A few observations. The price will depend on the local market. If dealer
stock is gathering water spots on the lot, negotiation is possible. If
turnover is rapid, probably not. If a particular model is desirable, many
dealers will tack on a "market adjustment."

BMW has no holdback (typically 2 - 2 1/2 percent of MSRP or Base price), so
the sticker has no hidden profit behind it. (There are occasional dealer
incentives on selected models, check the internet.) Some dealers have to
pay so much per car into an advertising program (some pass it on to the
customer, some eat it, but either way it affects the price).

Yes, you can negotiate a special order car. Expect to make a deposit.

I'd approach it this way. Tell the dealer what the invoice on the car you
want is and explain your idea of a reasonable profit for him and the
indicated final price. Be realistic, he's got to make at least $1500-2000
on the car even if he's high volume ... There's overhead to meet. See if he
buys into your logic.

R / John

"Amanda Robin" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all--
>
> I will probably buy a BMW 3 series later this year. I have been doing my
> homework on the Internet and visited a dealer a couple of times.
> Exchanged some e-mails with the dealer in the next town over.
>
> I think I'm going to want an all-wheel-drive model. My question is, is
> it ever possible to order a car (not buy off the lot) and retain any
> ability to negotiate a good price? I'm pretty patient, but I doubt
> whether I will have many chances to find close to what I want on a lot.
>
> This is a pretty basic question, but I haven't seen it addressed on the
> car buying sites. I have just sort of assumed that you can only bargain
> well if you can convince them that you will walk away if you don't get a
> reasonable deal. (Do you have to pay something down when ordering a car,
> by the way?)
>
> You might be interested to know that when I requested one of those
> competitive quotes over the Internet (I think this one was from Kelly),
> the BMW dealer in a large city in TX quoted me exactly MSRP. Do they
> think people are dumb, or is an 06 Bimmer hot enough that it's
> non-negotiable right now?
>
> Thanks for any comments,
>
> Amanda