My Take: The 5-series lease rates are pretty good this month. Even the M5, which is normally increadibly expensive to lease, has a reasonable residual value and money factor. Now for fun, I added base estimates of the M5. Keep a couple things in mind, I didn’t include the $5000 dealer cash that’s available on the M5 in my calculations. Just keep that in mind during your negotiations. If that’s too expensive (it is double the price of a 535i after all), you can always go down to the 528i. In my opinion, the 2.8i is adequate on the 3-series since its smaller, on the 5-series however, I feel that it is a bit underpowered. I know the payments look ultra-ridiculous on the M5 right now, but assuming invoice + the dealer cash, 12k miles for 36 months, you may be looking at $962 monthly payments + tax and inception fees.
To receive my latest posts, please consider subscribing to my newsletter on a reader or have it delivered to your email. Got questions? JOIN the RIDE AUTO FORUM TODAY!
| At Invoice | At MSRP | |||||
| Make/Model | Invoice | MSRP | 24-month | 36-month | 24-month | 36-month |
| 09 BMW 535i | $47,835 | $51,925 | $730 | $615 | $927 | $749 |
| 09 BMW M5 | $82,485 | $89,325 | $1444 | $1156 | $1738 | $1358 |
NOTE: Estimates assuming the following conditions:
- Inception fees (1st month payment, DMV, doc fee, bank fee, tire tax and possible security deposit) will be paid at signing.
- Local Taxes not included.
- 24-month/15k and 36-month/15k terms.
- All cars are stock, without any options.
2009 BMW 5-Series
2009 BMW 528i
24-month | 15k miles | residual 64% | .00175 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 58% | .00175 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 34% | .00250 base money factor
2009 BMW 528xi
24-month | 15k miles | residual 64% | .00175 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 58% | .00175 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 34% | .00250 base money factor
2009 BMW 535i
24-month | 15k miles | residual 62% | .00175 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 58% | .00175 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 32% | .00250 base money factor
2009 BMW 535xi
24-month | 15k miles | residual 63% | .00175 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 58% | .00175 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 33% | .00250 base money factor
2009 BMW 535xiT Wagon
24-month | 15k miles | residual 64% | .00175 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 58% | .00175 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 30% | .00250 base money factor
2009 BMW 550i
24-month | 15k miles | residual 62% | .00175 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 57% | .00175 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 29% | .00250 base money factor
2009 BMW M5
24-month | 15k miles | residual 60% | .00175 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 55% | .00175 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 32% | .00250 base money factor
My Take: Lately I’ve been thinking about the whole lease-to-buy scenario and I have come to believe that certain cars simply should not be bought at the end of the lease. The reason I mention this is because a lot of the cars have dropped in residual value over the past year. If you are considering buying your lease, you may want to look for cars that have a low residual value and a ultra-low money factor. That way, you ensure all the money you pay on your monthly lease payments is going towards paying off the depreciation rather than the interest. That way, when the lease ends, there is very little residual value left on the car and you can pretty much cut them a nice check for the remainder and keep the car. Anyway, the reason I bring this up on a Mercedes Benz post is because Mercs seem to have really lame residual values and really low money factors. Check this out, the CLK550 depreciates 64% and they only charge about 0.192% APR for 48 months (plus you get $6000 dealer cash). Seriously, you think you can secure a loan that cheap if get a purchasing loan? I don’t think so, the lowest APR going on right now for the CLK550 is 0.9% up to 66 months. Granted, that’s still a pretty sweet deal, I’d would still take 0.192% on the lease because unlike buying, there’s always an easy way out after a few year in case the car is giving you some problems. Anyway, something to think about if you are shopping for a Merc. Watch the numbers and figure out what you want to do at least end before you make your final decision.
My Take: Sorry G37 fans, this month’s lease looks so-so. On a positive note, the G37 sedan looks like an OKAY lease right now due to a slightly lower money factor (but the residual did drop a little). Certainly not at the level it was last year though. Also, remember the sweet-spot is the 36-month lease. Infiniti is going to great lengths to make 24-month leases unattractive right now. The coupe is getting no love from leasing gods right now, as matter of fact, I think the money factor went up. Word is that there are still some 08 models to be had right now, so until that inventory dwindles, the coupe will still lease horribly. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get this car. On the contrary, there is $500 customer cash ($2000 dealer cash), plus 1.9%, 2.9%, 3.9% financing for 36-months, 48-months and 60-months, respectively. I see no reason why you shouldn’t go in for a test drive.
My Take: Bummer. The Cooper S went up nearly $30 bucks a month (around $1000 over the life of the lease). March isn’t exactly shaping out to be better than February when it comes to leasing. The Cooper is still a fairly affordable lease despite that increase. Just remember, no 48-month lease and watch out for the options. If it were up to me, I would simply order one. In most cases, dealers will let you lock in the March rates and still give you the option to get the new lease rate (for the delivery month) once the car arrives. So in case the lease rates drop, you could end up with a cheaper lease. If not, you can always go back to the March rates.
My Take: Not much as changed on the A4 lease rates. MF drops, Residual drops, so it basically stayed the same as last month. Now on the A5, you will see the money factor is improved dramatically, while the residual only suffered a slight 1% drop. This combination shaves off around $20-$30 bucks off your monthly payments. Not too shabby. Is it really worth it? Maybe. Are there other cheaper alternatives? Oh yeah. But nothing as sexy as the A5/S5. Obviously, you want to avoid the 48-month lease here because of the ultra-high money factors.
