Question for those who special order bmws
 

One day I would like to special order, instead of buying off the lot. Do you generally pay a premium when you special order or can you still negotiate a good price?

The majority of my Bimmers have been custom-orders and I have never been required to pay a premium. You would negotiate the same over invoice.

I have been able to deal with an ordered BMW but I do better off the lot. My local dealer definitely wants to move them more.

Special ordered mine last month...paid 800 over invoice...I felt pretty good walking away from that one...and most importantly, momma is very happy with her vehicle.

Always special ordered and I don't think it really matters unless they can't move cars. My dealer prefers preorders because it doesn't come from there monthly allocation.

Paying a premium is silly- a good dealer won't charge you extra for an order. They might discount inventory vehicles to entice you, but negotiation is always possible even on an order vehicle.

Agree with everyone saying special order is bascally thesame.

Dealers like a few on the lot to sell to people with poor impulse control, or those that are math-impaired.

A

So true with the impulse control, it happened a bunch of times w/ my biz partner, he goes into a lot w/ the intention to get one specific vehicle, and the salesman sweet talks him into something else, sometimes even a different brand people bought in as a trade in. Always LMFAO.

I got the best deal ordering. Plus, you get what you want in the vehicle.

Generally it should be about the same to negotiate, but you may find something on a lot that the dealer has had for a while or over a model year change over that you could get a better price on when negotiating.

The biggest issue with a special order is having to wait! I had to wait over 6 months for both my E53s and about 5 for my E70. But I'm guessing it's not so bad in the current economy.

I've never bought a BMW off the lot; always ordered.
Never paid more to order.

So you paid invoice or MSRP?

I have not special ordered any of the BMW's I have owned. I check inventory on what they have periodicaly when I'm in the market. I can usaully find what I want. With my X5 , the exact vehicle I wanted was 20 miles away. They brought it down and I bought it. So I guess I have poor impulse control, and have poor math skills, even though I am a Project Engineer.....:yawn:

I'm still willing to bet you got a better deal.

I've never bought a car off the lot, always custom ordered, never ever paid a premium, price was always the same either way.

I'm sure you can get a good deal either way. But if you see what you want on their lot, and it has been there for a bit too long, you're going to score. My E92 was a special order that was cancelled when the buyer upgraded to an M3. It was in the showroom. I guess not many people were looking for a Crimson Red E92 6MT that was loaded. So I scored on that one too. It's all about timing. I'm not going to wait months for a car unless I'm ordering an Aston Martin DBS.

My original X5 was special ordered. Paid $800 over invoice, and only waited a whole 6 weeks for it. I don't think it gets much better than that.

I would special order though if you are going to buy brand new. It's nice to know someone else hasn't test drove it, put additional unnecssary miles, and farted in it ;).

All good replies, esp the farting.

When I worked as an assistant sales manager in a dealership long ago and far away, it was generally true that the special order got a somewhat better price. But this was often mitigated if the customer happened to be interested in a 'dog', ie a vehicle that had been in stock for a while and hadn't sold yet for one reason or another.

I recall a 'chop-shop' special, a coupe that an aftermarket company removed the top from and put the most god-awful cloth top on. It looked great topless (so it stayed in the showroom), but put the top up and it was barf city. Not even Stevie Wonder would buy that car if the top was up. We got fed up of looking at it for months on end, pretty though it was with the top down.

It eventually sold to a little old lady for $5,000 off sticker (bought it off the floor without even driving it or raising the top, clearly was a bucket list item for her), the salesman made a $2,000 bonus, and the manufacturer's finance arm made over 6 months of interest. This on a $25k car. Needless to say, no more cars were ever chopped at this store.

When a dealership special orders, their only cost of business is writing the order, doing the paperwork and paying the salesman. When they keep a car in stock, they usually pay floorplan (interest) as well, even if for only a few days. They usually have to detail the car at least twice. This raises the effective cost of the car to the dealer and therefore to the buyer, ceteris paribus of course.

(Note: if you order a really odd color or option combination they may require a non-refundable deposit. This depends on the dealer).

I just special ordered as well. Paid $200 over invoice and the car came up to NY in 3 weeks. Dealer threw in rubber mats as well as carpeted mats. Not a bad deal at all.

^ 200 over invoice with two sets of mats! that sounds almost too good to be true. Your dealer must be in it for the kicks lol

I ordered my first e70 and paid 2000 over invoice:(...but that was when the x5 was a fresh commodity! I was somewhat of a sucker back then and remember thinking I got a fantastic deal, once I had test drove the 4.8 it was pretty much a done deal lol

I regret to say I ended up in a pickle and bought my recent x right off the lot. But hey, It actually had all the options I needed and they let it go for 500 over invoice after I walked out twice lol

Bottom line....order and demand a fair price...say 500-1000 max over invoice. Bring the info and come prepared to walk away with a smile. They will cave.

I have always special ordered/built all my BMWs and the dealer gave me a similar price to buying off the lot, in fact once gave me a price to match a competing dealer below invoice on my M6 convertible.

"What, wait a minute... you mean there was a $3500 dealer incentive?!?!?"

Or "Yup, 200 over and 12% financing"

It is impossible to really assess 'prices' unless the whole 'deal' is disclosed....

Special ordered, paid invoice, and from the date of the order placement with the factory to delivery of the vehicle was 3 weeks! I'm not buying another BMW from dealer stock again, although I may have just been lucky with timing.

Leased the car. 12k miles a year for 36 months. Got 200 over invoice. MF was .0011. Residual was .57.

I ordered mine. He made quite an effort to find what I wanted, but was not at all hesitant to order.

They screwed up something initially - I don't even remember what it was - but they knocked $1000 off sticker and that was that. Took almost six weeks to get it.

The other BMW dealer in town wouldn't give you the time of day if it wasn't on his lot.

I don't really know what invoice on the car would be, to tell you the truth. I always heard / read if you want to order a BMW, you're going to pay the going rate, give or take a bit.