[adam2433]

After much research and debate I am finalizing the specs on a m340i order. Admittedly I had 2 BMW's before but sooo many problems with my E60 5 series I swore off the brand.

I cross shopped the MB C43 AMG as my girlfriend had one and will be ordering another but it is at the end of the cycle and with the uncertainty of the MY2022 (and waiting that long) I have all but ruled it out.

Anyway, I am torn between BSM/Black w blue stitching or a Dravit/Cognac. There is a BSM that meets my specs I found online but no Dravit's. Am I able to place an order or is it too late and need to wait til whenever MY2021 starts?

If anyone has thoughts my indecision is between totally murdering out a BSM or Dravit/Cognac with black wheels, grille, lip, diffuser, spoiler.

I dont want to be boy racer or obnoxious in the all black. But I am not sure how the dravit+cognac fits with black wheels/grille/etc. I mean you shouldn't wear black pants and brown shoes lol. Or is this different? Cognac is super classy and Ive had nothing but black interiors. I guess I am just concerned about wanting a subtlety aggressive classy but sexy car vs obnoxious, over the top, I'm a jerk get out of the way, aggressive if that makes sense lol.

Thanks!

[Burrcold]

My vote would be Dravit/Cognac.

[TorontoGambler]

Lots of pictures in the photo section of blacked out Dravit with Cognac, which is exactly what I have. I was also concerned about boy racer lol... but every time I see my car I smile, so no regrets.

[mf44]

To answer your question in the topic title, you cannot order a 2020 anymore. 2021 will begin production in July, though I understand there is a bit of a backlog. I am not sure, however, if dealers have actually been given their allocations for '21 M340s yet, as most of my contacts tell me it's too early to actually order. And by order, I mean actually place one with BMW, with an allocation. Every dealer will 'take your order' but that doesn't mean they have an allocation locked in for you.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by TorontoGambler

Lots of pictures in the photo section of blacked out Dravit with Cognac, which is exactly what I have. I was also concerned about boy racer lol... but every time I see my car I smile, so no regrets.

Nice! You went to see David at Elite! I saw your car and was wondering if it was someone on here!

[TorontoGambler]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Nice! You went to see David at Elite! I saw your car and was wondering if it was someone on here!

I sure did, great guy, thanks for referring him. The car sparkles, literally!

[adam2433]

Thanks for all the thoughts. Two things...

1) I am going to see a Dravit with black/blue contrasts interior tomorrow. Not optioned how I would want but will be able to get a good look at the color.

2) I emailed the dealer closest to me and whom I went through for my E60 and the CA said she "had to check with her manager" about 2021 builds. I dont know if she gave my name but she named dropped his... it's a guy I played high school baseball with. She said to come in and see them and they can get me build for when production starts in July. I haven't seen him in years but I trust that info a bit more than a random CA/manager.

Side note, if I have a good connect for the purchase, what's a fair discount off MSRP (or price above invoice, however you guys like to refer to it). Im looking at Edmunds and it seems paltry at 3.5-4% off MSRP and still $2k or so above invoice. I feel like given COVID they can do better, hopefully especially from an old friend.

Thanks again for all the thoughts. I will report back when I see the Dravit in person.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by TorontoGambler

I sure did, great guy, thanks for referring him. The car sparkles, literally!

Glad to hear!! He is a great guy.

[TorontoGambler]

Originally Posted by adam2433

Thanks for all the thoughts. Two things...

1) I am going to see a Dravit with black/blue contrasts interior tomorrow. Not optioned how I would want but will be able to get a good look at the color.

2) I emailed the dealer closest to me and whom I went through for my E60 and the CA said she "had to check with her manager" about 2021 builds. I dont know if she gave my name but she named dropped his... it's a guy I played high school baseball with. She said to come in and see them and they can get me build for when production starts in July. I haven't seen him in years but I trust that info a bit more than a random CA/manager.

Side note, if I have a good connect for the purchase, what's a fair discount off MSRP (or price above invoice, however you guys like to refer to it). Im looking at Edmunds and it seems paltry at 3.5-4% off MSRP and still $2k or so above invoice. I feel like given COVID they can do better, hopefully especially from an old friend.

Thanks again for all the thoughts. I will report back when I see the Dravit in person.

Look through the posts, it’s different for every market but in the US it seems the target is 10% off of msrp before incentives, some a bit better, some a bit worse. If you end up buying off the lot you shouldn’t do worse than 10% off + incentives.

[mf44]

Originally Posted by adam2433

Side note, if I have a good connect for the purchase, what's a fair discount off MSRP (or price above invoice, however you guys like to refer to it). Im looking at Edmunds and it seems paltry at 3.5-4% off MSRP and still $2k or so above invoice. I feel like given COVID they can do better, hopefully especially from an old friend.

COVID has not had the effect on car sales that most people expected. If anything, discounts are now worse (and in many cases, appreciably worse) than pre-COVID.

Why? A number of factors, but mostly a severely constrained supply. Production at all major auto makers was essentially cut off for 2 months or more, leaving dealers with no inventory. Add in a stimulus check and a $600/wk unemployment "bonus" and you have some buyers with a bit more cash in pocket. And, another big soft factor: people are taking road trips much more these days and many folks are looking for new cars. Finally, you have a ton of buyers who are in the market because they believe it to be a buyer's market, when it isn't. They get emotionally attached to car and buy it, regardless of the fact that the discount isn't great. In sum, you have (believe it or not, at least in some areas) increased demand and, all over the country/world, dramatically decreased supply. This equals higher prices or less discounts.

Dealer used to cut deals below invoice to make it up on the back end with volume bonuses. There is no way to make volume bonuses with no inventory, so dealers are back to looking for max profit per car.

For example, at the beginning of the year you could find (and even order!) a M340i for 12% off, PRE-incentives. Now most dealers are holding on to what little inventory they have. Of the most recent quotes I've gotten, the most aggressive now are generally in the 7-8% discount range.

If you can wait until late summer to purchase, or maybe even fall, when inventory levels are a bit closer to normal, I expect you will get a better discount than buying or ordering right now.

[adam2433]

Interesting. My area an hour northwest of Philadelphia has seen steep discounts. My friends that bought new trucks were getting 10-12% off plus 0% financing. MB has 0% and I think Porsche might as well. C43’s were similar around 10% off (some even advertised that low) but yes supply is low.

When you say supply volumes are normal later in summer wouldn’t that be when 2021’s hit the lots? There are very few m340s that meet what I want now (same when I spec’d and looked at C43’s). I’m sure whatever 20’s are on lots when 21’s come in will get good discounts. But if I can’t get what I want wouldn’t the 21’s be a little more? I am surprised to hear people were getting 8-10% off on builds!

[TorontoGambler]

Different market but in the Toronto area where there are limited M340l’s my offers were 5-6% off. In Montreal and Vancouver where they have more M340i’s than demand I was getting offers 8%+. I say do your homework, find a dealership that has plenty of stock and I’m betting you get a good deal.

[mf44]

Originally Posted by adam2433

Interesting. My area an hour northwest of Philadelphia has seen steep discounts. My friends that bought new trucks were getting 10-12% off plus 0% financing. MB has 0% and I think Porsche might as well. C43’s were similar around 10% off (some even advertised that low) but yes supply is low.

0% financing makes sense; money is cheap right now. But those are manufacturer incentives, not dealer discounts. I'd venture to say those dealer discounts were at the early stages of the shut down, and included a lot of manufacturer incentives. Furthermore, a lot of dealers didn't see the increase demand/decrease supply and priced their inventory the wrong way, expecting a '08-'09 like market. But now, with no way to replenish inventory, they need to maximize profit per unit. Used cars, too, are increasingly hard to come by on the wholesale market. I'd also venture that the C43 was 10% off including incentives, especially if that was an advertised priced, which isn't a terrible deal, but also one that could easily have been obtained 6 months ago, pre-COVID.

Originally Posted by adam2433

When you say supply volumes are normal later in summer wouldn’t that be when 2021’s hit the lots? There are very few m340s that meet what I want now (same when I spec’d and looked at C43’s). I’m sure whatever 20’s are on lots when 21’s come in will get good discounts. But if I can’t get what I want wouldn’t the 21’s be a little more? I am surprised to hear people were getting 8-10% off on builds!

Yes, supply levels will begin to return with '21 models for sure. The question is, how soon will they be sufficiently replenished? Maybe it'll be late summer, maybe it'll be fall, maybe it'll be Q1 2021. I've read that BMW has something like a 14,000 unit backlog at its German factories. That's a lot of cars! Until that backlog clears, you won't see the same discounts we saw 6 months ago.

While the '20s might be discounted more when the '21s hit the lot in late July/early August, I think there will be few '20s left by then(there are already fewer than 300 available in the entire country, looking at some of big car listing sites, which are pretty low numbers), and what's left will be odd color/option combinations that no one else wanted. Or they will be leftover because the dealer doesn't want to discount, which also doesn't help you.

Regarding ordering, all I can say is, pre-COVID, I had several dealers tell me a M340i custom order is 11% off pre-incentive, 'all day long.' Those times are gone, at least for the time being. When will they return? Who knows. It's also a matter of how long you can wait; do you have a lease coming due and you need a new car? Are you selling/trading in and can afford to wait? Those, too, will dictate when you move on a new car.

Anyways, drop me a PM if you have any more specific questions.

[DG20]

My vote is for dravit/cognac I was able to get 10% off before incentives for a custom build!

[adam2433]

Originally Posted by mf44

0% financing makes sense; money is cheap right now. But those are manufacturer incentives, not dealer discounts. I'd venture to say those dealer discounts were at the early stages of the shut down, and included a lot of manufacturer incentives. Furthermore, a lot of dealers didn't see the increase demand/decrease supply and priced their inventory the wrong way, expecting a '08-'09 like market. But now, with no way to replenish inventory, they need to maximize profit per unit. Used cars, too, are increasingly hard to come by on the wholesale market. I'd also venture that the C43 was 10% off including incentives, especially if that was an advertised priced, which isn't a terrible deal, but also one that could easily have been obtained 6 months ago, pre-COVID.



Yes, supply levels will begin to return with '21 models for sure. The question is, how soon will they be sufficiently replenished? Maybe it'll be late summer, maybe it'll be fall, maybe it'll be Q1 2021. I've read that BMW has something like a 14,000 unit backlog at its German factories. That's a lot of cars! Until that backlog clears, you won't see the same discounts we saw 6 months ago.

While the '20s might be discounted more when the '21s hit the lot in late July/early August, I think there will be few '20s left by then(there are already fewer than 300 available in the entire country, looking at some of big car listing sites, which are pretty low numbers), and what's left will be odd color/option combinations that no one else wanted. Or they will be leftover because the dealer doesn't want to discount, which also doesn't help you.

Regarding ordering, all I can say is, pre-COVID, I had several dealers tell me a M340i custom order is 11% off pre-incentive, 'all day long.' Those times are gone, at least for the time being. When will they return? Who knows. It's also a matter of how long you can wait; do you have a lease coming due and you need a new car? Are you selling/trading in and can afford to wait? Those, too, will dictate when you move on a new car.

Anyways, drop me a PM if you have any more specific questions.

Very interesting insight. What you say does makes sense. I appreciate it!