Sales Incentive
 

Got a call today from the sale person I've been talking to regardng a 35d today. He says BMW is offering a $4500 incentive for any diesel unit-335 and x35- I'm holding out for a 2010 with the new idrive

Crap. That basically pays for the difference between the 3.0 gasoline engine and the diesel engine. I would have delayed my order by a month if I'd known that. I chose to spend my money on extra amenities, instead of the motor.

Can anyone confirm that the factory is offering this incentive right now? I am negotiating to order a new X5 & my dealer doesn't know anything about it; only the $4500 on the 335d.

I've seen it mentioned a couple of other places. This time last year BMW was doing big discounts on the X5 also.

Heck of a deal if you do not want to new iDrive.

Thanks for the comments, biggie. I just can't find anything official anywhere, and my dealer is apparently holding out on me. For $4500 I'll put up with software that takes a little longer to learn; my last BMW was an '04 545i and I didn't mind that iDrive. It seems to me to be a minor imperfection in an otherwise stellar rig.

Sadly BMW rarely officially posts those types of deals. They are "marketing support" types of things. When I took advantage of the deals last summer my sales guy wasn't aware of the discounts and had to do some digging.

Just heard back from my dealer; it's legit - $4500 factory incentive on the X5 diesels right now!

Oh dear, does this mean Americans still won't buy diesels? I guess I can kiss my dream of more diesel-powered BMWs goodbye.

Sort of OT...
I think more diesel sales could be attained here in the US, but the car
marketeers need to adjust their sights and offerings, imo.
-stop jacking up the price 10%+ for the diesel engine
-quit offering only twin turbo/cranked diesel engines and hoping to
cover/get the "diesel premium"
-some of us don't need pumped acceleration
-stop tossing in high margin "packages" with the diesel engine.
-expand the "diesel option" in more models...

No expert on Europa, but having been there several dozen times
and having driven many of the diesels there, all the mfg'rs offer
basic - to ripped diesels, in several configurations across a broader
model line. I realize diesel is It in Europa, and thus, the better selection,
manual gearboxes, et al, are the standard offering.

Here in the US, diesels are now couched as turbo'd, "fast", stuffed in
the upper model lines, (as in high gross margin loaded models), and are
treated as select/rare/lotto wins for the poor customer that ponys
up for them, etc.

In the changing scene from the hybrid/econ box/$4 a gal frenzy last year,
the diesel, at least for BMW & imo, has become a luxo selection for the upper
middle first adopters and "eco-friendly" show offs. An example of short sight
is the lack of the diesel in the new X1, for the US.

And, many consumers still remember last summer when diesel was 20-30%
higher priced than gasoline, the local station didn't have any, and coupled
with the sea change of driving habits: JoeUpperMiddle is not running out
to buy a $60-80G car that he is not going to drive 300k miles, like the
truckers. If I was really shopping for a diesel now, I would look hard at
the VW Jetta...BMW is couching their diesels in the hard to get/limited
model niche, and acting like they are doing the US customer a freakin favor.
That's my current 50Cts on it, from the back row of the Peanut Gallery.

Well, if it makes you feel any better there's about to be one more American driving one (me).