Leasing a BMW

[LukasBMW]

Quick question. I’m considering leasing a BMW 335i. I love my 540i and it is the most incredible car I’ve ever driven…but maintaining a 9 year old $62,000 car can suck. Rather then get hit with an unexpected $1,000 bill every 3 months, I’d rather just pay a monthly rate and never have any worries. There is something to be said for a consistent budget.

1. I know BMW now covers brakes as part of lease maintenance. Will they give me shit if I go through brakes twice as often as a normal driver? I’m a very aggressive driver and go through brakes more often then normal.

2. I also have a habit of going through engine mounts rather quickly. Again, will BMW give me shit if they keep having to replace engine mounts? I know BMW can now look up the owners driving habits on the computer by scanning for engine RPM and vehicle speed from the ECU. Could my aggressive driving cause BMW to void my warranty?

3. If I take my car to the dragstrip, will BMW give me shit like Mitsubishi did to some Lancer owners? Or is BMW more understanding about stuff like this?

4. How has BMW Financial treated you? When you returned the car did they nitpick or were they reasonable about any defects?

5. Honda has a $1,500 lease waiver program. Basically you are allowed up to 3 separate defects of up to $500 each that are forgiven at the end of the lease. EX: Trunk dent for $400, headliner tear for $300, cracked taillight for $450. Does BMW offer anything like this?

6. Honda also has a “one pay lease.” Does BMW offer a program like this?

I hate to see my 540 go as I think the e39 is the best 5 series ever made, but having a car I could own worry free and beat on without fear of expensive repairs sounds good…especially if BMW offers some attractive lease options like Honda.

[bigdog68]

Well BMW leasing has been good to me so far. I have a 2005 325i Seadan and drive very agressivly, I have 45k on the car now (which is the lease limit but I am buying it). I also had an 05 X5 on lease (for my wife) but we sold it to my brother after she fell in love with a new Land Rover that was on our BMW dealerships lot.

1. I have had the brake pads replaced twice, the rotors once and it was free. No problem with track time as I autoX and my salesmen who is also my service advisor knows I do this as I rave about the cars performance.

2. No engine mount problems so I dont know, but I would have to guess they would take care of it, hell they replaced my leather shift boot when I ripped it, for free.

3. No track problems. I take my car to the drag strip and autoX with no problems, if they know they dont care as I said I have talked about track times with them. I have had my transmission replaced due to a problem with the syncro rings, no problem . I have had my entire suspension replaced bearings, bushings - shocks and springs, when I complained that the car was starting to feel loose.

4. BMW Financial has been great, I have not turned in a car and I am planning on buying this one but for other matters I have had to deal with them for they are above and beyond a bank because they understand the passion we have for Bimmers. When I sold my X5 to my brother they were great and actaully handled his financing.

5. As for turning it in I am keeping this car so I dont know and sold the other.

6. They do have a one pay lease but you dont save a dime, I thought about it and it didnt make sense.

I am very happy with the whole experiance. I am on the list for the new E90 M3 Sedan and my lease is suposed to end this January but I won't get the M till May of 09, my salesmen sugested I buy out my current car and he would CPO it for me which would take the warrenty to 100k and do all this for free. I will either write a check or go through BMW Financial, not sure yet. I have thought about the 335i but am going to pass for now, keep my car and wait for my trip to Germany in May of 09 to pick up the M3. Good luck hope you enjoy the new 335i let us know.

[dello]

i don't think you should lease a bmw. Based on the information you provided, BMW is very picky when it terms of lease return-unless you're going to get another bmw once the lease expires-you're going to have to pay alot for anything they consider "abnormal" abuse. Be careful. A buddy of mine return his 745 and they tried to rape him with wear and tear, and the car look perfect.

[RNeil]

Leasing has a very high effective interest rate. I would never do it.

[bigdog68]

The reasons are the per month payment, the way to make it worthwile is if you own as business and you can run it through the company, then every payment is a deduction, I am one of the owners of my fathers company and we leasedour cars through it, I did pay cash for our Land Rover though, however in May of 2009 when I get my M3 sedan I am not sure what I plan to do with it. So leases do have some advantages.

[timsev]

Leasing has a very high effective interest rate. I would never do it.

please do not reply if you don't know what you're talking about

[Jhunter]

i don't think you should lease a bmw. Based on the information you provided, BMW is very picky when it terms of lease return-unless you're going to get another bmw once the lease expires-you're going to have to pay alot for anything they consider "abnormal" abuse. Be careful. A buddy of mine return his 745 and they tried to rape him with wear and tear, and the car look perfect.

Not true. BMWFS lease turn ins are inspected by an independent third party so it does not matter whether you are buying a new BMW or not. I have also found them to be very liberal when it comes to damage. Small scratches, door dings, stone chips are a non-issue.

[Jhunter]

Leasing has a very high effective interest rate. I would never do it.

Actually BMWFS lease rates are usually lower than traditional financing. When BMW wants to sell more cars they create lease incentives with below market money factors. I received the equivlant of a 3.9% interest rate on my 335 coupe, a car with strong demand.

[Jhunter]

The reasons are the per month payment, the way to make it worthwile is if you own as business and you can run it through the company, then every payment is a deduction, I am one of the owners of my fathers company and we leasedour cars through it, I did pay cash for our Land Rover though, however in May of 2009 when I get my M3 sedan I am not sure what I plan to do with it. So leases do have some advantages.

The tax thing is so often quoted and misunderstood. Whether you pay cash, have a loan or lease you recover the cost of the car over the ownership period to the extent of your business use. There is a difference in the timing of when the tax benefit is realized but generally it is not significant enough to drive the decision of lease versus buy.

In any event, you can only deduct vehicle expenses to the extent of your business use. If you deduct all expenses then you must report compensation income for the value of your personal use (which can be a big number). IRS does not give you a free lunch just because you lease a car.

[rgpie75]

The tax thing is so often quoted and misunderstood. Whether you pay cash, have a loan or lease you recover the cost of the car over the ownership period to the extent of your business use. There is a difference in the timing of when the tax benefit is realized but generally it is not significant enough to drive the decision of lease versus buy.

In any event, you can only deduct vehicle expenses to the extent of your business use. If you deduct all expenses then you must report compensation income for the value of your personal use (which can be a big number). IRS does not give you a free lunch just because you lease a car.

Excellent point. Though I'm sure that doesn't stop a lot of people from claiming it is only for business use and deducting the whole expense. Get a pretty good tax break that way. Granted, it's also illegal.

[kellie]

1. I know BMW now covers brakes as part of lease maintenance. Will they give me shit if I go through brakes twice as often as a normal driver? I’m a very aggressive driver and go through brakes more often then normal.
That shouldn't be a problem. These cars are meant to be driven hard. If the brakes need to be replaced, we replace them. I rarely look at vehicle history for brake repairs.


2. I also have a habit of going through engine mounts rather quickly. Again, will BMW give me shit if they keep having to replace engine mounts? I know BMW can now look up the owners driving habits on the computer by scanning for engine RPM and vehicle speed from the ECU. Could my aggressive driving cause BMW to void my warranty?
We can't look up as much as you think we can. The engineers have more access than we do, but unless you're smoking engines, trannies, clutches, or other major parts, or the car has CLEARLY been abused, it won't be a big deal. If, for example, you money-shift your car and destroy the engine, BMW might ask us to send them the DME, and deny the warranty claim based off what they find. That's a worst case scenario, but it could happen. Most people don't abuse their daily drivers though.

I doubt you'll need to have any engine mounts replaced. I've never seen them fail on a new car.


3. If I take my car to the dragstrip, will BMW give me shit like Mitsubishi did to some Lancer owners? Or is BMW more understanding about stuff like this?
If you're repeatedly bringing your car in for warranty repairs that are obviously due to abuse or negligence on your part, it can cause some problems. Aside from that, BMW isn't out to void your warranty for any little thing. Use common sense and you should be fine.