Ready to buy ED - need a good dealer

hello Bimmerfest members,

My wife and I are ready to buy a 2003 325Ci European Delivery. I would like to pay about $1000 over European Invoice, which I have heard is reasonable from reading various online forums. I neither want to take advantage of a dealer, nor do I want to be taken advantage of - I would prefer a relatively painless transaction.

we recently had some problems with the dealer here in Charleston, South Carolina (Rick Hendrick) - several months ago we put a down payment on a European Delivery car, bought our plane tickets and were given a tracking number to track progress on our car, when a few weeks later the dealer called up and demanded an extra $500 from us (for no good reason). Since we refused to pay this money, the dealer threw the deal.

the end result is, we're still in love with the 325Ci, but not our local dealer. We are willing to fly to another dealer in the States to pick up our car when it arrives from Europe, and are not particularly picky about which dealer we use. We would prefer one that is close to Charleston.

here are some details: basically we would like the basic 325Ci in alpine white, with black leatherette interior and the sports package. We have good credit and could either use the dealer's financing company or our own credit union. As far as I can see the price of this car would be: 25,050 (car) + 910 (sports package) + 695 (delivery) + 1,000 (money for the dealer) which would equate to $27,655 USD. If I'm wrong about this result please let me know.

if anyone has knowledge of any dealers who would be willing to order us a car for this price, please let me know. Also, if I'm totally off the mark in my calculations of price or if this seems like an unreasonable request, please let me know that as well. I'm still learning

John Shafer at Cutter Motors:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...opean+delivery

Finding dealer is not an issue, but your price of $1,000 over for a convertible car seems low. I know if I were the dealer, I'd balk and let someone else have the business. For a normal custumer, $1,000 bucks is not worth the trouble (remember, the salesman gets appx 25% of the gross profit as commision = $250 before tax).

Shop around the country, and I am sure you will find 1 or 2 dealers that are hungry enough. For a convertible, I think a fair margin would be $1,600 to $1,800.


Just MHO

beewang

It looks like you're calculating an invoice + $1000 deal.

If so, you left off the MACO (advertising) fee and a $160 training fee that BMW charges its dealers. MACO fees vary by area but are typically in the $300-500 range.

Also, $1000 isn't really a lot of profit in the car. You're looking at a ~$27K car (dealer cost). $1000 profit on that is 3.7%. That's pretty low, especially since Edmunds tells me that BMWs don't have a dealer holdback.

- Ray

I am getting a 330xi for $1000 over invoice and no MACO fees whatsoever from Tischer BMW here in MD. My dealer's name is Tom Brown. I'v eheard that Joern Esser from Passport BMW (Marlow Heights, MD) will also do similar ED deals. With ED, the dealer is making a profit for filling up and faxing a few forms over to Germany. Also, the car does not come out of his regular allocation. for info about ED savings, check out
http://www.bariaur.com/e39/EDsavings.html

Here's the missing link thou:
-You are buying it thru US delivery, thus there is a dealer's holdback (which is not availabe thru ED). Bottomline, the dealership gets a lil' more $$ than $1k over invoice.

- You are not buying a convertible, which is a car that a bit tougher to get, and has a higher price tag.

I know... I know... the second one seems to be lame, but that's the way dealers sees it.


Just calling it as the way I see it

cheers,

beewang

Originally posted by beewang
Finding dealer is not an issue, but your price of $1,000 over for a convertible car seems low. I know if I were the dealer, I'd balk and let someone else have the business. For a normal custumer, $1,000 bucks is not worth the trouble (remember, the salesman gets appx 25% of the gross profit as commision = $250 before tax).

Shop around the country, and I am sure you will find 1 or 2 dealers that are hungry enough. For a convertible, I think a fair margin would be $1,600 to $1,800.


Just MHO

beewang

Your points are valid but he is not looking for a convertible.....

originally posted by mystic
My wife and I are ready to buy a 2003 325Ci European Delivery

He just wants a coupe, so I do not know if that changes your opinion

Originally posted by beewang
Here's the missing link thou:
-You are buying it thru US delivery, thus there is a dealer's holdback (which is not availabe thru ED). Bottomline, the dealership gets a lil' more $$ than $1k over invoice.

Beewang, I don't know if your comments were directed at me or mystic but I'm getting my car thru ED as well.

Mystic, you should shop around in areas with multiple dealers and let them know you are shopping around. Competition certainly helps when trying to get a good deal.

Ah!!! okay!! I am the missing link Duh!! I dunno why, but I thought mystic is getting a 325cic Duh!!

$1,000 is still a great deal, but more realistic w/ a 325 ci

beewang

Ted Walawender at Carbone BMW in Utica gave me a great no-hassle ED experience.

Negotiated from ED invoice price (invoice on base price and options), no fees, no deposit.

We did everything through his FedEx account. I checked with the ED guy at BMW-NA, who told me that Ted does roughly 40+ euro delivery orders a year.

Utica is awfully long way from the Carolinas, but if you had reason to be up there, it'd be worth giving him a call. It was worth it to me to drive all the way from New Hampshire to get such a good deal and a headache-free process.

thanks for the information everyone. I agree that I would want to buy a BMW from Jon Shafer, having trusted his wisdom often on various BMW boards. but Santa Barbara is just about as far as you can get from the Carolinas. I'd much prefer somewhere along the east coast (like Maryland or New York) that is quite a bit closer to home.

I do have a few more questions. uter, you mentioned that you bought your BMW in New York and then took it home to New Hampshire. Did you have any issues with having to pay double taxes? For example, if I buy a car in New York, will I have to pay New York taxes on it, and then pay South Carolina taxes on it after I bring it back here?

also, would I have to physically go to the dealer to pick up the car once it arrived in the States, or does the possibility exist of having it shipped to the Carolinas? This would of course incur extra costs, but it might be worth investigating for curiosity's sake.

and finally - do any of you live in a VERY snowy place? Do you find that your rear wheel drive BMW with traction control performs adequately in the snow? We don't get much snow down here (maybe once every couple of years) but the possibility always exists of moving north in the future.

thanks again!

1. I did not have to pay NY tax on the car since I was not registering it there. My home state of NH stuck it to me when I registered the car.

2. I've lived in Minnesota and NH for the past, gulp, ten years. I drove an '83 528e, '92 525iT, '93 325cic (w/ traction control) and a '93 318i. I had no trouble driving these cars in winter with snow tires. This time around, I did opt for the "x" option on the new wagon, but I really don't expect it's going to be all that necessary.

If you live in SC, I wouldn't spend the money on all-wheel drive (with the concurrent sacrifice of the sport suspension).

3. If you took delivery from a NY state dealer, like Ted at Carbone in Utica, you'd have to arrange a "courtesy delivery" to SC. Jon Schafer has posted statements implying that's a bit of a PITA.

Originally posted by uter

3. If you took delivery from a NY state dealer, like Ted at Carbone in Utica, you'd have to arrange a "courtesy delivery" to SC. Jon Schafer has posted statements implying that's a bit of a PITA. [/B]

Another option you may want to look into is to do ED through a NY or MD dealer but pick up at the Performance Center in SC. I thought I had read someone's post a while back claiming that could be done.

For ED using a MD dealer, I second Jörn Esser at Passport BMW (Marlow Hts, MD). This was a totally hassle free experience on a 2003 330i. Got a great price and will definitely use Jörn in my future purchases.

Originally posted by riffic
For ED using a MD dealer, I second Jörn Esser at Passport BMW (Marlow Hts, MD). This was a totally hassle free experience on a 2003 330i. Got a great price and will definitely use Jörn in my future purchases.

...one more very satisfied customer who Joern took great care of. How many people say that the "buying" of a car was a pleasure? It was there and I'll be returning in the future and recommending others to his outstanding service.