.

Since it's a private party sale, then it's probably a little pricey without the CPO....

My fault on the ED price... I quoted the Diplomatic price (for anyone who works for or is related to someone who works for an international embassy). The discount for ED is $2295.

Of course you are able to negotiate a lower price for any type of delivery, but my point was that for a special order on a model that hasn't been produced yet, I'd imagine it would be tough to get a discount....

gwill

I'm confused. I was of the mind that destination charges were always a throw away number when looking at the invoice price. I've never paid them. It seems that from the discussions I've read that BMW doesn't waive that fee. Am I missing something?

bdr127

Destination charges are for the transport from the factory to the dealer (which, IMO, for BMW at $695 is a deal since it is shipped from Germany). Those are included in the MSRP and are not "throw-away." You can negotiate the total price of the car, of which that fee is part. It isn't a dealer fee nor a "BMW" fee, per se, since all manufacturers charge a destination fee.

gwill

So the answer is? Let me be a little more clear. Is it reasonable (on a BMW) to begin negotiating from the invoice sans listed destination costs or not? On the two or three other new cars I've purchased the dealer always tried to add destination on top of the final negotiated price, but was more than willing to sell me the car without that added charge. Are you saying that I should pay that charge and be happy for the privilege because it's a BMW shipped from Germany? I presently have a VW toureg and paid a flat price which I negotiated from the invoice price w/o destination charges. Am I mistaken or are those shipped from Germany too? So, again, do I begin Invoice price up with or without dest.?

kyfdx

Destination is part of the invoice price and the MSRP...

Of course, you should negotiate a price that has no additions, only tax, title, and license.... How they break it down after that, is up to them, and of no consequence to you...

So.. once you say, "I'll pay $XX,XXX for the car plus TTL", you shouldn't get in the finance office and find out that they want $XX,XXX + $695 for destination....

But, as far as determing a price you want to pay? Unless there is a dealer incentive on your model, the invoice price including destination is probably lower than you will be able get... Usually, invoice + dest. + $1000 is a good price on any BMW that doesn't have specific dealer incentives..

regards,
kyfdx

gwill

Thank you.

wstevec

My 325xi just left port yesterday for NJ, does anyone know how long it will take to arrive in port? I ordered it way back in January, so every day seems like a month! Thanks

bdr127

Usually takes around 2 weeks to get from port to port....

vsaxena

"Of course you are able to negotiate a lower price for any type of delivery, but my point was that for a special order on a model that hasn't been produced yet, I'd imagine it would be tough to get a discount.... "

My point is that it is easier to negotiate a lower price on an ED delivery than a regular ordered car. This is especially true of high demand cars. The dealer has a certain number allocated to sell and will demand the most he/she can get for them. OTOH, most of the ED cars do not come from dealer allocation. As a result, the need to make the most from these high demand is less. It is a bonus sale from them.

kmlsn

My 2006 330i will be arriving next week, and I have negotiated the price with the internet sales department. I just want to know if this is a good price.
--Premium pkg
--Sport pkg
--Cold weather pk
--Sirius
-Metallic paint
41k plus dest, tax and reg fees =44k??

kyfdx

Rather than listing all of your options, it would be much easier for the other members to give you an opinion, if you just told them the MSRP...

regards,
kyfdx

mattg

Before I ask a dealer (chicago area), what is customary for amt of deposit on an order? Was thinking $1,000. Pls advise. Thanks.

calif65gm

Yes $1k is pretty normal, sometimes you can get away with $500 if you have a past relationship with the dealership.

chatkat

I paid $45,000 inlcuding destination, tax and license and had Navi, Active Steering and PDC plus what you have. MY MSRP was 47720.

bdr127

I paid $45,000 inlcuding destination, tax and license and had Navi, Active Steering and PDC plus what you have. MY MSRP was 47720.

I'd say the dealer lost money, since the actual invoice price (not including tax and tags) is around $45k.....

Kirstie_H

Are you currently shopping for a vehicle? If so, a reporter would like to talk with you to learn how important fuel efficiency is to you as you make your decision.
Please respond to jfallon@edmunds.com no later than Wednesday, September 14, 2005 with a few thoughts on the subject.

moneyb24

My wife and I are looking at a 2006 330i with Sport, Premium, Heated seats. Sticker price is $41770. However, it is a dealer demo with 1540 miles, but pristine and only driven by the manger and some customers on test drive. They are giving us a price of $38,500. Should we commit? I will receive the full warranty starting from date we sign/it is considered new. Any potential issues?

Also, we are going to lease and then purchase at end of the lease is a money factor of .00025 good? That corresponds to an APR of 6%. Is a MF of .00021-23 possible or feasible or even reasonable? Should we demand lower

Thanks for the help!

y_xie

I found edmunds.com add a '--- Metallic Paint' item in the option page. So, the invoice price of sparkling graphite metallic paint is still ">$430. Counting free all weather mate, I paid $702 above invoice (see previous post for details). <img src="

gwill

I had a dealership in the DC area offer a 325i with automatic as only option for
30k even. He then said he would do it for 500 over invoice. The car listed for 32,270.00. Good deal?

bdr127

A $3200 discount on a practically new 330i is a good deal, especially since you get the warranty from this point on (and not from 0 miles).... The .0025 MF is their buy rate, so that is as low as they can go.

rhmass

I don't know much about leasing, so can't comment on it.
However the asking price of $38,500 for a MSRP of $41,770 isn't bad. 1,500 miles is nothing really. You may want to knock down another $500 and make it even as well as asking him to throw in the tire/rim insurance which I consider essential now with the Run Flat tires on all the 06 3 series. The tire costs a minimum of $250 a pop if you get a puncture! BMW states no repair for any punctured tires. So even if you can't get him to throw in free, you may want to consider buying it. It costs between $400 to $500 depending on the dealer. It covers for five years on both tires and rims for five years.