leese8080

From my experience, commnicating and making a deal via e-mail made my life so much easier. Lots time savings.

Some of the turbo engines 535i did have the HPFP issue, but BMW will cover it until 10year/100k miles for all 535i whether it's CPO or not, unless I am mistaken.

If I were to shop for a car now, I'd definitely go with LCI (2008+) cars. Luckily we have a lot of options when shopping used cars in CA compared to other places. Take your time and find the car with options you want. I was on cars.com everyday when searching for mine. Good luck!


Also, you can put maximum of $5k on your credit card as downpay at the dealership. Why not get those points (5,000pts credit card points, avg card).

Gilgorm

I personally would go with an LCI car plus it is newer for more warranty TIME if not mileage.

Approach negotiating as fun, not a chore and absolutely be prepared to walk away. Do your homework and negotiate everything--even a gift certificate at the accessory shop and paint stick, winter mats, max money on credit card (for points/miles) and then pay cash at the end.

I always tire kick during the day, shop in the evening and make sure the manager is there for the hard decisions. My current 535i took five hours well after closing time to wear them down to my level. If you have a trade-in, negotiate the hell out of it as well. ALL you care about is the difference between your trade-in and the 'new' car.
And absolutely do your homework and have printouts of comparables (that only you refer to). Take a calculator and use it often, wash and clean your trade-in and take someone else to be your wing man/woman who you fake talking to for their advice. They should never back you and should pretend to be skeptical until you indicate you are ready to sign the deal.
GL

bloud

I negotiated for 7 days via email on my recent 550i purchase and of course did lots of research. I've actually negotiated the prices on our last 3 cars (including the 550i) via email and text messaging. Haggling on the phone and in person is a waist of my time.

Never get so attached to a car you are afraid to lose it though. Going for 7 days you could risk it selling to someone else. I got my dealer down 14% from the original asking price doing this. The negotiating went past the manager to the General Manager. I also always leave plenty of time between their counter offers, make them come back to me. When they stop contacting you, you know they are probably as low as they can go or its sold. ;-)

The advice above on financing is correct, they want to fiance you. Even if paying cash, I like to show my credit report scores (I'm at the top). This shows them this guy has the money and they "think" you will finance with out issue.

sdg1871

Excellent advise. I do all my car negotiating via email with the sales manager