Advice on custom build 530i

Ask the Hackrs
#1

Hi,

I’m new to leasing and have read about the components that go into the lease payment here. I’m trying to do a build to order 2018 5 series. I built the exact specs I wanted and shared the build code with a dealer and received the following:

2018 530i
61% residual
.00176 MF
$69,400 MSRP
total due at signing $2200
36 mos/10k miles

payment $965/mo

  1. This deal is of course much worse than most 5 series deals I see on here. Right off the bat I see the MSRP is higher than most due to the packages I chose. What is the right next step to negotiate selling price? Should I ask directly for something around invoice (~7% discount)? Is it possible to negotiate more aggressively on selling price (10%+ discounts) on a build to order car?
  2. The MF seems high but this should be for tier-1 credit. What can be done to reduce this?
  3. I don’t have any store or corp discounts available. What other discounts should I be targeting?

In general, what next steps do you recommend to get this build to a more reasonable payment? What would your payment goal be for something in that MSRP ballpark?

Thanks!

#2

You don’t have allot of negotiating power since you’re ordering a car, you could try shopping this with other dealers. There’s just not allot a motivation for a dealer, you’ll do allot better finding something on someone’s lot. Additionally, the dealer doesn’t want to get stuck with a loaded car that no one wants to buy.

#3

Thank you for the response, I thought this might be the case. Are there any strategies people use when ordering a car? Perhaps something around invoice is as good a deal as possible in that case?

#4

I’ve actually had some of my better/easier deals on ordered cars.

I think the trick is to make sure the dealer knows you’re serious and knows you aren’t going to waste their time. It only takes about half an hour to put in an order and do the paperwork, so it would be silly of them to turn away a few hundred bucks profit and a future customer over a half hour of work.

Last time I ordered a BMW, I ended up at 9.5% off MSRP before incentives, so surely not the best deal in the world, but it was easy and I got the car I wanted.

Here’s what I did.
I got an actual order sheet from bimmperpost or one of the other forums, so that I had exact pricing and options codes for the optiosn I wanted (makes it easier for them to order). I then made an excel spreadsheet (though you could easily hand write it), which listed all the options with invoice and MSRP pricing ( calculated from: https://www.bimmerfest.com/news/917430/calculating-bmw-invoice-pricing-for-my-2017-models/ ). I also did out the entire lease on the same spreadsheet showing a discount of 4% under invoice (don’t forget lease acquisition and destination fees and stuff).

I then walked into my local dealership on a weeknight, holding a print out of that spread sheet, a pen, and my check book. I stood around looking confused until a free sales associate asked if he could help me. I said, “yes, you can order me this car at this price, so we can both go home,” and handed him the print out.

I got some minor pushback, the typical “we’d be losing money on this.” I told them, no they wouldn’t, they would make 1% of MSRP plus their crazy doc fee and I reminded them that I live nearby and would be getting all my service done there. I also told them that I could easily find someone to sell me a car at those numbers on the forums and just do a performance center delivery, but that I didn’t want to mess with a fax machine. That’s all it took.

Worth noting, BMW sets allocation limits on certain models/configurations that dealers can order. It will be harder to get a discount if the dealer is running low on them. This is mostly low production things (think M’s and i’s), but you can run into some weird ones too (xDrive in Floria for example).

1 Like
#5

Thank you for that very detailed write-up! 4% below invoice is very impressive and something I wouldn’t have thought was possible. I was considering the 530e as well which might be subject to the allocation limits. I will definitely think about this approach.

#6

it makes zero sense to pay almost $1000/mo for a 530i from a “deal” perspective. Even if you got it for a little bigger discount. You can have way more car for $1000/mo.

Also, your original question was posted in May, have you not ordered it yet?

#7

I agree, but wasn’t sure how to proceed. No, haven’t ordered yet but still interested in this car.

You say you don’t think it will be a good deal even with a bigger discount. Assuming I want to stick with this model, what’s the best way to proceed? I could cut specs, or find a dealer willing to be much more aggressive on discounts.

#8

Why don’t you shop around and see if there’s any loaded demo/loaner 5 series either in your area or a national dealer willing to ship. Could get a similar MSRP car for maybe half the monthly payment.

#9

find a dealer with existing 2018 stock and bargain it down hard and see what other incentives you can qualify for.

#10

Ummmm… Where are you located? That is awful.

You can’t order a 2018 anymore, FYI

#11

I’m trying to figure out what kind of discount gets me to half the payment with that MSRP. This seems to do it, $53k for a $69k car. What I don’t understand about the calculator is, if you keep the sales price at 53k but reduce the MSRP from 69k to 55k, the price jumps from $503 to $746. (link) I don’t understand how that is if the sales price is the same.

Either way, seems the way to do it is to find something on a lot. Probably won’t get much discounted on a 2019 order.

#12

You will, it just doesn’t have the incentive support that the 2018 has.

#13

The payment goes up because the lease is calculated by you paying the difference between the MSRP and Residual. The higher the MSRP the higher the residual value. Therefore the difference is less. As the MSRP moves down the residual becomes lower making the difference between sales price and residual value greater.

A 53k sales price on a 69k car is about a 24-25% discount which should be doable on a loaner. Just gotta be persistent.

#14

Possible incentives are an OL code depending on what region your in and conquest depending on your current car. Also bmw cca rebate is 1k on 5 series. Contact @nyclife he can get you a good discount but I don’t think it’s realistic to get a new 70k 5 series for 500/month

#15

I haven’t seen 24-25 off a 5 series loaner. I don’t know what you are talking about.

#16

I’ve seen people post deals where they get 20-25% off a loaner. I guess the 5 series is a different animal. You would think as there flagship mid level sedan the 5 would be more numerous than any other model.

#17

I think you are referring to benz. Most great bmw loaners are 18-22%

#18
#19

I’m not sure why you would feel this way. The 5 might be their flagship mid level car, but they also cost more. They aren’t going to give them away just to get them on the road.

The CT6 is the perceived current sedan flagship at Cadillac. The ATS and CTS both outsell it.