Considering a Z4 Lease - Current Discounts?

Anyone here have experience with current dealer discounts to reduce cap cost? I know BMW is offering $1K off... but what sort of reductions off of MSRP from the dealer are you all seeing out there?

Doug

We got nearly £8000 cap reduction on our Z4. A few people in Scotland are getting £9K. Of course UK prices are higher to begin with. The lease residuals are lower too.

Dunno if there is any trunk money in the US.

Last month in the US, the Z had very high residual value.

European delivery from a forum sponsor combined with a decent residual should get you a low lease payment.

go to edmunds.com and find the base invoice cost...look for the discounts, subtract that and off them 103% to 105% of that figure - tell then you have your financing done and that you want to buy today - try and do this in the last 5 days of the month. I was a general manager of a BMW dealership and would take this deal all day long if you offered it this way. tell them also you will give them top csi scores if you do the deal and it is pleasant. Ask for the working floor sales manager or at least a sales person that was part of BMW profiles program (their top achievers)

We appreciate DIRECT no nonsense guys that are pleasant - go in there like they are your enemy and I'd not go as low as if you were just honest and straight forward.

Originally Posted by Glen E

go to edmunds.com and find the base invoice cost...look for the discounts, subtract that and off them 103% to 105% of that figure - tell then you have your financing done and that you want to buy today - try and do this in the last 5 days of the month. I was a general manager of a BMW dealership and would take this deal all day long if you offered it this way. tell them also you will give them top csi scores if you do the deal and it is pleasant. Ask for the working floor sales manager or at least a sales person that was part of BMW profiles program (their top achievers)

We appreciate DIRECT no nonsense guys that are pleasant - go in there like they are your enemy and I'd not go as low as if you were just honest and straight forward.

+1 This is exactly what do do, especially the part about buying today and the top csi scores.

What if they need to order the car I want? Still wait until the last couple of days of the month? I figure they can't take credit for the sale until delivery (some 8 weeks later)?

cars that need to be ordered are not in as great a position/leverage as something there on the lot...so you'll pay a bit more - but yes it will pay a little bit for the dealer to book the sale as sold for that month's financial stmt - and the down payment they collect will help that month too.

It certainly is better than the first 15 days of the month where dealer's don't care about anything and try to max the gross profit on the sale....Imagine if you put your house on the market and had to have it sold in 1 month. And you get a pretty weak offer on day 5.....you'll look at the same offer a bit differently on day 28... and you have got to have it sold by the 30th day for some reason....

But make no mistake about it: THE CAR BUSINESS FOR EVERY MFR LIVES AND DIES EVERY 30 DAYS...it never has been any diff.

Originally Posted by Glen E

...look for the discounts, subtract that...

...tell them you have your financing done and that you want to buy today...

With regard to the discounts mentioned, you're referring to the publicized National ones or something else?

As for having your financing ready, one can prequalify through BMWFS, correct? Or does that require all the various numbers such as final price, MF, etc?

Thanks in advance, I've always bought outright before rather than leasing and had recently decided to look at leasing a 3-series since there seemed to be some incentives on '11s but after looking at things I think I might prefer a Z4 and the ED experience so I'm trying to get all my info straight.

Originally Posted by Glen E

cars that need to be ordered are not in as great a position/leverage as something there on the lot...so you'll pay a bit more - but yes it will pay a little bit for the dealer to book the sale as sold for that month's financial stmt - and the down payment they collect will help that month too.

Thank you for your advice.

How much of a down payment is reasonable for a lease if the car needs to be ordered and doesn't arrive for about 8 weeks?

I was just going to offer maybe $100 earnest cash, but it sounds like I should do more than that? I am in IL, we pay full sales tax on the sale price (not just the lease payments), so I was going to pay that (and all other one time fees) in cash. I don't see any reason to roll the tax into the lease and pay finance charges on the taxes. I wasn't going to do any cap cost reduction.

if you are going to use BMWFS at least run your credit score before going in to show them you are a serious buyer and not wasting their time. A grand is solid down payment money. It depends on how weird you are asking them to order. If you are ordering a combo that no one else will want to buy if you drop out, they will want more.

For example a yellow Z4 will require a bit of a down payment as many dealers have not had great luck selling that color.

Originally Posted by SixDriver

Thanks in advance, I've always bought outright before rather than leasing and had recently decided to look at leasing a 3-series since there seemed to be some incentives on '11s but after looking at things I think I might prefer a Z4 and the ED experience so I'm trying to get all my info straight.

there is absolutely no difference IN THE SALES PROCESS between a lease and a retail contract. Get the number pegged at how much you are buying it for, and then explore options.

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Glen E

if you are going to use BMWFS at least run your credit score before going in to show them you are a serious buyer and not wasting their time.

Thanks, I had my credit union pull my score when I was there Friday so I have that much, just wondered if it was worth trying to pre-qual or if having the dealer do it is a better route.

I've seen a few recent posts opining that an ED lease with a monthly payment in the 5's isnt unrealistic, havent been able to get it quite that low simulating with the configurator or pen and paper but once I can get that worked out (or if I happen to stumble on a great deal on a 3-series coupe) I guess my next step should be to contact a board sponsor or two.