Quote:
Originally Posted by ThomasM3
If they want to sell more cars they need to get rid of their terrible residuals that they have been rolling out. I understand that it wasn't very profitable before but their cars are outrageously expensive to lease now and it's not making sense to a lot of people. Clients see it's less expensive to buy it than lease it, but are dead set on leasing, so they just go to a different brand. I've seen people jump "down" to Ford/Chevy or across the board to Audi/Mercedes time and time again simply because the payment is a little bit less. I think a lot of BMW's newer clients aren't necessarily concerned with brand loyalty, no matter how much they loved their previous car. Even the clients that are very loyal are sometimes forced to seek out a different vehicle because they're SO DAMN EXPENSIVE. If the payment doesn't work, it doesn't work. Somebody else mentioned less dealer support and I think that's playing a role too. I leased a brand new 340i back when they came out because it made 100% total sense. The warranty was great, the maintenance plan was wonderful (covered brakes!), and the support from the manufacturer to the dealership was there was well from an incentive standpoint. When I got my M3 things just weren't the same. I love BMW (have had 3 in my short time on this planet), but wouldn't be afraid to jump ship to a Z06 or a base 911. Value is value. Payment matters.
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Having just gone through a recent comparison with the 3 major German brands, BMW still had the highest residual % by a large margin. In comparison, Mercedes was 10% less and Audi 5-6% less than the BMW, even on 2020 models. This brought up lease payments for the competition significantly in comparison (with similar sales price and money down).
That being said when we compared the Audi SQ5 to the X3 M40i we liked the SQ5 better. X3 M40i was more powerful with tighter suspension, but the M40i felt heavier and less nimble. Most people I know who have switched out of BMW is because they feel the driving experience has become less fun over the last 6 years.
That being said we did end up ordering a 2020 X5.
