M3 Order Pickle - Suggestions?

[Falafel Combo]

Hi guys.


So I got this great deal from my dealer on a ordered 2015 M3, since I will be ordering 2 cars from them (long story). But now things are getting a bit tricky.


Deal is $1,000 below invoice on both the 2015 M3 and 2015 328i GT (invoice pricing minus $1,000 holiday credit). Both cars are being ordered. I got a verbal agreement over the phone from my CA, so I went in Friday, configured the cars and placed a deposit on both.


What happened now, is that there are plenty of January-build allocations for the 328i, but none for the M3. Which means, it will have to be February-build March delivery at the earliest, missing the necessary 60 day lock period. Add to that, f80 carbon fiber roofs seems to be on back order, which means I may not actually get my car until May, realistically. At that point, the 328i would have been long delivered, and I would have very little negotiating power and leverage of ordering 2 cars. I would essentially have to negotiate the M3 deal all over again.


So my questions are -


1. Should I go ahead and cancel both orders, until they secure an M3 allocation, and have a firm production date?

2. Is it reasonable to keep the 328i order, but ask them for something in writing to the effect of honoring the same pricing for the M3 when allocations and production become available (invoice minus whatever offers BMW NA has at the time of the order)?


Never faced this situation before, so other suggestions are more than welcomed, if you have found yourself in a similar situation in the past.

[OneRib]

I would ask for something in writing and keep the order. You may lose the holiday credit on the M3 but that's about it.

[Krish_1]

Why don't you order the regular 3-series through your dealer, and ask them to find an M3 for you, while honoring the deal? Dealers regularly swap cars using dealerspeed.net. One word of caution though, dealerspeed doesn't always list the correct features of the car, so double-check it against the bmw vin decoder site. You may end up paying 1k or so more going this route, but you won't lose your other credits, and nor do you have to wait months for your M3.

[MRCUR]

I second the suggestion that you keep the 3 series order and ask the dealer to look for available M3's that are either already on a lot or on a ship. Contrary to popular belief, dealers in the Northeast are absolutely trading M3/4's.

[Falafel Combo]

Originally Posted by Krish_1

Why don't you order the regular 3-series through your dealer, and ask them to find an M3 for you, while honoring the deal? Dealers regularly swap cars using dealerspeed.net. One word of caution though, dealerspeed doesn't always list the correct features of the car, so double-check it against the bmw vin decoder site. You may end up paying 1k or so more going this route, but you won't lose your other credits, and nor do you have to wait months for your M3.

Originally Posted by MRCUR

I second the suggestion that you keep the 3 series order and ask the dealer to look for available M3's that are either already on a lot or on a ship. Contrary to popular belief, dealers in the Northeast are absolutely trading M3/4's.

Guys thanks so much for the input. I'm leaning towards exactly that. Keeping the 328i order, and working with them on the f80.


He did in fact try to locate another car, either inbound or on a lot. But, these are terrible odds were talking about here .. I'm ordering a 6MT f80 with cloth seats, carbon fiber roof and in the fantastic Dubai-Oil-Prince Gold paint. Ha! He was already sweating bullets just configuring my car. Surprised he didn't ask for a bigger deposit.

[MRCUR]

Well in that case... I'd hang onto your current orders and see what happens. If your M3 order gets pushed back too far you could ask your dealer for a 2016 MY order.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Falafel Combo

So I got this great deal from my dealer on a ordered 2015 M3, since I will be ordering 2 cars from them (long story). But now things are getting a bit tricky.

Deal is $1,000 below invoice on both the 2015 M3 and 2015 328i GT (invoice pricing minus $1,000 holiday credit). Both cars are being ordered. I got a verbal agreement over the phone from my CA, so I went in Friday, configured the cars and placed a deposit on both.

What happened now, is that there are plenty of January-build allocations for the 328i, but none for the M3. Which means, it will have to be February-build March delivery at the earliest, missing the necessary 60 day lock period. Add to that, f80 carbon fiber roofs seems to be on back order, which means I may not actually get my car until May, realistically. At that point, the 328i would have been long delivered, and I would have very little negotiating power and leverage of ordering 2 cars. I would essentially have to negotiate the M3 deal all over again.

Not only that, but if your dealer can't commit a production date to you, they may not have any unsold slots available in your desired time-frames (or they use them to sell cars to other buyers at higher profit margins)!

Basically, you don't really have a deal without a committed production allocation.

If you drag production out to May, you might as well wait till July and get 2016 MY car !

Originally Posted by Falafel Combo

1. Should I go ahead and cancel both orders, until they secure an M3 allocation, and have a firm production date?

I would do just that, plus shop around with other dealers who will be willing to dedicate their M3 production allocation to your preferred time-frames!

a

[Falafel Combo]

Originally Posted by afadeev

Not only that, but if your dealer can't commit a production date to you, they may not have any unsold slots available in your desired time-frames (or they use them to sell cars to other buyers at higher profit margins)!

Basically, you don't really have a deal without a committed production allocation.

If you drag production out to May, you might as well wait till July and get 2016 MY car !



I would do just that, plus shop around with other dealers who will be willing to dedicate their M3 production allocation to your preferred time-frames!

a

Your post had me nervous. But for good reasons as I agree with what you said. But thankfully my CA came through for me. We have a week 9 production slot. Hoping for late March delivery. Anything into May or June, and I might be forced to push it back to a MY '16.


Honestly, I would prefer to wait for the LCI. But if I'm being entirely honest, I also like getting great deals on my cars! It's not about the money, but just feeling like I'm not getting suckered. Anyway ... no way we are getting a "deal" on a MY16 before say November 2015, thanksgiving. Meaning A December production and January 2016 delivery. Well, that's a whole year away from now! And I think waiting that long, for a car I want today, is a bit excessive. Even in the name of a good deal. It just seems silly. Especially that I do not have any concrete confirmations of MY16 having LCI upgrades at all! It's all rumors and forum chatter so far.


Plus, last time I took delivery in January, it was not a pleasant experience. My wife gave me a ride to the dealership, and complained the entire way down since it was snowing ... it was cold and windy outside ... and the poor CA is trying to show us around our brand new BMW, but we just wanted to get the hell out of there! Anyway, unpleasant memories.


Late March, early April Delivery, no snow and springtime outside sounds more dreamy!

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Falafel Combo

Honestly, I would prefer to wait for the LCI. But if I'm being entirely honest, I also like getting great deals on my cars! It's not about the money, but just feeling like I'm not getting suckered. Anyway ... no way we are getting a "deal" on a MY16 before say November 2015, thanksgiving. Meaning A December production and January 2016 delivery. Well, that's a whole year away from now! And I think waiting that long, for a car I want today, is a bit excessive. Even in the name of a good deal. It just seems silly. Especially that I do not have any concrete confirmations of MY16 having LCI upgrades at all! It's all rumors and forum chatter so far.

Indeed - not clear that LCI will come with MY16. May well be MY17.

Either way, the longer you wait, the longer you don't have an M3 !

At some point, you just have to pull the trigger. It's not the last car you will ever buy. If LCI is so much better, you can refresh in a few years.

I'm glad you got an allocation and will be getting your car just in time for the winter to clear.

a

[Falafel Combo]

Originally Posted by afadeev

Indeed - not clear that LCI will come with MY16. May well be MY17.

Either way, the longer you wait, the longer you don't have an M3 !

At some point, you just have to pull the trigger. It's not the last car you will ever buy. If LCI is so much better, you can refresh in a few years.

I'm glad you got an allocation and will be getting your car just in time for the winter to clear.

a

This has not always been my position, but I definitely agree!


Besides, as my wife frequently reminds me, I'm lucky if I keep a car a year.