[markf]

I have just been told that the spec on the UK M5s has changed to include ESR,PDC,6CD and heritage leather as standard with a price increase but with the heritage you cannot get the 2 tone interior E.g silverstone unless you pay an extra £1400 does anyone know anything about this ? I cannot believe you can spend £60000 (UK list) and only pick black,green or tan leather.

 

[SteveG]

I can't see them increasing price at all!!!

What I can see them doing, in reaction to drop in UK sales and market pressure, is offer more spec for same money.

So what maybe happening is inclusion of ESR, PDC, CD6 as no cost options with also heritage leather as a no cost option if desired. With sportive including Point Nappa available too.

I have not heard anything, but as my car arrives in two weeks time, I am keen to know.

Steve

 

[pspencer]

I'm also importing my car from Germany (only another four weeks to go). I've ordered the sportive Silverstone full nappa point interior with a LeMans exterior. I've also added the x6CD unit (as well as a sunroof and integrated child seats), I'm not too bothered about PDC, but what's ESR? Are these specification changes just for the UK or are they for all of Europe? If it's Europe, I wonder if the dealer will be reducing the price by the cost of the CD player and putting in PDC and ESR(?) as extras - I still haven't had the final invoice. Even if they don't I'll be getting a £65k car for £46k, so I'm not too upset.

Has anyone in the UK whose imported from Europe tried extending their warranty out to 3 years or getting the driver training course (prices & contacts please)?

By the way, another big disadvantage of sourcing an M5 from Europe that you're forgetting, is the fact that the car will be sitting in the garage in an for two weeks untill it's registered. I'm going to find that harder than the twelve month wait I've already had to endure. Owning the car and not being able to drive it will be pure torture - perhaps I can borrow some trade plates from somewhere.

Cheers,
Phil Spencer.

 

[David I]

Phil,
I imported my Lemans Blue/Silverstone Interior (Popular choice in the UK) from Holland and I have since brought yrs 2&3 warranty from my local BMW dealer. The price was £834, I did not manage to get on the driver training course, if anyone has, I would like to know how and at what cost ?

 

[markf]

You are probably right , I am importing from Germany but the dealers there seem a lot more clued up than over here ,over here none of the dealers I spoke to knew about le mans blue,but in the German brochure it has relaced avus.Also The dealer told me I cannot have lemans blue nappa point as they have stopped making it full stop.I can only have lemans leather if I upgrade to full leather heritage as opposed to the extended heritage which is now standard.
The price thing is still daft though,even with the extra cost for me my car with a load of extras will still stand me at £47000
and that will include a full 3 year uk warranty.
Hope you enjoy yours I'm picking mine up in 3 weeks from Germany.Let me know by posting here if you find any other info about this.

 

[ROBBYD23]

YOU GUYS ARE BEYOND EXTREMELY LUCKY. IT SEEMS AS IF UK GETS THEIR M5'S AT 2/3 THE PRICE OF US M5'S. ANOTHER CONCERNING AREA IS THE LeMANS BLUE.....I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT COLOR AND WHEN I FINALLY FIND A DEALER THAT WILL DELIVER IN LESS THAN 2 YRS, THATS THE COLOR IM GETTING. INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. ONE MORE THING THAT I HOPE ITS ANY HELP TO UK MEMBERS...TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE THE DRIVER TRAINING COURSE IS AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE US.

HAPPY M5'ING

 

[markf]

To the guy from the US. We are not lucky at all,the UK list price for my car is £65000
approx $100,000 but I am getting it at £46000 because I am directly importing it from Germany.

To the other guys,my German dealer has told me the price in Germany for full UK spec has increased by the cost of the options (p.s ESR is electric sunroof).Which is ok for me as I had ordered most of those options anyway but what needles me is I cannot have Lemans blue interior anymore,nor intergrated child seatsWith extended heritage now as standard.

 

[tfung]

I wish I lived in all those other countries.. we pay here $1.1million Hong Kong dollars for the m5 which is equivalent to about USD$150,000. Talk about being unlucky!

 

[Ken]

Tfung, I have wondered this for some time. Why are these cars so expensive there? I live in the Czech Republic (I'm from the US, but have been here for 6 years for my company), and the CR has a 23% import duty on cars. I paid almost $95K, when all was done and my keys were handed to me. I got almost every option, but was very jealous knowing if I was still in the US it would have been quite a bit less. Granted, I ordered in late Nov., and got the car the first week of Feb., but it still was painful to know that in my home country the car would have been much (or a bit at least) cheaper). I paid 3% under sticker here, the best I could negotiate, and it was the first (perhaps still only) E39 M5 purchased in the CR. I looked into buying from Germany and driving it in, but the 23% import duty made that option no better.

How can/why do they charge so much in HK for the car? I can't imagine it is a dealer mark-up, and BMW coundn't be getting away with such different pricing structures just to take advantage of market conditions.

BTW, the insurance here is extremely expensive (unless you want insurance from a local Czech company that you know will not pay if, heaven forbid, you have claim). What are insurance rates like there?

 

[akry]

In Taiwan/HK/Japan or most of the Asia Countries, we have VERY high import taxes + custom taxes and most of other taxes....all the taxes are what makes the cars that much more expensive in Asia(or other countries for that matters)...

Andy Kuo

 

[alpywhite]

Two buddies of mine live in Antigua and the duty on all vehicles is 100% of US MSRP unless you are lucky enough to know someone in their Free Trade Zone. This is pointless since the roads there are horrid anyway...better to get an X5...

I was in Australia last summer and noticed that the price for all cars seemed to be almost exactly double of what one pays in Canada (the Oz and CDN dollars were more or less at par at tht time).

-Alps