Without much negotiating, this dealer sent me the following quote on a new 2015 320i BMW:
[BMW LEASE PDF][1]
What are your thoughts? Jump on it? When should I talk to him about multiple security deposits? And from what I’ve read on your website, it would be up to 7? So $2100?
Sorry for so many questions, but this is my first lease ever and have found your website extremely helpful, yet I’m confused AF 
[1]: https://app.box.com/s/a77ve1awjczoq02kop88xpsssl618a11
Thoughts:
The selling price of $30,898 is OK. There’s $3,000 in incentives ($1,500 Build-Out Cash and $1,500 Novemberfest Adder), so the dealer is offering you a discount of $1,672. If you shop around or negotiate, I think you can get another $1,000 off.
The quote includes a big down payment, which we don’t recommend. If the car is ever totaled, you lose that down payment.
It appears the dealer marked up the MF slightly because, otherwise, the numbers do not add up. The base rate should be .00131, which becomes .00082 after 7 MSDs.
I would respond to the dealer and write something like, "Thanks for the quote. Dealer ‘X’ quoted me $29,800 for basically the same car – but they’re a bit further away. I’d like to deal locally if I can.
Could you match their price? I’m looking to use multiple security deposits to lower the money factor from .00131 to .00082. Only drive-offs due at signing. If that works, I can come in today or tomorrow to pick up the car. Thanks!"
At that price, it should be about $320/month (including 8% sales tax) with the following due at signing: $320 first month’s payment, $80 dealer document fee, $925 acquisition fee, ~$425 license/registration/miscellaneous, and $2,450 in refundable MSD. Be sure to get the final quote in writing before you head for the dealer.
Good luck!
Ok, last question (hopefully). This is for a 2015 328i with xdrive. What are your thoughts? 
Thoughts:
1.) Either two things are happening here. Either the sale price is not truly $34,875, or they are marking up the MF. From doing the math, the monthly payment should not be that high. I think they’re marking up the MF.
2.) BMW’s base MF is .00131. If you reverse calculate their quote, you’ll see they’ve marked up the MF to .00171. BMW FS allows a maximum mark-up of .00040, which they are doing here.
3.) It does not appear they’ve applied the MSD MF discount yet.
I’d play with the lease calculator: http://leasehackr.com/calculator/
Make: BMW
MSRP: 43,660
Sales Price: 34,875
Taxed Incentives: 0
Untaxed Incentives: 0
Acquisition Fee: 925
Down Payment: 0
Residual: 59%
Miles/yr: 10,000 (this will change the residual to 60%)
Money Factor: .00131
MSD: 7
Doc, Registration, License Fees: $453
Sales Tax: 8%
Tax is levied on the monthly lease payment (most states).
The result…
MONTHLY PAYMENT INCLUDING TAX: $343
DRIVE-OFF: $3,246 ($343 first month, $453 license/registration, $2,450 MSD
Note I rolled in the $925 acquisition fee into the payments, so you’re not paying for it upfront.
EDIT: My advice:
It’s up to you whether you’d like to negotiate with them to eliminate the MF mark-up. The sales price is already good, so it seems like they’re making it up by inflating the MF. The .00040 mark-up increases your monthly payment by $27, or $972 over the course of 36 months.
If you decide to allow the dealer to mark up your MF, then at the very least request an updated quote that reflects the MSD. Right now, the lease payment quote does NOT include the MSD.
Thought I’d update. Keep going back and forth with dealer on the differences in the numbers.
He says down payment is $453 (reg), $925 (aq fee), $74 (aq fee taxed), $314.45 (1st payment) for a total of $4554.45
Money factor is .00082 with $2800 in security deposits. Do you know he would say the 7 MSD = $2800? I thought it would be $350 x 7. Sounds like he’s rounding up to $400 for each security deposit? Is this legal? Or is BMW now rounding up to nearest $100 instead of $50 for each security deposit?
BMW rounds up to the nearest $50. I wonder if your dealer is rounding based on the monthly payment before the MF has been lowered by the MSD (0.00131), which should not be the case from what I understand.
With the exception of the MSD amount ($2,800 vs. $2,450), the math now looks right to me. The lease payment went from $373.13 to $314.45 with approximately the same drive-off. Assuming this is the same MSRP as before, I would say that’s a pretty solid deal for a $44K car.
Thank you so much for all your help!! You guys rock!!!
Let me know if there’s anything I can do to return the favor
I am glad that we could be of help! Hope you got the deal you wanted!
If you could spread the word, that would be super!