BMW leases, historically, had often ended underwater; there is a reason many BMW customers lease.
Unfortunately, you signed your deal in the middle of Covid…which was/arguably is still the craziest vehicle market we’ve seen in years. You’re likely not sitting with a great hand, to be playing the equity game.
Damn it all.
Got beat by a second. It also looks like I had plagiarized, as we used similar wording. 
Is your total payoff including sales tax? If it is and you sell to a dealership (or equity hackr) you should be able to reduce the payoff by the sales tax amount. Also shop a few places that can buy a BMW lease (BMW dealers, AutoNation or other larger dealerships that have a BMW store in the family).
However 3 series were not known to have equity in the last few years when other cars did.
Ok thanks all, I’ll just sit on then probably. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something obvious and huge.
I remember at the time I was lining it up, the huge car shortage stuff wasn’t quite in the news yet.
You could also just transfer the lease. You;re likely somewhere between $400-$450 pre tax, which is arguably much better than the $600 plus tax quotes most folks are getting for a base 3 series. MSDs might make it tricky, but you’ll certainly have better luck than selling it outright.
Keep in mind that EquityHackr is only one fish in the sea when it comes to who can buy your car.
If you’re serious about selling then get quotes from all your local BMW dealers as well as any of the major groups than can buy BMW’s. And while you can’t sell to Carvana/CarMax/Vroom etc. you can still get quotes as a reference point.
While it’s unlikely you’ll have a lot of equity I wouldn’t stop trying yet just because one buyer came back low.
You have to consider all of your remaining payments plus the residual. Unless you got a great deal off MSRP, then you will most likely not have equity in that car.
This ^. Generally the people with substantial equity are the ones that got good deals either pre-pandemic or before say 4/2021 (date is not exact, varies by model).
If you your price paid includes the mark-ups so common over the past 12-15 months, you probably aren’t going to have much equity in either a lease or purchase.
Disclaimer - doesn’t apply to some EVs or people who got very in demand cars at MSRP by ordering them and waiting for delivery.
Honestly I think it’s just because it’s a BMW 3 series.
Historically aren’t a car that retains value (challenge me on this, that’s my observation), and have an inflated residual from bmwfs
I think its definitely because OP didnt get a pre-covid deal…sold my pre-covid m340 to a bmw dealer for 5.5k+ equity
before or after you made x number of payments?
had 5 months left on the contract, so after 2.5+ years of payments
I think both can be true. Yes, a 3 series purchased at a good discount off MSRP pre-pandemic may well not have much equity today. Similarly a telluride might not have any equity now if you paid 7.5k over MSRP for it 8 months ago.
I think one of the brokers on the site mentioned that a few mos ago (or maybe as far as ~1 yr ago), so it’s not just you. 
Esp w/ a 330i.
I’ve been running appraisals on many 2019 and 2020 3 series vehicles and 9 out of 10 times they come back as $1k to $3k under water.
BMW is one of those brands that never really stopped production during the pandemic, unlike Lexus, Dodge, Mercedes…those vehicles tend to appraise much greater than payoff values.
that is blatantly wrong. the reason 3’s and 5’s have no value is because they were underwritten at inflated residuals to get to cheap monthly payments.
I have a 2019 BMW 330i with M-Sport which I got pre-pandemic. I’m at the end of the lease and just did Equityhacker the other day. What they offered was less than the payoff. I also had done Carvana or one of those sites a few months ago and it was the same situation – no equity. Folks here said it was because it was a 330i, small engine and sedan, which are not in demand these days.
Howdy!
Time sure flies eh. It’s true regarding the 330i, My M340I is approaching lease end, in fact I made my last payment weekend and AN quoted me 46K and my payoff is about 38k with taxes. Granted I haven’t done the in person inspection yet.
Equity Hackr LOWBALLS hard, atleast initially.
I was looking to sell my sisters lease for her and when I put in the specs they offered garbage for a car that is decent/high demand. 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. I did not put any more effort into reaching out after that lowball offer and went through a dealership and sold her car there and made my sister $5k in profit.
I think Equityhackr offered below Payoff LOL.
Only thing is your car is very specific and its only been a year and a couple months which is usually not a good time for early return. You can wait til atleast 2years/2 1/2 years which is a good time to check out options or find a dealership which will buy the car for a even wash.
Same experience with my M340I, if and when I sell, I will go with AN.