For those of you buying M3/M4, what payments are you looking at?

[Vectors2final]

With an estimated military sales price of $68,525 I'm looking at....

$30,000 down with 2% @ 72 equals $568.26

Salary is okay, I'll say that.... decent, but not great, but I'll be cashing in on a ton of equity from my home. My wife makes double what I do, and we'll have virtually no bills for the next two years when I move to Korea this summer. No car payments as hers is paid, and mine is going to be turned in.

[parky1215]

Originally Posted by MaX PL

how is that possible?
i plugged some numbers into a finance calculator and with a $78k M3 with $25k down, my payments would be $820.

It's bmw select so there is balloon payment (~$27000) at the end.

[Vectors2final]

What are the current terms of the select program?

It's interesting, almost similar to the PenFed payment saver program.

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by Vectors2final

What are the current terms of the select program?

It's interesting, almost similar to the PenFed payment saver program.

It is the same. Sometimes bmw offers .9 on select but i doubt on the brand new m.

[Vectors2final]

I guess we'll see soon enough.

I don't think I'll have an opportunity to use it through BMW, since I'll be doing the military sales. Maybe with PenFed.

[MarkY]

Originally Posted by humpday

First time poster here. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the M4, but I've never preordered before. Couple questions for the more seasoned bimmerposters:

1) is it common for one to pay full MSRP on the preorder?

2) some of you guys have great financing rates. Are you guys getting your loans from bmw?

Thanks.

1. Your cost (MSRP vs. invoice +/-) should have nothing to do with preordering but you likely will not get below MSRP on a model so new. However, you should NOT pay over MSRP.
2. If you are doing traditional financing, doing so through the dealer should be your last resort unless they are offering special rates. A credit union is your best bet followed by a small, local bank. The big banks are almost as bad as the dealer.

[absoluteis350]

Originally Posted by mact3333

No prob....but it really depends not on how much you make but rather how many other expenses you have monthly....if you have kids in college, have big cc debt, pay alimony, big mortgage payments, etc.

Sometimes when I see threads like this I am shocked at some of the salaries I see buying 60-80k cars...with some of those numbers I couldn't even afford a Honda accord...

LOL +1

So true. Someone I know makes $30k/month net and is nervous spending $1k/month on a car loan.

[dmk08]

I figure you need to make at least 10k a month to consider a car like this. And that's with decently low monthly bills. 15k a month should be pretty comfortable w/ a car like this. And that's in a money friendly market.

I live in GA where money goes a long way. I personally spend less than 50% of my monthly take home on all expenses and have 0 debt besides my mortgage.

In SF where a one bedroom condo costs 3x what my house does I have no clue. lol

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by mact3333

No prob....but it really depends not on how much you make but rather how many other expenses you have monthly....if you have kids in college, have big cc debt, pay alimony, big mortgage payments, etc.

Sometimes when I see threads like this I am shocked at some of the salaries I see buying 60-80k cars...with some of those numbers I couldn't even afford a Honda accord...

...and that's the bottom line.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by dmk08

I figure you need to make at least 10k a month to consider a car like this. And that's with decently low monthly bills. 15k a month should be pretty comfortable w/ a car like this. And that's in a money friendly market.

I live in GA where money goes a long way. I personally spend less than 50% of my monthly take home on all expenses and have 0 debt besides my mortgage.

In SF where a one bedroom condo costs 3x what my house does I have no clue. lol

Not necessarily! I make 90k a year as a CHP officer, and affording an ///M isn't an issue (..the car is about 1/5 of my take home pay). Even after all of the bills are paid, I still have nearly 2k a month to 'play' with. I'm also single, I have no kids, and I have very little debt. Income is an arbitrary number; it's where that income needs to be dispersed/allocated that matters.

[/// M sa]

I live in the DC area, everything costs an Arm and a Leg... Soon I will be selling my organs.

[chicagofan00]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Not necessarily! I make 90k a year as a CHP officer, and affording an ///M isn't an issue (..the car is about 1/5 of my take home pay). Even after all of the bills are paid, I still have nearly 2k a month to 'play' with. I'm also single, I have no kids, and I have very little debt. Income is an arbitrary number; it's where that income needs to be dispersed that matters.

+1.

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Not necessarily! I make 90k a year as a CHP officer, and affording an ///M isn't an issue (..the car is about 1/5 of my take home pay). Even after all of the bills are paid, I still have nearly 2k a month to 'play' with. I'm also single, I have no kids, and I have very little debt. Income is an arbitrary number; it's where that income needs to be dispersed/allocated that matters.

Do you live with roommate or something? Or is CHP not California?

5k take home a month, 1k+ m3 payment, i figure at least 1k rent (seems very low),1k savings/401k, and then eating/gas/insurance/utilities/etc not sure how you have 2k to 'play with' unless you're getting income from an outside source.

But I agree its all about priorities and where you want to spend your money.

[mact3333]

never forget about those taxes...30K a month isn't what it used to be after taxes...take home might be 15K/month after taxes.

I could afford a 911 turbo and a GTR if I didn't piss away that amount in frivolous CC charges every month...

[Powaup]

Do you guys think it will be possible to get $500/month with $20K down using BMW select? Also: If I wanna sell the car in 3 years to get the LCI version can I sell it to anyone or do I have to sell it back to the dealer since I took the BMW select route?

[anonymouse20910]

Originally Posted by Vectors2final

I guess we'll see soon enough.

I don't think I'll have an opportunity to use it through BMW, since I'll be doing the military sales. Maybe with PenFed.

I want to do the penfed, but the fact that they state the residual can't be guaranteed is bothering me. They say they look at the mileage, condition, and market value to give you a buy out at the end. I leased an 08 335i through Navy Federal when they were still doing leases. The buyout was agreed to ahead of time with 15k miles allowed per year. I sold the car to carmax 3 years later with 30k miles on it for $30k and my buyout was $22k. Pocketed the difference. This time around, for the new M3, i want to buy the car out at the end and if the residual is too high I might not want to buy it at the end. But I baby my cars and would keep the mileage low so the value of the car will be high at the end. Might do a straight up lease with BMW because the buyout price is known at the beginning.

On a side note, the cool thing with Navy Federal was that I didn't pay taxes up front because it was a credit union. I wonder if penfed is the same way.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by dmk08

Do you live with roommate or something? Or is CHP not California?

5k take home a month, 1k+ m3 payment, i figure at least 1k rent (seems very low),1k savings/401k, and then eating/gas/insurance/utilities/etc not sure how you have 2k to 'play with' unless you're getting income from an outside source.

But I agree its all about priorities and where you want to spend your money.

Why would I need a roommate (..and yes, the CHP is a California based department)? Not that I need to break down all of my expenditures, but....

.....I've never had an ///M3 payment in the $1k range (..I've either leased or used BMW Select). In fact, most haven't been above $800 a month. In either case, by the time I pay my car payment and basic household bills (..rent, utilities, car insurance, etc.), it amounts to about $3k a month. My pension is not included in my take home pay. Maybe you just waste more money or have more bills than I do. My utilities (..cell phone, SoCal gas, SoCal Edison, trash/water/sewer) don't even amount to $200 a month. Even if I saved $1k a month (..I save, but not that much every month; it depends on what I want to do), I'd STILL have an easy $1k monthly that isn't allocated towards anything at all. The math is very simple.

Like I said in an earlier post, it's more about how much money you have going out the door towards other things. I don't carry large balances on credit cards, and I don't have kids. That saves me a huge chunk of money right there.

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Why would I need a roommate (..and yes, the CHP is a California based department)? Not that I need to break down all of my expenditures, but....

.....I've never had an ///M3 payment in the $1k range (..I've either leased or used BMW Select). In fact, most haven't been above $800 a month. In either case, by the time I pay my car payment and basic household bills (..rent, utilities, car insurance, etc.), it amounts to about $3k a month. My pension is not included in my take home pay. Maybe you just waste more money or have more bills than I do. My utilities (..cell phone, SoCal gas, SoCal Edison, trash/water/sewer) don't even amount to $200 a month. Even if I saved $1k a month (..I save, but not that much every month; it depends on what I want to do), I'd STILL have an easy $1k monthly that isn't allocated towards anything at all. The math is very simple.

Like I said in an earlier post, it's more about how much money you have going out the door towards other things. I don't carry large balances on credit cards, and I don't have kids. That saves me a huge chunk of money right there.

I'm fine I just thought your math seemed fishy earlier. My comments about a roommate and California are that I would think just rent would be in the 2k+ range out there.

I don't find this car affordable at 20% of your income. That's just me. To each their own. Enjoy!

If you get a $800 payment on this car you didn't take your own advice and you put money down. My CA is saying even a barebones car will probably be in the mid 900s with MSDs.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by dmk08

I'm fine I just thought your math seemed fishy earlier. My comments about a roommate and California are that I would think just rent would be in the 2k+ range out there.

I don't find this car affordable at 20% of your income. That's just me. To each their own. Enjoy!

If you get a $800 payment on this car you didn't take your own advice and you put money down. My CA is saying even a barebones car will probably be in the mid 900s with MSDs.

That's funny, as 20% seems to be the 'magic percentage' for the amount of your net pay that should be allocated to a vehicle. Maybe for you it should be 15%, 10% or even 5%, but for me - a person with nothing else to spend his money on - 20% is reasonable and responsible. I think I'm doing just fine though (...and I have plenty of free money to spare), but thanks for your concern.

I never said that I'd manage to get an $800 payment on the F8X (..I DID say that most of my M3 payments haven't eclipsed the $800 mark; 3 of the 5 that I've owned fit that criteria.....the other two do not: my '03 was $999 and my '11.5 was $899), but it's not unlikely either. I have a significant dealer connect, and I'll likely purchase the car when the residuals and money factor will benefit me (..probably early/mid next year; I'm not even a year into my '14 335i lease). Just because your CA tells you one thing doesn't mean that the same thing will apply to me, and you may not option your car the same way I might. You assume a lot (...like the 2k+ rent in CA), and don't leave much room for the vast amount of variables between people and their respective bills (..or lack thereof). These financial threads always turn into these debates about who should or shouldn't be driving a certain car, or how much somebody should make in order to 'qualify' to drive a particular car.

[mithiral67]

The general rule of thumb is that your total living costs (home including utilizes or rent including utilities), plus car costs, plus other debt should be less than 35% of your salary. For example, you make $100,000 a year and have a $200,000 house that costs $1,800 (loan, tax, insurance) and $200 a month for student loans. You're safe at a $900 dollar payment. All while having at least 6 months savings incase of emergency. The idea is that 35% goes to this, 25% goes to taxes, 10% goes to savings (I recommend 20%) and the rest is what you live off of, which is different for everyone. That said, I am sitting at about 18% for my car payment of $837 and rent/utilities. I don't have kids or debt other than my car and I don't feel comfortable going up to the 35% limit.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by mithiral67

The general rule of thumb is that your total living costs (home including utilizes or rent including utilities), plus car costs, plus other debt should be less than 35% of your salary. For example, you make $100,000 a year and have a $200,000 house that costs $1,800 (loan, tax, insurance) and $200 a month for student loans. You're safe at a $900 dollar payment. All while having at least 6 months savings incase of emergency. The idea is that 35% goes to this, 25% goes to taxes, 10% goes to savings (I recommend 20%) and the rest is what you live off of, which is different for everyone. That said, I am sitting at about 18% for my car payment of $837 and rent/utilities. I don't have kids or debt other than my car and I don't feel

You and I are in the same position. My 335i is at $755.

[mithiral67]

yea, i am waiting to see what the reviews are on the m4 and then do something next summer. I want one more summer with my 335is to get her the last 20 hp to be over 500whp and give the first year m4 bugs/premiums time to work themselves out. Then might get a lot closure to that 35% with a new m4 or a used 991 CS.

PS, here's my reference. Note that its actually allows for more wiggle room for debt, but I always recommend including other monthly costs in the 35% to be more reasonable. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mort...ou-buy--1.aspx