[etherbored]

first of all, as i'm new here and need all the support i can get, please post a note with your impressions/feedback/suggestions/criticisms/et al. deal?

second of all, i'll bottom-line it for those of you who don't want the hear the whole story: 42K for an auto/metallic 330i w/ premium, sport, and cold weather packages (as well as the ubiquitous satellite radio prep). naturally leather and xenons fall under those packages. i simply can't see going large in the line and sitting on leatherette. in fact, i can't see going large in the line and doing much less than loaded (less the nav, which seems quite weak).

what it took to get to that (in my estimation) mediocre price, was nightmarish.

forgive the length...

in seattle, the e90 is in achingly short supply, as i imagine it is nationally. it's simply one of those bad supply chain/consumer demand timings that seem to occur once every few christmas times when a new and inane toy is released and becomes the must-have trinket of the year (think furbie, tickle-me-elmo, cabbage patch). only the e90 is no trinket. this time, i feel BMW engineering team has delivered big time.

i began my pseudo-quest innocently enough a month ago, following a friend of mine who had just one month before purchased an '05 e46 to one of the three dealerships here in the puget sound to meet the "nice" and "low pressure" rep that she dealt with. upon meeting the lady, she explained that she'd been with the dealership for almost 60 days and that her only other experience was military fleet sales in germany (i.e. an order taker). i asked about the pre-owned inventory and we looked through about a half-dozen models that i found either one thing or another that wasn't to my satisfaction (not the right wheels, wrong trim package, too many small body flaws). on the way back into the showroom i casually asked about the e90. we looked, i expressed mild interest, and the next thing you know we're driving. i fell instantly and immediately (and above all, silently) in love. the rep was embarassingly devoid of most of the basics on the car (how to check the oil, activating cruise control, how to program the universal receiver, on and on). back at the lot she said that stock was basically at 1 (the arctic that we'd driven) and about 6 were expected in 2 weeks. i'll call you as soon as they arrive, she promised. 2 weeks came and went and i heard not a peep. several days past the 2 week mark, i called her. "oh, all those cars were sold when they came in" she said. i asked how many she sold. "1 or 2", she replied. i thought to myself that if she had an ounce of ambition she could have added another to that tally. not to worry, there's another shipment coming in about 10 days.

i dropped by the lot the following weekend, this time with my girlfriend, to show her the model and let her drive a bit. after this drive, we got down to some specifics as to which packages and colors i might be interested in. the rep sent us with a spec sheet that simply had the list prices and details on the forthcoming stock. titanium or graphite are in my top 10 list, i explained. she scanned and found 2 graphites that a northern california dealer had that perhaps a dealer trade could be arranged for. "i'll talk to the inventory manager at the dealership and call you first thing monday", she promised.

wednesday afternoon as i sat enjoying coffee with a buddy, she called with the news that said graphite could be obtained and "would you like to provide me with a credit card number for a deposit"? "i'll need to think about this" was the best i could do in the middle of a busy starbucks and told her i'd call her back (hoping she might find some irony in that as she'd not followed though in a timely manner on anything thus far). 30-45 ,inutes later i answered the phone at my desk to the sound of "just wanted to see what you decided...". i made it clear that to place a deposit before agreing upon a price was tantamount to lunacy and asked for her best price paying in cash (as in greenback duckets) and via a finance route. "oh, due to high demand for this model, they're not being discounted" she replied, adding that she may be able to "get a couple hundred knocked off for paying cash". am i the only sane one here or did she not just say that on a $44,000.00 car i was obliged to pay full sticker? i told her that i'd researced "invoice" (a huge misnomer if ever there was one), it's a shade over 39K, and i'd be willing to split the difference with her @ 41.8K. she said there'd be no sense in presenting it to her manager. i thanked her for her time and said that i was in loose negotiations with one of the other three dealers. she asked that i send her any deal and that her manager would generally agree to meet it as their primary competetion across town was "not supposed to be, but they're undercutting us". a few days later i forwarded her an e-mail from dealership B with a negotiated price of 41.8k. she called thanking me for the note and that she'd talk to the sales manager, but they'd meet the 41.8K price. i agreed that we had a deal. i mentioned to dealership B that i'd be in touch as their offering would take 6 weeks to arrive. no sooner had i returned to my desk when i found a voicemail from dealership A rep saying that they would not honor the 41.8K as the unit dealership B was quoting me on was not automatic. out of frustration and principle i called her back and asked how customers usually take the news that an agreed-upon price was no longer valid. she began to stammer and i made it clear i was buying from dealership B. meanwhile, dealership B sends me an e-mail that their unit was no longer available (and it was auto, BTW).

at this point, i threw up my proverbial hands and realized that it simply wasn't my time.

the following day, my boss said she heard i was buying a new car and asked how it was going. talk about a sore nerve... oddly enough, she and her husband had purchased 3 cars from a rep they spoke highly of @ dealership B (very close to the office, concidentally) and as she produced his card on cue, suggested i talk to him. 3 days passed and i relented enough to call who i just knew was going to be a typical cliched slime-weasel. he was *anything* but that, generously picking up the pieces of the charred wreckage that was my process @ dealership A and found either a titanium (on its way from california) or graphite (on its way from munchen). 42.2K was his price based on the referral from my boss, who he has a good relationship with. i begged for the .2 off waiving "costco pricing" flag, to which he agreed.

whew.

now, if you've read this far, comes the kicker. titanium is available here/now pre-price-increase. graphite may be subject to the 9/1/05 price increase and therefore unavailable at 42K.

bless you all for your patience...
-e-