Appreciate the feedback and the “passion” regarding leasing in this case
. Admittedly, I have not been a fan of leasing in the past for different reasons, including the fact I like to modify my cars (sometimes heavily) to “make them my own” - the i4 would be no different. My last few cars I have had success with using BMW Select, which has benefits similar to leasing and financing - the best of both worlds in some respects. However, the $8.5k lease credit in this case definitly has given me pause to not completely rule out the lease option. Although, one other variable that is somewhat unique to my situation is that if I finance, I don’t have to pay sales tax due to my military status - that is an additional savings of almost $5k. If I lease, sales tax will still be part of the deal…
The depreciation hit of EVs (vs ICE cars) doesn’t really bother me - I buy cars to use them, not to worry about how much I might be able to get for it when I am done with the car. Although, the piece mentioned above about the rapidly changing EV technology is a variable I had not previously considered. I typically keep my cars for 6+ years (and pay them off in a similar timeframe) and the lure of new car tech does not usually deter me from long term ownership. This i4 M50 would be replacing my current ‘17 F80 M3, which I bought new in Dec 2016 (and it is somewhat modified now
).
I also thought about waiting for the ‘25 LCI coming in July ‘24. But based on what I see in the 4-series LCI, the LCI does not seem worth waiting for, for me anyway (the only thing I think I like are the LCI tail lights, which can be bought after the fact). For now, I think I will push for a bigger dealer discount, using the advice provided here, since the base OTD price is the same whether leasing or financing. A dealer discount of 9-11% off MSRP seemed like an agresive counter offer (and be taken seriously), but admittedly, I was surprised the dealer initially offered $4k of on his first offer, which I guess means there is definitely more “room” to give - I was expecting closer to $2k as an initial offer. Plus, I think this car might have been on the lot for a while, but hard to know.
Time for round two, I guess, and this would be my first counter offer….
Other than seeing the car in person to verify if I liked the color, all “negotiations” have been via email up to this point…