[Littlestar88]

Hi everyone! Hoping you can help me understand something.

I was casually considering trading my 22 X3 M40i for a 2025 X5 50e. Aside from new Michelin PS4 All Season tires, my car is stock with very low miles, fully loaded, and pristine. I bought it new in 22. It came from the manufacturer with summer run flats and a full size spare (full size spare was an option available with the build). I really didn’t like the run flats and was happy to finally switch them out.

Today I had a text exchange with a sales person at BMW about the X5 and trading my M40i. He told me they could not accept my trade as a CPO without the exact same brand and type of tires it came with (Michelins would disqualify it). And consequently it seems they would have to offer a lower trade value.

I’m assuming if I still had the original tires, they would have to replace them anyhow because the wear required it. So why can’t they simply replace the Michelins and not make an issue of it?

He said I could trade it to Carvana and they would have to remove the full size spare in the back and replace it with a tire repair kit in order to sell it. He implied that the full size spare that the car originally came with with was also a disqualifier.

I know the market is leaning in to run flats, and this is my first BMW and maybe I’m not familiar with trade in restrictions, but this proposition seemed questionable. Is this normal protocol for a trade in to qualify for CPO designation?

For now I’ve taken this as a sign that I shouldn’t trade my M40i. Which I am fine with because I’d probably be crazy to let it go. But I can’t help but wonder if I’m missing something or if they were trying to play games.

[StradaRedlands]

Yeah, Magic 8 Ball says you should keep it!

I'd kill to have full-sized spare... I didn't even know that was an option anymore.

[tturedraider]

I have worked as a BMW CA. He was 100% feeding you a line of pure, unadulterated bull shit!!! Find another CA or another dealership altogether!!

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Yeah, Magic 8 Ball says you should keep it!

I'd kill to have full-sized spare... I didn't even know that was an option anymore.

I cannot disagree with this!!

[MisanoblueZ4]

Sounds like they want to give you a low trade offer. “CPO disqualified” is an easy way to knock (2-3k?) off your cars value.

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Yeah, Magic 8 Ball says you should keep it!

I'd kill to have full-sized spare... I didn't even know that was an option anymore.

In 2022 you could get either regular tires with a full size spare in the back or run flats and no spare. Somehow I got the run flats and full size spare. I’m happy to have it.

Having the spare means compromising a little bit of space but personally I don’t feel I’ve lost much.

And yeah, keeping the M40i

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I have worked as a BMW CA. He was 100% feeding you a line of pure, unadulterated bull shit!!! Find another CA or another dealership altogether!!


I cannot disagree with this!!

This is what I thought. Thank you so much for your insight!

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by MisanoblueZ4

Sounds like they want to give you a low trade offer. “CPO disqualified” is an easy way to knock (2-3k?) off your cars value.

I suspected this as well. Very unscrupulous!

He also got prickly when I inquired about a better MSRP discount, bad mouthing the other dealership.

[ppointer]

I agree this is complete BS. Find another dealer.

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by ppointer

I agree this is complete BS. Find another dealer.

I totally plan to.

Interestingly enough, this was a dealership I was referred to through Costco’s auto program. And this dealership has good reviews.

Maybe the sales person was having a bad day and took it out on me, but I will never recommend this dealership to anyone.

[note46]

Share which dealership it was so we can all avoid it. I would venture a guess that it was Steven Creek.

[DrFerry]

Littlestar88 the sales person you had the text exchange with is most likely feeding you a line, or confusing your trade-in personally owned vehicle with a vehicle that is returning from lease, i.e. where the lease sometimes stipulates the tires be new and of a specific type when returning the leased car to the dealership. You may not be dealing with the sharpest knife in the drawer. Keep that in mind.
.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Littlestar88 the sales person you had the text exchange with is most likely feeding you a line, or confusing your trade-in personally owned vehicle with a vehicle that is returning from lease, i.e. where the lease sometimes stipulates the tires be new and of a specific type when returning the leased car to the dealership. You may not be dealing with the sharpest knife in the drawer. Keep that in mind.

Actually that is an excellent point!

[SCSIsoftware]

Tires are the easiest thing on the car to replace, next to windshield wipers. I'm suspecting that most cars that are traded-in have a lot more wrong with them than tires.

Or windshield wipers.

Find another dealer. And maybe call CarMax . . .

[KevinC]

This guy deserves one of these …

https://dickatyourdoor.com

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by note46

Share which dealership it was so we can all avoid it. I would venture a guess that it was Steven Creek.

Nope. It was Menlo Park. Though I’ve heard bad things about Steven’s Creek also.

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Littlestar88 the sales person you had the text exchange with is most likely feeding you a line, or confusing your trade-in personally owned vehicle with a vehicle that is returning from lease, i.e. where the lease sometimes stipulates the tires be new and of a specific type when returning the leased car to the dealership. You may not be dealing with the sharpest knife in the drawer. Keep that in mind.
.

It’s possible but when he also made comments about the full size spare and Carmax it felt like he was either trying to confuse me or didn’t know what he was talking about. It seemed he simply didn’t know that for 2022 the car had the option of regular tires and full size spare OR run flats and no full size spare.

I own the car outright. But I didn’t mention it to him. Though he seemed to push me to explore selling it to Carmax versus trade it in to them. Maybe they don’t want any more trades?

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by SCSIsoftware

Tires are the easiest thing on the car to replace, next to windshield wipers. I'm suspecting that most cars that are traded-in have a lot more wrong with them than tires.

Or windshield wipers.

Find another dealer. And maybe call CarMax . . .

That’s what I was thinking. Seemed to be a strange thing to focus on.

I decided I’m keeping the M40i for now. The whole experience was a sign not to get rid of an amazing car.

[Littlestar88]

Originally Posted by KevinC

This guy deserves one of these …

https://dickatyourdoor.com

LOL that’s hilarious!

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I have worked as a BMW CA. He was 100% feeding you a line of pure, unadulterated bull shit!!! Find another CA or another dealership altogether!!

Yep. My experience getting trade-in values from BMW dealerships is they excessively low-ball the value of the used BMW you want to trade & over-charge for the used BMW they want to sell you.

I test drove a M340 and inquired about trading my 330e. First thing the guy says is "we are a kbb dealer and will give full kbb value." Kbb trade-in value was $36 - $38k. They came back with a serious face & trade-in offer of $24k

I literally laughed out loud. I repeated what he just told me "we'll give you full kbb value..." and he says "what do you think kbb value is," to which I simply turned my phone around. He comes back with a print out of autotrader and says "this is what these are being listed at". He had 3 cars all 2019 -2020 with 50k+ miles. Mine was a 2022 with 30k mi.

Again I pull up autotrader and within 100 mi radius all the 2022 330e for sale with under 40k mi. The cheapest listing was $36k and the most expensive listing was $42k. Upon that he said "come back when you want to make a deal".

A couple weeks later I purchased my M2 from a Chevy dealer who gave me $34k for the 330e. My M2 was "used" with 472 mi on it & a little discount off msrp. With the trade-in tax allowance, I essentially got $39k for the 330e.

[BXMW]

Not to be the glass half empty guy but in review of the BMW CPO checklist under section 2 of wheel assembly which discusses tires, wheels and brakes it does say this:

“Replace mismatched and/or non-approved components with Original
Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) BMW Parts. Refer to the Certified Pre-
Owned Center Operations Manual, Section 3 - CPO Inspection Guidelines”

The case could be made fairly that given this specific mention is discussed within the wheel assembly checklist that indeed the dealer believes they would not pass CPO inspection with non-OEM wheels and tires. Remember, BMW pays to certify the vehicle and normally they do *not* officially certify the car until they have a buyer unless they’re confident in moving your car fast. If the tech completes the checklist that the tires are non-OEM and must be replaced then I could see why they’d knock you down on trade.

I think to get the best available answer we would need to hear from BMW NA itself on paper. If anyone has access to the complete tech manual for CPO not just the checklist that would also potentially shed some light. I only went through this exercise as I don’t think it’s exactly fair to lambast a dealer online that could very well be right - even if some dealers don’t share the same opinion.

[BMWCCA1]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Littlestar88 the sales person you had the text exchange with is most likely feeding you a line, or confusing your trade-in personally owned vehicle with a vehicle that is returning from lease, i.e. where the lease sometimes stipulates the tires be new and of a specific type when returning the leased car to the dealership. You may not be dealing with the sharpest knife in the drawer. Keep that in mind.

The BMW lease specifies only that tires meet a minimum tread depth for the returnee not to be charged a fee. The fee is actually less than new tires cost so The lease terms do not specify that the tires have to be BMW "star" tires or that they be "new". I always told my lease clients not to bother to replace the tires just to turn the car in and pay the fee. If they had purchased BMW "Lease Protection" then they could bring the car back with cord showing through the tires with no charges.

For the dealership to CPO the car they must fit OE spec tires with the BMW "star". That is their decision. None of this prevents them from taking your car in-trade, though it could impact the trade value.

[STi from DSM]

They are the ones trying to sell it CPO. It is on them to make those alterations not you.
This guy seems like a moron. I would go somewhere else. Carvanna will pick up anything with 4 wheels, same as CarMax.

Now if you LEASED this vehicle then yes you would need to make these alterations yourself. As when you return a leased vehicle you need to have all OEM parts for it including tires, exhaust, etc.

If you bought it outright go somewhere else. I am sure there are plenty of people who would want this vehicle with the options you have listed.

Maybe try selling it on the forum? I used to frequent the X3 forums here and they are always buzzing with folks looking to pick up a decent ride.