Where would you go next...

those two things are mutually exclusive to be fair and when they cut the retail prices it decimates used stock as well.

In terms of overall car pricing and BMW i agree 100% - i see they're already doing 2.9% finance offers on the i4. Overall inflation and higher interest rates have to catch up on people's disposable income at some stage.

I 100% agree BMW will do something as sales will stagnate and be much worse than what they planned. I dont see them reducing prices but what i think they'll do is offer low finance offers first and add on packs and extras to make it more desirable.

They've also been very sneaky which i dont like - you can get a 520i m sport for €72k with HK audio as standard. But problem is HK audio on the g60 isn't the same as previous or other current models it's a rebrand on the base audio. So now the HK audio is the base and B&O system is HK. I really didn't like that as so sneaky and will trick a casual customer.

Will be an interesting 12 months anyway.

I think a lot of buyers now are different to years ago - i.e. where somebody would get to 5 series level and stayed there till they retire and get a 3 series. Buyers will flip flop between premium brands to economy brands a lot easier now hence VW have taken massive action to cut prices and really put it up to Tesla, BYD etc. They of course still have the trump card of a strong dealer network which is very important for a lot of customers- i.e. those not arsed becoming using car salesman themselves and dealing with idiots on DoneDeal offering silly money etc.

VW cuts are on all their EV's, I see the even the Buzz is now under 55k. I think that the result of the price cuts will kill off petrol/ diesel sales that much faster- as somebody who is waiting on a 50k+ Octavia to arrive in Jan I'm having slight buyer regret thinking I could have got GTX for not much more

Importer makes a decent profit so can. Afford to cut prices

This was always my favourite thread on Boards but has been dead the past year or more. I’d class myself as a massive petrol head and change my car a few times every year but even I can’t ignore EV’s anymore. When a Tesla or a BYD is so cheap I find it hard to justify paying so much more for a BMW which has always been my favourite car brand. I think Mark makes a good point about buying a car in the next few months, there will be a lot of bargains. I’m considering a few different cars to buy next, all used and there seems to be a lot of price cuts in the used market too.

I called into my local BMW dealer last week as I was passing them. Got a ridiculous cost to change for my 171 430d against a 231 i4 with around 9k on the clock. It was a fairly miserable spec too, only had the M Sport Pro pack on it and nothing else. They wanted nearly 8k more than a Dublin BMW dealer wanted for a higher spec i4 I looked at a few weeks back with the windscreen price about 5k higher too. I didn't even bother driving it as I had no interest but their car has been sitting on their forecourt since around July and it's no surprise why. They have a 1 year old M50 too and wanted similar cost to change money.

As for BMW dropping prices, I wouldn't expect much in the way of them reacting to the VW fire sales. They might be forced into it alright if the likes of Audi and Mercedes start having EV fire sales too alright. But with cheaper Chinese brands coming in and traditional non premium brands like VW having to introduce big price cuts to their range, premium brands with very high prices are now starting to look very overpriced and maybe unattainable to those who previously bought them. Something will have to give though if these premium brands want to sell cars going forward. Cars like the i5 and E Class are becoming very rare on these shores at current prices.

I wouldn't even necessarily say it's because they are unattainable, it's that they don't offer enough for the price gap anymore.

Like compare a Passat to a 3/5 Series. You could expect the BMW to cost maybe €10k/€20k more, but for that you got a nicer interior, better driving dynamics and (most importantly for me) more power under the bonnet. That was well worth the extra price of admission for many.

But now as we move to EV's, those last two points have eroded, and yet the price gap for the premium brands has..... widened? For some reason? It now makes far less sense to a lot of people, and it's no doubt causing past BMW/Audi/Merc/etc. buyers to jump ship, myself included.

The Tesla Model Y isn't a cheap car at €50/€60k (now less then that actually), people with that kind of budget were very likely past BMW/Audi/Merc buyers, yet those brands don't seem to be really reacting to the fact their past customers are moving away in droves. That's not speculation, it's already happening.

I disagree there's no way I'd buy in Q1 2024 that's too soon to see impact of market - I'd wait until Q4 at the earliest.

I'm fully EV converted but I saw an arteon in frank Keane last week and it was the nicest car in the showroom by an absolute mile. Even pictures of id7 don't look as well but I'll wait to see one up close

Conlan’s in Limerick?

They are about the worst on price every time I found. Every car I’ve priced with them in the last few years has been miles away in price from other BMW dealers.

Think they have a big enough local clientele that buy without shopping around to sustain them.

Did you make big savings going north or just better selection?

what did you buy?

That’s an impressive list of cars Madness. M340i touring is a car I would have loved to buy but the lure of electric performance got me.

1000km a week in m2 competition would be costly on fuel no doubt.

What was the M340i like @maddness ? It's a car that would make me potentially switch from my Mk 7.5 Golf GTI PP because (a) I would like to own a V6 before everything practically becomes electric, and (b) the family has expanded and the extra space would be good.