I assume BMWFS is still “temporarily” restricting third-party lease buyouts so the preferred way to cash out the equity is selling to BMW dealers (or dealership networks with a BMW dealer). Trying to find one in NorCal that’ll match the CarMax quote (which has about $4k of equity), let me know if you have any tips/leads (and if anyone in Leasehackr is a NorCal BMW dealer).
One dealer is close, some are offering comically low amounts.