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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum G30 Pricing, Ordering, Tracking, European Delivery Help in Iowa

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      11-22-2017, 09:03 AM   #1
Jonnie Cache
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Help in Iowa

I’ve been struggling to a) find a 5 equipped the way I want and b) to get a good deal. Any advice for folks living in smaller markets? I’m not afraid to order long distance, but I don’t really want to call all over the country to find one. I’m also okay ordering, but again, don’t really want to call all over the country.

Any assistance is appreciated!
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      11-22-2017, 09:35 AM   #2
SteveinArizona
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You can do what I did. Go into a local (so to speak) BMW dealership and negotiate a price on an ordered car and they can order it for you.

Or you can reach out to several BMW dealerships and solicit bids or use TrueCar as a way of securing multiple bids.

Either way you can order the car.

One thing...dealerships have allotments from BMW. If your dealership doesn't have a near allotment to use for you, or doesn't want to use one of its allotments for you, your wait can be significantly extended. In my case, e.g., my dealership had an allotment for a build to be completed in about 4 weeks and used that for me. So for an order placed on October 10, my build was finished on November 9th, arrived at the port in Germany on November 14th and left on a boat on November 19th. My car is scheduled to arrive in California on December 17th and I am hoping to get it by Christmas. But you could wait months depending on your model and dealer.

However, that is the only way you can probably get exactly what you want. My SA searched the entire country and the ships on the high seas to see if there were any unsold cars that met my requests. There weren't. So I ordered.

In my case, my mandatory requirements were nappa or merino leather, Driver Assistance Plus, and dynamic dampers. Finding these three together is a herculean task.

I am not a patient person so the wait is painful but worth it.

So find some dealers, negotiate your price but don't forget to include the allotment issue when you negotiate so you don't get a great price on a car to be delivered in May (unless, of course, you can wait that long and it is worth it to you to get a great price).
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      11-22-2017, 10:44 AM   #3
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For my last two BMWs I searched inventories for all of the dealers on the west coast of Florida, picked those that best matched my desired configuration, and called for offers with a promise to make an immediate decision on the best offer. That leg work netted better results than asking a single dealer to search the state and transfer a car for me. For my 528i, a $64k car at a dealer an hour away was over $6k cheaper in total lease payments compared to a $62k car in stock locally.

This time around I cannot find a single 540i equipped as I want it, and will order it knowing I will not get as good a deal as leasing from inventory.
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      11-22-2017, 04:01 PM   #4
spyfish007
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Cast a wide net. Go outside your comfort zone. Already have some quotes and price targets figured out before walking into local dealership. Then negotiate like crazy! Think about all of the things they are going to say to you to get you to move off your price. Oh yeah, they have practiced their answers, have you?
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      11-22-2017, 06:32 PM   #5
SteveinArizona
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ArchJR View Post
For my last two BMWs I searched inventories for all of the dealers on the west coast of Florida, picked those that best matched my desired configuration, and called for offers with a promise to make an immediate decision on the best offer. That leg work netted better results than asking a single dealer to search the state and transfer a car for me. For my 528i, a $64k car at a dealer an hour away was over $6k cheaper in total lease payments compared to a $62k car in stock locally.

This time around I cannot find a single 540i equipped as I want it, and will order it knowing I will not get as good a deal as leasing from inventory.
Not necessarily. Point out that they have no carrying charges on an ordered car. So you can argue they should be giving you a better deal!
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      11-23-2017, 08:31 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveinArizona View Post
Not necessarily. Point out that they have no carrying charges on an ordered car. So you can argue they should be giving you a better deal!
The point of going directly to the dealers with the cars I wanted was to get multiple offers. I could always go back to the dealer with the lowest offer and ask to transfer a car from another dealer for the same price. Coincidentally the dealers with the specific cars I wanted also came back with the best offers each time, so it was easier to drive an hour than try to get my local dealer to honor the price and transfer the car.
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      11-24-2017, 06:32 AM   #7
Jonnie Cache
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Thanks for all the advice! I have checked around and can't seem to find exactly the right car with the options that I want. So, I think I'm going to go the route of contacting dealers about their allotment and asking about ordering one.
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