This is my first post to these forums and well i'll give you a brief rundown of my situation. I'm a 25 year old looking to buy a BMW but it didn't start this way at first. My current car is a 1987 Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign with 160000km on the dial and my daily driver is a 99 ML320 with over 250,000km i was initially fed up with how much money i pay on gas both cars are well north of 13L for every 100km traveled the jag is even at 15 16L for every 100. So the common logic at my point in life was to look at economical cars and naturally the Prius intrigued me, underpowered but i figured hey it's economical. Then i got intrigued by a Lexus IS250 and took it for a test drive with the stick tranny and wasn't too impressed on my test drive i drove by the BMW dealership and tried out the 328i coupe let's just say it actually felt right. So now i'm going through the agonizing process of ordering one. I've talked to a couple dealers (performance cars in st. catharines and Budd's BMW in oakville) if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Basically these are my questions.

1. What do i do about the pricing of the car i've read a few things on this board so far that confuse me about money factors and stuff like that, how can i bust the salesman's balls to get me the best deal. i'm not afraid of walking or shopping i'm in no huge rush.

2. I decided to lease the car and buy it out at the End IF it proves to be a great car and then sell it after the waranty expires probably. Is it worth it to put any money down or just forget the money down approach. One dealer was charging me for wheel locks the other wasn't one was charging me for etching the other ommited that part as well as a few other things. Mind you the one dealer was just a faxed quote i did over the phone.

3. The 335i isn't that much more than the 328i when it comes to monthly payments similarly equiped results in only a 60 dollar difference a month (canadian) so i'm pretty much sold on that now comes the question of options.

I figured i'd go with the premium package to get the leather and was thinking about jade grey with grey poplar but don't know what to get for the exterior does anyone have any suggestions on colour combinations. Another question was the phone bluetooth integration does it come with voice command even without the nav system? and the USB audio integration is this the same thing as ipod integration. is there a big difference of leather vs leatherette?

The sound system is it a huge difference between the stock radio and the logic7 audio i'm not a fan of logic 7 in my home theatre system (harman kardon) if there isn't a big difference in sound i'll just rather end up going with a stock 335i with letherette as well since i don't need the extra frilly stuff like a compass or auto foldng mirrors.

And the last question i have should i wait for a 2008 model the interest rate on these cars seem to be a steady 7.75 percent on the lease.

This is my first post to these forums and well i'll give you a brief rundown of my situation. I'm a 25 year old looking to buy a BMW but it didn't start this way at first. My current car is a 1987 Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign with 160000km on the dial and my daily driver is a 99 ML320 with over 250,000km i was initially fed up with how much money i pay on gas both cars are well north of 13L for every 100km traveled the jag is even at 15 16L for every 100. So the common logic at my point in life was to look at economical cars and naturally the Prius intrigued me, underpowered but i figured hey it's economical. Then i got intrigued by a Lexus IS250 and took it for a test drive with the stick tranny and wasn't too impressed on my test drive i drove by the BMW dealership and tried out the 328i coupe let's just say it actually felt right. So now i'm going through the agonizing process of ordering one. I've talked to a couple dealers (performance cars in st. catharines and Budd's BMW in oakville) if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Basically these are my questions.

1. What do i do about the pricing of the car i've read a few things on this board so far that confuse me about money factors and stuff like that, how can i bust the salesman's balls to get me the best deal. i'm not afraid of walking or shopping i'm in no huge rush.

2. I decided to lease the car and buy it out at the End IF it proves to be a great car and then sell it after the waranty expires probably. Is it worth it to put any money down or just forget the money down approach. One dealer was charging me for wheel locks the other wasn't one was charging me for etching the other ommited that part as well as a few other things. Mind you the one dealer was just a faxed quote i did over the phone.

3. The 335i isn't that much more than the 328i when it comes to monthly payments similarly equiped results in only a 60 dollar difference a month (canadian) so i'm pretty much sold on that now comes the question of options.

I figured i'd go with the premium package to get the leather and was thinking about jade grey with grey poplar but don't know what to get for the exterior does anyone have any suggestions on colour combinations. Another question was the phone bluetooth integration does it come with voice command even without the nav system? and the USB audio integration is this the same thing as ipod integration. is there a big difference of leather vs leatherette?

The sound system is it a huge difference between the stock radio and the logic7 audio i'm not a fan of logic 7 in my home theatre system (harman kardon) if there isn't a big difference in sound i'll just rather end up going with a stock 335i with letherette as well since i don't need the extra frilly stuff like a compass or auto foldng mirrors.

And the last question i have should i wait for a 2008 model the interest rate on these cars seem to be a steady 7.75 percent on the lease.

1. I'm not familiar with Canadian laws and leasing, but you should be able to see all the numbers and check in a lease calc if it's a good deal.

I learned a lot using, http://www.leaseguide.com/calc.htm, it's pretty close to what you should pay, but slightly low.

2. Leasing then buying is usually the most expensive way to purchase a car.

3. Once I drove the 335 I didn't want the 328 :) 2008s are a month or so away from production, I would think.


The biggest concern I have is that you're going to spend a large sum on saving a few bucks at the pump.

So if that's your main reason on spending 45K (60K CND) it makes no sense what so ever. You'll have to drive the car for 20 years before you make up in MPG as you would buying a new car....if you want a new car that's decent on gas that's another angle