Lease is about to end and I have some questions.....

MOVED TO M3 BOARD _ SORRY!!!

So I posted a thread about 5 months ago about what to do when my lease expired. Just got an email that I am 90 days out - I am 100% certain I will purchase the car (residual value is $32,211.00, just turned 12,000 miles this week - bigtime garage/trailer queen car)

Here are my questions:

1) Is that residual value purchase price listed above negotiable? I have read that some folks have been successful in getting their residual reduced when opting for the lease end purchase option; however, I went to my local dealer today to discuss this and they looked at me like I had three heads. "No way in hell we are coming off that price" was their response.

2) CPO or Platinum Protection Warranty - I could not get a straight response out of the dealer on which one would be better for me. They gave me a price of $6,500 for the 7 year/70k mile platinum warranty ($50 deductable). I will obviosuly have one more year of warranty on the car once my lease expires and have had NO issues with the car thus far (knock on wood). I really would like to have some sort of coverage once the factory warranty is up - if not for me, for the next guy that buys the car from me. When I pressed them on the CPO price - they said they had no idea what it would cost or even if it would be less or more than the Platinum Protection Plan. I am very confused on why they were being so vague on this issue.

3) Maintenance Plan - To do or not to do? They quoted me a price of $4,300 for a 6 year/100k plan. Not sure this is worth it? What do you guys think?

Bottom line - I know I will purchase the car in 3 months time - just need to know if

(i) I have any chance of getting the car for less than $32,211
(ii) I should get the CPO or Plantinum Warranty (or even drop to Gold) and why?
(ii) I should get the maintenance plan or just wing it and go out of pocket for these costs?


Thanks guys...