Just Ordered My New 545

I decided to order a 545 now rather than wait for the 550 in September. Reason: I can get the car sooner, and I save a bundle on the lease rate. Money factor of .001 on the 2005 e60 amounts to a loan at 2.4 % interest, hard to pass up. I'm doing this as a reverse purchase - plan to buy the car in 3 years and am financing the depreciation.

My vehicle: Orient Blue, Black interior, sport, Steptronic, Cold Weather, NAV, Sirius, Logic7, Comfort Seats, Sunshades. Now the 2-month wait begins!

Thanks to all the 'Festers who provide encouragement to incipient Bimmer owners like myself!

Congrats!

Originally Posted by arnolds

Congrats!

I agree -- Congrats!

I'm hoping to take the plunge soon, too, and order a 530xiT. I wish the lease rates were as good on those. What do you think of Amethyst Gray with Auburn/Black interior? That's what I'm thinking of getting. I would get Premium and Cold Weather packages, comfort seats, NAV, park assist, and maybe a couple other goodies (Sirius -- can I get it with NAV?). What about being able to put an iPod in AUX with Sirius and NAV?

Congrats!

I basically did the same thing with my E39 6 years ago..... built a spreadsheet to prove to myself that the Lease now and Buy later was the best decision..... it also kept my payments down.

In hind sight..... I think a low interest Home Equity Loan may have been a smarter way to go. Have you ran the numbers and taken into account the better tax return and divide that by 12 to figure into your adjusted (lower) monthly payments......?

Hey, order the HUD...it is a totally sweet "toy" to have!

Have you considered doing European Delivery?

Originally Posted by Spartacus_33

In hind sight..... I think a low interest Home Equity Loan may have been a smarter way to go. Have you ran the numbers and taken into account the better tax return and divide that by 12 to figure into your adjusted (lower) monthly payments......?

Even with the savings provided by deductible interest, I don't think one can do better than 2.4% interest rate.

1. HUD was one of the options I evaluated carefully and decided against. I just do not think I would like it. Reflections of any kind off the windshield drive me nuts. I'm aware, though, of how much people enjoy it who have it.

2. Euro Delivery is something I'd like to do but can't because of the need to replace my car coming off lease. (And I really do not want to drive it very much longer - a very competent but fairly uninspiring vehicle, the Acura 3.2TL Type S.) And I am just about out of vacation days already!

3. HELOC was not an option for me, for a variety of reasons.

Great fun to read all these ideas from other Bimmer owners.

It isn't really clear to me from BMWNA.com or wherever so is there a stick available with the 545? TIA

I did a little looking and I've come to the conclusion that a plain old manual with an external clutch pedal is no longer available. You get two pedals: one for gas and one for brake. That is it!

However, the SMG is actually a manual...the clutch it just not operated by you.

Originally Posted by Ågent99

I did a little looking and I've come to the conclusion that a plain old manual with an external clutch pedal is no longer available. You get two pedals: one for gas and one for brake. That is it!

However, the SMG is actually a manual...the clutch it just not operated by you.

Do you actually 'use' your SMG? I think most just put it in automatic mode

Originally Posted by greginaz1

Do you actually 'use' your SMG? I think most just put it in automatic mode

Automatic mode WITH the Sport Mode active is okay; without the Sport Mode active is a piece of crap that I can't believe BMW would put out in the marketplace...shifts like a garbage truck!

Otherwise, shifting the SMG is kind of fun but it takes getting used to! I keep wanting to row through the gears but you only push up to shift to a higher gear....

Originally Posted by Ågent99

Automatic mode WITH the Sport Mode active is okay; without the Sport Mode active is a piece of crap that I can't believe BMW would put out in the marketplace...shifts like a garbage truck!....

Now put your wife and daughter in the car and see which one they prefer. BMW is no dummy, that non-sports mode is designed for passenger comfort, and not for your sorry ass Ya Putz

Originally Posted by Ågent99

I did a little looking and I've come to the conclusion that a plain old manual with an external clutch pedal is no longer available. You get two pedals: one for gas and one for brake. That is it!

However, the SMG is actually a manual...the clutch it just not operated by you.

Ahem...There is a 6 speed standard tranny available! Me thinks the moderator needs to do some homework...sheesh

Originally Posted by MaxBuck

I decided to order a 545 now rather than wait for the 550 in September. Reason: I can get the car sooner, and I save a bundle on the lease rate. Money factor of .001 on the 2005 e60 amounts to a loan at 2.4 % interest, hard to pass up. I'm doing this as a reverse purchase - plan to buy the car in 3 years and am financing the depreciation.

My vehicle: Orient Blue, Black interior, sport, Steptronic, Cold Weather, NAV, Sirius, Logic7, Comfort Seats, Sunshades. Now the 2-month wait begins!

Thanks to all the 'Festers who provide encouragement to incipient Bimmer owners like myself!

Did the same thing you did. Leased a 545; 36 months, 15K/yr. Again, plan to buy it out of the lease at lease-end, as long as no major reliability issues.

Sapphire Black / Gray Leather, auto, Nav, Premium Sound, Sat. Radio., Cold Weather.

$725/mo with first month payment, $625 bank fee, $350 doc. fees and licensing (New Jersey). No bump-up in money factor or security deposit as I am financing a 2004 BMW 330i Coupe through BMWFS.

Car should arrive in mid-June or sooner. At 2.4% effective interest, this is a deal you can't beat with a stick.

Flemington Porsche Audi BMW VW: Excellent prices if you shop other dealerships first. Low pressure, except for the VW - Audi fleet / Internet sales guy.

Originally Posted by MaxBuck

1. HUD was one of the options I evaluated carefully and decided against. I just do not think I would like it. Reflections of any kind off the windshield drive me nuts. I'm aware, though, of how much people enjoy it who have it.

2. Euro Delivery is something I'd like to do but can't because of the need to replace my car coming off lease. (And I really do not want to drive it very much longer - a very competent but fairly uninspiring vehicle, the Acura 3.2TL Type S.) And I am just about out of vacation days already!

3. HELOC was not an option for me, for a variety of reasons.

Great fun to read all these ideas from other Bimmer owners.

What a coincidence! This Bimmer replaces an Acura TL (not type S) coming off lease in June. Again, competent, totally unexciting vehicle, albeit one which got commendable gas mileage (23-24 overall on premium). Expect 20 - 21 mpg on 545.

Originally Posted by TGray5

Ahem...There is a 6 speed standard tranny available! Me thinks the moderator needs to do some homework...sheesh

I stared at that e60.pdf sheet for a while and I see no mention of a normal manual being available although I had to admit that I didn't believe it.

Originally Posted by beewang

Now put your wife and daughter in the car and see which one they prefer. BMW is no dummy, that non-sports mode is designed for passenger comfort, and not for your sorry ass Ya Putz

I realize that BMW are the automotive engineering gods but I can't believe ANYONE would like the SMG auto-shifting in non-sport mode. It isn't at all comfortable or smooth. It is very herky-jerky....putz. Maybe it was just my SMG acting this way but it was pretty bad....

Originally Posted by ChiefBlueBimmer

Expect 20 - 21 mpg on 545.

I was getting 19 in mine during my 5-day, 1250 mile European excursion....

Originally Posted by Ågent99

I stared at that e60.pdf sheet for a while and I see no mention of a normal manual being available although I had to admit that I didn't believe it.

That's because you are looking at a list of 'options' for the car. If you don't select steptronic or SMG options, what do you suppose comes on the car....Bingo! Yes, an old fashioned manual tranny.

Originally Posted by ChiefBlueBimmer

Did the same thing you did. Leased a 545; 36 months, 15K/yr. Again, plan to buy it out of the lease at lease-end, as long as no major reliability issues.

Sapphire Black / Gray Leather, auto, Nav, Premium Sound, Sat. Radio., Cold Weather.

$725/mo with first month payment, $625 bank fee, $350 doc. fees and licensing (New Jersey). No bump-up in money factor or security deposit as I am financing a 2004 BMW 330i Coupe through BMWFS.

Car should arrive in mid-June or sooner. At 2.4% effective interest, this is a deal you can't beat with a stick.

Flemington Porsche Audi BMW VW: Excellent prices if you shop other dealerships first. Low pressure, except for the VW - Audi fleet / Internet sales guy.

I live in the SF area, and would love to get a similar lesae deal on a 545 with the 6-speed. Any ideas how to go about it? You guys have ordered it? Did you do so via BMW website or at a dealership? The lease deal is through BMW finance too?

Thanks!

You cannot order a BMW directly; you must work with a dealer. Yes, the lease deals discussed here are those offered by BMW Financial Services.

How do you get a good deal? Be armed with accurate pricing info and be a good negotiator!

great, makes sense - but are the particular lease terms described above part of a BMWFS promotion on 545s? I didn't see any reference to it on the BMW web site.

Originally Posted by MacHalfy

great, makes sense - but are the particular lease terms described above part of a BMWFS promotion on 545s? I didn't see any reference to it on the BMW web site.

As mentioned above you have to go through a BMW dealer. Ignore the numbers on BMW website. They are neither current nor realistic (sale price wise). The deal similar to the one your referring to should be esily doable. The only problem I see is that most 6-speeds probably come with the sport package which means additional $3K. You still should be able to get the $725/month (pre-tax) payment with no cap cost reduction if you can negotiate $60,565 sale price. It is only $1,200 over invoice and not easy to get. W/out the sport package it should be a breze. The current MF from BMWFS is .001 and 36 month residual for 15K/year is 59%. These are monthly numbers for the month of April, they may change in May. So hurry up.

Originally Posted by ChiefBlueBimmer

What a coincidence! This Bimmer replaces an Acura TL (not type S) coming off lease in June. Again, competent, totally unexciting vehicle, albeit one which got commendable gas mileage (23-24 overall on premium). Expect 20 - 21 mpg on 545.

ChiefBlueBimmer, your ID indicates the new e60 is not your first Bimmer. What have you owned in the past? This is my first, although my aunt owned a 2002tii for a while.

Oh, duh. Now I read the "mein auto" line. This is why my wife seldom lets me out of her sight.