Why BMW Dealers so greedy?

[JimBmwi3s]

I've been wanting to buy an i3s recent model 20-21 for a bit now. In the US, my concern is for instance how knowledgable are mechanics these days on these expired cars, an 2nd, if dealers are charging $500 to replace a $100 12 volt battery, what crazy charges when it's something more substantial ? I try to do work myself ... just wondering if this car is one unending headache because dealers are greedy.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

I, too, am searching for a 2020- to 2021- i3s BEV with the options I want. It has been a bit of a hard slog. Three times, I have been late with the call to the BMW dealer that has had one come off a 3- or 4-year lease. I just keep refreshing the search pages at BMW used cars and a few other used car sites. several times, it will come down to luck, I guess. One further problem is that I am in Maine. I keep seeing cars in southern California and elsewhere on the West Coast, so I have to add in the fee for an independent inspection as well as transportation costs that I have been told to guestimate at about a dollar a mile.
also, most have the Deka Dark Cloth interior such as this one
https://www.bmwusa.com/certified-preowned-search/detail/WBY8P6C06M7J07224
I can be happy with either the Giga or Tera interiors and unless I am very lucky I will have to take what the Gods provide for the exterior color and plan to either paint or wrap the result unless I get lucky and the one I end up with is a 2020 in red or a 2021 in gold.

I have yet to find a way to find an independent person to inspect a car when I do locate a car. Once I find one, in the area where I find a car I want, the inspector would have to be acceptable to the dealer selling the car. The selling dealer would need to be happy with a credit card binder of a few hundred bucks while the inspection takes place.

 

[JimBmwi3s]

I, too, am searching for a 2020- to 2021- i3s BEV with the options I want. It has been a bit of a hard slog. Three times, I have been late with the call to the BMW dealer that has had one come off a 3- or 4-year lease. I just keep refreshing the search pages at BMW used cars and a few other used car sites. several times, it will come down to luck, I guess. One further problem is that I am in Maine. I keep seeing cars in southern California and elsewhere on the West Coast, so I have to add in the fee for an independent inspection as well as transportation costs that I have been told to guestimate at about a dollar a mile.
also, most have the Deka Dark Cloth interior such as this one
https://www.bmwusa.com/certified-preowned-search/detail/WBY8P6C06M7J07224
I can be happy with either the Giga or Tera interiors and unless I am very lucky I will have to take what the Gods provide for the exterior color and plan to either paint or wrap the result unless I get lucky and the one I end up with is a 2020 in red or a 2021 in gold.

I have yet to find a way to find an independent person to inspect a car when I do locate a car. Once I find one, in the area where I find a car I want, the inspector would have to be acceptable to the dealer selling the car. The selling dealer would need to be happy with a credit card binder of a few hundred bucks while the inspection takes place.

I have been doing the same. This week there was a 2020 i3s red with 4000 miles on it in Ramsey NJ that was discounted from $28,000 to $19,900. I reached out and it was gone. There was another that went for $21,000 in Texas - a BEV Red i3s with 20k miles. Many dealers are too high and even the 2021 are running out of warranties.

 

[tongsli]

I, too, am searching for a 2020- to 2021- i3s BEV with the options I want. It has been a bit of a hard slog. Three times, I have been late with the call to the BMW dealer that has had one come off a 3- or 4-year lease. I just keep refreshing the search pages at BMW used cars and a few other used car sites. several times, it will come down to luck, I guess. One further problem is that I am in Maine. I keep seeing cars in southern California and elsewhere on the West Coast, so I have to add in the fee for an independent inspection as well as transportation costs that I have been told to guestimate at about a dollar a mile.
also, most have the Deka Dark Cloth interior such as this one
https://www.bmwusa.com/certified-preowned-search/detail/WBY8P6C06M7J07224
I can be happy with either the Giga or Tera interiors and unless I am very lucky I will have to take what the Gods provide for the exterior color and plan to either paint or wrap the result unless I get lucky and the one I end up with is a 2020 in red or a 2021 in gold.

I have yet to find a way to find an independent person to inspect a car when I do locate a car. Once I find one, in the area where I find a car I want, the inspector would have to be acceptable to the dealer selling the car. The selling dealer would need to be happy with a credit card binder of a few hundred bucks while the inspection takes place.

Hey! don't you dare buy my Galvanic Gold I3S. I love that car. But nothing. Folks who have one must be hanging on to them. Do you follow BMWBlog on YouTube?. He's got an I3S Galvanic Gold. You should message Chuck to see if he wants to sell it. See video below



BMW, Carvana, Cars.com, and CarMax are always good for searching. Good luck in finding something. It's a good time to buy, prices have fallen significantly from a year ago when I purchased mine.

 

[urbanextant]

Hey! don't you dare buy my Galvanic Gold I3S. I love that car. But nothing. Folks who have one must be hanging on to them. Do you follow BMWBlog on YouTube?. He's got an I3S Galvanic Gold. You should message Chuck to see if he wants to sell it. See video below



BMW, Carvana, Cars.com, and CarMax are always good for searching. Good luck in finding something. It's a good time to buy, prices have fallen significantly from a year ago when I purchased mine.

As for hanging on to the 2021 i3s, I'd say the answer is yes for many people. My husband, and I each ordered 2021 i3s with every option, even the blue seatbelts, etc., back in January 2021. Ours were produced a week before the chip shortage began having options removed from cars. We felt, and still do feel lucky, and grateful to have received exactly what we ordered. Our leases expired this month, and we kept both of the cars. Each has less than 10k miles on them, as everything is close where we live. There's nothing on the market that compares to our i3s, that we love. I suspect many last model year USA owners feel the same as we do, and are keeping theirs, as we did. The dealership has been trying to get us to sell them both our 2021 i3s for over a year now. They were really disappointed when I wouldn't accept their offer, and sell mine to them, for a great deal on a new XM Label Edition. They expected me to say yes, as my prior two cars to the i3s were an F85 X5M, and an M4 Competition. I told them if it were 100% electric, maybe. Then they offered the M version of the iX, but it is too minivan-like for my tastes. My husband says he'a driving his i3s until the wheels fall off, he loves it so much. Our BMW Client Advisor says the 2020, and 2021 i3s are in extreme demand, and he gets calls from people wanting one at least once a week, but they aren't seeing many on the auctions that are worth the dealership buying, to sell used.

 

[frictioncircle]

There's nothing on the market that compares to our i3s, that we love.

I'm in a similar position, traded from a 2014 i3 BEV to a 2021 i3s BEV. Lease term is up soon and all BMW NA has been offering is a deal on an i4 M50 – which has nothing in common with an i3!

BMW AG hit a narrow market segment when they released the i3 (and they acquired many new clients to the brand).

There's no comparable city car available that offers everything that my 2021 i3s does, so I'll purchase it and, I guess, drive it forever.

 

[mojo]

The dealership has been trying to get us to sell them both our 2021 i3s for over a year now

Sorry to add an unwanted dose of realism here, but this is not a buying exercise for them. They don't (sorry to have to say it) really want your cars. They want to sell you two new cars. It's a very well-known selling tactic.

 

[TheAirman]

As for hanging on to the 2021 i3s, I'd say the answer is yes for many people. My husband, and I each ordered 2021 i3s with every option, even the blue seatbelts, etc., back in January 2021. Ours were produced a week before the chip shortage began having options removed from cars. We felt, and still do feel lucky, and grateful to have received exactly what we ordered. Our leases expired this month, and we kept both of the cars. Each has less than 10k miles on them, as everything is close where we live. There's nothing on the market that compares to our i3s, that we love. I suspect many last model year USA owners feel the same as we do, and are keeping theirs, as we did. The dealership has been trying to get us to sell them both our 2021 i3s for over a year now. They were really disappointed when I wouldn't accept their offer, and sell mine to them, for a great deal on a new XM Label Edition. They expected me to say yes, as my prior two cars to the i3s were an F85 X5M, and an M4 Competition. I told them if it were 100% electric, maybe. Then they offered the M version of the iX, but it is too minivan-like for my tastes. My husband says he'a driving his i3s until the wheels fall off, he loves it so much. Our BMW Client Advisor says the 2020, and 2021 i3s are in extreme demand, and he gets calls from people wanting one at least once a week, but they aren't seeing many on the auctions that are worth the dealership buying, to sell used.

Have you joined the BMW CCA yet?

 

[urbanextant]

Sorry to add an unwanted dose of realism here, but this is not a buying exercise for them. They don't (sorry to have to say it) really want your cars. They want to sell you two new cars. It's a very well-known selling tactic.

I'm friends with the owners. I know how the process goes. We always pay invoice for our cars, not MSRP. They email me the order guides for each car I've ordered. It lists invoice cost, markup, and MSRP.

They want the cars from us, because they make more profit on used vehicles, than new ones. That's the real reason. It is, also, why this dealer no longer accepts Teslas as trade-ins. They were losing money on them, due to their rapidly diminishing value.

 

[urbanextant]

Have you joined the BMW CCA yet?

We were members for a few years. I received $1500 off the X5M, and I think something like $1000 off the M4. Really wasn't enough to stay members. The X5 M was $115,000, and the M4 Competition I did an Individual Manufaktur design. It took a year to design the car, and then six months for them to produce the car, with the custom paint color, and dye all the interior thread to match the custom exterior color. We had the entire interior covered in merino leather, with the contrasting stitching done in the exterior color, with carbon fiber inserts in the dash, and doors, with any silver bits painted and clear coated in the exterior color. All the custom bits came to around $47,000 added onto the invoice cost of the car. It was a fun project. I'd definitely do it again. Having a completely unique, one-off car is kind of neat.

I let our BMW CCA membership laps, a few years ago. We just weren't getting enough out of it. I've owned BMWs since I was 17, and I'm in my 40s now. The one time the CCA was worth it was when my husband, and I took delivery of the X5 M at the Spartanburg SC plant.

 

[urbanextant]

I'm in a similar position, traded from a 2014 i3 BEV to a 2021 i3s BEV. Lease term is up soon and all BMW NA has been offering is a deal on an i4 M50 – which has nothing in common with an i3!

BMW AG hit a narrow market segment when they released the i3 (and they acquired many new clients to the brand).

There's no comparable city car available that offers everything that my 2021 i3s does, so I'll purchase it and, I guess, drive it forever.

Our current i3s are our third, and fourth of this model. I bought my husband the first model year BEV as a Christmas present. He'd dreamed of an all electric car for so long. Every time we looked at a Tesla, we left disappointed. Poorly assembled, made of cheap, hard, creaky/squeaky plastics, uncomfortable interiors, and too much $$$ for what one receives. Cost wasn't an issue, it was them wanting too much money, for what was being delivered.

When my husband saw the i3 BEV with Tera Interior, he loved it, and it was a BMW, our preferred brand. I worked with the dealer owner's son, secretly, to get a white one for my spouse for Christmas. He LOVED it, despite some kinks that BMW needed to work out on that first model year. When the lease was up, he went to a small M Division car, hated it, we got rid of it early, for another i3, then we each ordered these two i3s, our third, and fourth of them.

It's a fantastic car, and so quirky, and unique. BMW was supposed to release a production model of the concept car The Circular, but the Pandemic hit, and it never happened. Google it, it would be awesome if they did, actually, make one! I'd totally buy one!!!

BMW is now on with the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X, and BMW Vision Neue Klasse. The SUV version seems 'ok," but it is no i3s. The Circular would be a pretty cool next rendition of an i3s, in my humble opinion!

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Even in a 3rd choice color (Grey in this case), this find

https://www.\/710-2com/certified-preowned-search/detail/WBY8P6C04M7H51355​

would be almost perfect, but when I add about $3,000 in transportation along with an unknown amount for an inspection by a third party (and I have no idea how one finds a trusted inspector with the needed electric car expertise). this one is almost up to $34,000.

If it was in gold, I would be tempted a bit, even at that price. I would rather be all in delivered to me in Maine at under $28,000 for a 2021 i3 sport with less than 30,000 miles.

I check the normal suspect pages( BMW, Carvana, Cars.com, CarMax, Carpro.com, autotrader.com, /3 or 4 times a week for possibilities that match what I am searching for.

Hey! don't you dare buy my Galvanic Gold I3S. I love that car. But nothing. Folks who have one must be hanging on to them. Do you follow BMWBlog on YouTube?. He's got an I3S Galvanic Gold. You should message Chuck to see if he wants to sell it. See video below



BMW, Carvana, Cars.com, and CarMax are always good for searching. Good luck in finding something. It's a good time to buy, prices have fallen significantly from a year ago when I purchased mine.

Thanks for the tip. I have watched his shows on the i3. I wonder if he still has his i3S Galvanic Gold. he has not posted any i3 videos for a long time. (this was the last I saw where he seems to be giving up on the i3
)
Yes, I am hunting for a 2021 i3s BEV Tera World or in Giga World, (not having seen either in the metal yet (the one I have had the pleasure of driving for a few hours was a very beat-up 2016 Panda REX in Deka Dark, and while I loved most of the things about it the tiny Nav screen and its rather rough interior decided me that I did not want a Deka Dark interior. (it is used as a part and odd job runner by the service end of the imported car specialists where I have had my 2004 MINI Cooper S serviced since I bought it new 20 years ago (and if you are ever in the Midcoast Maine area I can give

Atlantic Motorcar​

Atlantic Motorcar Center
https://atlanticmotorcar.com

my highest recommendation for European car service. They are less expensive than the dealers, but still expensive by the standards of the other independent places in this area.)

When I was chatting to Bruce the owner, bemoaning my so-far futile search for a replacement for my MINI (advancing age and other health issues mean that a 6-speed manual without most modern safety options is no longer a good fit for me), I was saying that even though there are no MINI dealers in Maine I was about to start looking at ordering a 2025 MINI Cooper SE Electric for a 3-year lease (at 75 and no longer in robust health a lease seems to be the smart move for me if I have to opt for a new car). Bruce, after telling me a bit about the problems he has seen with Volvo over the last few years, judges that both in design and build quality, they are not what they were since they were sold to Geely in China.

He has advised me against following through with a lease of the 2025 Volvo EX30 (I have a $500 refundable deposit at the local Volvo dealer) and seeking a BMW 2021 i3 Sport that is coming off of its lease. That is what has brought me here to your forum for advice and guidance in my hunt.

 

[frictioncircle]

BMW was supposed to release a production model of the concept car The Circular, but the Pandemic hit, and it never happened. Google it, it would be awesome if they did, actually, make one! I'd totally buy one!!!

The i Vision Circular concept gave me hope that BMW had found a way forward from the i3 but they seem to have pivoted to the Vision Neue Klasse.

The Vision Neue Klasse is a thoughtful way forward for their 3er/4er models but I wonder how much further along BMW could have been if they had not dropped their advanced position in EVs after releasing the i3 & i8.

 

[RicardoF1RST]

Sorry to add an unwanted dose of realism here, but this is not a buying exercise for them. They don't (sorry to have to say it) really want your cars. They want to sell you two new cars. It's a very well-known selling tactic.

I think you will find the dealers can make more money out of buying and selling 2nd hand than they can a new car, the used market has wider margins and they can negotiate buying and selling price rather than just selling. New car margins are very tight, hence their desire to sell aftermarket services when buying new (paint protection, GAP etc which all provide commission). Dealers prefer you to have finance rather than pay cash too, because they make commission from the finance which is 0% if we pay cash. Dealerships want a flow of business, so they want new cars to come back through them as 2nd hand to profit from that market - main dealers can often make a profit out of the same car 3 times before it leaves their factory supply time profile. The last thing they want is people holding onto cars as it removes an asset from the market that reduces their ability to make money. BMW offered me £10k off a new car, just to get my old car into their 2nd hand pool - in the end I part-ex'd it with a Landrover dealer but again, they definitely want my Jan'22 i3s (that they aren't getting).

 

[JamesInLondon]

I write about the luxury industry and wristwatches in particular. The CEO of the largest chain of Rolex dealers in the UK once told me that he prefers selling used Rolex watches to new ones. With a new watch, Rolex control his margins, they tell him how much window space the brand must have, they restrict him from selling online and which brands can't be adjacent to them in the displays. With a used watch he decides how much to charge, where to place it in the window and can offer it via multiple sales channels.

I suspect that BMW (and probably Mercedes) operate in exactly the same way.

 

[JimBmwi3s]

So I figured when I posted there would be some horrid stories of BMW dealer wanted to charge big $$$$ for described repairs - we are on to Rolex watches now?

 

[accidentalyEV]

I've been wanting to buy an i3s recent model 20-21 for a bit now. In the US, my concern is for instance how knowledgable are mechanics these days on these expired cars, an 2nd, if dealers are charging $500 to replace a $100 12 volt battery, what crazy charges when it's something more substantial ? I try to do work myself ... just wondering if this car is one unending headache because dealers are greedy.

My I3 is the first and last BMW all because of the dealer network. 3 different dealers have been servicing my I3. One of them replacing the windshield for $1,950 and damaged the roof and a pillar and forgot to mention it to me when I picked my car up. Outright lies telling me I can't purchase an extended warranty since I purchased the car used with 2.000 miles on it from a non BMW dealer. One or two dealers being unscrupulous maybe but 3 all int he same area? Seems like a culture of dishonesty and cheating people out of money.

 

[JimBmwi3s]

That's my point ... when I wanted to buy an i3s from a California BMW dealer, this particular dealer wouldn't sell to me saying they don't sell out of state, though car was listed on all the usual websites. BMW headquarters when I complained said they don't understand why they would not take my green cash, but ALL dealers are independently owned and can do what they want. I said I noticed the dealership from their website, including managers and sales people were mostly Asian and I felt discriminated against. They said they understood but again, nothing they could do.

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

The Vision Neue Klasse is a thoughtful way forward for their 3er/4er models but I wonder how much further along BMW could have been if they had not dropped their advanced position in EVs after releasing the i3 & i8.

This unfortunate focus shift was precisely what the new boss, Oliver Zipse, had to do to mark his territory as the top dog when he replaced Harald Krüger in August 1919. I note that Krüger was replaced "after he declined to be considered for contract renewal in 2020." according to his Wikipedia entry. I wonder how much the board of directors desired to pivot to hybrid and electric versions of the ICE lines instead of the lead they had in pure electric ground-up electric cars with the i3 and i8 vehicles was a factor in Krüger's resignation at the end of his contract. For such a young man with such an exciting career at BMW to now be an advisor to a pension plan seems such a waste of talent. I wonder what the real reason is and if he had a "yellow dog" clause in that contract that prevents him from working in the automotive industry for X years. "Since 2020, Krüger has been serving as an advisor to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).[17]"

Harald Krüger. (2023, August 27). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Krüger

 

[spawnywhippet]

The dealership has been trying to get us to sell them both our 2021 i3s for over a year now. They were really disappointed when I wouldn't accept their offer, and sell mine to them, for a great deal on a new XM Label Edition. They expected me to say yes, as my prior two cars to the i3s were an F85 X5M, and an M4 Competition. I

They have no interest in your I3's, they just want to sell you new cars.