UPENN545

So I decided to take a trip over to BMW of AUSTIN and Lexus of AUSTIN where I was contemplating turning in my 05 rl (need a v8).Until I was floored with the trade in price of 38k from Lexus and 40k from BMW (tentatively) Of course my first choice is a new 545 or even a 550 but the 40k buy back is a major hang up(though I will still pull the trigger) My question is I was offered a price of 65k for the following options:

nav
cold weather
premium sound
sport package
heated rear seats
satellite prep

all for 65k.Very nice gentleman but he wouldn't budge on price. He actually told me msrp was the standard and they wouldn't budge...is this a good deal???? Need some help my first BMW. I?m 26 yrs old.

stream

Go to this page and scroll down and there's a doc w/ retail (MSRP) and factory invoice pricing. There's about 9% margin on the 545i at MSRP.
http://www.e60.net/information/

Pricing flexibility does vary by geography, but there's no way I would pay anything near MSRP for a 545i, especially considering the 550i is just around the corner. I suggest you look at the pricing document, see what the factory invoice is for that car (my guess is just under $60K), and talk to a few dealers in terms of what mark up over factory invoice they're willing to offer, and not what discount from MSRP. It might be there's not too many BMW dealers in Austin and/or too many Dell millionaires (dealers in Seattle area are also less flexible than other areas). Call a few Dallas or Houston dealers--probably more competition there.

UPENN545

Actually theyre the only BMW dealer in my area...thanks for the reply

stream

As I said, don't be afraid to call dealers outside your town. You'd be surprised the deal you could get, and it could be worth your while to fly there and drive it back, or have them ship it to you (some will eat the transport charges). I'm in the SF bay area, and the last Porsche I bought, I did the deal on the phone (after calling a bunch of dealers), flew to LAX the next morning, the sales guy from Beverly Hills Porsche picked me up at the airport, and I drove the car home that day. Saved quite a bit compared to local dealers.

kscarrol

UPENN, I feel your pain. Having to deal w/ the only dealer within 100+ miles can really make negotiating difficult. I agree that a 545 should not go for MSRP with the 550 due later this year, but when they are the only game in town it is hard. I had the same decision on my 545 as the nearest dealer is in Baton Rouge, 90 miles away. While you may save a few dollars on the front end, the service you get as a customer (loaners, treated better etc) vs. showing up with a car bought elsewhere is hard to measure. Of course when I bought my car, the E60 was brand new, so discounts were few are far between.

How many 545's does he have on the lot? Not many and I'd say getting a meaningful discount will be hard. If they a number of them, hold out. They will get more desperate as the 550 gets closer.

rodneyremington

I would tend to agree with the poster above rather than those who claim that great deals can be had on 545s.

Most dealers have only 1 or maybe 2 on the lot at a time. The average buyer knows nothing about the 550-- it won't be available for some time and most people car shopping are looking for something to drive home or have within a week or so. I wouldn't expect that to lower 545 demand much quite yet.

Buy a local car if you can. You will get better service. The absolute cheapest price may not be the way to go if you have to go far out of town.

kryptokat

The 40K seems reasonable because the invoice on the RL is 44K.
65K is a rip off. You should not have to pay more than $2000 over invoice price for your car. I have had almost every dealer I went to when I shopped give me $2500 over invoice when I asked for the bottom line and told them I was shopping around for price.

I ofcourse took the lowest offer which was out of town and $1000 less than the in town dealer. The only downside is you will not get a loaner if you go in for service at another dealer. But it's up to you to figure out if you don't mind renting another car to drive while the 545 is in the shop and chances are it will be, atleast for a software upgrade.

It is all relative, in college I would travel 40 miles to save $20 but now I would rather pay $100 than travel 40 miles.

You are only 26 but your finances seem to be well ahead of you, so decide how much money your time is worth.

If you decide to buy from your dealer give him a call and tell him you are willing to take delivery of the car today if he can price match it for 61K and trade in your car for 40K. He will tell you that he has to speak to the manager and will call you back. Wait to see what he has to say.

gdavis

you might check out this guys process. I worked with him and bought my car from out of state. it went very smoothly with no hiccups.

http://www.eurobuyers.com/

He links you to a dealer as close as possible, then a pre-determined percent is added to invoice. If you agree, you buy the car. You just pay him a set fee to start it up.

BTW, welcome to e60.net!!!!!!!!!!

Ricracing

I just loooove competition.
Do not buy the car from the first big belly salesman you meet!

Ps. Welcome to this great forum and good luck with your buy,
you'll just love the car.

What color are you going for?

UPENN545

Thanks guys for all the insightful information. I?m definitely going to try to be the first person in Austin with the 550. I?m probably going to just bend and buy from Bmw of Austin. The convenience of it being located 10minutes from my house will out weigh the extra markup. So guess ill be hanging out here for the next 2 months patiently waiting. When do you guys recommend putting down a deposit?

I?m going for black and auburn or the dark carbon grey and auburn

Thing is to this day I've never driven a Bmw. I've always said the first one i drive will be my own.