How much did your 135i cost?

[kc_skyrider]

Im American Military and bought my 135i here in germany I paid $36,600 with no tax. I don't see many non military people owning these cars in the area and I'm sure it's because of local taxes and the cost of fuel. So my question is how much does it cost? Car, Tax, License, and insurance? I'll start us out and this should probably be in euro.

Car = 26,589 euro
insurance = 181 euro/month
tax = 0
license = 15 euro.

[BBBluey]

KC, haven't heard from you in a while.

We've got pretty much the same car...so same cost. My insurance is through USAA at 1700 a year - damn crooks.
Tax you will pay if you ship the car to the states and the % will depend on the state. I leave in June to Cali and will pay 8.5% of the "Purchase" price not the estimated value as many think it is. "Tax Free Sales" is only if you dump the car before you leave.

I believe the 135 starts at 38-40K Euro for Germans, hence you won't see so many.

[kc_skyrider]

Originally Posted by BBBluey

KC, haven't heard from you in a while.
"Tax Free Sales" is only if you dump the car before you leave.
.

Interesting. California might have a loop hole. or the tax might be more for your registeration. I'm sure I'm double covered since I was also in a tax free zone the same month I purchased this. I also worked with a man that spent two days TDY ordered one of the first 09 M3's and had it delivered to South Carolina paying only $100.00 for tags.

[Dackelone]

First off, you really can not compare US prices to German car prices. Because what is a fair price? What ever people are willing to PAY!!!

A 135i spec'd out with just the M-sport pack, USB/Ipod, metalic paint, and cold weather pack with a maunal 8speed trans: would sell for about $42K in the US. Thru Military sales its about $37k. And... the SAME car in German sells for almost 49K euros!!! That includes the 19% German sales tax(MstW). Alot of the things that come standard on our cars are extra cost options in Germany. Such as full Klima(AC), sunroof, adaptive HIDs, rain sensor, ect, ect.

Don't believe me? Try building your own 135i here. Note the base price STARTS at 40K euros! lol without any options. A simular euro car spec's like the above went for 49K euros when I was done! And thats without Navi or premium packs! lol Germans have been train to pay pay pay for their goods!

http://www.bmw.de/de/de/general/conf...figurator.html

Then you got to think what Germans must pay for... besides just the 19% sales tax!

After the sale there are:

Registration fees: 40 euros say
Lic plates cost about 85 euros to make
road tax (per year!) based on engine cc/size and how much it polutes. say 250 euros per year for a 135i I am guessing. I know for my GF's old e36 316i she pays 130 euros PER year!

Then they pay ten euros for those little green Eco zone decalls for the UmwelttZone urban smog zones. We ge these free!

Then you have to pay to have your car inspected every two years: 89 euros for both the TuV and ASU. Some places run specials on this like ATU for only 69 euros. So figure on under 100 euros for each every two years.

Then you got to think of how much it will cost to gas up this sucker on the economy! SuperPlus is running at 1.50 right now at Esso. So that works out to 75 euros for 50 liters worth! So thats $105 USdollars for 13.2 gallons of super plus gasoline!

Btw... starting on March 22nd, you guys better not go over your monthly rations or you be paying the high German prices ON BASE!!! On and after the 22nd, when your Esso car see's that you exceed your montly ration of 400 liters, you will pay German prices at AAFES. A little over $2.20 per liter they will collect! Better put in for your additional 200 liter form ASAP! Go see your POV office soon!

Good Luck
David

[ChrisM135i]

In total I paid ~ 40k EUR incl. tax in Nov '08 for a half-year old 135i, which was pre-owned by a BMW employee, who already got 20% discount on the list price..
The total list price in Apr '08 was about 49k EUR. Car is nearly fully loaded.

Costs for insurance and tax are about 900,- EUR per year + the costs for fuel, service etc.

btw. In the 1 1/2 years I am owning this car now, I only saw ONE other 135i.. all other Coupés are 120d and 123d

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by ChrisM135i

btw. In the 1 1/2 years I am owning this car now, I only saw ONE other 135i.. all other Coupés are 120d and 123d

......
YuP! I have only seen four German plated 1-er coupes around Bayern. All were 123d's or 120d's too.

Every 135i coupe I see, has German spec - US Army cover tags - so you know they are Americans. They look just like regular German plates but you have to know which cities US Forces are station'd at. lol Besides... almost every "Ami" - I see driving a new 135i always has the tell-tell Military Sales plate holder! Talk about good OPSEC! lol Why is it we Americans do not take the same pride in our cars as the Germans do? I also see alot of "our" guys driving with crooked mounted tags or out of place green eco zone stickers on the windshield. Or unit decalls. Seems like no one knows how to blend in with our German freinds.

bye,
David

[Elsabor67]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

......
YuP! I have only seen four German plated 1-er coupes around Bayern. All were 123d's or 120d's too.

Every 135i coupe I see, has German spec - US Army cover tags - so you know they are Americans. They look just like regular German plates but you have to know which cities US Forces are station'd at. lol Besides... almost every "Ami" - I see driving a new 135i always has the tell-tell Military Sales plate holder! Talk about good OPSEC! lol Why is it we Americans do not take the same pride in our cars as the Germans do? I also see alot of "our" guys driving with crooked mounted tags or out of place green eco zone stickers on the windshield. Or unit decalls. Seems like no one knows how to blend in with our German freinds.

bye,
David

I know what you mean. When I picked up mine 1 year ago exactly today, I MADE SURE that they did not put the plate holder, front or back or anything that screamed "GI". My plates were placed on the car with the 2 sided mirror tape, strong as hell and withstands the casual 140MPH romp down the 'bahn.

But talking about the Euro spec 1er coupe. I have seen some that also come with fog lights in the front and have the same bumper setup as the 135i. Is that something we don't get or are the packages and different doo-daas available different from market to market?

BTW, how's Bamberg now a days? that was my first assignment when I came to Germany back in 1995 to an Air Defense unit that deactivated back at the end of 1997.

Nick

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Elsabor67

I know what you mean. When I picked up mine 1 year ago exactly today, I MADE SURE that they did not put the plate holder, front or back or anything that screamed "GI". My plates were placed on the car with the 2 sided mirror tape, strong as hell and withstands the casual 140MPH romp down the 'bahn.

But talking about the Euro spec 1er coupe. I have seen some that also come with fog lights in the front and have the same bumper setup as the 135i. Is that something we don't get or are the packages and different doo-daas available different from market to market?

BTW, how's Bamberg now a days? that was my first assignment when I came to Germany back in 1995 to an Air Defense unit that deactivated back at the end of 1997.

Nick

Hi,

Yea... on my car I just have the local bmw zentrum plate holder. I did not want anything screaming G.I. either. lol I also like the white & blue screw caps that some Germans go with to hold their plates on.

I have only seen 135i cabrio's with the fog lights. And only on 128i coupes when they order the sport bumpers - do they come with fog lights. My guess is that the fog lights must cut down on flow to the oil cooler and brakes on the 135i's. I guess bmw must think the Cab owners won't be pushing their cars too often. Makes sense to me.

Bamberg is quite slow right now. Empty really. Lots of "talk" of how much longer the base will be open. 2013 is everyone's best guess. There are lots of DPW projects going on right now... I think thats a fair indictor that we don't have too much longer left.

bye,
David

[BMW-NC]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Btw... starting on March 22nd, you guys better not go over your monthly rations or you be paying the high German prices ON BASE!!! On and after the 22nd, when your Esso car see's that you exceed your montly ration of 400 liters, you will pay German prices at AAFES. A little over $2.20 per liter they will collect! Better put in for your additional 200 liter form ASAP! Go see your POV office soon!

Good Luck
David

Good find, I'll let my clients know....

[kc_skyrider]

The 135i does not come with foglights in any form. It's the quickest tell tell if someone has purchased any other 1er coupe with the "M-sport" appearance package, which is standard on the 135i. I read some BMW literature on how M cars and the 135i were singled out to be more performance oriented and part of the push was using all that fog-light room to improve cooling of either oil or brakes. To those who would like to see a few more 135i's on the road simply head to kaiserslautern. I painted my plate cover but if someone is trying to spot the americans it is as easy as seeing the giant amber turn signal lens. In fact that is what made me post this. I have never seen a 135i without the US spec amber lenses. But I do see about 5 135i's everyday I drive to work.

[Dackelone]

You are wrong(kc_skyrider) on the Fog Lights! A pic of worth a thousand words! lol

Here is a 135i Cab WITH factory fog lights. The Cabrio is LeMans Blue and a 128i coupe in Montiego Blue -its a nice side by side of the two colors. The pic was taken in Dec '09 at Speber BMW in Bamberg.




When you say: "I have never seen a 135i without the US spec amber lenses", you mean the coupes? because there are tons of 1-ers on the road with the silver ones. ie; German spec cars. bye

[dlmpesh]

So there seems to be a pretty good chunk of mil 1owners around here...so where are you getting your windows tinted in Germany?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by dlmpesh

So there seems to be a pretty good chunk of mil 1owners around here...so where are you getting your windows tinted in Germany?

I bought the factory tint screens from the dealer. They are those sun creens that snap or spring into the rear window frames.

The local (big) Dealer also does window tint. No idea of how much it runs. I would just look in your German Gelbe Seiten(yellow pages) under "autos & fenster tint or foile". Or look up the neaest "Trim-Line" guy. he wil come to you and do the car.

bye,
David

[timeg]

Originally Posted by dlmpesh

So there seems to be a pretty good chunk of mil 1owners around here...so where are you getting your windows tinted in Germany?

Ughh, I never understand getting your windows tinted if you have a hot car! Don't you want people to see YOU driving it! That's my 2 cents anyway.

[Litflynt912]

Originally Posted by BBBluey

KC, haven't heard from you in a while.

We've got pretty much the same car...so same cost. My insurance is through USAA at 1700 a year - damn crooks.

$1700 a YEAR!!!! through USAA!!! LOL

I haven't posted in a WHILE but had to call them out on that..lol

I've had USAA for about 9 years and my insurance on a 128i is about 700 a year give or take...
and that is with rates spiking here in AZ...

wow...I'm stunned...

you should try Pentagon Federal or Navy Federal for insurance

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by kc_skyrider

Interesting. California might have a loop hole. or the tax might be more for your registeration. I'm sure I'm double covered since I was also in a tax free zone the same month I purchased this. I also worked with a man that spent two days TDY ordered one of the first 09 M3's and had it delivered to South Carolina paying only $100.00 for tags.

Being in a tax free zone when you bought the car won't save you from paying some sort of tax when you register the car. It depends on the state. A lot of them will hit you with a "Use Tax" when you import the car. I know when I register my car in Texas they're supposed to charge me 6.25% of the purchase price. Make sure you check your state DMV's website and look into it so there aren't any surprises when you get home...

And I know this is a 135i thread, but I thought I'd share my 128i price for comparison: $30,449.

[BBBluey]

Originally Posted by Litflynt912

$1700 a YEAR!!!! through USAA!!! LOL

I haven't posted in a WHILE but had to call them out on that..lol

I've had USAA for about 9 years and my insurance on a 128i is about 700 a year give or take...
and that is with rates spiking here in AZ...

wow...I'm stunned...

you should try Pentagon Federal or Navy Federal for insurance

Europe pays in euro's for damage and the coverage costs are higher than the states, hence, higher insurance costs. Once I get to Cali my costs should drop to under 1K - thank goodness. And I'd like to mention I have a prestine record.

[BBBluey]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

Being in a tax free zone when you bought the car won't save you from paying some sort of tax when you register the car. It depends on the state. A lot of them will hit you with a "Use Tax" when you import the car. I know when I register my car in Texas they're supposed to charge me 6.25% of the purchase price. Make sure you check your state DMV's website and look into it so there aren't any surprises when you get home...

And I know this is a 135i thread, but I thought I'd share my 128i price for comparison: $30,449.

Exactly - that "Use Tax" is the catch. The Vehicle License Fee is waived but not that tax. Cali is charging me 8.5% and what really pisses me off about it is that I'll pay that on my 05 Ody for it's purchase price not estimated value now. So when I get there, I'll be dropping ~$6K just to put plates on both my vehicles. Wish I could sell my Ody here.

[Dackelone]

regarding 135i insurance...

Geico uses AIG in Germany, even though you pay Geico. I had AIG and they quoted me something like $313 (USd) per month! Everywhere I checked with wanted $$$ for this 135i!

I eneded up going with Mirascon - who has "Volkswohl Bund Versicherungen" underwrite their policies. I have 300 euro dectuable, no tickets or accidents for the last five years. I had all the discount boxes tick'd. I pay 73 euros each month. Not a bad deal I think.

http://www.mirascon.de/en/index.php?p=agencies

One word though... these guys do sound a little but flaky on the phone. But hey... they are dirt cheap I think.

You might also check with some German car insurance places. Like Allianz or Huk Coburg. They were my next places I was gonna call when I settled on Volkswohl Bund.

bye,
David

[JK135i]

I paid 34k for a 2010 135i w/ sport pkg. i also have mirascon insurance and they're soooo much better than usaa.

[Dan135i]

Im another Mil man here in Italy with the USAF... (dont be hatin..) Im an F16 Mechanic with 12 years in.

You can see everything in my sig... My car hasnt arrived yet, but within a week, and Ill know insurance. I have a pristine record as well, and am currently paying over $350 a month for my 05 SRT-4 and was quoted over $300 a month for my 135i, I think it was more than the SRT, but not sure at the moment.

They discriminate based on other peoples fuck ups and make us normal record holders pay the cost... at least for the SRT-4.

[pompano1000]

Originally Posted by kc_skyrider

Im American Military and bought my 135i here in germany I paid $36,600 with no tax. I don't see many non military people owning these cars in the area and I'm sure it's because of local taxes and the cost of fuel. So my question is how much does it cost? Car, Tax, License, and insurance? I'll start us out and this should probably be in euro.

Car = 26,589 euro
insurance = 181 euro/month
tax = 0
license = 15 euro.

Car = $35k. About $40k with all options.
insurance = $55/month
tax = $2,400
license = $27
Engine Tuning: Dinan Stage 2, cold air intake, free flow exhaust, strut tower brace and peddles = $6,500 (increases Horsepower from 300HP stock to 402HP. Dramatic difference)