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

jabrolta · April 2006

dexteref,

All sales men say that,it is just part of their gimmick. I have not heard anything bad from the sales men at VOB. My sales man was great (I got 330i) and my friend that bought a 325i sales man was great. He gave her more of a discount than mine because I placed an order in April 2005 so the dealers were not discounted much then (750 off msrp). Like I said, you can get it for $33k, my friend did. Just press the sales man that it is all you got and that you are ready to buy right now at that price. Sad to say, that I got rid of my 06 330i after less than a year. I decide to move up and get a 2005 545i. So far the car is great! Just trying to get use to the size of the car and power. Good luck with your purchase!

jvpr · April 2006

you should move to miami- everyone here had a beemer and the service is great!

wayne6 · April 2006

Thanks for the info. I live in SFV and I was talking with Rusnak in Westlake and Valencia. I haven't finalized what I want or started to grind numbers yet, but Valencia responded to my initial inquiries saying thay would do $1200 over invoice so I know there is room to move. Because I want the split seats, I would have to do a special order. Did you do tire insurance? If so, how much did you pay? How does MACO figure in?

Finally, what about color combos? Most places seem to focus on the greys, blacks and whites and don't have the other colors on the lot. One guy said the Deep Green + Terra Cotta looked sharp. Before I order I want to see what looks good since the BMW website is of no help.

dexteref · April 2006

Thanks for the info. I will push the salesman down on the price since the car arrrives around the last of the month. The 05 525I are nice. My goal is to move up to either the 03 525I or 04 525I. Thanks again.

leo11 · April 2006

I am new to the forum and had a quick question. Had found this deal on swaplease on a BMW 330i with nav, 10000 miles per year for 32 months at 550 per month. The car is in Cincinati and I live in Houston. The original owner ( giving up his lease to buy a new house ) said he would pay for transfer fees while I have to pay for shipping...approx 700 bucks. Does any one have experience with swap lease and what additional fees will I incur eg TT&L? And is this a smart thing to do? Does the nav work out of state ? Any advice would be great.
LS

rats13 · April 2006

I special ordered. It took about 6 weeks. I did get the tire insurance. It was about $400 or so. It was probably a waste but my wife talked me into it. MACO was $330 when I bought in Feb. I tried to get around it but couldn't. Just make sure you are adding the $330 to kbb.com invoice price when they quote you $1200 over invoice. That was my experience. I paid kbb invoice +330 MACO +800.

I do recommend going to the lot and seeing examples of the color. I got Monaco blue metallic with Gray interior but only after seeing it in person at Beverly Hills BMW.

Hope this info helps Good Luck

kyfdx · April 2006

Issues you might run into...

1) Not sure how they calculate lease tax in Cincinnati (even though I live near there), but I think it is paid upfront.. Since you live in Texas, it is possible that you will have to pay tax on the entire value of the car (or BMWFS will) when you register it. The guys at Swapalease are very experienced, and should have this information available. If they don't, BMWFS will surely know.

2) The transfer fees (to BMWFS) are $450.. That is a great offer.... but, I wouldn't have the car shipped.. You can probably fly one-way to Cincinnati for $200.. That way, you see what you are getting, and you don't have to deal with the "what-ifs" of a shipping company.

3) There shouldn't be any other fees, other than what Swapalease might charge you to sign up.

4) The NAV should work anywhere in the 48 states...

Regards,
kyfdx

jaydoll · April 2006

I was quoted $800 over invoice on Sat from a dealer in New England. Car was as follows:

330/sport/prem/metalic paint/heatedseats

I was told retail is $42070. My cost is $39,801. Dealer doc fee is $45.

The lease rate for 3 year with no money down is $476 +state tax. This was calculated using a MF of .00195. Residual is 65%
The lease rate for 24 month is $517+state tax. This was calculated using a MF of .00220 Residual is 74%

I typically do approx 5K miles a year.

The best interest rate interest rate I have seen fora 60 month term is approx 5.75%.

Any thoughts would be much appriciated. My current lease ends in two months

Thanks,

Jay

kyfdx · April 2006

This looks like a great deal... How much money is due at signing?

How do you reconcile only putting 15K miles on your car over three years, with the amount you are paying to lease it? It seems that you'd be better off getting a 72 month loan, and selling at the four year mark with only 20K miles on your car... Your payment would still be higher than the lease, but you'd probably have a lot of positive equity at that point...

Plus you'd still have warranty and free maintenance for the entire period..

Just my $0.02
kyfdx

chizower · April 2006

Sounds like a nice deal rats13! What dealership did you purchase from? and how much additional $$$ would you expect to save if you purchased a car off their lot?

dl7265 · April 2006

Over 7k depreciation in 9k miles ? NO way. Id guess closer to 4k. If you have a local Carmax try that out. For comparison I saw that a KY dealer (BMW store) I think it is is asking only 1-2K Off on loaners that have more miles than yours.....

Good Luck,
DL

rats13 · April 2006

I bought from South Bay BMW in Torrance. I actually have no idea what kind of deal they would have made on a car on the lot cuz we never talked about that. They pretty much had no 330's on the lot to speak of. I think if I had wanted a 325 I might have had a chance at an in stock model. One thing I was kind of surprised is how much extended warranty was. They wanted $3,700 for it to start and came down to $3,200 STILL way too high for me. I was thinking about it coming in the door but they made my decision easy.

jabrolta · April 2006

The depreciation sounds about right. I just traded in my 06 330i (Premium, Sport, and Cold packages) with 6800 miles for a 2005 545i (paid only $1400 over trade in) and I lost about $7k. If I include taxes, I lost close to $9k in under a year. :mad:

I was surprise to see that the 06 3 series are not holding their value as predicted. I have seen the same car with the same options at Car Max selling for under $35k with about the same miles. Obviously this car did not stay on the lot for long because it was a good deal. This means the trade in is very low for the 06 3 series.

Edmunds just recently posted their car appraisal for the 06 3 series (click link below). Hopefully my 05 545i does not lose too much vale since the introduction of the 06 and 07 550i.

Edmunds 2006 3 series appraisal

blueguydotcom · April 2006

Oh that doesn't bode well. I'm considering dumping my 06 330i (1500 miles, 6 speed, sport, leather, pdc, comfort access) and I'd like to get 36k for it - I wouldn't be losing any money on it then.

jackreid · April 2006

Did you try to sell it privately? If not I had the same situation and sat on the car for three weeks and received 3k more than the dealership offered. Three grand is three grand, but I know some people don't want the hassle. These dealerships know they have us by the horns when we want out of one cart to get what really want

jabrolta · April 2006

I listed the car on cars.com and autotrader. I did not get any offers for the car, so I had to concede to trade-in since I did not want to lose the deal for the 545i ($1400 over trade-in). I know I could have gotten at least $2-3k more, but no one was offering anything in my area.

daveyboy · April 2006

Just Signed the Purchase Order for a new 06 330xi:
Auto
Heated Seats
Premium
Navigation
Sat Radio Prep

27 month lease with 0 down, new york (8.625% read:suicide) tax in the payment with just 1st month and acquisition fee and other standard charges. The deal is 560/month for 15K miles. How did i Do? The MSRP of the Car is $45,245. Also what is the selling price of the car given the payment

jaydoll · April 2006

kyfdx,

Thanks for your insite. Much appriciated. I don't have long commute to work and I guess I don't get out enough that's why my 04 (not a bmw)I am driving has 10400 miles on it.

The lease was zero down with security deposit/bank fee and first months deposit due. At $800 over invoice and 5.75 percent, I think I can come up with 6k down so I would be financing approx 33-34K.

Any thoughts from any 300 sedan/sport/maunal owners? how have you enjoed the car so far?

nimajava · April 2006

Just placed a deposit for car arriving on the 5th

2006 330I
Prem
Nav
Sport pkg
Jet Black/Dakota Leather
Sat Prep

36 mo lease
15k per year
2k down
599.99 per month including Tax...

In anyones expert opinion... Is this a good deal?

nimajava · April 2006

By the way its an automatic

dl7265 · April 2006

Hmm, well maybe its the area. Dallas dealers do not discount new cars so I guess it falls over into the used market here . For example my E46 was 31K new. I sold it for 21k after 39 months/41K miles.. so 10K dep in about 3.5 years..Why I buy BMW's.... great resale.

DL

JingleJill · April 2006

Is there a website where I can get the invoice prices including Euro Delivery? Thanks,

Stacy

inkthedeal · April 2006

To people who custom ordered their 3 series from Munich; how long did it take for the car to be delivered?

Thanks!

dl7265 · April 2006

Hey Stacy ,nice to see you again. Go to Bimmerfest.com then look for Ask-A-Dealer in the forums.

DL

JingleJill · April 2006

Thanks... You know, I never left? I still keep up with the forums. I currently have an '03 525i, which I'm not happy with. Time for a change. Will probably go back to a 3 series, but which one, I have no idea...

Stacy

dl7265 · April 2006

I hope its not as hot in Austin as Dallas was yesterday. 101F The old record was 94F.. not a good sign in April.

Good luck on you choice,

DL

JingleJill · April 2006

I'm actually in San Antonio and YES, it is HOT. I have a feeling this is going to be a brutal summer. (Live in SA, but anything BMW related is done through BMW of Austin. SA dealership SUCKS!!!)

rats13 · April 2006

about 6 1/2 weeks

dlinda · April 2006

Depends on the sticker price of the car and the invoice price that you negotiated it down to. Edmunds has a great auto leasing guide that simplifies it since I too was looking to lease a 330, but given that I am upside down on my current truck, don't think it's going to work out. Anyway, go to the page below and then scroll down until you find the formula. You are going to need to know the sticker price, invoice price, money factor (aka the interest rate), the residual value percentage that was used to come up with your payment (on a bmw, it's gotta be more than 50%), and the tax rate. The page is: http://www.edumunds.com/edweb/leasing.html. Considering that I came up with a ballpark payment of $750 for the same term on a simple lease, $599 sounds like a good deal, but I didn't put any money down on the example I did. 'Course, I could have screwed up on the math, so it's important that you do your own calculation. Good luck! DLinda

confucius1127 · April 2006

I live in the DC/Metropolitan area and am looking to buy a

2006 330i
- Premium Package
- Cold Weather
- Metallic paint
- Automatic

The guy said MSRP was 42,250 and he'd sell it to me for 40,250. Can I get some help as to what sort of price I should aim for?

jpierce26 · April 2006

I just negotiated a new car. My current 325xi lease is over in a couple months. So here is what I am thinking and here is what dealer gave me:

2006 325xi
-Premium Package
-Sports Package
-Cold Weather Package
-Manual Transmission
-Metallic Paint
-Xenon
-NAV
-Park Distance Control
-Comfort Access
-Rear Shade
-Upgraded Sound
-Satellite radio

MSRP is $44,940
Dealer cost is $41,320
My cost is $42,320
Residual Value is 63%
Money Factor is .0029

Monthly payments are $635.51

He won't change the money factor or residual, but gave me $1,000 over invoice.

How does that sound? I want to decide soon so I can order the car and have it here when my lease is up.

confucius1127 · April 2006

jeez...for that price why not get a 330 instead?

jpierce26 · April 2006

I thought about it, but it shoots the cost up to 48K. Somehow that seems like a lot to me.

confucius1127 · April 2006

Okay. Well, I'd say you hafta ask yourself if you really need all that stuff. If you don't need folding rear seats, u should opt out of the cold weather package and just get seat heaters. NAV comes with the iDrive thing...which should make you reconsider. From what I hear, a lot of the options like Park Distance Control, Comfort access, aren't really that useful and are a bit overpriced.

48k is a lot for a 3-series. I'd definitely buy something else with that sort of money. However, 42k for a 325i? something that only has 215 hp? seems a little lacking for the price

ckm1515 · April 2006

Not a very good deal in my opinion...MF is marked up. I have an 06 330xi for about the same price, including tax

jpierce26 · April 2006

Thanks for the feedback. The guy said up front he would not change the MF. I agree it is high, but he stood firm on it. He did negotiate the price of the car. I don't have many choices around here. Maybe I should email the deal to other area dealers and see if they can beat that price. Does that really work?

agbasher · April 2006

Any help...I am a newbie.

1. Ordered car on 4/1...how long should it take to get here (I am in MN)?
2. How many miles should it have on it?

Thanks.

agb

dl7265 · April 2006

You should be able to negotiate a great deal on a pumped up 325I like that. Even if you had it shipped (maybe $500?) you should still come out ahead. Your local dealer might balk on giving you a loaner for piddly things, but in the end how much is that worth to you ?

Good Luck,
DL

dl7265 · April 2006

Ok, Did you get a car that was allready in production ? You can join Owners Circle on BMWUSA.COM , but its only going to show you colors, not options so don't get concerned with that. Once you get a VIN# and is shipped you can locate the carrier ( there are a few that BMW uses now) and you can track it . For me it was

Production 03/30/05
Arrived at dealer in TX on 05/05/2005

DL

jpierce26 · April 2006

I would think I should be able to negotiate a better deal. My biggest problem is the money factor... I know it is negotiable, but he says he won't negotiate that number.

Thanks,

irvine_avalon · April 2006

Check my message #6318

tendres · April 2006

330Cic, performance package, auto, xenon, BMW assist, Cold weather, metallic paint....list is 53,245, quote is $1,500 off list (free floormats and shipping), plus about $1,200 higher on my trade than the next closest dealer. Financing rate is good right now at 2.9% for 60 months.
I'll try and get another $500 out of them before I sign.

Doubt I can do significantly better...any thoughts.

raln48 · April 2006

I'm hoping to get an opinion regarding this situation from one of the hosts of this forum.
On April 8th, I closed on a new 2006 330xi lease through BMWFS. In reviewing the lease document, the effective date was listed as being 3/31/06. When I asked the finance rep about this, he indicated that "BMW had already applied this lease to last month's business."
As part of the required up-front money I paid the first month's payment up front. Yesterday, the 20th, I received an invoice for the second payment which I've gone ahead and paid.

I don't want to sound petty, but it has not set well with me knowing that the "first month's" payment covered about 20 days.
Dating the lease as though the deal was closed 10 days earlier was done to benefit BMW (or maybe it was the dealership that benefited and the finance rep just blamed BMW in an effort to shift blame away from the dealership itself.)
To me, this is not that way that a dealer, auto manufacturer, and finance institution should start a relationship with a new customer.

Question -- do you think that I have any recourse in this situation. I am a reasonable person, I just want fair treatment.
Thanks.

mattr82 · April 2006

I can't see how they are selling a 330ci for so high, given it has the e46 body style with the old engine. I really think you should be able to do much better, or should possibly hold off for the newly unveiled 335 coupe coming out in September or so. It will have 300 hp 300 ft lb of torque. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17989&page=1&pp=22

Good luck. I too really love the old e46 styling, but feel it looks dated.

calif65gm · April 2006

That's ridiculous what date did you actually drive off the lot? Question maybe what's the difference in the MF and residuals between March and April also.

I think it benefitted the dealership by punching it March 31. They must have needed the sale to make some bonus.

kyfdx · April 2006

Convertible pricing is pretty stiff... It is hard to say exactly what deal you are getting, since you have a trade, but it seems that they are giving you the best offer on your trade as well...

Generally, $2K is about the biggest discount I've seen on a 3-series vert.. It is spring, and that is when prices firm up for them..

I agree about it being an old body-style, but since there is no alternative right now (six months or more for the new one?), I don't think it will affect new pricing..

Is the 2.9% financing good on convertibles? That is a big bonus.. I also doubt you can do significantly better... $500-$1000 more would probably be all of it..

(I wish I had the performance package..

)

regards,
kyfdx

kyfdx · April 2006

There are a lot of things that bother me about this deal..

1) You are being cheated out of ten days use of the car... Relatively minor... about $200

2) The 330Xi lease money factors dropped in April.. They could have given you a lower money factor.. This could be a plan to squeeze some more profit out of your lease... Or, it could just be a bookkeeping/sales deal for them..

I guarantee you that the deal didn't have any extra benefit for BMWNA or BMWFS... If anyone made any extra money out of it, it was the dealership and/or your salesperson..

I think you definitely have some recourse...

First, I'd go to the sales manager, and tell him that you have a problem with the lease being dated 3/31/06.. and that you want it re-written for April 8th.. They will probably say that they can't do it, yada, yada, yada.. If so, tell them you think you've been screwed, and you are going to the general manager of the dealership.. If nothing happens, then do exactly that..

If nothing comes of that, then call BMWFS directly, and ask to speak to a supervisor or manager.. Tell them you've been the victim of a fraud, and that your lease paperwork was back-dated.. They are very touchy about those things..

All this is sort of vague, so here is what you should be looking for...

1) If you are just losing ten days of use, that is about $200.

2) If you missed out on the .0003 reduction in the money factor from March to April, that is about $20/mo. or $720..

3) If they then marked up your money factor the maximum .0004 that BMWFS allows, that is another $27/mo. or $972.

What you really want, and are entitled to... is 1) and 2).. If you really rock them back on their heels, and you are pretty certain they marked up the money factor, then go for 3) also..

My guess is the sales manager is going to offer you 1) to make it go away... If you don't want to mess with this whole deal, you can take it and stop right there.. We aren't talking about breaking the bank, either way..

This won't be fun... Don't call anyone a cheater or liar, until you absolutely find out the dealership won't work with you.. Even car dealers like to save face..

Do you know what money factor was used? The base money factor in March was .00225.... In April, it was .00195.. The dealer can mark it up by .0004 over these numbers, and if you didn't make a security deposit, the number is .00015 higher..

Hope some of this helps... looks like I rambled a little..

regards,
kyfdx
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bdr127 · April 2006

can't see how they are selling a 330ci for so high, given it has the e46 body style with the old engine.

It's not a 330ci... it's the 330cic (convertible). Right now is prime convertible season. As a result, you can't expect huge discounts, as demand is high.

As far as styling and engine goes, the new convertible styling and most likely engine won't be out for another year. The coupe is out this fall, but the convertible won't be out until the spring.

mattr82 · April 2006

I know this is for the cic, I just forgot to type the final c. You are right, convertibles are in season now, the tread starter's quote is not bad for the car, given the extra tax break on his trade-in. I just wanted to let him know of what was coming out in the near future, and voice my opinion that it seems better financially (future resale) and most likely performance-wise to wait. Also, for this price, he might want to check out an m3.

paultxrn · April 2006

I live in TX and have been offered these deals on a 2006 325i with sparkling graphite, beige leather, premium package, navigation, automatic and satellite prep. The MSRP is $38,320, invoice $35,165, selling for $37,620.

DEAL #1: Lease, 36 month/15k, $654/month with $1534 down (security deposit, 1st payment, TTL)
DEAL #2: Owner's Choice, 36 months, $613/month with $1500 down.
DEAL #3: Owner's Choice, 36 months, $660/month with 0 down.

Which deal would you choose, if any?

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

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