Any suggestions on the dealer lease options - maintenance and tires? I think I can pass on the Maintenance and pay myself for one tune up and oil change for less than $840. The up front cost of the tire program is 1240- I wont finance this at the interest rate they Charge. Worth it with run flats? Its a gamble…The car has 18 months left on the 36 months since it was a demo and I didn’t realize that until after I had signed papers and the service warranty will only cover what’s left of the 36 months or 36,000 miles.I’m not a crazy driver and I likely won’t put the 30000 miles on under my lease But the maintenance includes oil and air filter’s according to the finance manager
BMW has a great maint program during the 36 month lease. I would definitely opt out any extra packages with a 300% markup.
If you need tires before turning in the BMW, get used ones with acceptable tread. You save over 60-70% on over new tires. That is a lot cheaper than $1240.
For example, I’m turning in my mini countryman S lease early (six months) and I was told I needed two new front RFTs. I bought two with 90% tread for $148 on ebay with free delivery. I then paid $25 to get then installed at local tire shop. Last Monday received my pre-turn in inspection and passed in flying colors (owe zero).
Since Mini’s have the same maint coverage as BMW’s I paid zero for all or any of the service schedule and unscheduled maintenance during the last 30 months.
Go to an Indy shop after the maintenance runs out. You don’t have to go to BMW for an oil change. You probably won’t need an air filter again once it’s replaced once…they don’t replace it at every service. If you do, buy it and slap it in yourself…it’s a quick 5 minute job.
As far as tires go, I’d pass there too. I have about 12k on my run flats, and they’re getting close to needing replacement. You’ll probably need to budget a set of tires. You can buy cheaper non run-flats now, slap them on and save the existing run-flats for turn in. If you have a fair amount of tread left, you can then resell and recoup some of that cost. Someone is always looking for a set of tires to slap on that will pass the inspection when you turn it in. Just put a bottle of fix a flat in the trunk since you most likely don’t have a spare.
Hindsight being 20/20, I would have pulled off the RFTs off our X1 and gotten a nice set of Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ to use for the duration of the lease and saved them for turn-in. The Pirelli RFTs are hot garbage anyway. But we drive low enough mileage that I was never expecting to need to replace them…go figure.
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Mine has continental conti pro contacts so am pretry happy about that. Those should last me 36 months the way i drive.
This is so much nore car than what i need but of every 3 series i looked at, it was the best priced in my area! Go figure- closing on on that sweet 5k mile mark that forces the dealer to sell the car, plus the GM made a big mistake on the incentives. All in my favor. I am sure this was meant to be, a form of fairy dust sprinkled on me for going thru some pretty bad times. I will drive this car and appreciate it every day.
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i have yet to see runflat BMW tires that last 36k mi, no matter how you drive.
So does mine…I suspect you’ll be singing a different tune in 12-15k from now.
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Funny you say that…I figured with a 2 year lease, I’d be good to go without buying tires. 11 months to go…and I’ll need tires.
I hate run flats
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Great feedback - i will pull the tires off at 10, replace them, then put them back on before i turm in the lease
I assume i can put regular tires on at my discretion as long as I return it with run flats?
I have the exact same tire as yours continental conti pro contacts. Only drive 21k miles and thought I’ll pass the inspection since my allowance is 36k… but nope… and I drove it like a grandpa… Yet still need to replace them…
Correct on both counts…you can put whatever tire you want on for the duration of the lease, but they have to be runflats when you give it back. Should you change your mind and decide to roll the dice with the run-flats instead of swapping them out like you suggested, they don’t have to be Contis when you return. As long as they’re runflats, and match OEM spec (size, speed rating, etc…), they can be any branded tire.
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My old X5 had M package tires which are big and expensive. I took off the original Dunlups and put conti’s on. I also had the alignment done to specs you can find on Bimmerfest, for my particular car, the factory specs were off and I got the correct ones from Bimmerfest. The coatis lasted about 35000 miles. If I would have left the factory setting for alignment, they would have been toast in way less that 15k miles. Not sure if there are different postings on Bimmerfest anymore, since I don’t have a BMW anymore, but worth checking. Also, if the tires are wearing on the inside, which is the way mine would have worn, then you can correct the alignment with a competent alignment specialist.
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