535i lease pricing

I am looking at either the 535i or the 535GT for a lease. I have a small window of time to get an order in to get the car produced prior to what is apparently a month off at the plant (sorry folks, I am relatively new to all things BMW).

I am looking for what any of you might have as a fair range of pricing for a lease in the southeastern US, specifically Tampa, FL. I get the distinct feeling that the sales guy I am dealing with is not telling me the truth or is being intentionally vaque, trying to string along the sales process in order to run me up against a deadline to make a final decision.

Simply put, just how much are BMW sales folks allowed to negotiate on the leases? I am being told that BMWFS dictates a 60% residual, which magically is down from 62% when I leased my first BMW 3 years ago. If I wanted to put minimal down and just write as much as possible into the lease, how much should I realistically expect here?

This is what I was quoted -

$56,000 Base Price
875 Destination Chg
550 Paint
1950 Ventilated Seat Pkg
2200 Sport Pkg
1400 Premium Sound Pkg
1900 Navigation

$64,875 MSRP


Then all the leasing calcs take over which they obviously don't have to share with me. Bottom line though is that he is telling me that this equates to a $1044/mo lease pmt which includes tax. He went on to tell me that at a base price of 58k+ my payment would be $945/mo. However, when I go to the BMWNA website and see the following as a lease offer -

Vehicle Registered outside N.Y.
• $619 First months payment
• $3,500 Down payment
• $650 Security Deposit
• $725 Acquisition fee
• $5,494 Cash due at signing

Even if I were to write the full $3500 down payment back into the lease, rounding up to $100 per month gets me a monthly payment of $719. Yes, there are a couple minor option differences, but why such a big difference in payment?

Is there a dealer or someone who knows leasing enough to give me an idea of what is fair for both sides here?

Many thanks in advance.....sorry for the long post.

Sounds like you're new to leasing - there's lots of good posts on this forum explaining the details, might take a bit of work to find them.

Residual - set in stone by BMW each month, not negotiable, is percentage of MSRP
Money Factor (MF) - set by BMW each month, can be marked up by dealer up to 0.0040 (optional, negotiated)
MSRP - set by BMW, non-negotiatble
Sale/capital price - primary negotiable. Find out invoice (probably 4-5k less than MSRP), then make your offer accordingly.
Downpayment - never make a downpayment on a lease, many reasons why, virtually never in your financial interest ("MSD" is a typical replacement, lots of info on forums)


It sounds like your guy is trying to get you to pay MSRP - the lease offers on BMW's website normally have a hidden "dealer contribution" component that lowers the cost accordingly. For best deals, contact a forum sponsor - they generally play very fair and have excellent reputations around here (which is saying something, most of us are picky).

Best thing is to get a lease calculator spreadsheet and play around with the numbers, should be one in this thread:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60089

Looks like you are mixing apples and oranges. The base price differential between the 535 and the 535GT is around $7K. The "teaser" rates for the two cars listed on the BMWUSA site are for a pretty minimally optioned vehicle. A minor rule of thumb is that for every $1,000 of option, the monthly payment increases $25. That is only a ballpark figure but its helpful when doing quick estimates. To really zero in on the number use Leaseguide or a similar product. But the best advice is do the homework first.

Many thanks to both of you. I forgot to include the fact that I simply am not sure which way I want to go, but I do know that there is a difference in prices between the two.

Originally Posted by Newmanium

...Downpayment - never make a downpayment on a lease, many reasons why, virtually never in your financial interest

Other than the "total loss" situation (very small risk to assume), what are the other reasons?

The upside is interest savings. Given the current lease money factors (i.e. interest rates), it's material, especially compared to what you might otherwise earn by investing the money.

Review the dealer feedback section of this forum. I think you will come to the conclusion that you should get out of central Florida to purchase your vehicle, and that purchasing through a board sponsor is very simple and cost effective.

Originally Posted by TXPearl

Other than the "total loss" situation (very small risk to assume), what are the other reasons?

The upside is interest savings. Given the current lease money factors (i.e. interest rates), it's material, especially compared to what you might otherwise earn by investing the money.

You save more by doing MSDs that lower the interest, without the total loss risk.

The risk is significant, your down payment essentially disappears should you total the car. 7 security deposits is a much safer place to put your money that also nets you some interest savings.

I suppose you could do both if you're desperate to save some interest money... not worth it for me, MSD is enough.

Agree on the MSDs. Do that first. Beyond that, assuming you have the disposable Funds, seems like you have to do the math on additional down payments. Current 5 series lease rates make it a compelling option. I don't think there are any absolute rules on this issue.

Does it sound legit that the dealer is trying to charge me a Money Factor of .00245 assuming I have excellent credit? Is money still that expensive in leased vehicles? That is just short of 6% interest, correct?

However, when I go to the BMWNA website and see the following as a lease offer -

Vehicle Registered outside N.Y.
• $619 First months payment
• $3,500 Down payment
• $650 Security Deposit
• $725 Acquisition fee
• $5,494 Cash due at signing


WHAT IS THE MSRP FOR THE ABOVE ADVERTISED CAR? THEN WE CAN COMPARE OFFERS.

He is telling me that the Base Price is $56k for a 535GT.

$56,000 Base Price
875 Destination Chg
1950 Ventilated Seat Pkg
2200 Sport Pkg
1400 Premium Sound Pkg
1900 Navigation
350 Satellite Radio

$64,675 MSRP

Originally Posted by NashDawg

Does it sound legit that the dealer is trying to charge me a Money Factor of .00245 assuming I have excellent credit? Is money still that expensive in leased vehicles? That is just short of 6% interest, correct?

Find the base MF in the current lease numbers (look in the "Ask a Dealer" section). This is set by BMW. Your dealer can mark it up by up to 0.004, which is pure profit for him (i.e. negotiable for you).

I just figure out how much the markup is worth in dollar terms to me (approx. 1400 for max markup on a 3-year lease on a $65k lease), and figure accordingly.

Really recommend reading more about leases, all this stuff has been answered many times on here (plus lots of other great tips) if you search. Markup has nothing to do with credit score (although the base MF can supposedly sometimes be higher for sub-standard credit, but that's a recent development).

Originally Posted by NashDawg

I am looking at either the 535i or the 535GT for a lease. I have a small window of time to get an order in to get the car produced prior to what is apparently a month off at the plant (sorry folks, I am relatively new to all things BMW).

I am looking for what any of you might have as a fair range of pricing for a lease in the southeastern US, specifically Tampa, FL. I get the distinct feeling that the sales guy I am dealing with is not telling me the truth or is being intentionally vaque, trying to string along the sales process in order to run me up against a deadline to make a final decision.

Simply put, just how much are BMW sales folks allowed to negotiate on the leases? I am being told that BMWFS dictates a 60% residual, which magically is down from 62% when I leased my first BMW 3 years ago. If I wanted to put minimal down and just write as much as possible into the lease, how much should I realistically expect here?

This is what I was quoted -

$56,000 Base Price
875 Destination Chg
550 Paint
1950 Ventilated Seat Pkg
2200 Sport Pkg
1400 Premium Sound Pkg
1900 Navigation

$64,875 MSRP


Then all the leasing calcs take over which they obviously don't have to share with me. Bottom line though is that he is telling me that this equates to a $1044/mo lease pmt which includes tax. He went on to tell me that at a base price of 58k+ my payment would be $945/mo. However, when I go to the BMWNA website and see the following as a lease offer -

Vehicle Registered outside N.Y.
• $619 First months payment
• $3,500 Down payment
• $650 Security Deposit
• $725 Acquisition fee
• $5,494 Cash due at signing

Even if I were to write the full $3500 down payment back into the lease, rounding up to $100 per month gets me a monthly payment of $719. Yes, there are a couple minor option differences, but why such a big difference in payment?

Is there a dealer or someone who knows leasing enough to give me an idea of what is fair for both sides here?

Many thanks in advance.....sorry for the long post.

You are going about this wrong. Negotiate the price first in dollars over US Wholesale Pricing. Then negotiate for the BMW Buy Rate. Do your homework. If you muddle it all together, you will be paying thousands extra. Smart ambitious people pay less. Trusting naive people always pay more.

Originally Posted by pharding

You are going about this wrong. Negotiate the price first in dollars over US Wholesale Pricing. Then negotiate for the BMW Buy Rate. Do your homework. If you muddle it all together, you will be paying thousands extra. Smart ambitious people pay less. Trusting naive people always pay more.

Believe me folks, I am doing some investigation on this site to bring myself up to speed. Quesiton on this last post though - a reference was made to "US Wholesale Pricing". I know Rase Rate from the Dealer page on the gentleman who posts those monthly along with the MFs, but I have never heard of this "US Wholesale Pricing" spoken of seperately. Is that in fact one and the same as Base Price or is that something I can find out?

Am searching through this site for another spoecific reference to that term. Thanks in advance.

Just another term for invoice.

AKA Base Price? I found a thread that had the document removed that listed this info, so I am not sure I have access to it at all.

Sounds like you're confusing the price of the car (US wholesale -or- invoice) with the lease money factor (base rate).

Wholesale Pricing http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthre...=378219&page=2
For the BMW Buy Rate search for LeaseCompare. Tarry Shebasta posts those rates.

Great info.....thanks ph. Question - do you have that same number for the 2010 GT? I guess it has to slot somewhere in between the 535 and the 550 I would guess, more skewed towards the 550?

No I don't.

my dealer is telling me about 800 with 3000 total out of pocket on a 54000 msrp. Does this sound good

Originally Posted by rich6

my dealer is telling me about 800 with 3000 total out of pocket on a 54000 msrp. Does this sound good

sounds ok to me... but i'm not lease expert. i'm guessing its a base vehicle?