You don't have to respond publicly, you can pm/email me if you would like, or if someone knows the numbers, please provide them.

I am wondering what the average lease rate is per month? What is the residual value of the M3?

I don't understand why some of my friends are paying $900+/mth if the residual value is supposedly pretty good? I would think $500-600 is the typical lease ...

How much down is required?

Is leasing the E46 M3 smarter than purchasing it ...

How many of you lease and how many of you outright own/finance the vehicle?

If you had to do it again, would you lease it or purchase it?

I know some of you own businesses, so leasing is preferable; but, this is more for those that do not benefit from leasing.

I think it's closer to $750-$850/mos depending on options for your average 3 yr, 10-12K miles a year lease, with maybe $2-3K due at signing....

To get payments down to $550-$600/mos you'd be putting $5K or more down for cap cost reduction...

the lease rates and purchase rates were almost the same when I got mine, so I bought it so I wouldn't have to worry about the mileage restrictions.

Check this out...
http://estimator.bmwusa.com/estimator.asp?FranchiseTypeCode=1&VehicleConditionId=1

If you are wanting to lease an M3 you may be better off checking out the Owner Select program( or something like that) which is a balloon payment program. Given excellent credit, the monthly payment is cheaper than the lease option and it is unlikely that you would not be able to sell the vehicle after 3 years for the residual value or higher.

I was a seattle wa bmw and the price for a fully loaded 03 m3 w/o nav was 58k and with 10k down they had a lease payment for 4yrs at 680.

The one is my sig is about $730/month lease. No sunroof, no power seats (less weight). Those options may cost you a bit more.

As a benchmark _ I am paying 650 a month for a 3 year owner select with 10K down on a 03 M3 convertible. Residual is around 35.8k I think.

I am super happy with the car and can't complain a bit about the price. I worked both the lease numbers and the owner select on the car and the owner select was much more attractive per month. I think that only the M3 will look this good between the lease and owner select due to the phenom residuals thay put on them with owner select - but I still feel totally safe in getting out of the car if I want to.

I got my Laguna Seca Blue M3 with nothing on it but gas guzzler and Zenon Lights for $553 a month for 60 months.

:confused:

:confused:

Sry, this was supposed to be a reply to the price people got their M3s for lease, i guess i selected the wrong button...
sry

60 mos lease? With how much down, how many miles a year?

$6,000 downpayment, for 60 months and 15,000miles a year and a $22,000 residual...
and believe you me, 60 months is not long enough...

01 M3 Conv..

48 Mos lease
$5500 downpayment
with $7000 negative-equity trade in

$800/mo. with tax
$12000/yr.

sorry. that's 12000 miles/year...

The car has everything except for lumbar support

Wow, some hefty down payments for a car you will not own... :az:

I just kinda like paid for the up-side-down value of the car I traded in. I know... But can't wait to have an M3.. it's worth it though....

Originally posted by EightKMeter
If you are wanting to lease an M3 you may be better off checking out the Owner Select program( or something like that) which is a balloon payment program. Given excellent credit, the monthly payment is cheaper than the lease option and it is unlikely that you would not be able to sell the vehicle after 3 years for the residual value or higher.

It's called "Owner's Choice" and is available in Texas and New York only last I heard. It's a very sweet program, IMO, and I got my car on it. If you are lucky enough to live in a state that has laws that allow it, what it basically comes down to is this:

You own the car (Your name on title) but there is a guaranteed buyback after your term runs out. If you choose to keep the car at the end of this term, you don't have to pay sales tax on it again (the main disadvantage of keeping a car after your lease runs out). Likewise, if you want to just blow your mileage limit all to hell or risk your engine with a supercharger or some other crazy junk, then no worries, because you will just not be able to sell it back at the end.

In my particular case, the payments for this option were less than for a lease too, so it was kind of hard not to bite on it. It made putting in a down payment feel a little better too. It also feels better to know that legally, I am the owner. At least when the cop pulls you over for speeding your registration will come up with your actual name instead of "BMW of North America" haha :laugh

Gork, where does BMW make its money with that program? Does it have to do with state laws or what? Do you ever have to pay tax?

Yeah i paid sales tax at the beginning just like with a lease or finance. BMW makes roughly the same money, I assume, as with a lease since the only fee that I will end up saving is the state sales tax if I chose to refinance the car at the end of the "lease" term. The rate was slightly lower because I would guess they want to get people on this deal as it makes keeping the car at the end of the term more attractive (and the interest is the real moneymaker here of course)

The dealer told me it has to do with state tax laws that allow them to do it. Again, it was TX and NY that I was informed have the program from BMW FS. I would suspect that it is probably not possible to go to one of these states and get a car on the program if you are not a resident of the state.

If, however, I were able to deduct the lease payments, I would have gone that direction in a heartbeat. That is the best deal there with this S54 motor, I'd think! :D

You can do Owner's Choice in Virginia also.

8KM

I got mine about 6 months ago 2003 pretty much loaded no smg though.
$675 a month 39 months 12k per year nothing down.
I guess I did really well like I thought.
When I leased my 98 E36 M3 my payment was the same so I figured this was a much better deal being that it is a more expensive car.:clap:

Originally posted by gork
It also feels better to know that legally, I am the owner. At least when the cop pulls you over for speeding your registration will come up with your actual name instead of "BMW of North America" haha :laugh

Depends how you look at it... if I understand things correctly, many auto manufacturers are moving to this sort of "lease-like" option for financing for this very reason -- your name, and not their name or their financial services holding co name -- is on the title. Thus, they have less liability for the vehicle.

This movement was spurred in part by some big dollar law-suits aimed at deep-pocket auto finance companies after the leaser of one of their vehicles plowed into someone else and the victim sued.

Leasing in present form may not be around too much longer as I believe many states are following suit. FWIW, I remember my parents saying a few months back that home state of Connecticut, leasing will be disappearing for this very reason.

This could be why rates are so attractive, and of course to build a customer base for this new (and thus untrusted) financial product.

- John

I assume you are free to seek financing outside of BMW FS for the baloon payment? Otherwise they'd have you by the proverbial "short ones"

I got my Topaz '03 with SMG and Premium for $682 a month, nothing down, 48 months lease.

The lease is through Wells Fargo Auto Leasing which I got by going through:

http://www.autoleasingspecialist.com/

I've leased other cars in the past from them as well and have been very happy with the results.

Mike

Thanks guys -

So, you can get good lease rates with the M3 ... just need to be patient and resourceful I guess. I just have a funny thing about paying $600+ for a car that I do not have a fully vested interest in ...

then again, I have friends paying $1400/mth on a lease for their porsche ... :confused: ... no tax write-off either ... :eek:

Originally posted by NoSoup4U

then again, I have friends paying $1400/mth on a lease for their porsche ... :confused: ... no tax write-off either ... :eek:

Ouch! For that price you better be able to live in it too! :laugh

Originally posted by Icehawk
I got my Topaz '03 with SMG and Premium for $682 a month, nothing down, 48 months lease.

The lease is through Wells Fargo Auto Leasing which I got by going through:

http://www.autoleasingspecialist.com/

I've leased other cars in the past from them as well and have been very happy with the results.

Mike

WOW...that's much cheaper than the dealer

Hi new member here.

Wow I don't know how you are able to get $600 ~ $700 lease payments. Hell of a deal. :clap: I remember when I called the first BMW dealership to inquire about leasing a M3 COUPE, I told him ppl are getting $700 lease payments w/just basic drive off as down and I wanted to do the same, the sales got really really upset and called me a liar and how I am low balling him. It wasn't my intention to "low ball", I mean I was just telling him the price I hear from internet.. My bad. :rolleyes:

Of course, I went to other dealer and here's what I paid:

2003 Convertible (SMG) - All options except Nav. - Sticker at $63K.

$4,200 drive off
$1,100 / Month for 3 years.
15K Miles/Year

ouch...1100 per month with 4200 down is pretty insane. From what I've seen the dealerships only offer financing through BMW finance, and their deals are really bad.

It's definitely worth it to shop around and get the best deal. I forgot to mention the mileage for my deal:

12k/year
0$ down
$682/ month
48 months
SMG / Premium pkg

Icehawk