Order Questions - My First M

[JmikeMillz]

Hello all,
I've been lurking on this forum for a while trying to convince myself to take the plunge; I ended up going on a test drive over the weekend and I was sold. I think I am just about ready to place my order.
My dealer has an allocation for me, and we agreed on $1000 over invoice. I'm pretty happy with that considering it's actually with the dealer closest to my house.
My question is mostly related to how much to get in writing at the time of ordering. My CA hasn't mentioned anything about a deposit yet, but I assumed $1000 or so seems to be pretty standard. Is that correct?
Also assuming I lease - I know you can lock up to 90 days in advance, which is just about how long it will take to get here at this time. But if it's too far out, do you just get it in writing that you want base MF without the actual numbers?
Do they do the credit pull at the time of ordering, or at the time you lock in?
Anything else I should know about before heading in to place the actual order?

I'm pretty dang excited and I haven't even placed the order yet!

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by JmikeMillz

Hello all,
I've been lurking on this forum for a while trying to convince myself to take the plunge; I ended up going on a test drive over the weekend and I was sold. I think I am just about ready to place my order.
My dealer has an allocation for me, and we agreed on $1000 over invoice. I'm pretty happy with that considering it's actually with the dealer closest to my house.
My question is mostly related to how much to get in writing at the time of ordering. My CA hasn't mentioned anything about a deposit yet, but I assumed $1000 or so seems to be pretty standard. Is that correct?
Also assuming I lease - I know you can lock up to 90 days in advance, which is just about how long it will take to get here at this time. But if it's too far out, do you just get it in writing that you want base MF without the actual numbers?
Do they do the credit pull at the time of ordering, or at the time you lock in?
Anything else I should know about before heading in to place the actual order?

I'm pretty dang excited and I haven't even placed the order yet!

$1000 over is good.

Get it in writing via email or have the CA hand write it, namely, $1000 over invoice, base fees and interest rates. That is all you need.

$1000 deposit is standard but not always necessary.

They do credit check when it is time to lock in, so 90 days out since you are on West Coast.

Only other thing I can think of is make sure they agree to $1000 over invoice minus any rebates or incentives you qualify for at the time of signing

[Aaaaaaaaa]

Get as much in writing as soon as possible. Emails should be sufficient early on. $1000 over invoice is good on M4, great on M3. Make sure you get base MF. From there send them your build code and get a full quote run down. Selling price, MF, residual, FEES, and then apply any rebates and incentives. If all looks good I'd "sign" that over email or in person. My dealer did not require a deposit so it's dealer dependent. I'd venture to guess if it's not a really weird config or Individual build, they won't need a deposit. They will pull your credit to make a purchase agreement and place the order. Now is a pretty good time to lock in the numbers as the residuals just increased for the M3 and the programming may get better next month and December due to holiday sales/incentives and year end sales numbers etc. It's all a guessing game though in that regard. Good luck!

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by JmikeMillz

Hello all,
I've been lurking on this forum for a while trying to convince myself to take the plunge; I ended up going on a test drive over the weekend and I was sold. I think I am just about ready to place my order.
My dealer has an allocation for me, and we agreed on $1000 over invoice. I'm pretty happy with that considering it's actually with the dealer closest to my house.
My question is mostly related to how much to get in writing at the time of ordering. My CA hasn't mentioned anything about a deposit yet, but I assumed $1000 or so seems to be pretty standard. Is that correct?
Also assuming I lease - I know you can lock up to 90 days in advance, which is just about how long it will take to get here at this time. But if it's too far out, do you just get it in writing that you want base MF without the actual numbers?
Do they do the credit pull at the time of ordering, or at the time you lock in?
Anything else I should know about before heading in to place the actual order?

I suggested and got full purchase order (PO) drafted before putting down a $1K deposit on my M3. It was an ED order, but then the same process applied for a custom built i3 lease (and all other purchases) as well.

If it's not in writing, it isn't enforceable. At this point, all information should be available to nail down at least three (3) things:
- explicit purchase price (invoice + $1K = $XX.XK) .
- explicit fees beyond the purchase price: registration, titling, etc. This category tends to blossom wildly if not nailed down.
- explicit financing terms and monthly payment: rates (base MF = 0.XX), residuals, resulting monthly payment.

Also, get a specific production week # from the dealer, which they should be happy to give you if they have an allocation they are willing to give to you. If there is no production week #, then you are not buying anything real, just a place in virtual line that may slip if someone else is willing to pay higher markup on the next built (your allocation will magically become "next few months").


The only recourse you will have if terms change is walking away and starting over.

Originally Posted by JmikeMillz

I'm pretty dang excited and I haven't even placed the order yet!

Congratulations !

a

[JmikeMillz]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I ended up going forward with the order last night. No deposit was actually required. I received my production number and now I get to obsessively check on its status.
In case anyone is curious, we did sign on $1k over invoice, base MF, etc. I was kind of surprised, but it was all a great experience. My CA will run credit and lock towards the end of the month just in case it takes until the end of January for the car to arrive.

My order:
'18 M3
Silverstone/Black Full Leather
Competition
Executive
M-DCT

Build week 45

[zamboni]

Just got my M3 at invoice pretty happy with the price.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by JmikeMillz

In case anyone is curious, we did sign on $1k over invoice, base MF, etc. I was kind of surprised, but it was all a great experience. My CA will run credit and lock towards the end of the month just in case it takes until the end of January for the car to arrive.

Which dealership?