Leasing can be a great way to buy a car. In most cases you have two chances to negotiate the deal. Once when you initially purchase the vehicle and a second time at lease end if you actually want to buy the car. I have leased many vehicles (BMWs and others) and have always had the option to buy the vehicle for less than the original residual value at lease end.

Another thing to note when leasing is to never put down any money. There will be out of pocket administrative costs at lease inception but these should not amount to a significant amount of money. Any additional money used as a "down payment" or capitalized cost reduction is subject to loss if something happens to the vehicle. Included in your lease payment is Gap Protection which is essentially insurance against what you owe the finance company (the total of your remaining payments) and what your insurance company will pay if the vehicle is stolen or totaled. This Gap Protection does not cover any money used as a down payment in the transaction.

BMWs have high residual values compared to their competitors. From a competitive value stand point they make really great lease vehicles, in fact BMW has one of the highest lease penetrations in the business. I personally think that leasing is a great way to buy a BMW.