Where's everyone buying their M4 from?

[13 DJP]

Evening chums

I'm trying to get a sensible deal on an M4 Competition with some spec' and to be honest it's proving to be a fruitless task!

Have so far checked car wow, coast to coast and 3 different dealers directly.

So far no-one seems to have half a clue about what they're selling. I know exactly what we want and can place the order immediately if the deal is right.

I'm e-mailing them the exact spec' with the order numbers as per the new LCi 2018 brochure, production of which starts next month and they still can't get it right!

Offers seem to be ranging between 3-7% discount. None of this 15-17% that seemed so prevalent a couple of months ago.

What's changed? Why does no-one know what they're selling?

Any recommendations?

Cheers
Dave

[13 DJP]

Max Maxasson said:

You will tend to get the best offers face to face in a dealership rather than emailing or telephoning.
Where in the country are you?

In the home counties Max

[13 DJP]

Appreciate the replies chaps

We seem to have had some movement this afternoon, so fingers crossed for getting it tied up early part of next week.

I`ll keep you updated!

[13 DJP]

Wills2 said:

So did they do a deal?

Well, kind of! We`re struggling with spec` at the minute as it seems impossible to actually confirm what comes with what!

Trying to spec` a competition in Sakhir Orange with Full Individual black leather with Sakhir stitching (which has handily been removed from the new brochure, but can be special ordered). But no-one can confirm if the full individual leather includes the leather instrument binnacle or not (conflicting answers) and if it also comes with sakhir stitching if that`s specced with the rest of the interior!

Specced a bunch of other odds and sods also which we have finally managed to ascertain what includes what.

Their options really are a minefield, not helped by the fact that literally no-one knows what you will actually get if you order certain things!

Our dealer has been in contact with Munich/Stuttgart but timing isn`t the best with new reg`s yesterday.

Edited by 13 DJP on Thursday 2nd March 16:27

[13 DJP]

Finally tied up the deal this evening.

Not allowed to reveal the exact deal but very happy. 6 months eta though due to some bespoke bits being done.

Roll on September!

[13 DJP]

So, she`s landed!







Excellent deal done by Dave Weston at Ocean BMW, Plymouth. Give him a shout if you`re looking for a deal on a new BMW.

In a sea of muppets who didn`t know what day of the week it was and couldn`t negotiate to save their lives, he was a breath of fresh air!

A cracking deal and properly looked after from day one. It took a 5.5 hour train journey and a slightly shorter length of time to drive home

Edited by 13 DJP on Thursday 26th October 11:25

[13 DJP]

Wills2 said:

Very nice, any shots of the Sakhir stitching against the black leather? I bet that looks great.

Will try and get some, it does look epic

As does the steering wheel!

Unfortunately it was throwing down with rain when we collected her and really dark so interior pics haven`t come out well at all. Typically work ballistic and missus 9 months pregnant, so has been tucked away since we got back Sat evening

[13 DJP]

[13 DJP]

jimbooo said:

congrats on the new car and also your pointer towards Dave at Ocean.

Off the back of your post I'm currently going through a quote with him now for an individual order for my next M4.

Excellent chum. I did tell Dave about this thread, so mention me and he`ll look after you

[13 DJP]

julian64 said:

I love these threads....

" I got a cracking deal but the dealer said I can't tell anyone about the price"

You've swallowed the BS hook line and sinker. Take a minute to contemplate what posting that on a widely read website has done for the dealers business?

There is no problem with saying what the deal is, for two reasons.

1. No-one will know if your fibbing or not
2. And the dealer only said that lot to you to make you feel special.

If you're happy with the deal then congratulations on a stunning car and enjoy. but the 'I can't tell you or the dealer will be in trouble' is below the level of adult conversation.

No BS buddy, bud thanks for the input. Let me re-phrase, I could tell you, but don`t want to. I used to be in the trade so am well aware of what can and can`t be done.

I dealt with a lot of idiots in this process and one particularly helpful knowledgeable chap, who went above and beyond. I am not willing to put a figure out there that anyone thinks is obtainable without a serious amount of work.

It took a great deal of time and effort on both parts to come to a sensible deal we were both happy with.

If you are in the market for one, I highly recommend Dave, but you will have to negotiate your own deal. I can only say he looked after us very well.

He was also not aware of this thread until we collected the car. likewise I did not recommend him on here until after collection either. Therefore the fact that I started a thread at the beginning point of this journey had no bearing on the deal that was struck at the time.

[13 DJP]

julian64 said:

Well better that you just say I don't want to tell the world what I bought my car for than make up something about a secret conspiracy that only you and the dealer are in on. its fair enough if you don't want to tell everyone.

Funnily enough I posted the question here on the 'ask a salesman anything' thread and seemed to get the expected answer.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Fair do`s, my bad, I consider myself told, bad choice of words on my part. I won`t do it again Mum

[13 DJP]

Wow! So glad I bothered to update this thread

This was initially intended as an info excercise to assist in placing an order. I updated with the details as thought it may help someone else and so few people bother updating these days.

I'm going to address a couple of quick issues and leave it at that. My baby boy was born yesterday and to be honest is far more important than winning a wking competition with a couple of idiots on the internet.

Justin-xiyf2 said:

For the record, Ocean came back to me and were not even a penny different from my local dealer. Guessing the “deal of the century” posted above was just “the deal”. And open to everyone, that asks.

May I suggest if you've had two identical quotes from two different dealers over a couple of days you're not trying hard enough! You've clearly received a standard offer and not negotiated hard enough.

Dave was a diamond but his first offer is not where we ended up, that took several weeks of hard negotiation. You making two calls in two days does not equal the same level of commitment.

[13 DJP]

julian64 said:

Anyone with a manual version?

They're all manual boxes it transpires, this one just has no clutch! Hence no hold assist or "creep"

[13 DJP]

steakandchips said:

I love this one as well. “Not allowed to tell you what the deal is but I’m really pleased” is usually followed by the salesman is now my best friend so “mention me and he’ll look after you”. Add in “I’ve worked in the trade so I know what I’m doing” and you’ve got the full house of PH poster boasty bks.

Not sure how this is boasting mate? I've worked in sales my entire life and have run three successful dealerships in the past, so yes I feel I have half an idea on margin terminology and negotiation.

My apologies if this offends you in some way

[13 DJP]

Wills2 said:

Fab! Love the wheel as well.

The wheel is beautiful and along with the stereo are two options that are both significantly better than expected

[13 DJP]

jimbooo said:

blimey guys why all the hate

i have no issue at all the specifics of a deal being confidential. salesmen aren't devils who should all be forced to match the best deal they have ever done. They have to make a living and if they all had their bottom margin hung out to dry on a public forum then they would quickly be out of business. Some customers are poor negotiators and make the salesman more money - some are tough cookies and the margin gets squeezed. Its the high margin sales that give the buffer to allow for the low margin sales after all!

The use of this thread for me is it gives me another option for someone to get a quote from before taking the plunge. There are hundreds of dealers in the UK and I'm not going to contact all of them to get a quote. Plymouth is a few hundred miles from me. I would never have contacted them without this thread so the info is useful even without specifics mentioned.

If Dave at Ocean can give me a better deal than the others I'm contacting then fantastic. If he cant then that's fine also.

Aside from figures (i haven't had my quote yet, hes crunching numbers currently) i can vouch for Daves attitude. My build is a pain in the arse. Individual paint colour, individual interior, colour coded Mperformance parts etc etc. hes already clarified many things for me about the IND side of things that two other dealers just shrugged their shoulders at and looked at me blankly with a "i cant be arsed to find out" attitude.

if you want to see if Dave can offer a good deal then give him a call. (please wait a week or so i can utilise his current margin buffer first lol)

Nice one fella, best of luck to you. My comment reference Dave looking after you, wasn't just reference the price. He did go above and beyond with us and getting spec' sorted? It wasn't just a box ticking excercise, he had to negotiate several times directly with both BMW UK and Germany as to what could be achieved.

Several of our interior bits are not "off the shelf" and he did a cracking job of getting the price right and also keeping us informed and updated.