Literature in dealers

[cj10jeeper]

Happened to be in my local dealer today and they were more than pleased to hand me the Feb 2009 brochure and price/accessories list.

Oh there are some nice toys to add like V-spoke 296 in 19" or a sort of 108 development V-spoke 294

Cars will arrive at UK dealers on May 7th for sale and launch on 9th. Each dealer has an allocation of 4 of which 2 in my dealers are already sold !!!

[gannet]

I just got a call that I missed, but the voicemail was inviting me to the launch and brochures etc.

Might just call 'em back

[KDB]

I saw the car in real last Friday.
.... if you get the opportunity to see it, don't hesitate because it's really looking great.
Indeed the 19" wheels are very nice.

[Wondermike]

Interesting, I'm off to get the brochure at the weekend. I presume a decent sDrive35i is the thick end of £40k?

[cj10jeeper]

Hey Mike You'd be lucky
Just a selection for a reasonable spec.:
35i £37,060
DCT £1810 (auto £1765)
///M suspension £930
PDC £590
Memory seats £945 or sport £475
Heated seats £280
Sat Nav £2135
USB audio £230
Alloy trim £220
Audio, DAB, DVD, speakers, etc. £2000+
and the list could go on and on

So you'd easy hit £45k before you get serious with extended leather, TV, 5 year warranty adding another £6k

[Smokin]

Wow, wonder if those prices will hold over here. Ouch.

[Breaker]

Hey Mike You'd be lucky
Just a selection for a reasonable spec.:
35i £37,060
DCT £1810 (auto £1765)
///M suspension £930
PDC £590
Memory seats £945 or sport £475
Heated seats £280
Sat Nav £2135
USB audio £230
Alloy trim £220
Audio, DAB, DVD, speakers, etc. £2000+
and the list could go on and on

So you'd easy hit £45k before you get serious with extended leather, TV, 5 year warranty adding another £6k

Be keeping mine for a bit then unless the 370Z tempts me away (which is very likely at the moment!).

That spec (minus the sat nav as I don't like OEM navs) is the type I'd go for so I think I may class the new Z4 out of my league for what I would pay for a car.

[Wondermike]

370Z starts at £26,895 incl bluetooth and xenon lights

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090127.010 ... t-at-26895

CJ - that is too much cash I'm afraid, a well specced 35i could lose you £22k in 2 years no problem.

[Wondermike]

Forgot to add, I have the brochure now but not the prices, they couldn't find it in time and I had to get back to work.

[cj10jeeper]

I agree Mike - I had a read of the brochure last night and while it's a great car it's way out of the price I would pay for a sports car. The wording in the brochure appears to be headed a complete notch up from the current model in target market.

Hell you could buy 2 almost new ///M's for the price of a fully loaded 35i and that can't be right

[Wondermike]

If they do try and move upmarket then BMW UK need to change their marketing strategy. Taking the SLK as an example, at least Mercedes tries to protect residuals to a degree by limiting the number of available cars. There are very few dealer demos or management cars, especially of the larger engined variety.

BMW, on the other hand, will self-register hundreds of cars, add the launch and press cars into the mix, and after 12 months there will be loads of cars on the AUC. Secondhand bargains maybe, but still a way to go.

I'd rather spend that kind of cash on an SLK55 instead, or if spending less was an option, then on a 370Z.

[cj10jeeper]

My stealer told me they are running no demos or fleet cars so their allocation is it. Still if each gets 4 cars then there's a few hundred pre-registered and sold before they even get going.

BMW def. do themselves no favours by the way they over discount and flood the market, but of course they have to move metal having built high volume plants that need to churn out cars. I read a few months back that the UK CEO even commented that they had it wrong and was causing their own residual problems. Eventually peolple stop buying new knowing that these days it's best to buy a fully specced 1 year plus old car.

Jeep had it so bad with the Wrangler that it was an open discussion about anyone stupid enough to buy new to provide 'us' as the clubs with material we needed from 1 to 5 year olds to convert to off road. We could buy up at little more than 20% residual value after 3 years...

[Wondermike]

My stealer told me they are running no demos or fleet cars so their allocation is it. Still if each gets 4 cars then there's a few hundred pre-registered and sold before they even get going.

Yep I'll believe it when I see it though. 4 cars each is around 600 plus the press cars and BMW management cars ten there will probably 800-1000 in existence during the first year

I'm trying not to be too negative about it but I suspect that the usual thing will happen. Just around Xmas time BMW gave each dealer 2 M3s to sell at £14-15k under list (registered but with delivery mileage) and now they have been sold, they are being drip fed one at a time, or that's my local dealer anyway.

[Wondermike]

Also I hate the new "sports seats" I sat in a similar seat in an E92 and they are not brilliant, they offer very little lateral support. The E9x M3 seats are far better, I wonder if they will make it into the ///M.