Not sure how many cars you've bought from BMW, or what relationship you have with your salesperson, but the average person doesn't get those price reductions. In your case, if you are a good negotiator, you can negotiate a price reduction on a US model too, so a reduction in price in Canada doesn't offset a reduction in price in the US. There was no eco rebate in Canada, or tax reductions or any incentives like that.

Considering the dollar was over 1.04 today, there is no justification for higher prices in Canada. Have you shopped for parts? Try pricing out the hitch for example, or the aero kit at your local dealer, then from getbmwparts.com or pacific bmw or crevier. If you still buy parts in Canada, rather than buy in the US and ship to Canada, you are parting with your money easily.

Regardless of whether the US warranty is covered in Canada or not, you don't spend 10k over the warrantied lifetime of the car (4 years) in out of pocket costs.

As for selling a US car, the price differential is not as much as the dealer or Craigslist would have you believe. I sold my M3 privately, and the imported M3s of similar year/mileage/options were not significantly lowert than mine. This may have to do with us being on opposite sides of the country.

RIV will accept a printout from a US dealer. You do not have to jump through BMW Canada's hoops. BMW Canada is getting sued (and rightly so) http://autolawsuit.blogspot.com/

Five purchases from the same SA over several years. Multiple other referals of friends and family. I met the dealer principle, and made a point of meeting the service manager, sales director, customer relationship manager, etc. I worked for 20+ years in a dealer business (not BMW) so I understand their issues somewhat.

I didn't negotiate the $5k reduction. My dealer offered it when I asked him to consider the difference between US and Canadian pricing. I was advised that it wasn't a cost to the dealer, it was related to a program from BMWCA to combat potential lost sales to US imports. I don't know any details of that program, or how true that was. I agree with you that BMW CA doesn't want to see those sales come from the US. I just don't agree that they have a conspiracy. I would much rather have a Canadian sourced vehicle all things being equal, and BMWCA have the same objective. I prefer win-win whenever possible.

I don't generally buy parts in the US because I can get them in Canada at wholesale. I haven't compared US retail with Canadian wholesale.

I am not sure where you are in Canada, but in Vancouver it was easy to find US 535i vehicles at $30k-$32k, similarly equipped. The guy who bought mine (first person who looked at it) paid $6k over that. He was driving a US-sourced 3 series, but wasn't doing it again and mentioned the resale issues. It probably has to do with the flood of US cars here locally.

Doesn't look like that lawsuit application is moving forward very quickly. I don't think class action suits over $500 letters are productive. I would rather see frustrated potential Canadian BMW purchasers buy an Audi (or whatever) and write a letter to BMW saying it was because they didn't like Canadian pricing. That may actually change behaviour. IMO buying a BMW vehicle in the US doesn't help us here at all. It makes vehicles more expensive here, while rewarding specific US dealers. Those US dealers who are willing to violate their dealer agreements are often the worst dealers. It helps move us here towards a lowest-common-denominator dealer performance defined by substandard US dealers. I would like to see stronger Canadian dealers who are willing to invest in facilities, training, and so on. That doesn't mean that prices should be vastly higher here, but they will have to be somewhat higher to support a level of dealer investment that can result in better quality dealers.

^^ We all know thats not going to happen. In Toronto, the following dealerships are owned by the Quinn brothers, Parkview, BMW Toronto and in BMW waterloo. Then there's Budds in Oakville, whose owner also owns a chain of dealerships from other manufacturers.
I completely disgree with this statement. With consumers purchasing from the US, dealers will force BMW Canada's hand to lower prices and put incentives in place to make the prices of cars comparable across the board. They can no longer use the argument that its different markets when both markets are accessible by Canadians and the cars are built to almost the same standards. Its not a matter of stronger dealerships, those are already there. Its simply a matter of gouging Canadians because they can.
There aren't market forces at play, because the same people own multiple dealerships.

Your case is unique, you have purchased multiple cars, and clearly have a relationship with your salesperson. You have access to resources that other people have, so I don't think that you can use yourself as a reference for most people.

Oh, and about DRL CMVSS 108 details the requirements for DRL, and there is nothing in there about a requirement for it to not be disabled.

You can read the text for yourself here

I think that we are going to have to agree to disagree about the whole importation/purchase locally issue. We both have different views about this, based on our experiences with dealerships local to us. :thumbup:

From your link:

Edit: I was reflecting on this, and I think there are two separate themes here in terms of higher Canadian prices.

1) BMWCA has higher MSRP than BMWNA. While it is a smaller market here, and we tend to get more selection in terms of options, those prices should be closer than they are IMO. Some of this is related to movements in currency, and hedging strategies (CDN prices don't typically change much during the model year, even though exchange rates do). Said another way, it isn't that the dollar is at $1.04 now, it is more related to what it was when the price list was set.

2) The second issue is that US dealers famously underinvest in people, training, and processes that deliver quality experiences. They tend to offer poor service more often than not, and tend to sell for $x over invoice (well under MSRP). Canadian dealers tend to sell for small discounts off MSRP. They make more money per unit, and in some cases invest that in their operations. Not all do, but that is the free market at work. Those that do (like my dealer) get to be the largest dealer in the country. This is all a gross generalization, and there are exceptions on both sides of the border, but I suspect that BMWCA is happier with their dealer network than BMWNA is with theirs.

I have little time for BMWCA and their higher MSRP. That is gouging. I do have some sympathy for the Canadian dealers, who in my experience are offering a higher level of service than many people I hear from in the US receive at their dealers.

Obtaining the same transaction price as in the US will require both (1) and (2) to be resolved. I hope they resolve (1), but I actually prefer the Canadian model for (2).