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BMW 5-Series Sedans

12737 messages,  Last post on Feb 16, 2013 at 11:05 PM

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What is this discussion about? BMW 5 Series, Sedan

Messages Page 307 of 1274

#3057 of 12737 Vertical Maximum Price Fixing by riez

Mar 31, 2002 (7:17 pm)

Happened to be looking over the 1997 US Supreme Court case State Oil v. Khan (96-871, 93 F.3d 1358). Case in which the court overruled its own prior precedent to now hold that vertical maximum price fixing (e.g., by a manufacturer to its retailers) was no longer a per se (in and of itself automatic) violation of anti-trust laws. Now all future such actions would be "evaluated under the rule of reason ... identify[ing] those situations in which vertical maximum price fixing amounts to anticompetitive conduct."
 
Noticed the Supreme Court decision mentioned the case of Caribe BMW, Inc. v BMW Aktiengesellschaft as ruled on 3/25/94 by the US First Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision by then Circuit Chief Judge Breyer (now Supreme Court Justice), No. 93-1653. Caribe filed suit in 1991 and lost in District Court. The Caribe v. BMW AG decision has some interesting discussion about various then BMW AG practices. Caribe bought cars directly from BMW AG in Germany and resisted BMW AG's attempts starting in 1987 to force Caribe to buy directly from BMW NA. And Caribe ended up facing BMW NA selling BMWs to its competing BMW dealers cheaper than it could get them from BMW AG. And Caribe had to agree to maximum sales prices. If Caribe violated the contract, which had exclusive dispute resolution clause mandating German venue, then BMW AG could terminate Caribe's contract. (Before CA1, BMW AG lost and case remanded, but don't know what happened afterwards.)
 
Both cases are on the internet. US Supreme Court's web site for State Oil and CA1's site for Caribe (www.ca1.uscourts.gov).

#3058 of 12737 Prices by riez

Mar 31, 2002 (7:19 pm)

epn2... I couldn't imagine spending $70,000 or thereabouts on a new car. Not even $55,000 or thereabouts. But I would pay less than $40,000 for a great used car with a decent warranty from manufacturer. Enjoy your M5. What is the MSRP? Probably close to what I paid for my house in 1995.

#3059 of 12737 Toolkit by scoutlab

Mar 31, 2002 (7:55 pm)

Does the toolkit in the 530i come with a folding reflector? I took a look at the fold-away toolkit attached to the trunklid and noticed a place for a reflector together with info on how to use the reflector. However, there's no reflector in the kit.

#3060 of 12737 riez by habitat1

Mar 31, 2002 (8:24 pm)

$73,195, with my cost being $65,695. But we need to agree on a definition of "spending". As previously indicated, my MY2000 540i 6-speed only "cost" me $7k in depreciation over 2 years and 40k miles. And all service expenses were covered under included maintenance plan. Now, what are your loan payments plus maintenace for your CPO 540i over two years & 40k miles? I suspect a bit more than $7k.
 
To each their own. And, as I said, I am glad that used BMW's maintain their value so well. Means I'm "spending" less to buy one new.
 

#3061 of 12737 Scoutlab by shipo

Mar 31, 2002 (8:33 pm)

The folding reflector is only included as standard issue on U.S. spec cars delivered in Munich via the ED program.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#3062 of 12737 epn2 - your post #2988 by vishnu11

Apr 01, 2002 (6:25 am)

...seems to confirm what I said in post #2966:
My first question was exactly the same - is it worth it economically to do ED? From the point of view of the price of the car, ED won handsomely. I negotiated with the dealer first a flat $1200 profit over invoice (at the time I was undecided re ED/non-ED). Therefore, if the cost of the car was $35K ED invoice, I agreed to pay $36200 and if it cost $40K non-ED invoice, I agreed to pay $41200. As you probably already know, ED invoice is significantly less than non-ED invoice. In addition to that, ED implied that I did not have to pay for MACO fees which dealers will pass on if the car will be delivered non-ED. In the Boston area, that's around $200+. Finally, its easier for a reasonable dealer to negotiate a tighter profit margin because ED does not feature into the dealership's car allotment.
 
Enjoy your M5! I did ED about a week and a half ago. I find it interesting that I ordered the car late last December and life passed between then and March fairly quickly. After ED pickup, every day of waiting is excruciating. Anybody had the same experience?
 
Btw, I dropped the car off at the Harms location in Munich - any way of finding out whether its been trucked to Bremerhaven? (I think Bremerhaven is the nearest port to Munich).
 
Vishnu

#3063 of 12737 vishnu11 by habitat1

Apr 01, 2002 (9:04 am)

Congrats on your purchase. My only regret on the M5 is that it is not ED. I would have gladly gone back at my own expense (there are no ED discounts for "M" cars). Alas, I will make up for it with the free performance driving school offered by BMW with all M5's. I did one several years ago with Porsche, but could use a refresher. I don't drive aggressively or irresponsibly, but first hand knowledge of a car's dynamics and capabilities is useful at any speed. I credit my Porsche session with saving my neck a couple of times getting out of the way of other drivers (or in one case, a disintegrating semi tire).
 
There is a BMW tracking system, but I'm not sure how detailed it is, since I haven't used it for a couple of years. Check with your dealer. Good luck.

#3064 of 12737 My door ding... by shipo

Apr 01, 2002 (9:49 am)

Three weeks after I took delivery of my 328i in February 1999, some “(*^$$#%%^~” “Mini-Van Personage” managed to back into the drivers door of my car, get out, look at my door, and then drive away (according to two witnesses who were not close enough to get the Tag number). The damage turned out to be a 3” diameter dent in the lower rear section of the door that was maybe 3/16” deep at its deepest. I decided to leave the dent there and have it dealt with at lease end, at which point, I had intended to have all dings fixed. As providence would have it, this lone ding remained my only significant hurt that my car suffered throughout the last 38 months.
 
Last Friday, I went to my local “Dent Wizard” (by appointment), and using Black Magic, Voodoo, Curses (I heard them from the waiting room ), and some very appropriately applied leverage, my ding was COMPLETELY removed, no trace at all, none, zip zero, zilch, NADA! Total cost: 1.5 hours and $150, a veritable bargain, I shouldn’t have waited so long.
 
There are a number of “Paintless Dent Removal” outfits dotted around the country, and I highly recommend exploring this option prior to having a traditional bodyshop breath on any dings or prangs suffered by your car.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#3065 of 12737 RE: tracking by vishnu11 by snagiel

Apr 01, 2002 (10:33 am)

As I've mentioned before here, the Owner's Circle promises to improve order tracking in the future, but for now it's imprecise and slow to update. Your best bet is to call BMWNA at 800-831-1117 and select option 3. Give them your VIN or order number, and they should be able to track down your car for you, along with an estimated US arrival date.

#3066 of 12737 Dent Wizard by jwilson1

Apr 01, 2002 (11:32 am)

Me too, shipo! I once had a ding in the hood of a black Miata! Talk about conspicuous, a difficult color, and a bad area! Not only that but the car was about eight years old and I was afriad a body shop couldn't get the color match exact enough.
 
The dent wizard dance & funny-shaped-steel-bar-thingee worked. Oh, if you stood at just the perfect angle in the sun and were looking for it, you could see something had happened, but...
I'll stand with you on recommending them as a great place to try before hitting a body shop.
 
Take care.
Joe W.

Messages Page 307 of 1274

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