allowing people who are not on the E46 M3 waiting list not to test drive the new M3. My family has purchased a few cars from this particular dealer, but they will not let us test drive the new M3. This is ridiculous. I currently own a 96 M3 and would like to see what I am going to miss, but the my salesperson gave me some BS about only allowing non-deposit people.

What is BMW trying to accomplish here? Don't you think they are shooting themselves in the foot? Is this going to be such a small # production that they don't want to entertain any more sales? I am a little confused my this.

Just my thoughts,

The M3 demo at my local dealer has a sign on it:

"This vehicle not for sale, and not for demo."

I thought that was amusing.

that's perfect

It's not BMW faults, but actually the individual dealerships who are creating this mess.

Well, I think most dealerships (that don't charge a ridiculous premium) realize that they will quickly sell their initial allocation, therefore they have nothing to lose by not allowing non-deposit-ers to test drive the car. Also, by prohibiting test drives, it reduces the mileage on the car thereby making the future owner happier.

Once sales start to slide, however, is a different story. I'm sure they'll start allowing test drives within the year or sooner.

As a prospective buyer, I am actually appreciative of the fact that no one (or very few) people will ever drive my car.