[Mr. BMW]

I'm going to order a 330i with the following options
Monaco Blue with Black and dark wood.
Premium, sport and cold weather packages
Rear sunshade
Satellite prep.
Alarm?

I'm trading my 02 X5 but I'm worried that I'm going to get wacked on that becuase it's a manual.

[hotsand5]

yeah, skip on the alarm, and try selling your X5 on kbb.com (kelly blue book) which also goes on cars.com before going to the dealer where you will probably get raped.

[kobechrome]

Comfort access is a must. You can't buy a 50k car without that.

I agree with hotsand - no need for alarm.

Sell your X5 on craigslist. Do not go to the dealer. They'll give you about 40-50% of what you can get private party. You'll leave thousands of dollars on the table like that.

Good luck and congrats!

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by hotsand5

yeah, skip on the alarm, and try selling your X5 on kbb.com (kelly blue book) which also goes on cars.com before going to the dealer where you will probably get raped.

not necessarily. there are cases in which dealers offer KBB value or better. since it's still winter time, there is a possibility of a good deal. also, the convenience of not worrying about selling it yourself is priceless.

it's been two months and i still have my old car. i just never got around to actually advertise it and do all the prep shit you need to do before you sell it. now i wish i took my dealer's horrible offer of $4k when i picked my new car up...

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by kobechrome

You can't buy a 50k car without that.

how do you guys always arrive to that amount? you'd seriously have to order like every single option and accessory and get absolutely no break on the deal to get to 50 grand.

[kobechrome]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

it's been two months and i still have my old car. i just never got around to actually advertise it and do all the prep shit you need to do before you sell it. now i wish i took my dealer's horrible offer of $4k when i picked my new car up...

I had somewhat of a different experience but maybe it was because of what I sold though...

We were getting rid of my wife's 94 beater Honda Accord. Dealer offered us $800 so I took it back home and got a cheap $12 car wash and vacuum and cleaned out the inside myself (about 1 hour of manual labor in total). I took 4 pics, put it on craigslist and within 7 days, it was sold for $2k. It was pretty easy. Once it was on craigslist, the buyers flocked...

[slubu]

Comfort access.

[Geneb2450]

Wheel/Tire insurance ... extended warranty to 100K miles. All worth it in the long run. And they won't mention it until you're ready to pick it up so get pricing in advance as it can run into the $1,000's.

[longtran]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

how do you guys always arrive to that amount? you'd seriously have to order like every single option and accessory and get absolutely no break on the deal to get to 50 grand.

if your car was an e30 i be all over it. i am looking for a good condition e30 as a toy car.

[kobechrome]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

how do you guys always arrive to that amount? you'd seriously have to order like every single option and accessory and get absolutely no break on the deal to get to 50 grand.

You're right - his car above is 45K MSRP so more like 42K... after taxes/tags/title maybe back to 45K.

[kobechrome]

Originally Posted by Geneb2450

Wheel/Tire insurance ... extended warranty to 100K miles. All worth it in the long run. And they won't mention it until you're ready to pick it up so get pricing in advance as it can run into the $1,000's.

You don't have to buy the extended warranty at the time of purchase. That can be purchased at any time while the original warranty is still intact.

I didn't opt for the wheel/tire insurance.

[Booster]

My advice is: Grab your ankles... Spit is the best lube

[DavE90]

Comfort access a must!!

[Oz]

CA
iDrive
Wheel/Tire Insurance

Also check out Mystic Blue color....

If you aren't going to use the fold down seats, just get the heated seats instead and save yourself some money for another option..

Good luck with the purchase

[voltron1011]

Give yourself a few weeks to sell the X5 yourself. Or, sell it to Autonation. They actually use a huge database with other dealers. Other dealers bid on the car in real time and they can give you a much better deal than normal trade-in.

[Mr. BMW]

Originally Posted by hotsand5

yeah, skip on the alarm, and try selling your X5 on kbb.com (kelly blue book) which also goes on cars.com before going to the dealer where you will probably get raped.

I sometimes park in bad area's so having the alarm will give me some piece of mind. I guess it depends on how much it will cost.

I've had one in all my other BMW's. I think the X5 came standard with it but I can't remember now.

[bsjd00]

Get the alarm, but negotiate for it after you agree on the price of the car and do not pay more than $450 installed for it. It's worth the piece of mind.

Of course, you still shouldn't park an e90 in certain places even with an alarm, like Dorchester for instance.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by longtran

if your car was an e30 i be all over it. i am looking for a good condition e30 as a toy car.

don't you want both e36 and e30 as your toys? then, just get a 2002 and an E21 and you'd have pretty much every generation of the 3er...

get it!

[JackMac]

Mr. BMW - I went through a similar experience. I got a trade-in quote from the dealer at time of order. Then advertised on both craigslist and cars.com while waiting for the car to be built, knowing that I needed to get better than trade-in value + tax (in PA you get a tax break on the trade in value).

Be sure to get a trade value from KBB.com and bring it to the dealer to negotiate your trade-in allowance. If they meet that, you may be best off to simply trade and avoid the hassle. If not, you have 2 months to try to sell it on your own for more - figure 15% above trade-in as a minimum, so advertise above that amount to allow room for negotiation.

Also, as everyone else mentioned, CA option is a must.

Edit: In MA, you should expect to need a set of winter tires/wheels , especially if you are getting the SP and if you don't have another vehicle for snow

[330Inewbie]

comfort access, no regrets.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by kobechrome

I took 4 pics, put it on craigslist and within 7 days, it was sold for $2k. It was pretty easy. Once it was on craigslist, the buyers flocked...

craigslist is actually the only place where i advertised my car. I got a few responses but they all turned out to be just 1000 questions and answers emails and after we set a date and time to meet, they never showed up nor did they reply to my emails anymore. i try not to be pushy so i only respond, never ask. oh well...

[Lost Rider]

If it fits your budget, go with the Navagation/iDrive. It's by far the coolest option I have.
At first I wanted it for the esthetics of the dash, then I started to read up on all the cool things I could do with it so I ordered it. It looks cool, and works good.
Anyone that says its hard to use is an idiot, and more than likely can't send email, or use an iPod either.
I hardly have to look at it anymore, just use the wheel or speak the commands.
Sport parkage is my second in line for favorite options. The steering wheel and rims/tires look cool, but the seats are amazing. Much more comfortable that non-sport, unless you're a fat-ass.

my 2 cents

Enjoy your new ride.


BTW I regret not getting CA, but since I've never used it I can't miss it too much