MickeyTER

Hey guys, first off i'd like to thank all of you for the valuable information you

provide daily. I guess im one of the young guns of this board im only

19 years old but lets get to the point. Ive dreamed of owning an m3 for a

long time, its to bad i couldnt be apart of the e46 legacy

(no disrespect i know its still alive) but i feel its out of its prime now.

anyway I make $15/hour. Ive never

owned a bmw or leased a car. (I currently drive an 07 Camry v6) I'm curious

to how much i should start

saving. I will wait out the mark up fee's as i have read they will reach $20k

and so on. How much will i need to put down? Im thinking

36 month term with 15k

miles/year. I understand the car has not came out nor has an offical price

but id really apperciate if yall could help me out with some kind of number to

work with. Perhaps sharing your current m3 lease terms? would it be worth

instead to finance for 7 years? Any kind of info would be helpful im very

excited about owning the new m3. *its sort of going to be

my 21year old b-day present to

my self - i live with my parents and pretty much have zero expenses so i

think this is very possible - Id apperciate any info or opinions - thanks again this board is sweet

PS: I respect the elders of this board - I have made several wise descisons based on the stuff the users on this board provide - cant really thank yall enough - not to mention this place isnt a riot full of haters etc.

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Matt530i

Assuming you're in the US, for a 3-year lease it should be close to $1,000/month with little or no money down. You might get a better price if the demand tails off a lot.

As for whether it's worth it to lease or finance for 7 years it depends on what you're going to do with the car after.

If you want to drive the car for 7 years then, for the total lowest cost you should finance unless the lease interest rate is significantly lower than financing. A lease is essentially two loans. One that you repay interest and principle each month, the other an interest only loan (on the residual). Financing the whole thing reduces your total finance costs.

If you don't know what you want to do with the car after three years then leasing might be for you. You'll pay a little more interest, but you essentially have a put option (the right to buy the car at a given price) at the end of the lease. If the fair market value is more than the residual, you could in theory buy it at the end of the lease and then flip it right away for a profit. If the fair market value is less than the residual you should walk away from the car and BMW takes the additional loss. Keep in mind this is only for a closed-end lease where the purchase price at the end of the lease is fixed.

Osnabrueck

Hi Mickey. Welcome to GCZ.

Your question struck home with me, so please forgive me for being a cantankerous killjoy.

When I was in my early 20s my only wish was to drive a BMW. I made good money for my age and had some pretty low overhead, so when I did some table math I thought there'd be no problem floating a nice car into my driveway.

Unfortunately, my daydreams got interrupted when I decided to start my own business and got even further off track when I moved to Germany and got married.

Fast forward to present day. I'm now 29, my wife and I have good jobs with some disposable income and we're ready to get a new car. Still, even with some stretch in our budget, it will be a vary difficult decision for us to justify purchasing a car that's anything beyond a reasonable necessity. Why? Because cars aren't just expensive, they're veritable money pits. While I can now afford the sort of car I always dreamt of, I'm now also cursed with the wisdom of knowing that costs associated with owning or leasing such a car may far outweigh the the enjoyment I'll get from driving the thing.

Let's take a car that costs $30,000. Assuming you put $2,000 down and get financed at 7% on a 48 month loan, your monthly payments will tip the scales at $670 a month. Nothing to sneeze at.

Apply the same math to a car like the new M3, and you're looking at a monthly in the neighborhood of $1,500. A lease could probably reduce your payment down to $1,200 or so. But stop, we haven't even started on insurance. When we take that into consideration you can just as soon tack on about $300 a month. Also, because of your age, you'll be paying a penalty for being a male under 25 with a sports car.

Unless something very special happens over the course of the next two years Mickey - you can't afford an M3. It would be like nuking your wallet with a 30 megaton bomb of liability.

You're young Mickey. When I was your age I didn't quite realize how damn long life is. Trust me, from the perspective of somebody 10 years older than you, the carnal desire to drive something fast and German doesn't wear with age - it's just that your fiduciary concerns grow.

The best gift you could give yourself right now is a car that runs great and costs you nothing to maintain. Take all that money you're saving and sock it away for the next M3 that'll be coming out in 2016.

Now I know what you're saying. 2016?! That's an eternity from now! But by that time you'll be 27 and you'll have your entire life ahead of you.

In an alternate reality - you'll be 27 and have wished you didn't blow a fortune on that old dog of an E92 M3 that siphoned your wallet dry and perhaps caused nothing but trouble.

MickeyTER

^ that killed me bro...i know everything you said is true which is why it sorta hurts. im soaking in everything you said half of me is trying to fight this and make this situation work. i keep telling my self im only 21 ONCE so shine on! 2016 is a longs way who knows by then i might not even want the damn thing, and i might have regrets of not buying it when i was younger - you see my point? I really want to thank you for taking the time to reply man that was solid. My emotions and brain are so confused right now as what to do. i guess im just torn between the decision. I've decided that my next car will be a lease because i want a new car every 2/3 years. So you were saying around $1,200 a month?


Thanks again,
--Mickey

PS: Whats crazy is i have been in the works for trying to start open my own business just like you were...

NarutoRamen

MicketyTer...dude I'm in the same boat as you. I'll tell you this much, even if you can afford to pay for the car, your insurance is going to be even more. Believe me, I had an M3 and my insurance was crazy high.

Right now I'm plannin on purchasing the upcoming M3 but not for another 2-3 years. Why? Because I'm 23 right now and will be 25-26 when I get it so that means my insurance will be a lot lower. So beside waiting out the first year kinks and electrical glitches that happend I'm also going to have to pay a lot less for my insurance, on top of that add the fact that I will have an extra 2-3 years of saving money for the m3. Get my point yet? I don't have hard numbers like Osna but my meaning is the same.

Take your time bro, there will always be something newer and better out.

MickeyTER

i see where your coming from...may i ask how much your insurance was for the m3? - its just difficult for me to let this go - ive wanted a nice car for my 21st birthday for a very long time...im trying though to make the logical decison...

NarutoRamen

My insurance was almost 2k for 6months, so it was almost 4k a year. Plus I was under my parents name to try to bring the cost down yet it was still high. For 3 cars it was like 4600 for the year. Now all of this without even a ticket on my record. That is too much money for a 19-20 year old to be paying out.

MickeyTER

Where are you getting $1,200.00 A Month From? If you can lease a $75k Car (750i) for $1,050.00 A Month. Your number $1,200 doesnt sound realistic, I would assume along the lines of $850-950 - What do the rest of yall think?

Demian

Lease rates are arbitrary and if the car is limited and there is a waiting list, you can damn well be sure that BMW Finance has a nice large lease rate. BTW - lease rates change every month, so, what is true one month for a lease rate, won't be true the next month. My first guess is that if you put $10,000 down and leased an M3 - you might be around $1,000 'a month' lease payment, $350 a month in insurance, at least $120 a month in petrol - so, for a planning process, you'll need about $15,000 in your bank account and earn about $3,000 a month after taxes (take home) just to live frugally. BTW - when you lease you basically are agreeing to return the car in IMMACULAT shape. Any wear and tear not covered by warranty is your responsibility.

I lease a 2006 BMW 330xi and I badly want the 335xi (or a 335i). However, I will save up my money for a decently large down payment in two years for the 335xi. Unless everything falls apart between now and then. You can never tell.

My used BMW came from a lease assumption - I paid the original lessor $2,000 in cash, she signed over the lease agreement & papers and my monthly payment is $463 with local taxes. After licensing the car, I was only $3,000 grand in on a car with 5,000 miles. It isn't an M3 or a 335i but, I'm happy with it for now.

Osnabrueck

Thanks for doing the numbers Demian. Sounds about right. BMW will have a mile-long waiting list for this car and dealers are bound to be charging premiums on top of already high prices.

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