[xenon]

With mine being on BMW Finance they stipulate franchised servicing in order to maintain the GFV.

I got a good deal anyway. If there was no requirement then for something as basic as this service I'd do it myself as I always have in the past.

[doughboy]

Short and curlies I think they call them?

Mine's on BMW finance too - but I'll be buying it at the end of 3 years for the 12 grand GFV, so them honouring the GFV isn't an issue - whereas knowing its been looked after is more important to me into the post-warranty years.

12 grand for a mint, perfectly maintained, 3 yr old top spec 335i tourer? I'd be mad not to - especially as its me that's paid it down to 12 grand!

The way prices are headed it'll be worth more like 20 grand IMO.

TBH cars are usually worth more than the GFV anyway (except in a downturn like late 2008), that's how they make their money - so buying it for GFV and then selling privately for more is a better result, if you can be arsed with all that..

[xenon]

12k GFV on a 335i tourer? How come it's so low? The GFV on mine is about £16k.

Are you mixing up the GFV and the optional balloon payment (which is obviously dependent on the amount of deposit and monthly payments).

I shall hand mine back at the end.

[doughboy]

The GFV is £12,099, which in my case is the same as the 36th month final balloon payment on the 3yr pcp.

Either I pay 12K to buy it or they take it back and I walk away with nothing.

I bought mine in Jan 09 when the used prices had crashed and they adjusted all the GFVs down to suit, thus the car discount I got (14%) was mostly wiped out by the extra payments to meet the new lower GFV.

Now they're all back up again, but my low GFV still stands, so I need to buy it in order to recoup my 'overpayments' if you get my drift.

[flyfs6]

Obviously in cases such as doughboy's the GFV is far from what the car should be worth at the end of his pcp agreement.

I'm sure you guys understand that GFV's are set low so that the finance company don't lose out and so you have some equity left in the car should you wish to p/x it for another new vehicle. On the flip side if someone sells their car directly to a dealership for the gfv, assuming the car is worth more, it makes a tidy profit for the dealership.

When the term pcp is nearing ending, the above is partly the reason most people try to sell their cars privately before moving on.

I have the utmost faith in proper specialists such as Birds, Automotive Performance Services, Simpsons etc. But I still use the main dealer for basic servicing because by the time I factor in costs of travelling to the specialists, it works out more expensive for me. Particularly as some dealerships clearly are better at looking after their customers than others.

[TMP]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Pre LCI cars have a separate service interval for ventilation microfilter, so the idrive lists it separately.

Not on mine (Pre-lci Feb 08, so few months before Lci)......

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by flyfs6

and so you have some equity left in the car should you wish to p/x it for another new vehicle.

The ironic part of that is when I went to return my 330i, ballon was 13K, BMW finance would take the car it at that price to cover the ballon payment, but the dealer would only offer me 10K for it against a new car as a p/x????

So I sold it privately for 15K! win win.

Originally Posted by TMP

Not on mine (Pre-lci Feb 08, so few months before Lci)......

Sorry, my pre lci was an 06, must have changed in later pre-lci models.....

[TMP]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Sorry, my pre lci was an 06, must have changed in later pre-lci models.....

Just shows that BM are always updating the model under the skin e.g. like this and the LED number plate lights that came as well) and LCI is more of the major shell update