Hi fellow Digestors,
I know lots of you have been anxious to get the facts on the US spec. E46's. Well here is the 99 328i information. I received a fax today of BMW of North America's Product Planning Guide. What this means in simple English, this is the information sheets that the dealers use to order cars from.
FIRST LET ME SAY THAT PRICING HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED and NEITHER HAVE PERFORMANCE SPEC.'S. So please do not flood me with questions as to pricing or 0-60 times. When I have that data, I'll post it.
328i E46 Four Door. Now basically marketed much closer to the existing 5 series. So I would use option pricing for that car to determine estimated pricing on options. I would estimate the base price for this car will be up around $1500. BMW will release official pricing in June. Stay tuned.
Base car is pretty much equipped as last year. New for this year are:
Options:
Premium Package: Montana Leather, Power Moonroof, Myrtle Wood, 4 way lumbar support, automatic dimming inside rearview mirror and rain sensing windshield wipers.
Sport Package: Can now be ordered along with Premium Package. Includes: 3 spoke sport wheel, 8 way power sport seats with 2 way manual control, 17x8 star spoke design alloy wheels with 225/45 w rated performance tires, sport suspension. NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 98 PRODUCTION.
New stand alone options:
Rear side door airbags
5 speed automatic slushbox
Xenon Headlights NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 98 PRODUCTION
M aerodynamic package NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 98 PRODUCTION
In dash CD player instead of Cassette
Integrated On Board Navigation System NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 98
PRODUCTION
Park Distance Control
What we are not getting. I saw no mention made of DSCIII, power rear sunshade and headlight washers. HK Sound system continues from last year as does, heated seats and folddown rear seats.
Other information. I would pretty much right off European delivery until January 99. Why? European deliveries before that time frame will count against a dealer's US allocation. Once a dealer realizes that, they are not likely going to sell a car that they can not replace and they would make more money on selling here. Not a lot of dealers have read all the fine print they are getting so be extra careful if you were promised an early European Delivery.
Initial US allocations on this car are going to be very scarce. So my advice is if you want the car sooner than later, get your orders in now! Do not expect much discounting (if any) if you want to be the first on the block.
Colors. Pretty much the same as last year. Too bad. I have the European Individual Brochures for this car and they offer 12 additional really striking exterior colors and 42 DIFFERENT COLORS AND SHADES OF LEATHER AND OR CLOTH. BMW promises that sometime in 99 we will finally get the individual program.
All I am able to do for pricing at this point is get a good delivery date (some dealers I work with can still take an order with you getting in on the first allocations) and a commitment to get the best price at time of delivery.
My preliminary analysis of a well equipped car shows that a 99 3 series in the beginning will price out very closely to a well discounted 528i today. Makes the purchasing decision that much harder.
98 328i's can be had for dealer cost as long as the car is purchased, due to special programs BMW has in place.
Not much else I can pass on. If anyone needs my help please feel free to contact me.
Steve Diamond
303-817-9600
www.eurobuyers.com
Sbmw635csi_at_aol.com
