[AlanQS]

BMW know how to charge British customers.

Metallic paint £535, in U.S. - $470
Comfort access - £430, in U.S. $500
Leather - £1,295, in U.S. $1,150

I almost hope their attempt to make more profit by cutting discounts fails miserably (of course, further down the line it will hurt me - hence the almost).

One thing it has cleared up for me, I am going to be the fussiest customer out and anytime I get a protest I will remind them that "premium brand, premium service."

[BC4J]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

BMW know how to charge British customers.

Metallic paint £535, in U.S. - $470
Comfort access - £430, in U.S. $500
Leather - £1,295, in U.S. $1,150

I almost hope their attempt to make more profit by cutting discounts fails miserably (of course, further down the line it will hurt me - hence the almost).

One thing it has cleared up for me, I am going to be the fussiest customer out and anytime I get a protest I will remind them that "premium brand, premium service."

Agree 100%, just confirms we live in a land of rip-offs.

[Bumps]

Actually, the figures (ie the numerals) aren't that different, BMW are just 'victims' of the strength of the pound against the dollar, meaning we pay double.....

[AlanQS]

Sorry Bumps, if BMW priced their cash in dollars, the British translation should be half the number in dollars plus the VAT

They simply charge Americans less in the first place.

[scotw]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

Sorry Bumps, if BMW priced their cash in dollars, the British translation should be half the number in dollars plus the VAT

They simply charge Americans less in the first place.

Agreed! Mind you, their car prices are much lower, we pay VAT, are cars in the US tax-free?

[Bumps]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

Sorry Bumps, if BMW priced their cash in dollars, the British translation should be half the number in dollars plus the VAT

They simply charge Americans less in the first place.

I know mate, hence the , my attempt at playing BMW's devil's advocate.

Actually they charge everyone less in the first place....

[Hotcoupe]

Never try and catch a QS out, it's even worse when their a Scot

Welcome to the forum Alan.

BMW are not the only guilty parties when it comes to ripping off us Brits,I think most of the multi-nationals do.

By far the worst is our own Govt, who are not a multi-national!

[AlanQS]

Doh! I was being slow there... for my next song to the choir

The thing that is sticking in my craw is the standard sound system. The 520d SE which is an alternative on price to my final choice has only a "Business" radio as standard. They wanted £285 extra for the "Professional" one. As far as I could see, the only difference was that it could play MP3 CDs. Hell of a price!!

As for the £535 for "bluetooth preparation" - that is just a total rip-off! And to make things worse, the head unit isn't a standard DIN size so you can't ditch it and fit something half way decent. I almost wish for the days when BMW didn't supply head units under the excuse that their customers would want to fit their own. (What a joke). At least then, for under £200 I could get a Pioneer head unit with built in bluetooth which has been marvelous in my previous car.
So, to save myself hundreds of pounds and get better features, I am fitting a Parrot 3100 unit when I get the car.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

Sorry Bumps, if BMW priced their cash in dollars, the British translation should be half the number in dollars plus the VAT

They simply charge Americans less in the first place.

It's not even local taxes that make up the difference.

If you net off the tax in each case prices in the USA are roughly 50% of those in the UK.

I think this must arise from historical tolerance in the market. Effectively prices in the UK are rigged by the manufacturers because they have always been comparatively high.

[ShereKhan]

Alan,

You may want to get the next model up - as you get a nice colour screen and is a more compact unit. I have the CK3100 it's a good unit but the add on for the steering wheel controls could be worth the extra £50 or so.

I would have gone for it if my company had paid for it!

[AlanQS]

Yes, I had thought of that one but it looks like the best place for it is sitting on the top of the flat part of the dash - and I didn't want to advertise it nor did I want to remove it all the time. The 3100 is so small that it can sit on the sloping front of the dash just above the middle air vents so it isn't highly noticeable from outside yet is positioned well for reading.
As an afterthought, I think the powers that be are going to ban items in line of the windscreen - like these Tom-Tom sat nav units which are stuck to the windscreen - it actually obstructs your view out and I think that will become a no-no.

[SDRX]

Firstly, I think we should confront BMW UK and our local dealers with US prices and demand to know why such a substantial difference exists. Also, if it ever can be proven that BMW is taking measures to keep prices artificially high and is therefore stifling competition, it could face action in the future from the Competition Commission.

[Terza]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

BMW know how to charge British customers.

Metallic paint £535, in U.S. - $470
Comfort access - £430, in U.S. $500
Leather - £1,295, in U.S. $1,150

I almost hope their attempt to make more profit by cutting discounts fails miserably (of course, further down the line it will hurt me - hence the almost).

One thing it has cleared up for me, I am going to be the fussiest customer out and anytime I get a protest I will remind them that "premium brand, premium service."

From my point of view, the prices in GB ain't that bad either.

We pay 1012 euro for metallic paint, and Dakota leather is 2781 euro. The base price of a E92 335d is 58,254 euro. And you have to be a very lucky individual to get anything more than 5% discount because there is only one dealer of BMW's in the country.

So, there's always someone who's got it worst than you..

[squeezebm]

Originally Posted by Terza

From my point of view, the prices in GB ain't that bad either.

We pay 1012 euro for metallic paint, and Dakota leather is 2781 euro. The base price of a E92 335d is 58,254 euro. And you have to be a very lucky individual to get anything more than 5% discount because there is only one dealer of BMW's in the country.

So, there's always someone who's got it worst than you..

:b ellyroll

[Scoot]

Look at Porsche. Not only do we pay £££££ more but they only provide a two year warranty in the UK on a new vehicle. It's 4 years in the U.S. What a P@@@ TAKE!!!!


And HotCoupe is spot on about our Goverment. Fuel prices , road tax , and i heard yesterday on the radio it was something like £100 + for a return trip from Bristol to London on what i thought was PUBLIC TRANSPORT!!!!!

And what about this POINTLESS HOME INFORMATION PACK ............


Right back to my Shiraz i think .

[NathanJT]

Terza,

That's ok, BUT given that you have 1 dealer, and please don't take this personally, BMW's in Croatia can only be considered niche surely? Thus a higher price.

That's hardly the case in the UK, with maybe 4-5 dealers within reasonable travelling distance and one hell of a turnover by BMW UK! And lets not forget that the 3 series now outsells the Ford Mondeo here!

[crowdedhouse]

Originally Posted by Terza

2781 euro. The base price of a E92 335d is 58,254 euro.

So, there's always someone who's got it worst than you..

Hah ! that's peanuts - in Ireland an E92 335d starts at € 74,935
(that's £ 56,000 sterling )

[Terza]

Originally Posted by NathanJT

Terza,

That's ok, BUT given that you have 1 dealer, and please don't take this personally, BMW's in Croatia can only be considered niche surely? Thus a higher price.

That's hardly the case in the UK, with maybe 4-5 dealers within reasonable travelling distance and one hell of a turnover by BMW UK! And lets not forget that the 3 series now outsells the Ford Mondeo here!

There's no reason for me to take it personally, you're just being objective, Croatia is small and poor..

BMW sold 1200 vehicles in Croatia in 2007, and that number is growing every year by approximately 8%. It's hardly a niche. You can see quite many BMW's, Audi's and Merc's on the roads here.

[Terza]

Originally Posted by squeezebm

:b ellyroll

My 335d was 77k euro, and I specced a X5 3.0sd M sport for my dad at 118k euro. But he's prolly gonna buy the new X6. That's gonna cost even more.


But that doesn't really matter, all I'm trying to say is that, although the car prices in the States are very tempting, your prices ain't all that bad, they're somewhere in the middle.

[AlanQS]

I think what NathanJT is getting at is that, because Croatia is still a new - and small - market, prices are pitched to make the most money from a small amount of product - perhaps they know that if the prices were 20% less tomorrow sales would not increase by the same proportion to make up for the loss of profit.
Once Croatia is well established in the E.U. and a larger proportion of its citizens are in the BMW buying bracket, prices will start to fall as real competition erupts.

As for Ireland, my sympathies, I understand you have a specific car tax which absolutely blasts your new car costs into the stratosphere - hardly BMW's fault.

[miopyk]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

Yes, I had thought of that one but it looks like the best place for it is sitting on the top of the flat part of the dash - and I didn't want to advertise it nor did I want to remove it all the time. The 3100 is so small that it can sit on the sloping front of the dash just above the middle air vents so it isn't highly noticeable from outside yet is positioned well for reading.
As an afterthought, I think the powers that be are going to ban items in line of the windscreen - like these Tom-Tom sat nav units which are stuck to the windscreen - it actually obstructs your view out and I think that will become a no-no.

I've got the 3100 fitted in my ashtray so I can flip it open and see who is calling and close it up when the car's parked. Pictures below:





Works quite well and it's much cheaper than the BMW OEM solution.

Miopyk

[AlanQS]

I was wondering about that for a location - no picture for me I'm afraid.
Does it block the lighter as a power point?

It's actually booked for a company to install it in two weeks and I'm a bit concerned about the potential for leaving a rattle in the dash.

Ah, I see the pictures now - and questions answered!

Also, if you have the mute and the cable to connect to the front speakers, is the volume adequate?