brett

I want to buy a 530i or xi in the suburban DC area. Which car are dealers willing to give the best deal on (530i or xi) and which dealership can give the lowest prices. Car will probably be serviced out of the area.

smcd

You'll probably get the same/similar deal on both. Not worth picking the car based on the deal anyway - just pick which one you want - RWD or AWD.

Ricracing

If you are an Diplomat or DC politican, get it from BMW Diplomate sales.

And think, do you really need the x-model!

The 4WD gives you better grip on really slippry roads, in all other aspects you loose.

znod

If you are an Diplomat or DC politican, get it from BMW Diplomate sales.

And think, do you really need the x-model!

The 4WD gives you better grip on really slippry roads, in all other aspects you loose.
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I agree with both of the above posters--at least depending on how much snow/ice you get in DC. I'd strongly prefer the i unless there is just too much snow/ice. I never had anything but rear drive "supercars" when in Tulsa for 9 years--medium snow/ice.

RaginBajin

I got mine from BMW of Sterling. I had no problems there and everything went very very smoothly.

twh

I live in Fairfax. I subscribe to Checkbook Magazine. They have a service you pay for that makes car buying painless. It's called CarBargains. Go to http://www.checkbook.org/auto/carbarg.cfm I used it to buy my 530xi. Completely painless and I got a good deal. I may have been able to negotiate the same deal, but nowhere close to this painless. I walked in to the lowest priced dealer selected from their report and walked out in less than 45 minutes with my car ordered exactly to my specs from BMW, for the pre-negotiated price leaving a $1,500 deposit. Basically, it is a buying service, but what is different is that it is not in any way paid for by the dealers, so the buying service is working for you to get the best price. I will for sure use this again.

rleg75

I bought a 530xi at Fairfax three weeks ago. They gave me a better deal than anywhere else.

UUronL

I purchased my 2006 (ordered it) from Passport BMW. I went through Autobytel.com. Got a really good deal on it, less than $1400 over wholesale which saved me over $3000 off the sticker. I've heard you can do just a bit better if you use the Costco vehicle purchase service. If you're not a member, the $40 fee to join would be worth it - I seem to recall an e60.net member who claimed to get his car for $1000 over wholesale.

If you're not a member of a credit union, you can join Pentagon Federal Credit Union by making a donation to the National Military Families Association (if you're ex-military or if you have family that was/is military, you can join for nothing). They have insanely good rates on auto loans. They're at 5.29% right now up to 60 months. Check out http://www.penfed.org

SolanNo1

I purchased my 2006 (ordered it) from Passport BMW. I went through Autobytel.com. Got a really good deal on it, less than $1400 over wholesale which saved me over $3000 off the sticker. I've heard you can do just a bit better if you use the Costco vehicle purchase service. If you're not a member, the $40 fee to join would be worth it - I seem to recall an e60.net member who claimed to get his car for $1000 over wholesale.

If you're not a member of a credit union, you can join Pentagon Federal Credit Union by making a donation to the National Military Families Association (if you're ex-military or if you have family that was/is military, you can join for nothing). They have insanely good rates on auto loans. They're at 5.29% right now up to 60 months. Check out http://www.penfed.org
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I used Sterling for my '05. Costco wasn't attractive since they had high markups for the program ($1800 over invoice when I was in the market. With an '06 it may be higher still). If you are looking to save $$s, get a quote from all the 7-8 dealers in the area and then have your friendly neighbourhood dealer match it. I saved a bunch.