I got £2k off over the phone straight away when I bought mine early this month. No haggling needed. It reduced it sufficiently to compare to a good private which needed warranty adding. They also threw in iPod lead, new interior panels and also paid for a full oil service as it was due by the end of the year yet out of their AUC guidelines. Be wary of this. If a service item isnt due for three months they wont peform it. Check all service indicators for times and what is due when. Green Ok's will not equal a reasonably cheap year. I wasn't happy with the oil situation and I insisted it had 4 brand new Michelins. So effectively I saved £3500 all in. Not bad really. My intention is to punt it back towards end of year one for a newer one. Just be mindful prices are tailing off with the 2013 due around March. And dealers are taking pre orders already. It's a good time to buy. Was also offered gap insurance (declined) and life shine product (don't bother with it get a good detail and nano product applied instead).

Buy one... They are an awesome machine, Just make sure you pick yourself a well specc'd car, IE good colour, upgraded stereo / cd changer/ usb input, heated seats and anything else on offer, A poverty spec might not bother you initially but after a while it will bug you.. Surprisingly the well specced cars aren't that much more expensive than the poverty spec ones, You will also find it much easier to sell on in the future should you need to move it on. I chose a non EDC car as it wasn't an option I particularly wanted, however it seems a very popular option and will also help the resale if needed.

Gosh that's pretty much back down to Q1 2009 levels.....

Do you mind me asking which dealership this was...

Cheers, can you remember which dealership?

Well it didn't go to plan, my very reasonable offer was rejected and £250 off instead. Next!

You can't generalise on AUC cars....if the dealer has only just bought the car they won't discount it too much....if they've owned it for 90 days chances are they will bite your arm off as most dealers have a 90 day holding period and have to trade the car if it's not sold by then. Believe it or not "what the car owes them" has a huge impact...dealers hate selling cars for a loss even if they paid too much for it.

Must have sold as they have zero stock of M3's

Not sure! A similar deal was available at my local dealer on an almost identical car. That sold the same day they advertised it, which is why I haggled the stratstone car to see what was possible. Just keep pushing.

Can these cars be financed or do you have to buy them outright? Also can they be leased on a multi year deal and traded in say 18months down the line?