Originally Posted by one4thethumb' post='786069' date='Feb 5 2009, 02:41 PM

Greetings all. I am new to the forum (as of yesterday) and to the wonderful world of BMW ownership (as of January 28).

When I started car shopping just after New Years Day (to replace my leased vehicle - a Chrysler 300 Limited AWD [hey, remember I live in Metro Detroit, okay, I had Chrysler paper and the lease payments made sense]) I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams that less than one short month later I would be the proud owner of a "cherry" 2006 CPO 530xi.

How did I end up choosing BMW? In a word; providence. It was meant to be.

I spent weeks researching lease and purchase options for new domestics. I still had access to Chrysler employee paper, and was eligible for the "X' plan discount with Ford (which I used to acquire my previous leased vehicle: a Volvo S-60 2.5 AWD). The problem was the lease market is uber depressed here in the States, and with residual values down across the board and lenders being tight with money, it didn't make economic sense for me to lease a domestic vehicle in the neighborhood of > $600 US / month.

While lamenting the problems I was encountering in terms of finding suitable and appropriate transportation to one of my colleagues, he suggested that I consider a CPO and directed me to the BMW USA website. SHAZAM, and to truncate a long story, I discovered that my local dealer's CPO Internet Sales Manager lives in the next subdivision down the road from us, and we have several mutual friends. I considered and drove several available CPO (both i and ix) and ultimately decided on the one detailed in my signature below. What helped to seal the deal was the fact that with the available 3.9% financing through BMW Finance, my monthly payment to OWN rather than lease was a mere $46 more / month than the lease payment on my 300.

Several of my partners have driven or currently drive BMW's (ranging from a 2000 525, a 2006 X-5, 2006 x-3, 2007 650i conv., 2005 745i & A 2006 530xi) and they all highly recommended that I pursue my deal for the 530xi.

Other than a blip with a low battery and high battery discharge warning, resulting in the replacement of the battery under warranty yesterday, all is well. I absolutely love the car, the way it feels, handles and holds the road.

I look forward to its first extended road test; a trip to Pittsburgh to visit family and friends (I am a Pittsburgh transplant toiling for my trade in Michigan, consequently I bleed Steeler black and gold)

I believe that the CPO route may have to be the way to go later in the year when the lease on my wife's crossover expires in December.