[shark715]

Originally Posted by 335BOY

I always thought dealers only had 8-10% in it. Hard to believe/understand how guys are getting 10% off a new car thats in short supply. Well done I guess.

Remember, dealer invoice does not equal dealer cost. I still say there's no general shortage of these (although admittedly there's no oversupply either), except perhaps at a small percentage of dealers. There's no substantial factory order backlog. When you can go to truecar.com and (even in So Cal) get a substantial discount, that's a very strong indication that there's no shortage. If there was a shortage of cars they would not have dealers lined up offering the discounts they are. And it's typically not difficult to significantly do better than Truecar prices. And if there was any shortage at all, it seems to be improving with time. Not an unusual situation for a new model. Smart buyers will not fall for the dealer allocation/ shortage nonsense.

[hyperzulu]

Look for the deals made by people who work at a dealership. I got 13.4% discount with ED, and I think employee discount was even more.

[chaswyck1]

Ok, let's look at truecar.com. A 228i configured as my car is (although I couldn't get to the exact MSRP of my car which was $42,350) comes up on truecar at MSRP of $41,150. The truecar estimated savings for my zip code in Southern CA is $2,255. That's a discount of 5.5% off MSRP. I got 6.4% and it was like pulling teeth. I changed the zip code to an east coast zip (Arlington, VA) and the discount went up to 7.0%.
For a loaded m235i (MSRP around $50,000) the truecar discount percentage in VA was still 7% but in So Cal it dropped to 4.5%. This tells me two things. First, the 2 Series, especially the 235i, is commanding higher prices in California than VA and secondly that, while it is possible to do better than the truecar savings, it's not likely that you will be able to double the truecar savings on a straight deal (no trade in). This confirms my experience that if you're getting more than 6% to 7% off in Southern CA on a 2 Series, you're doing pretty well. When a board sponsor tells you that he's selling M235's for MSRP, that says something.

[uberspeed]

I can chime in for SoFla. Most dealers have told me allocation is out until Feb/Mar of '15. There are around 7 on various dealer lots but none configured well, as if they were afterthoughts. I'll keep tracking them since I'm keen to trade my 328i for a '15 228i M Sport. Regardless of scarcity though SoFla dealers usually haggle down on price but it takes some work and patience.

[akuan99]

Around here truecar reports about 2.7% discount.
I got 4% discount so from their perspective I did good.

[CF22]

Originally Posted by uberspeed

I can chime in for SoFla. Most dealers have told me allocation is out until Feb/Mar of '15. There are around 7 on various dealer lots but none configured well, as if they were afterthoughts. I'll keep tracking them since I'm keen to trade my 328i for a '15 228i M Sport. Regardless of scarcity though SoFla dealers usually haggle down on price but it takes some work and patience.

South Florida is a tough place to get a good deal on an M235i, don't know about the 228i but it's seems dealers have 2 or 3 of them in stock constantly. I got $500 off from the dealership plus $1500 in incentives which I found reasonable, others tried marking up so I walked.

Ordered in August and my car was delivered the first week of November, 2 to 3 months wait seems normal for the area.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Originally Posted by akuan99

Around here truecar reports about 2.7% discount.
I got 4% discount so from their perspective I did good.

When I ordered back in April I had to work real hard to get 5% off MSRP and it was a 4 mth wait for delivery

[uberspeed]

Originally Posted by CF22

South Florida is a tough place to get a good deal on an M235i, don't know about the 228i but it's seems dealers have 2 or 3 of them in stock constantly. I got $500 off from the dealership plus $1500 in incentives which I found reasonable, others tried marking up so I walked.

Ordered in August and my car was delivered the first week of November, 2 to 3 months wait seems normal for the area.

Just this wkd Lauderdale BMW has no 228i in stock and allocation for March 2015. All other searches in the state have turned up configurations I'm not the least bit interested in, most are no line with premium package which make me cringe :-/ all pertinent to 228i, not sure about 235i as that's not the model I'm interested in so I can't comment.

[huma]

In Houston, none of the dealers except one is willing to negotiate on the price of the 2 series.

[shark715]

Originally Posted by huma

In Houston, none of the dealers except one is willing to negotiate on the price of the 2 series.

Perhaps that's what the dealers told you, but you should always be suspect of what a car salesperson tells you. According to True Car you can get about 3 to 4% off MSRP in the Houston area. On Saturday one of my best friends ordered a well optioned 235 for his wife from Clear Lake and was able to negotiate $2300 off MSRP with no dealer fees. The dealer is projecting delivery between February 15 and March 15. While that's not a terrific deal, it's still far better than paying full price. I suppose it depends on a combination of how much the dealer needs to sell a car at the moment you happen to be there, and if the dealer believes you are a serious buyer and what they think they can get out of you.

[huma]

Originally Posted by shark715

Perhaps that's what the dealers told you, but you should always be suspect of what a car salesperson tells you.

Correct, Clear Lake BMW is the only dealership I found willing to negotiate on 2 series in our neck of the woods. Let's just say I was able to get a better deal than your friend.

[akuan99]

Originally Posted by ehagerty

When I ordered back in April I had to work real hard to get 5% off MSRP and it was a 4 mth wait for delivery

M235i was only available at MSRP when I ordered my 228i.

[G-Mann]

Originally Posted by akuan99

M235i was only available at MSRP when I ordered my 228i.

Purchased back in August and was able to test drive a 228i and the Plano dealer was willing to negotiate on the 228i and 4 series but I had to wait 2 weeks before a M235i even became available to test drive and dealers weren't doing much negotiating on the m235i. I did not get much off MSRP but did very well on my 2 trade in's.

[BMW335iOn18s]

IMO, unless you got 10% off MSRP, you got taken for a ride. I don't believe any of these "limited supply" stories.

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by BMW335iOn18s

IMO, unless you got 10% off MSRP, you got taken for a ride. I don't believe any of these "limited supply" stories.

I got taken for a ride then. And here I was thinking that I actually did okay...

[xtremcarl]

Originally Posted by BMW335iOn18s

IMO, unless you got 10% off MSRP, you got taken for a ride. I don't believe any of these "limited supply" stories.

Would you like to start a business where you negotiate the price for people and they give you a some money for the trouble. From what I have seen and was able to get myself very few people are getting 10%+ off MSRP even with ED.

[IM2C]

Originally Posted by MikeG12

Dealers don't have inventory because they aren't selling very well. My dealer on Cape Cod has only sold a couple(including mine).

This has been my experience as well. Local dealer told me that the 235 was spoken for before it got delivered. I knew for a fact that it sat on the to for over a month.

Still can't wait to get my hands on one, once my lease expires.

[scottomfg]

Originally Posted by BMW335iOn18s

IMO, unless you got 10% off MSRP, you got taken for a ride. I don't believe any of these "limited supply" stories.

This isn't true.

See, I can make declarative statements too. Seriously though, in my experience not a single dealer in my region is going to give 10% off a customer ordered car. Just not gonna happen. Even at a 7% discount all but one dealer in the entire northwest declined my business and that was for a car not having supply/demand issues (x1).

Now maybe 10% is reasonable if we're talking about a car that has been sitting on the lot for awhile, but I don't have experience with that.

[BMW335iOn18s]

Originally Posted by scottomfg

This isn't true.

See, I can make declarative statements too. Seriously though, in my experience not a single dealer in my region is going to give 10% off a customer ordered car. Just not gonna happen. Even at a 7% discount all but one dealer in the entire northwest declined my business and that was for a car not having supply/demand issues (x1).

Now maybe 10% is reasonable if we're talking about a car that has been sitting on the lot for awhile, but I don't have experience with that.

I got 10% off, and I was going to order. Luckily the exact car I wanted ended up being at the port. You guys need to pit dealers against each other and be patient. 10% off is easily doable. No european delivery. Invoice is 6.5% off of MSRP on the 2 series. Call a bunch of dealers and tell them you want to pay whatever 10% off is by saying you want X below invoice. Call around, SOMEONE WILL want to sell you the car. I promise. I had to work with 6 dealers and spend 2 weeks until I got what i wanted.

[scottomfg]

Originally Posted by BMW335iOn18s

I got 10% off, and I was going to order. Luckily the exact car I wanted ended up being at the port. You guys need to pit dealers against each other and be patient. 10% off is easily doable. No european delivery. Invoice is 6.5% off of MSRP on the 2 series. Call a bunch of dealers and tell them you want to pay whatever 10% off is by saying you want X below invoice. Call around, SOMEONE WILL want to sell you the car. I promise. I had to work with 6 dealers and spend 2 weeks until I got what i wanted.

Like I said--I was in touch with more than ten dealers. You can't play them off each other when they flat out refuse your offer and let you walk. As others have suggested in this thread, the differences likely have to do with what region you're in.

[BMW335iOn18s]

Well, 6.5-7% is pretty good too. You know you've done well when they start rejecting your business! I thought 10% was pretty average. Although many dealers were unwilling to do more than $1000 off of MSRP for me originally, I got a quote at 6% off. Then a bit more, and more, and more, and once I hit around 10%, dealers started telling me to go get that deal, so that's what I did. I know of a salesman who got 22% off MSRP, but that's employee pricing. Wish I could have gotten THAT!

[jamze132]

My 2er is the only 2er I see in San Antonio every day...