BMW new car incentive

bazz26 wrote: »

There is a facelifted 5 Series due early next year so that might be a factor. BMW Ireland and their dealer network rarely give bargains.

I have also found BMW after sales particularly poor and generally incompetent (based on my interaction with 3 main UK BMW dealers). So much so that I would seriously consider not getting another.

Phileas Frog wrote: »

I've had the opposite experience, based on my experience with 2 Irish BMW main dealers.

I've had:

Dealer 1: Replaced the tyres on the wrong axle. Rear was at min legal depth and they replaced the front...on a rear wheel drive car. This was an approved BMW car with all its checks etc etc. I had assumed this was an oversight and a once off at the time and bought the car as I got 4 new tyres out of it however many others would not have spotted this.

Dealer 2. Scratched the car and disconnected the dash cam. Upon making a complaint they attempted to say the dash cam was causing electrical problems....this excuse evaporated when I told them that I didn't believe them considering I wired it in and I have a MSc in electrical eng. I eventually had to go the corporate route and it got addressed they had to rectify the paint work. I now state I dont want the car washed or cleaned by any dealer they work on throughout not on quality for a premium product.

Dealer 3: On the first MOT they tried write off a run flat tyre for a tack nail in the centre of the thread. It passed the MOT otherwise. Brought the car to a tyre place I trust...tack nail was 2-3mm and hadn't penetrated tyre. Tyre from BMW at the time was 180GBP. Tyre place was 5GBP.
8 months later the disk backing plate had corroded through the top mounting nut and dropped against the rim of the alloy (front off side). Heavy corrosion I may add not picked up in any checks by BMW. Car has full BMW service history, MOTs by BMW as well as the end of warranty carried out by BMW.

The latest was a month ago... MOT had the incorrect mileage on the Cert (6k more than what was on the car at the time of the test). Rang them up...they addressed it but I have two MOT certs for the same test with different mileages.

It's an absolute shambles to be honest. A lot are lease car/PCP and people just sign the form.

Phileas Frog wrote: »

Ah, you're one of those types.

Qualified?

Phileas Frog wrote: »

MScs must have changed in the 2 years I finished mine in. I don't recall being trained or qualified in dash cam installation. It was more like embedded systems and signal processing - all theoretical of course.

Perhaps your MSc wasnt that comprehensive?

My original background is in electronics funnily enough, I also have a copy of ISTA + (you know the BMW diagnostic to interrogate those embedded systems that the BMW techs use).

Effectively the dash cam is wired off the cigarette lighter circuit (switched supply) hence when the car goes dead it also goes dead (once the car powers its convenience systems down approx 8-10min and the capacitor discharges in the dash cam).

Excuse was bogus by said garage anyways and they stated that it was due to privacy in the workshop which i can somewhat understand. However the car should be handed back to the customer in the same condition it was given to the garage especially for a "premium brand" (aside from the repairs or course).

New car sales are slow so extra incentives required to get deals I’d say.
My own BMW dealer rang me first week in July to see if I was interested in a car change. Obviously working from a customer database but if they were busy with 192 sales they wouldn’t be calling existing customers for a chat.
The facelift 5 isn’t starting production until summer 2020 so doubt that’s a factor just a very slow market all round.
Your friend could probably buy a tiny mileage 6 month old 5 in the uk and save another good few grand.

I would say the Tesla Model 3 will be hurting them a bit also, almost 300 orders of these already and I can personally say that I'm choosing between the 2 and i think in terms of performance the Tesla is much better value for money and i don't think will not lose its value as quickly as new BMWs do either which is one of their biggest problems due to the price you can buy one in from the UK at.

I've all the 3.0l petrol BMWs saved in car zone and the 440i that was advertised just a week ago has already 3k off its price and down to 57k but you would get your pick of them in the UK in here cleared for under 50k so it's not surprising.

digiman wrote: »

I would say the Tesla Model 3 will be hurting them a bit also, almost 300 orders of these already and I can personally say that I'm choosing between the 2 and i think in terms of performance the Tesla is much better value for money and i don't think will not lose its value as quickly as new BMWs do either which is one of their biggest problems due to the price you can buy one in from the UK at.

I've all the 3.0l petrol BMWs saved in car zone and the 440i that was advertised just a week ago has already 3k off its price and down to 57k but you would get your pick of them in the UK in here cleared for under 50k so it's not surprising.

There’s a lot of uncertainty out there at the moment on top of the cheap sterling.
Diesel, Petrol, hybrid , full electric? It’s very hard to kno what way to go so I reckon lots of people are sitting on the fence waiting.

Chris Harris in this months top gear magazine writes about the model 3 after he reviewed it on the programme a few weeks back. He says it was one of the most interesting cars he’s driven but also one of the worst assembled he’s driven.
I can’t imagine too many BMW drivers putting up with that and also from what I’ve seen on the model 3 thread, customer service is not what could be called premium.

pale rider wrote: »

He has now traded in an older 520d for a new one, I think he's mad.....

Tesla has faired poorly in relability tests, yes, lots of uncertainty for new car buyers.

Would be interested to hear if Audi or Mercedes have incentives.

Looking at a merc, and can't even put an order in while they wait to figure out what WLTP changes mean.

pale rider wrote: »

I priced a new Mercedes E220 with metallic today with a main dealer, best cash price was €2500 off list making it around €54000, The 192 new 520D Se was bought for €47000, I'm no fan of BMW but thats compelling or is it ?

From the company I work for I notice that that most of the new company cars via lease are petrol now and not diesel as once was the case (the uk have introduced a new tax targeting diesels over the first 3 years of their life to make them less financial attractive.

I have driven the new merc c200 petrol which was a nice enough car and was quick (9 speed auto). The gear selector for the auto box was a stalk on the right side of the steering column (it's very similar to the wiper stalk and feels a bit cheap).

I've also had a go of an Audi A4 2.0 petrol estate for a few days and it was nice DSG auto box with the upgraded MMI and LCD dash...but when I had the satnav on the LCD dash the system crashed twice on short journeys.

One of the lads at work has a 190bhp GT spec VW Passat 2.0 diesel estate DSG ..it was one of the few cars which had it's new emissions test earlier on in the year and I think for price/value it beat the audi and merc.

pale rider wrote: »

I priced a new Mercedes E220 with metallic today with a main dealer, best cash price was €2500 off list making it around €54000, The 192 new 520D Se was bought for €47000, I'm no fan of BMW but thats compelling or is it ?

Is the Merc amg line or basic? I think m sport spec would be the equivalent of amg line so a few grand more than se.
You can buy a one year old e220 for much less than 40k here now which makes more sense to me.

carsfan2 wrote: »

What model?
I thought they had all that sorted, they have price lists up on their web site anyway?

Without giving too much away, was one of the top models with options, and as delivery wouldn't be till next year, they can't put in the order yet till they understand the price changes (even vs. what they currently have in their brochure).

pale rider wrote: »

BMW Dealer speculates it could add €4K to new cost...

Don’t understand?
WLTP will add 4K to cost of a 520d next year?!