under par

I'm brand new to this forum and the amazing world of BMW 5 series and have already found a lot of great info on this site. I was hoping for some specific answers from some of you experts regarding my situation. I also posted this on "another" BMW forum, hope that's not a major fau paux....I'm sure some people are exclusive to one or the other. For those who frequent both forums, sorry for the repeated topic here. Anyway....

I'm selling my MB C55 in order to get into a car where I can lower my monthly payment to be able to save a little more toward my upcoming house deal. Coming from a Z06, then this AMG, I'm not inclined to accept a big loss of performance, but still want to save money. I've driven a few 04 545s with Sport Package and am convinced that this is the car for me. I was really amazed and thought this car outperformed the '03 M5 on some levels. It was impressive!

The features that are important to me are: Sports Package, Premium Audio, Nav, Steptronic or SMG. Nice to haves would be rear sunshades, park distance control, HUD.

Seems like you can get a good CPO:
'04 545 for about $42K - $44K on average w/ ~25k miles.
'05 545 for about $45K - $49K on average w/ ~15k miles.

Can you lease an '04 CPO 545 on a 3 year program and get a MF of .0016 and a residual of ~60%?

On a CPO BMW, what's the best way to negotiate a lease? Is it to negotiate a price first, then for a certain rate and residual? Or do you just go in and say I'm willing to put $xxxx money down, and I want 15k miles a year with a payment of $xxx a month?

Ideally, I'd like to get into an '04 w/ ~25k miles for about $2k down and about $450 - $500 a month (after tax). What's the best way to do this? Also, I'd consider an '05 545 or '06 550 if the terms are much better and I could get a similar deal.

Does it pay to wait for end of the month? I've heard of people refer to "MSP" discounts and "CA" people. What are these?

Lots of questions I know, but I really appreciate and look forward to hearing from anyone with some advice or info. Thanks!

Chris.

bmw4life

What you feel like doing? I mean realistically, I just found out i could of gotten a 07 550i with smg, pdc, nav, sports package, comfort seats, hud, comfort access, for just a bit more a month than my 525i, bummer! anyways, if your looking to keep the car after your lease, might as well get an 05 or 06 if your worried about the residual. however, all bmws retain their residual value. but when the face lift comes out, who knows what could happen. for a lease, i would just tell the dealer what my budget figures are, then tell them what kind of down payment your willing to put. on a lease, they are more declined to take off the msrp, but that applies for new, who knows what they would do for a cpo, but make sure, look on kbb, and you would probably be able to knock off maybe 3-5grand of what they are charging.