2005 330i Cheaper than 2004?

[iateyourcheese]

I'm soon to be without a car, so I was comparing a 2004 330i Premium Pkg. with the end of year discounts versus a 2005 330i. Much to my surprise, the 2005 is actually *cheaper* than the 2004 by $600.

Here's the deal... moonroof and wood trim were made standard on the 3 series sedans for 2005, so the Premium Pkg. dropped to $2200 from $3300 . This change of $1100 offsets the $500 increase in the base price for a net price decrease of $600.

Maybe we can chalk this up to competition from the likes of Acura and Infiniti. I know BMW Financial was complaining that the weak dollar was diluting the profits on the US machines, so this is somewhat radical on their part.

[MicahO]

I'm soon to be without a car, so I was comparing a 2004 330i Premium Pkg. with the end of year discounts versus a 2005 330i. Much to my surprise, the 2005 is actually *cheaper* than the 2004 by $600.

Here's the deal... moonroof and wood trim were made standard on the 3 series sedans for 2005, so the Premium Pkg. dropped to $2200 from $3300 . This change of $1100 offsets the $500 increase in the base price for a net price decrease of $600.

Maybe we can chalk this up to competition from the likes of Acura and Infiniti. I know BMW Financial was complaining that the weak dollar was diluting the profits on the US machines, so this is somewhat radical on their part.


Buuuut - if you try to lease or finance, the deal they offer on the 2004 will probably be much better than on the '05. Pay cash, and save!

[kurichan]

Pay cash, and save!:yikes:

[iateyourcheese]

Buuuut - if you try to lease or finance, the deal they offer on the 2004 will probably be much better than on the '05. Pay cash, and save!

Yeah, I agree. The one thing to consider when buying at the end of the year is the depreciation you get by driving off the dealer's lot is a lot greater than early in the year. So, I'm just saying that there's even more to account for, since the price is strangely lower. This just screws the dealers (although they have $3000 rebates from BMW to help them with this).

[sbono13]

The one thing to consider when buying at the end of the year is the depreciation you get by driving off the dealer's lot is a lot greater than early in the year.
To support this point with some numbers, I priced out used 330i's with the same number of miles (36000) on edmunds.com from MY01 vs. MY02, and the MY02 came out about $2000 more in a private sale. The price delta is less when comparing an older car that had been lightly driven with a newer car that was driven a lot.

So, I'm just saying that there's even more to account for, since the price is strangely lower. This just screws the dealers (although they have $3000 rebates from BMW to help them with this).
If you want a moonroof anyway, the MY05 MSRP comes out to about $600 less than the MY04, as you say. OTOH, if you are able to bargain effectively, you should be able to leverage the $3000 dealer incentive to get the MY04 for about $2400 less than for the comparable MY05. But since you would get about $2000 less in resale if you part with it after 3-4 years, I'd say it's a push so it makes no difference which MY you get in the end.

Anyway, I might suggest that you save an additional $800 or so by just ordering the leather seats separately on the MY05, instead of buying the premium package (unless you really want the auutodimming rear view window, the lumbar control, and BMW Assist).