[OUGrad05]

Test drove the i4 M50 today. Pretty impressive car, great build quality. I'm pretty interested in the eDrive40, good range, I'm sure the power is adequate.
Our dealer here is wanting to charge a markup, I'm not going to do that. Have any of you had any luck purchasing from a dealer without a market?
What are order times like at this point? I'm willing to get inline if needed but am also not super picky on color so I think I might be able to pick one out of dealer stock?

For those who own the car how are you enjoying it?
Anything you wish you knew going in? or anything that would give you pause?

[BimmerBahn]

My advice, depending on where you’re located, if within driving distance to Greenville, SC - widen your dealer search nationwide, then when you find one who will do MSRP, because finding one at below MSRP will be a unicorn… take delivery at the Performance Center. It’s free, you just have to get there… they’l pick you up from the airport… give you a nights stay at the Marriott, with dinner and breakfast… then a full day at BMW, on their closed course driving their cars, then you take delivery and you’re on your way home.

Also, you’re looking at probably 9-12 mos wait with current supply chain issues. The cars you’ll find on the lot will be the dealer demos or a customer cancellation, which if a demo will be pretty stripped.

My $0.04 (sorry, inflation).

Cheers!

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by BimmerBahn

My advice, depending on where you’re located, if within driving distance to Greenville, SC - widen your dealer search nationwide, then when you find one who will do MSRP, because finding one at below MSRP will be a unicorn… take delivery at the Performance Center. It’s free, you just have to get there… they’l pick you up from the airport… give you a nights stay at the Marriott, with dinner and breakfast… then a full day at BMW, on their closed course driving their cars, then you take delivery and you’re on your way home.

Also, you’re looking at probably 9-12 mos wait with current supply chain issues. The cars you’ll find on the lot will be the dealer demos or a customer cancellation, which if a demo will be pretty stripped.

My $0.04 (sorry, inflation).

Cheers!

Geez 9-12 months is the pits.
SC sounds like misery driving back across the country and stopping to charge every 250 miles. I'm not sure the charger network is that good yet?

[jeffc42]

Originally Posted by OUGrad05

Geez 9-12 months is the pits.
SC sounds like misery driving back across the country and stopping to charge every 250 miles. I'm not sure the charger network is that good yet?

Depends where you live, which we do not know. And it's more like every 100 to 150 miles, for reasons, so it doesn't sound like an option for you. But, yeah, you'll have to wait a year, more or less, so get in line now. At least you'd be able to spec it exactly the way you want.

I'm getting MSRP, as are many other people here. It's completely possible, though how hard it is depends on where you live.

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by jeffc42

Depends where you live, which we do not know. And it's more like every 100 to 150 miles, for reasons, so it doesn't sound like an option for you. But, yeah, you'll have to wait a year, more or less, so get in line now. At least you'd be able to spec it exactly the way you want.

I'm getting MSRP, as are many other people here. It's completely possible, though how hard it is depends on where you live.

Why would you stop and charge every 100 miles? that seems excessive...I live in Oklahoma.

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by OUGrad05

Geez 9-12 months is the pits.
SC sounds like misery driving back across the country and stopping to charge every 250 miles. I'm not sure the charger network is that good yet?

Yeah, taking delivery in SC if you live on the other side of the country doesn't work, even for ICE cars.

As far as the wait. BMW has been taking pre-orders and orders since June of last year. There is a huge backlog because North America production didn't start until about March. So lots to catch up on.

I have a early pre-order from June 1 and my car is not in production yet.

There is a about a 6 months wait on everything that is EV and high demand. If you need/want a car today then the i4 probably isn't for you.

You might be able to find a demo model if you aren't picky. They mostly don't have great options. If you are willing to wait, I suggest ordering and getting the car you want.

Good luck.

[jeffc42]

Originally Posted by OUGrad05

Why would you stop and charge every 100 miles? that seems excessive...I live in Oklahoma.

Well, here are "the reasons"

First, you can't charge up to 100%. Well, you can, but the charging rate goes down at the battery fills up. It'll take as long to go from 80% to 100% as it does to go from 0% to 80%. The 200KW peak charging rate only happens down around 10% state of charge.

So 20% of your theoretical range doesn't really exist. And how close to 0% do you want to go? EA chargers may be a 100 miles apart in some areas. Here's the map showing charger locations: https://www.electrifyamerica.com/locate-charger/ The car's navigation system will have this built-in, effectively.

Note that charging the car just enough to get to the next charger will save you time, because you'll be maximizing the average charging rate.

If all this bothers you, an EV might not be right for you at this time.

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by techwhiz1

Yeah, taking delivery in SC if you live on the other side of the country doesn't work, even for ICE cars.

As far as the wait. BMW has been taking pre-orders and orders since June of last year. There is a huge backlog because North America production didn't start until about March. So lots to catch up on.

I have a early pre-order from June 1 and my car is not in production yet.

There is a about a 6 months wait on everything that is EV and high demand. If you need/want a car today then the i4 probably isn't for you.

You might be able to find a demo model if you aren't picky. They mostly don't have great options. If you are willing to wait, I suggest ordering and getting the car you want.

Good luck.

I can order if needed but waiting 12 months probably won't happen. 6 months is def doable. We waited 3 months for our Acura. I'll start making some calls this week to see what I can find. Maybe Costco can help me find a dealer that won't screw me.

[Cosmo_Kramer]

Be careful with dealers saying no markup. Get it in writing but depends on market who knows in 9-12 months dealer can change their mind. My local dealer is not known for adding markup but suddenly they started saying people that changed their mind the car will be sold with $10k markup. This means greedy dealer can say you have to pay markup too on your preordered cars. It’s win-win to them. If you walk out they will sell yours to another customer. A friend of mine who ordered Ford Mach E had to walked away from his preordered car. Dealer wanted $14k plus $6k in extended warranty purchase. $50k car suddenly a $70k EV. What a miserable time to buy a car especially EVs.

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by Cosmo_Kramer

Be careful with dealers saying no markup. Get it in writing but depends on market who knows in 9-12 months dealer can change their mind. My local dealer is not known for adding markup but suddenly they started saying people that changed their mind the car will be sold with $10k markup. This means greedy dealer can say you have to pay markup too on your preordered cars. It’s win-win to them. If you walk out they will sell yours to another customer. A friend of mine who ordered Ford Mach E had to walked away from his preordered car. Dealer wanted $14k plus $6k in extended warranty purchase. $50k car suddenly a $70k EV. What a miserable time to buy a car especially EVs.

Yeah that's why I want a refundable deposit.

Thankfully on our Acura the process was simple and painless but I did have to travel out of state. The folks here wanted 10k over sticker.

[BimmerBahn]

Originally Posted by OUGrad05

Geez 9-12 months is the pits.
SC sounds like misery driving back across the country and stopping to charge every 250 miles. I'm not sure the charger network is that good yet?

Not knowing where you’re at… go to ABRP and route… choose the BMW i4..either e40 or M50… it will give you an idea of the number of stops.

In my case, it’s ~5 stops between Greenville and Orlando…. And it was roughly the same in my Tesla when i made the same trip to BMW last month. Honestly, a stop every couple hours for ~10-15 min to stretch your legs, hit the head, grab a drink/snack worked well for me… at least with my Tesla, I never had to wait for it to finish charging… it was stop, plug in, do my stuff, walk back to the car and head out. It added ~60 min of time to my drive…. It’s not quite like a quick pit stop and fill up every 400 miles, but it’s not bad IMO.

Cheers!

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by BimmerBahn

Not knowing where you’re at… go to ABRP and route… choose the BMW i4..either e40 or M50… it will give you an idea of the number of stops.

In my case, it’s ~5 stops between Greenville and Orlando…. And it was roughly the same in my Tesla when i made the same trip to BMW last month. Honestly, a stop every couple hours for ~10-15 min to stretch your legs, hit the head, grab a drink/snack worked well for me… at least with my Tesla, I never had to wait for it to finish charging… it was stop, plug in, do my stuff, walk back to the car and head out. It added ~60 min of time to my drive…. It’s not quite like a quick pit stop and fill up every 400 miles, but it’s not bad IMO.

Cheers!

ABRP?

[BimmerBahn]

Originally Posted by OUGrad05

ABRP?

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

[Aalfred]

If i were you, ill use your costco auto and try and locate a dealer within your state and maybe even texas. Usually costco authorized dealers r pretty straight forward and dont try to screw you. If there isnt any costco dealers in your state, then pit ina. Zip code for a neighboring state that you can drive to. I thunk getting MSRP is doable. When you do, have them do a full purchase order including titles, taxes and fee and then sign the order. In that way the price of the car is fixed and they wont try to jack up the price when you finally get uour car which in this day and age, will be atleast 9-12 months if you are lucky. 6 months prob isnt going to happen. Although i did hear from my SA that BMW is churning out e40 more than m50. So just to be prepared, plan for a year and be surprised of you get it in 6 months.

[deutsch100]

Originally Posted by BimmerBahn

My advice, depending on where you’re located, if within driving distance to Greenville, SC - widen your dealer search nationwide, then when you find one who will do MSRP, because finding one at below MSRP will be a unicorn… take delivery at the Performance Center. It’s free, you just have to get there… they’l pick you up from the airport… give you a nights stay at the Marriott, with dinner and breakfast… then a full day at BMW, on their closed course driving their cars, then you take delivery and you’re on your way home.

Also, you’re looking at probably 9-12 mos wait with current supply chain issues. The cars you’ll find on the lot will be the dealer demos or a customer cancellation, which if a demo will be pretty stripped.

My $0.04 (sorry, inflation).

Cheers!

I know I keep saying this but NOT all demos will be "stripped". I bought a brand new, never driven dealer demo and my M50 is LOADED

[BimmerBahn]

Originally Posted by deutsch100

I know I keep saying this but NOT all demos will be "stripped". I bought a brand new, never driven dealer demo and my M50 is LOADED

I stand corrected

[awaitingbimmer]

I have been trying to test drive M50 but each time I email dealer they only have 40 version. I live in the SF Bay area peninsula area and don't feel like driving too far. I am not in any rush to get vehicle but know I will have to wait if I order. I want to make sure I enjoy the ride first.

[cruzer666]

Originally Posted by BimmerBahn

I stand corrected

I saw a dozen stripped M50 demos as well. deutsch100 found an unicorn, but the rule is exact spec stripped demo units (SoCal Market). Only thing that was different was color.

M50 demo specs:
- Premium package
- HUD
MSRP: $69,395

[Raille]

I know that at least the South Austin, TX dealer is expecting to not sell there demo M50 until October or so. I've also seen what looks like a lot of base e40's listed on cars.com coming from Grapevine, TX.

Like others have said, if you're willing to travel you might get lucky if you start searching, but I doubt you'll find any accurate quotes on how long it will take to order.

[techwhiz1]

Originally Posted by Consideringbimmer

I have been trying to test drive M50 but each time I email dealer they only have 40 version. I live in the SF Bay area peninsula area and don't feel like driving too far. I am not in any rush to get vehicle but know I will have to wait if I order. I want to make sure I enjoy the ride first.

Easy Bay in Pleasanton has M50 to test drive.

[awaitingbimmer]

Originally Posted by techwhiz1

Easy Bay in Pleasanton has M50 to test drive.

Ok I will email them

[Cosmo_Kramer]

Originally Posted by Consideringbimmer

Ok I will email them

Stevens Creek and Fremont both have M50. I’m pretty sure most dealers have them. I actually wanted to try 40 both dealers don’t have any.