[chriscross]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and have a question regarding the diplomatic sales programme that BMW runs.

I have purchased an X6 30d in 2016 through the BMW diplomatic sales in Vienna, Austria, and am considering to order the new G06. I am wondering if any of you had a chance to buy a car this way and what discounts you were offered by the dealership?

As I understand, there is the discount offered directly from BMW Munich (available only for limited periods of time throughout the year, around 3500 EUR for the X6) and there are other incentives offered by the local dealership (such as % off the diplomatic price or the UN/OSCE package that includes a full tank, rubber mats etc. The price list itself is also different since there is no VAT included (or the NoVA eco tax in Austria). However, I am reading on the forum that people get loyalty discounts, reduced interest rates (money factor) and other discounts (not diplomatic sales though)...

I get that not many out there have actual experience in buying a car through this programme, but I hope to get at least some info on how to negotiate further. Don't want to get stuck on the same discounts as 3-4 years ago, I'm sure I didn't get all the incentives as first time BMW buyer back then.

Thanks!

[AlexTheGiant21]

Originally Posted by chriscross

Hi, I'm new to this forum and have a question regarding the diplomatic sales programme that BMW runs.

I have purchased an X6 30d in 2016 through the BMW diplomatic sales in Vienna, Austria, and am considering to order the new G06. I am wondering if any of you had a chance to buy a car this way and what discounts you were offered by the dealership?

As I understand, there is the discount offered directly from BMW Munich (available only for limited periods of time throughout the year, around 3500 EUR for the X6) and there are other incentives offered by the local dealership (such as % off the diplomatic price or the UN/OSCE package that includes a full tank, rubber mats etc. The price list itself is also different since there is no VAT included (or the NoVA eco tax in Austria). However, I am reading on the forum that people get loyalty discounts, reduced interest rates (money factor) and other discounts (not diplomatic sales though)...

I get that not many out there have actual experience in buying a car through this programme, but I hope to get at least some info on how to negotiate further. Don't want to get stuck on the same discounts as 3-4 years ago, I'm sure I didn't get all the incentives as first time BMW buyer back then.

Thanks!

I don't think they offer incentives or that negotiations are allowed on the Military and Diplomatic Sales vehicles, at least that I saw in my experience. The way mine went, they put down the price of the vehicle listed in the pricing guide, put in all the options I selected for my vehicle, then took off 10% the total price.

I know most people here lease their BMWs and get anywhere from 7-9% off on average; however, I cannot speak on their experience as I've never leased before. I'm not too sure how similar it is with financing, but when we're talking 100k, an extra 1-3% definitely makes a difference...to me at least haha.

Back to your question at hand, like I mentioned above, I am not saying no or that it is not possible, but from what I saw it wasn't an option. Hope I was able to help!

[chriscross]

Thanks! Was the 10% off of the regular (non mil/diplo, no tax) price list or the diplomatic price list? At least in AT they are two different things, the diplomatic price list has no package options, some options are not mandatory, but the prices are lower, even if you just deduct the taxes.

I calculated that my F16 final price was around 57% of the total Austrian value that I could come up with in the online configurator. Back then, I waited for the BMW Munich 3,5k EUR discount that was available for diplomatic as well as regular sales and got some minor discounts on top from the dealer. Where were you buying it, Austria, Germany, Belgium? *EDIT: Just saw your location is S.Korea. Things might be very different from Europe there

[AlexTheGiant21]

Originally Posted by chriscross

Thanks! Was the 10% off of the regular (non mil/diplo, no tax) price list or the diplomatic price list? At least in AT they are two different things, the diplomatic price list has no package options, some options are not mandatory, but the prices are lower, even if you just deduct the taxes.

I calculated that my F16 final price was around 57% of the total Austrian value that I could come up with in the online configurator. Back then, I waited for the BMW Munich 3,5k EUR discount that was available for diplomatic as well as regular sales and got some minor discounts on top from the dealer. Where were you buying it, Austria, Germany, Belgium? *EDIT: Just saw your location is S.Korea. Things might be very different from Europe there

It was off the total price all together. Diplomatic price + all the options selected off the ordering guide - 10%.

Maybe. I'm a contractor working on a U.S. military installation in Korea and ordered a U.S. spec vehicle. When I was looking at different series, she told me to build it in the configurater and then take off 10% and that would get about what I would pay. The Diplomatic/Military price was already discounted, so the 10% only helped and I paid a little less than the numbers I was running online.

[chriscross]

I wonder if the diplomatic price list is the same all around the world, I remember my dealer mentioned something along those lines once...

From my experience negotiating with the official dealership, I always felt that BMW Munich is boss and sets the minimum prices and interest rates (if you go with their BMW Financial Services). The dealers then get a cut from the price presented in the price lists (apparently more on equipment than the base cars), but also add the interest rate on top of the BMW Munich's minimum to make money there too.

The trick to get the best deal I guess would be to know what those dealership profit margins are (I don't think there can be any negotiation with Munich on their prices) and what the lowest possible BMW Munich interest rate is. The financing interest rates (or money factor as people call it here) that I got offered without any down payment (was told that it doesn't matter) were:

2016: 3% (or 0.00125 money factor)
2019: 3,1% (or 0.00129167 money factor)

I am almost positive that these numbers can go lower. In case someone negotiated it lower than this, it is already a sign that BMW Munich allowed lower rates and my dealership was getting in on the interest as well. However, this could also be country specific.

I guess the money factor is of interest also for guys buying through non-diplomatic, regular sales. I'd love to see anyone else's mil/diplomatic numbers, especially if the price lists match around the globe. Btw, the X6 G06 diplomatic sales prices in August were:

xDrive 40i: 51,000 EUR
M50i: 65,000 EUR
xDrive 30d: 50,000 EUR
M50d: 64,200 EUR

[G Whizz UK]

I don't have any first hand knowledge of the diplomatic programme, but I think you need to be careful in comparing some of the answers you might get. On another forum on G30s we discovered that Danish cars were priced and specc'd entirely differently, including some standard things in the UK that weren't even an option there. As a result, the discounts varied massively.

On a G06 BMW 6-Series 630 xDrive Gran Turismo 5Dr 3.0d 265 StopStart EU6 SE Auto, the UK list price is £54,360. A 30 second search on a broker ( I used autoebid) saw an offer of £41k, a 24.4% discount. From experience, they're amongst the cheapest, and have often followed up a few days with an even better offer.

[chriscross]

True, pricing probably is country specific and varies even between diplomatic and regular sales...tax or no tax...I saw that the carbon fibre interior trim in the US configurator is a couple of hundred dollars, while the diplomatic no tax price is pumped over 800 eur. Crazy...

Btw, if anyone is currently buying a car over diplomatic/military sales, I am attaching a discount memo I received over email today. Maybe it works even for the regular sales, who knows