[Boondoggler]

In many ways leasing to buy is a solid strategy. If after the lease you want to replace it, that's easily done through a new lease. BMW traditionally is very aggressive with the residual values they set, so at the end of the lease, if you want to keep your car, you can negotiate a buy out below the residual value listed on your lease, and take advantage of any current certified pre-owned offers at that time. For example, I leased my 2006 330i for 36 months. At the end of the lease, I was able to negotiate a buyout that was $2500 less than the residual, and I was able to negotiate my dealer including pre-owned certification. This extended the warranty out to 6 years / 100,000 miles and allowed me to take advantage of 0.9% certified pre-owned financing rates. I financed the car for 4 years and all told I'm on schedule to pay only about $2500 over sticker in total payments. Not bad for floating money on the purchase for 7 years. I'm now looking to upgrade to a new 3 series and I still have $7500 in equity in my car that I can use toward inception costs and reduction of interest rate through the multiple security deposit program. Moral to the story, don't be afraid to lease with the potential to buy down the road, just don't make the mistake of putting your hard earned dollars into cap cost reduction on a lease, because if the car gets totaled, you will be out that investment. Use multiple security deposits instead, or simply carry a higher monthly payment.