[ajvdh]

Luck and/or persistence can help.

Luck: When the first rumors about the M2 started circulating, I asked my SA to give me a ring if he heard anything concrete. He called me out of the blue in Dec. '15 to tell me the dealership was getting at least one, and the guy who'd called dibs on it had backed out. He said I could reserve it for MSRP with a refundable deposit, I said, "my credit card number is..." I picked it up at the PC the first week they were available.

Persistence: I ran into a guy who'd just got his this June. He'd decided in late March that he wanted one. He called every dealership in the SW between Texas and California, and finally found a NM dealer who had an allocation, at MSRP. Done.

[bobert]

Originally Posted by ajvdh

Luck and/or persistence can help.

Luck: When the first rumors about the M2 started circulating, I asked my SA to give me a ring if he heard anything concrete. He called me out of the blue in Dec. '15 to tell me the dealership was getting at least one, and the guy who'd called dibs on it had backed out. He said I could reserve it for MSRP with a refundable deposit, I said, "my credit card number is..." I picked it up at the PC the first week they were available.

Persistence: I ran into a guy who'd just got his this June. He'd decided in late March that he wanted one. He called every dealership in the SW between Texas and California, and finally found a NM dealer who had an allocation, at MSRP. Done.

Agreed - for US buyers, it can often take a little of both! And no one should be paying over MSRP for this car.

[ZPrime]

Originally Posted by MGM135is

You can get a new one at msrp if you just want one. But if you want specific options, it becomes much more difficult especially if you are only willing to pay no more than sticker price. Mark ups aren’t Civic Type R crazy but at $65-70k there are other cars to consider IMO. And since I already have a nice 135is, wasn’t worth the hassle. You may have a different opinion though and I respect that.

Not really. I walked into two local BMW dealerships, both not too far from me (well, one is closer to my house, the other is closer to work, but I wouldn't care either way). The one by my office is a fairly high volume dealership for the Cleveland area, the other one is relatively tiny.

I put down a $1k refundable deposit at both and told them I wanted a new build 2018 car at MSRP. This was back in April of this year. Both were perfectly fine with that arrangement.

The small-volume dealership had me first on their list, the high-volume place I was like #5 or 6. In the end, the low volume place got an allocation for a 2018 before my spot came up at the high volume place, so I put in my order with the low volume dealership.

As long as you're willing to wait for an allocation slot, I would think most places will give you MSRP.

[Wharf Rat]

Can someone help me understand this allocation business?
I've purchased many new cars over the years & have never had to call around & hope to find a dealership that has some magical ability (allocation) to obtain a car to sell to me.

C'mon, they are BMW dealerships... that's what they sell.
Either BMW has too many dealers or doesn't manufacture enough product to meet demand. Or, it's a fully invented scarcity?

I'd really like to buy one, but am not willing to jump thru hoops in the hope a dealership will favor me with allowing me to buy one.

Gonna talk to a local dealer this weekend to see how badly they want my business. If not, maybe I'll move down my list.

[J3STER]

Originally Posted by Wharf Rat

Can someone help me understand this allocation business?
I've purchased many new cars over the years & have never had to call around & hope to find a dealership that has some magical ability (allocation) to obtain a car to sell to me.

C'mon, they are BMW dealerships... that's what they sell.
Either BMW has too many dealers or doesn't manufacture enough product to meet demand. Or, it's a fully invented scarcity?

I'd really like to buy one, but am not willing to jump thru hoops in the hope a dealership will favor me with allowing me to buy one.

Gonna talk to a local dealer this weekend to see how badly they want my business. If not, maybe I'll move down my list.

Special cars like the M2 come out of the factory at a very slow rate. So dealers have to take turns ordering theirs.

If you want something readily available look for a m3 or m4 or at another brand.

[WarrENDeatH]

I've found a few. None near me though. I've sent out some responses to dealers, the closest being about 280 miles. I have a feeling I could get one off auction, if I wanted one. My buddy has found quite a few good deals from auction.

[akkando]

Originally Posted by Wharf Rat

Can someone help me understand this allocation business?
I've purchased many new cars over the years & have never had to call around & hope to find a dealership that has some magical ability (allocation) to obtain a car to sell to me.

C'mon, they are BMW dealerships... that's what they sell.
Either BMW has too many dealers or doesn't manufacture enough product to meet demand. Or, it's a fully invented scarcity?

I'd really like to buy one, but am not willing to jump thru hoops in the hope a dealership will favor me with allowing me to buy one.

Gonna talk to a local dealer this weekend to see how badly they want my business. If not, maybe I'll move down my list.

Basically BMW makes more money on other cars. They only make the M2 in one factory and that factory makes SUVs that they sell a lot more of and make a lot more money on, so they don't have a lot of incentive to reduce the other cars made so they can ramp up M2 production.

Also many people who want an M2 but can't get one quickly will buy a used m235i, a new m240 with added options, m3/4, whatever where BMW makes more money. The M2 doesn't have a lot of options so that doesn't give BMW an opportunity to make as much money.

BMW seems to want the M2 for marketing and to just get people in the door to then buy something else, as far as I can tell anyway.

[M2Nebula]

From what I understand, the X1 is no longer produced in Leipzig. Think it's just 2'ers there now? Which I guess may include the new X2? New X1 now at Regensburg.

[Airic72]

I just picked up my 2017 LBB 2-weeks ago. My intent was to order a 2018 as none are available within Seattle or NW for that matter. Did a pop in visit to order and they just got one the night before from a guy trading in for his next flavor of the month.

Stars aligned perfectly as it was exactly what I was looking for. LBB, Manual, executive package, Car Play, and almost every M Performance part I wanted and then some. Car had just under 5000 miles. Great price so, bought it on the spot. In the meantime, 3 people showed up after me inquiring about this car as I was finalizing the paperwork.

Love this car.

[Spa2k]

Good for you!

[OSee]

Originally Posted by WarrENDeatH

I've found a few. None near me though. I've sent out some responses to dealers, the closest being about 280 miles. I have a feeling I could get one off auction, if I wanted one. My buddy has found quite a few good deals from auction.

I’m looking at Manheim auction reports now (I have access). 3 have sold in total over the last 12 months. That’s it.

They went for $58k, $59.5k and $51k respectively. All 3 were 2017 manuals. The one that went for $51k was a 3.7/5 for condition. Which is pretty shitty for a car with 2k on it. I’m sure there’s a story there.

This means that people aren’t really trading them and if they are dealers are flooring them. Also means that any that may have been turned in early from lease are also being kept on lots.

So I don’t think you’re going to have much luck at auction.