I didn’t expect it to come down until it was finalized, hence my smiley 
Great point actually. If I apply for a credit card and it asks my income, I usually “Milton Berle” and only write enough to secure the credit.
The guidance to clients might be, put it all on there, and if you might realistically do a bit better than expected, be optimistic- just don’t flat-out lie.
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I recall reading on here, believe by you actually, that the i8 credit application is pretty strict in comparison to anything else they offer. Any insight as to what they are looking for and why? I assume the same 700+ credit is required to get approved but are they looking for a certain DTI ratio as well? Just curious as I see this come up a lot with the transfers.
200+ in income. 800+ credit. high end auto history. and age.
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800+ Credit? Well F*** now it makes a lot of sense. Hell, Woodside doesn’t even require that high of a score for exotics! 
Must be some flexibility, I’m assuming (?) I didn’t have, what I’d consider, high end auto history coming into this lease.
from what i recall, you had no issues getting approved.
You’re right, I didn’t. That was my point, I was able to get approved without high end auto history. So, I’m guessing you don’t have to check all three boxes on credit score, income and high end car history.
No, but when bmwfs looks at the entire bureau, they need feel comfortable renting you 125-175k in collateral, which I understand has one of the higher loss ratios. It’s the whole picture, not just limboing under a credit score threshold.
Got it.
Well, the guy that was turned down yesterday just submitted another app with a co-signer this time. So, we will see.
Is this co-signer richer and have better credit than the first?
Approving you made a car move off the lot. Approval now means a transfer and letting you off the hook. I can see why they are more strict on transfers vs a new sale.
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I had 730-740 credit and was approved. But I had a 7 series and x2 at the time I got it. 328d before that. So maybe they weigh on history with Bmw financial as well.
BMWFS has very little incentive to get a swapper approved.
Their incentive is me trading an i8 for a m8. Can’t get the m8 until then. But you’re right, they really don’t care…I told them the situation and they still denied many people that would have been approved for a new one.
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I am certainly not in the ‘know’, but it seems a little far fetched to me. Approvals come from the financial services side of the business. I doubt they have any incentives tied to sales. BMW is a big company, likely very silo’d. I’m quite sure the ‘banking’ side would be measured on how well they mitigate risk and manage cash flow, not how they drive sales (how would they even measure that?).
Otherwise, that would be saying someone that can’t get approved for this vehicle may be able to walk into a dealership and get approved for the exact same MSRP vehicle because BMWFS has different credit approval processes in place for new vs swaps? I just don’t buy it.
That does seem to be the case, unfortunately.
Approval criteria are different for purchase financing vs leasing for the same consumer on the same car.
Why wouldn’t a new lease and a transfer be evaluated differently?
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If BMW FS has someone on the hook for the car who they have a history with and that they trust, they take on more risk to transfer that obligation to somebody else. Even if the new applicant was exactly the same credit risk as the original leasee on paper…This is why I have had some problems doing swaps in the past. If the other person’s credit is even slightly less attractive, BMWFS may bounce them.
So yes, if you have absolutely stellar credit history (and check all of the boxes the leasing company wants to see) you can be penalized for it when trying to swap 
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Couldn’t be said better.