Discussion
This is probably a how long is a piece of string question.
Generally we seem to see an LCI on BMW platforms about 3.5 years after production begins, and 3.5 years later we get an all-new model. The R56 production began in November 2006 and an LCI appeared in June 2010 and production ended in late 2013.
Growing increasingly tired of the ridiculous used market for these where it seems if you want a half decent spec year old car the dealers are asking new-from-broker money and won't negotiate, we are almost at the stage of just placing a factory order but wouldn't want a car to arrive 2 weeks before the LCI is announced..
Anyone heard much? All I can find online is a load of speculation about new engines from a blog posted in January..
Generally we seem to see an LCI on BMW platforms about 3.5 years after production begins, and 3.5 years later we get an all-new model. The R56 production began in November 2006 and an LCI appeared in June 2010 and production ended in late 2013.
Growing increasingly tired of the ridiculous used market for these where it seems if you want a half decent spec year old car the dealers are asking new-from-broker money and won't negotiate, we are almost at the stage of just placing a factory order but wouldn't want a car to arrive 2 weeks before the LCI is announced..
Anyone heard much? All I can find online is a load of speculation about new engines from a blog posted in January..
335d said:
Perhaps this varies by model but it wasn't my experience with the F55 when we were looking a couple of months ago. We were after a Cooper / Cooper D 5 door with a pretty good specification and a list of around £24k. The best we could find new (including brokers) was about a 15% discount, but we found a one year old ex-staff car with 7k miles at about 42% discount on new.
The key to the level of discount seemed to be the options. While options are discounted less than the car itself for a new factory order, they seem to be discounted to virtually zero for a used car.
This also allowed us to get the 5 year TLC package which has since been discontinued in favour of a 3 year package, and to extend to 8 years with TLC XL. So this is another advantage of a used car, as long as it had TLC originally.
We ideally want a 2016/16 Cooper with XL Navigation, Chilli Pack and a few bits like PDC but nothing outrageous. It seems these sell for about £16-20k depending on the spec and I got a new car down to £18500.The key to the level of discount seemed to be the options. While options are discounted less than the car itself for a new factory order, they seem to be discounted to virtually zero for a used car.
This also allowed us to get the 5 year TLC package which has since been discontinued in favour of a 3 year package, and to extend to 8 years with TLC XL. So this is another advantage of a used car, as long as it had TLC originally.
I'd really much rather buy the year old car - for both the tax and the TLC issue - but I don't want to pay virtually new car money for it
335d said:
That sounds expensive to me. Ours (a 5 door Cooper D) was 1 year old when we bought it in January. It has the bits we wanted - Media XL, Chili Pack, PDC, heated seats, metallic, TLC and some other stuff that's nice but not essential - Privacy glass, HUD. I have probably forgotten a few bits. We paid £14k from a Mini dealer.
Weirdly the Cooper D's seem to be noticeably cheaper than the Coopers. Odd, given they cost more new.Gassing Station | New MINIs | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff