[kirr89]

So I love my 2019 330i so far, but I was already thinking what to do when I need to turn in the car in a little over a year from now. I don't think I'm gonna take them up on the option to purchase it mainly because of the engine performance. Don't get me wrong, it's very good but I would like a little more.

I was thinking, what if it's possible to buy someone else's lease when their lease is up? Ideally maybe the M340i or a 5 series mainly because of the extra room. Do you think they would be into that or do dealerships usually just send their lease cars off to the auction? On one hand I thought lease cars might be abused, mainly because I asked my sales guy if I need to follow the slow speed rule until I hit 500 or 1,000 miles first and he told me to "rip it" out of the dealership lol. I had never leased a car so I asked just to be safe lol. If it is an option, would they offer an extended warranty I could purchase?

Thanks

[Graaf_Autowerks]

I don't believe it's up to the dealer since the vehicle is owned by BMW Financial, and my understanding is most of these end of lease cars go to auction.

The only exception to the rule would be your lease has a higher value than the estimated residual at lease maturity. In that case people have purchased at the reduced rate, generally to trade in for a higher return towards their next car. In general this is very rare, because most lease deals rely on inflated residuals which almost always are higher than actual car value at lease maturity.

[kirr89]

That's weird. I would assume they would like a faster/guaranteed sale of the car. At auction there's no guarantee it'll meet the reserve price. Might just end up going back to the dealer. I've seen it happen too many times. The dealer wants a reserve price to be met and it never gets met. Obviously not always but last time I was there, it was a lot. On another note, if you get a car from auction, and the warranty still exists or has finished, can you get an extended warranty from bmw themselves? Like a 3 or 5 year warranty?

[TurtleBoy]

My understanding is that a large majority of lease returns are sold through the dealer network. Just look at a dealer's web site and you will probably see a good quantity of used/certified vehicles.

[enginediver]

The dealership is gonna mark it up right away. You could always get a lease that has 6 months left (the latest BMW will allow the transfer) then buy that one once its up.

[kirr89]

Originally Posted by enginediver

The dealership is gonna mark it up right away. You could always get a lease that has 6 months left (the latest BMW will allow the transfer) then buy that one once its up.

So a vehicle with 6 months remaining from another owner is possible to buy rather than a lease vehicle that has finished the lease?

[enginediver]

You can buy the lease at any point. You're gonna have to do a little homework and see if the numbers make sense to you. I had a little spreadsheet when I got my F80. I had like 20 cars from https://www.swapalease.com.

(monthly payments x Months remaining) + residual= tot value
Lease total

You can compare those with comparable cars on the internet.
It was easier for me to visually see the actual price of the cars vs just seeing the monthly payment.

[kirr89]

Oh I just re-read what you wrote. So if I have 6 months left on my current lease, I can request to transfer the lease on another existing leased vehicle? Or did I read that wrong

[enginediver]

Sorry...I'm the worst explainer.

Leases can't be transferred (to another person) within 6 months of the end. So you can't transfer yours to someone and vice versa. However...lets say you find a lease that makes a lot of sense to you and the current owner still has 6 months +....they can transfer it to you (for $500) and then you can buy it at any point then on.

[kirr89]

Originally Posted by enginediver

Sorry...I'm the worst explainer.

Leases can't be transferred (to another person) within 6 months of the end. So you can't transfer yours to someone and vice versa. However...lets say you find a lease that makes a lot of sense to you and the current owner still has 6 months +....they can transfer it to you (for $500) and then you can buy it at any point then on.

Lol you're good. I do it plenty.

Nice. So maybe I could ask the sales guy to check if anyone is in that position and willing to. Also, I gotta check but I think to break my lease was about $2500. I think the 6 month point for my lease would be a year from now. I guess I would have to weigh the costs and see what makes sense

[stein_325i]

A 5-series may be mid-sized, but look at the interior dimensions and sit in the two of them and they are actually incredibly close in size, only benefits to the 5-series are more shoulder room and luxurious materials. Legroom between the two is incredibly similar, so is trunk space. And trust me, the 5-series is incredibly boring to drive, especially coming from a 3-series, I had a fully loaded 540i that I hated, you'll want an M340i if you want a fun, roomy and fast family sedan.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by kirr89

Lol you're good. I do it plenty.

Nice. So maybe I could ask the sales guy to check if anyone is in that position and willing to. Also, I gotta check but I think to break my lease was about $2500. I think the 6 month point for my lease would be a year from now. I guess I would have to weigh the costs and see what makes sense

There is no penalty for buying out your lease if that is what you want to do. It seems like things got off track with ending leases, assuming leases, etc. You can just buy out yours at any time and there will be no dealer markup. If you like your vehicle and want to keep it, just get a quote for the buyout. Since you don't want to do that with yours, wait until yours is just about over to see if you can assume someone else's lease and then buy that one out before it ends.

[kirr89]

Originally Posted by stein_325i

A 5-series may be mid-sized, but look at the interior dimensions and sit in the two of them and they are actually incredibly close in size, only benefits to the 5-series are more shoulder room and luxurious materials. Legroom between the two is incredibly similar, so is trunk space. And trust me, the 5-series is incredibly boring to drive, especially coming from a 3-series, I had a fully loaded 540i that I hated, you'll want an M340i if you want a fun, roomy and fast family sedan.

Yeah I definitely like the 3 series. Although I definitely think the 5 would be a little too squishy in terms of suspension. Or does the 540 come with adjustable? And if I go for the 5, it would be the 2021 onwards with the new body design. If I didn't go for the 3 series, it would be if the 340 didn't come with fatter tires stock. Just not in the mood to spend more. Because my 330i comes with 225 tires and I hate them. In the setup they are, good sporty tires are almost impossible to find.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by kirr89

Yeah I definitely like the 3 series. Although I definitely think the 5 would be a little too squishy in terms of suspension. Or does the 540 come with adjustable? And if I go for the 5, it would be the 2021 onwards with the new body design. If I didn't go for the 3 series, it would be if the 340 didn't come with fatter tires stock. Just not in the mood to spend more. Because my 330i comes with 225 tires and I hate them. In the setup they are, good sporty tires are almost impossible to find.

5-series is incredibly floaty, although depending on options and wheel size can ride rougher than expected as some members have noted on the forum, either way, its a very disappointing BMW, I only owned it because I inherited it, but after someone totaled it, I was glad to be rid of it, even tested an M550i and felt bored driving it. I would advise you stay with the 3er if you value driving dynamics. The new LCI doesn't change any of the boringness of the 5er in my opinion. Not too sure about the tire specs on the G20 3er, however I'm sure they can be swapped for a more popular and widely available set, or at least optioned with one if you were to get a new 3-series.

Pretty much this C/D article sums up my experience with the 540i. 2017 BMW 540i Tested: Just Not That into You

[NYC_340i]

Regardless of if it's a lease or not when you buy a used car you always run that risk of not really being able to tell how a car was tried by its previous owner(s).

Even though I lease all my cars, I still take care of them as if I will keep them for my own. I follow the break-in procedure, garage the car, hand wash it myself regularly, detail it myself twice or more a year, always use 93 octane fuel from top tier gas stations, do scheduled maintenance on time, etc...

Other cases you might come across a car that was floored out the dealer lot, machine washed, wrong fuel used and all that and it would look all nice and clean on the dealer lot without any real noticeable trace of its past.

I checked on my prior '16 340i after I turned in the lease by Googling the VIN and it ended up being transferred out of state and was listed at a dealer as a CPO pre-owned car with a asking price of around the same as what my buyout was.

[TruthOne]

Yeah I'd be scared to buy somebody else's lease not really knowing how it was taken care of but that's the risk with all used cars. Buying out your own lease is costly unless you're one of the rare few that has a car worth more than the residual. Even then unless you're paying cash you're taking out another loan for 48-60 months etc essentially having a 7-8 year car loan

[Merami fan]

Originally Posted by stein_325i

5-series is incredibly floaty, although depending on options and wheel size can ride rougher than expected as some members have noted on the forum, either way, its a very disappointing BMW, I only owned it because I inherited it, but after someone totaled it, I was glad to be rid of it, even tested an M550i and felt bored driving it. I would advise you stay with the 3er if you value driving dynamics. The new LCI doesn't change any of the boringness of the 5er in my opinion. Not too sure about the tire specs on the G20 3er, however I'm sure they can be swapped for a more popular and widely available set, or at least optioned with one if you were to get a new 3-series.

Pretty much this C/D article sums up my experience with the 540i. 2017 BMW 540i Tested: Just Not That into You

I had an LCI loaner 530i and it was floaty and boring indeed. Not a huge difference in ride quality or tire noise, even! Part of the blame there goes to the runflats, though.

[kirr89]

Yeah I agree and can definitely see the 5 series being "soft". I assume its more targeted towards older people, business people, family sedan, etc...

And it's why I honestly love my 330i. It's just so direct when turning and cornering. Tires aside, it's a fun car. I get excited everytime I get in it.

[EXE46]

Originally Posted by stein_325i

5-series is incredibly floaty, although depending on options and wheel size can ride rougher than expected as some members have noted on the forum, either way, its a very disappointing BMW, I only owned it because I inherited it, but after someone totaled it, I was glad to be rid of it, even tested an M550i and felt bored driving it. I would advise you stay with the 3er if you value driving dynamics. The new LCI doesn't change any of the boringness of the 5er in my opinion. Not too sure about the tire specs on the G20 3er, however I'm sure they can be swapped for a more popular and widely available set, or at least optioned with one if you were to get a new 3-series.

Pretty much this C/D article sums up my experience with the 540i. 2017 BMW 540i Tested: Just Not That into You

A real shame, 5'er was a very good driver's car but then I haven't had the misfortune to drive one since the E60. The most disappointing car I have driven recently was a Nissan Altima rental last year and a Lexus ES350 as well. The Lexus was by far the worst driving experience even worst than the Altima.

The ES350 felt like a car 3 times its size on the highway. Just large and floaty, I cursed the few days I had to drive it and ended up taking the Spouse's RX350 since it was a far more pleasant drive. I Wonder if the new 5'er is worse than the ES350 lol, not that I want to run that experiment myself....

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by EXE46

A real shame, 5'er was a very good driver's car but then I haven't had the misfortune to drive one since the E60. The most disappointing car I have driven recently was a Nissan Altima rental last year and a Lexus ES350 as well. The Lexus was by far the worst driving experience even worst than the Altima.

The ES350 felt like a car 3 times its size on the highway. Just large and floaty, I cursed the few days I had to drive it and ended up taking the Spouse's RX350 since it was a far more pleasant drive. I Wonder if the new 5'er is worse than the ES350 lol, not that I want to run that experiment myself....

The 5-series drives better than the Lexus of course, however with the Lexus, its expected to be boring and succeeds at its intended mission. The 5-series though should not drive the way it does, its very Buick like in its handling, and embarrassment to its heritage, same for the F10. Even the outdated Lexus GS and Infiniti M (rebadged Q-whatever) drove better than both the F10 and G30. You know your handling is bad, when Mercedes of all people, the car brand synonymous with retirees and old men, can make a more convincing driver's car. I saw that an E43 won a comparison test in C/D with the 5er placing fourth and didn't believe the hype, so I test drove an E53 and CLS 53 (they replaced the E43) after driving at an M550 and was shocked to see how different the cars were.

I would love it if the 5-series handled similarly to the M340i, that plus the mix of excellent materials would be awesome, but instead of handling like a slightly bigger 3-series, like how things use to be, it handles like the barge that is the 7-series. My father refuses to sell his E60, no matter how broken it is

[VetteGuy]

Back to the OPs question... I personally would almost never buy an off-lease performance car, and never without seeing the carfax report and maintenance records. I wouldn’t want to buy a car that some idiot flogged without care just because he knew he was dumping it in 24 months for his next new toy.

The exception would be if I knew the original leasee and how he treated the car and could buyout his lease.

[PK2348]

Originally Posted by kirr89

So I love my 2019 330i so far, but I was already thinking what to do when I need to turn in the car in a little over a year from now. I don't think I'm gonna take them up on the option to purchase it mainly because of the engine performance. Don't get me wrong, it's very good but I would like a little more.

I was thinking, what if it's possible to buy someone else's lease when their lease is up? Ideally maybe the M340i or a 5 series mainly because of the extra room. Do you think they would be into that or do dealerships usually just send their lease cars off to the auction? On one hand I thought lease cars might be abused, mainly because I asked my sales guy if I need to follow the slow speed rule until I hit 500 or 1,000 miles first and he told me to "rip it" out of the dealership lol. I had never leased a car so I asked just to be safe lol. If it is an option, would they offer an extended warranty I could purchase?

Thanks

Lease a new m340 when your current lease is up and buy it out in 3 years, if you still think its a good idea at that time, at least you know how the car was used. Let's say during your lease you have an accident, that will probably sway you towards not buying it.