put in order on E60 last week 530 w/ manual trans, orient blue, premium, sport, logic 7, adaptive headlights and dealer called me today to advise they want a $2,500 deposit that is non-refundable. Reason they stated is if I were to back out at delivery they would have trouble moving a Manual.


I replied with, it does not make sense for me to put down a non-refundable deposit on a car when dealership cant tell me what the car will cost.


Anyone else been required to put down non-refundable deposit down on ordered car due to being manual rather than automatic?

From everyone I talked to locally, the disposit they put in before (for other cars) were all refundable disposit. I would imagine plenty of buyers would buy with manual transmission. Do you have other dealers locally that you can deal with instead?

only one dealer within 100 miles( I sent the salesman back to the GM we will see what they come back with. In Feb I put down a 1,000 deposit that they still have and I had them write down refundable on my slip in Feb... puzzled why they are changing the deal now.

My credit is outstanding I own my own company and will pay cash for car as well upon delivery

When I ordered my '98 540, it was done with a handshake. No formal paperwork or deposit was required. Dealer told me we would have no trouble selling it if I decided not to take it.

I can understand why your dealer may require a deposit, but non-refundable is out of the question IMHO. His reasoning is suspect.

This sounds like bull to me. I've been to two different dealers in the SF Bay area. Each only wanted a $500 deposit and said it was fully refundable. One even said I could drive the car I ordered and then decide if I wanted it or not. I haven't ordered as I'm trying to determine when Euro delivery will be available.

followup/closure to this thread... droped in on dealer today regarding this issue and asked my salesperson to let me speak with his sales manager. Sales manager was not avail so I then asked to speak with the GM. Salesperson came back 5min later and said it has been cleared up and my 1k refundable deposit they already have will be sufficient. This dealer is already starting on a bad note hope it's not forshadowing

Thanks all for the input