1er coupe U.S. price point???

[Drillslinger]

Yeah, but still... Although, it comes complete whereas a quaife unit would need to be installed and such :iono:
So, looks like it'll be Nav with Leatherette and LSD or Boston Leather, no Nav and LSD

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by Won35i

It seems at time we're expecting a lot for the price point that we are projecting this car at. Maybe, we will be fooled and this car will come fully equiped, but I can see the price just climbing.

You nailed it man!!! I'll go out on a limb and say that the average bmw 3 series has at least $3,000 in options. The other series are worse!!

[ibeam81]

Originally Posted by onehots2k

You nailed it man!!! I'll go out on a limb and say that the average bmw 3 series has at least $3,000 in options. The other series are worse!!

And that's probably where BMW is making a lot of their profit. The metallic paint premium seems a little silly at times, but whenever I get bummed by BMW's option pricing I just check out Porsche's which is much worse. :eyebulge:

[Won35i]

Originally Posted by ibeam81

And that's probably where BMW is making a lot of their profit. The metallic paint premium seems a little silly at times, but whenever I get bummed by BMW's option pricing I just check out Porsche's which is much worse. :eyebulge:

At least I wont have to worry about that.. Im sold on AW. But...... I will want leather, and possibly NAV, Premium sound, cold weather (for heated seats), and the Sport package (IFFFFF its not standard as suspected).

[ibeam81]

Originally Posted by Won35i

At least I wont have to worry about that.. Im sold on AW. But...... I will want leather, and possibly NAV, Premium sound, cold weather (for heated seats), and the Sport package (IFFFFF its not standard as suspected).

I plan on trying to minimize the options, but it's going to be hard. A lot depends on what's standard on the 135i. If it matches what is listed in the UK brochure (M aero kit, M suspension, and M interior) then I could conceivably go with AW and skip the options. I would definitely want to see the standard M interior before I skipped the leather though. I'm not opposed to leatherette, but there appears to be a wider range of colors for the Boston Leather.

Somehow, I doubt that I will be able to skip all the options. Hopefully I can avoid getting everything though. :iono:

[Won35i]

Originally Posted by ibeam81

I plan on trying to minimize the options, but it's going to be hard. A lot depends on what's standard on the 135i. If it matches what is listed in the UK brochure (M aero kit, M suspension, and M interior) then I could conceivably go with AW and skip the options. I would definitely want to see the standard M interior before I skipped the leather though. I'm not opposed to leatherette, but there appears to be a wider range of colors for the Boston Leather.

Somehow, I doubt that I will be able to skip all the options. Hopefully I can avoid getting everything though. :iono:

Yeah heres to hoping with you, ibeam. I know its inevitable. Thats how BMW makes their money is on options. I mean lets face, bmws on average are more expensive than other cars. Yes, we are paying the the roundel, but look at how much research they put in (research isnt cheap at all), testing, retesting, etc. I think its worth the premium, but possibly not worth all of the options. I wish that leather and heated seats were in a package of their own. Instead of having to buy the premium package and the cold weather package.

[Genericuser1]

I’ve never paid MSRP for a car and never will. If I can’t get a car for invoice + or – a few hundred I won’t buy it. Luckily I’m not in the market for a number of years so they will have the bugs worked out and invoice or below should be easy.

[128er]

According to the may issue of Car and Driver..they're predicting the 128i to start around 25k. Motor Trend says $26,000. I think it'll start at $25500.

[larryn]

Originally Posted by Design1stCode2nd

I’ve never paid MSRP for a car and never will. If I can’t get a car for invoice + or – a few hundred I won’t buy it. Luckily I’m not in the market for a number of years so they will have the bugs worked out and invoice or below should be easy.

The best I've ever seen from anybody that wasn't a relative of somebody was ~$800 over invoice, and I've been reading BMW forums for close to 10 years, and buying them for a few years more than that. That's including people slapping their e-p3n!s on the table to see who got the best price.

I hope you do get it for that, but don't be hopeful.

[ZweierCoupe]

According to this month's BMW newspaper, available at the factory gates, the price for BMW employees of the 135i is €30458.90, versus the list price of €38950.00 (a 21.8% price break). Both prices include the 19% tax.

It should be a fair assumption that BMW would not sell this car in the United States, or anywhere else, for less than what employees pay for it. Also take into consideration the shipping costs from Leipzig, through Bremerhaven to the respective local ports, and from there to the dealer lot.

An unknown factor is the currency conversion rate. This past week the $/€ rate went as high as 1.385. At that rate BMW workers in Germany pay $35450 before the 19% tax is applied. Analysts have generally predicted $/€ conversion rates beyond 1.4 this year. If one converts the current Euro to the former German DM, then 1.4 would be the maximum previously existing $/€ ratio vis a vis Germany -- that record was set back in the second half of 1992. At a 1.4 ratio the BMW worker price would translate to $35834. Bearing in mind the postulated principle of not selling the car for less than what the BMW employee gets it for, and taking into account shipping charges and the likelihood of further dollar currency depreciation, then the absolutely lowest conceivable theoretical price would be $36K, though I'm sure it will be somewaht higher than that. In this context, even something like $38950 would have to be considered an absolute bargain and might still be too low, for the price in Germany for everyone else is exactly this number in Euros. Without the 19% tax, this translates to $45333 at the 1.385 conversion rate.

Since the 135i will not be available in the US until next spring, BMW will likely not announce a final price for many more months. My guess is that the final price flashed on the advertising screens will be something like $39950 plus dealer destination charges (plus local sales tax).

[ibeam81]

Originally Posted by ZweierCoupe

According to this month's BMW newspaper, available at the factory gates, the price for BMW employees of the 135i is €30458.90, versus the list price of €38950.00 (a 21.8% price break). Both prices include the 19% tax.

It should be a fair assumption that BMW would not sell this car in the United States, or anywhere else, for less than what employees pay for it. Also take into consideration the shipping costs from Leipzig, through Bremerhaven to the respective local ports, and from there to the dealer lot.

An unknown factor is the currency conversion rate. This past week the $/€ rate went as high as 1.385. At that rate BMW workers in Germany pay $35450 before the 19% tax is applied. Analysts have generally predicted $/€ conversion rates beyond 1.4 this year. If one converts the current Euro to the former German DM, then 1.4 would be the maximum previously existing $/€ ratio vis a vis Germany -- that record was set back in the second half of 1992. At a 1.4 ratio the BMW worker price would translate to $35834. Bearing in mind the postulated principle of not selling the car for less than what the BMW employee gets it for, and taking into account shipping charges and the likelihood of further dollar currency depreciation, then the absolutely lowest conceivable theoretical price would be $36K, though I'm sure it will be somewaht higher than that. In this context, even something like $38950 would have to be considered an absolute bargain and might still be too low, for the price in Germany for everyone else is exactly this number in Euros. Without the 19% tax, this translates to $45333 at the 1.385 conversion rate.

Since the 135i will not be available in the US until next spring, BMW will likely not announce a final price for many more months. My guess is that the final price flashed on the advertising screens will be something like $39950 plus dealer destination charges (plus local sales tax).

Very interesting analysis, although I believe there's more to it than taking the German price minus taxes and doing a currency conversion. At least I certainly hope so or there's going to be some extremely unhappy 135i fans here in the US.

I would be curious to see what price was calculated if you did the same conversion on a 335i coupe starting from the price that BMW workers paid.

Anyway, I'm still hopeful for a price of under $30K for the 128i and mid the $30s for the 135i.

[Brookside]

Great theory, but it doesn't fly. Taking the BMW employee price as the lowest number is just the wrong tactic.
Conversion table dollar to Euro + discounting the 19% tax doesn't work for other BMW models-
why should it for the 1-er?



Susanne Klatten was born Susanne Hanna Ursula Quandt on 28 April 1962 in Bad Homburg in Germany.
She is the daughter of Herbert Quandt and Johanna Quandt and as a result the richest woman in Germany.
Susanne Klatten gained a degree in business finance and then did a course in marketing and management at the University of Buckingham, followed by an MBA in Lausanne specialising in advertising. Her first practical business experience was in London with Dresdner Bank, then with the Munich branch of management consultants McKinsey and with the bank Reuschel & Co. She often worked incognito under the name Susanne Kant.


BMW's are sold in the U.S. at below the price customers have to pay in many other countries. BMW has various financial leverages in place to account for the price discrepancy.
N/A profits - US/Candian dollars (N/A profits) aren't converted into Euros, rather they are passed through BMW-friendly Swiss and German banks and re-invested in various world-wide financial ventures.
Scott 26 has written about this extensively. You can pm him thru the site. He has mentioned before that the Quandt family ( majority stockholders of BMW) has two bank presidents on its board-of-directors....both aligned with the Quandt/Klatten voting bloc.
Bottomline....why would BMW directly convert dollars to euros and suffer financial losses? Answer....they don't.


I expect the 135 to come in a tad under 35k and the 128 at 28k...
a bargain that might be fleeting.

[atr_hugo]

If the Fed raises interest rates a point and a half - the value of the dollar will come storming back. Of course, a mild recession will kick in and those of us thinking we're going to buy this Bavarian hot-rod will be looking for employment instead.

Ah the mysteries of international finance. ; -)

[kgmadorin]

Originally Posted by Design1stCode2nd

I’ve never paid MSRP for a car and never will. If I can’t get a car for invoice + or – a few hundred I won’t buy it. Luckily I’m not in the market for a number of years so they will have the bugs worked out and invoice or below should be easy.

BMW dealers do not operate with a holdback percentage like many other auto manufacturers. In addition, Munich rarely offers them rebates or marketing assistance, which could possibly result in a below-invoice sale still creating dealer profit. Therefore, you will almost never see a BMW sold for invoice or under invoice price, because there is no profit potential for the dealer or salesperson.

[atr_hugo]

Originally Posted by kgmadorin

BMW dealers do not operate with a holdback percentage like many other auto manufacturers. In addition, Munich rarely offers them rebates or marketing assistance, which could possibly result in a below-invoice sale still creating dealer profit. Therefore, you will almost never see a BMW sold for invoice or under invoice price, because there is no profit potential for the dealer or salesperson.

The other thing I noticed in researching BMW pricing is that the difference between invoice and MSRP is narrower than other manufacturers. I think a rough average is 85% of MSRP and yet the BMW was north of that #, IIRC.

[Brookside]

This is the number I watch...for comparison's sake.
$35,300 base msrp on the 328 coupe.

BMW/USA also has a special lease on this -



Vehicles registered outside of N.Y.
$419 First month's payment
$2,500 Down payment
$450 Security deposit
$3,369 Cash due at signing

[IrvRobinson2]

Originally Posted by kgmadorin

BMW dealers do not operate with a holdback percentage like many other auto manufacturers. In addition, Munich rarely offers them rebates or marketing assistance, which could possibly result in a below-invoice sale still creating dealer profit. Therefore, you will almost never see a BMW sold for invoice or under invoice price, because there is no profit potential for the dealer or salesperson.

that is correct. Very well explained. Even on the European Delivery cars, sometimes people are saying that $1250 or $1500 over invoice it's not worth it just for the client advisor to fill out the paperwork and submit it, but they don't realize that the CA really doesn't make a lot of money on it, and he/she still needs to spend a lot of time to make sure the process goes smooth.

[C230AMG]

As long as its under 30K loaded with options, BMW will be selling these 1 series like hot cakes! More realistically, mid 30K's when the dust has settled.

[imported_THE JEDI]

Originally Posted by ibeam81

Very interesting analysis, although I believe there's more to it than taking the German price minus taxes and doing a currency conversion. At least I certainly hope so or there's going to be some extremely unhappy 135i fans here in the US.

I would be curious to see what price was calculated if you did the same conversion on a 335i coupe starting from the price that BMW workers paid.

Anyway, I'm still hopeful for a price of under $30K for the 128i and mid the $30s for the 135i.

How can I say this, but tyour nuts if a 135 is going to cost 40,000 dollars BMW is not crazy.

[BimmerBoi2100]

I'm stationed here in Germany (military) and Pentagon estimates a starting price for the 128i to be 25k and the 135i to be 31k. These are special military prices. I would automatically add on at leat 3k to these and you will get a realistic ballpark figure of what stateside folk would be paying.

[Deutsch]

^ Not bad then. About what I'd expect. $34k is very good for the 135, if this is indeed the case then BMW can expect to sell these by the boat load.

[imported_MPower]

As I have said before, 34,000 is perfectly reasonable. 36 isnt. I was reading an article about the upcoming CTS and it dawned on me: the new CTS with a direct-injection engine will start at around 36 grand. That car comes with more horsepower (less torque...), a six-speed gearbox, and a limited-slip differential. So why should the smaller 135i cost any more, if not significantly less?