[ParisSF]

A few months ago, I was looking into buying a new 135i Coupe - It's hard to believe how much time it takes to build the perfect car online, adding and removing equipments, to finally copy the data in Excel and look into financing options - I figured that so many of us on the board are doing this, that we needed some kind of generic Excel spreadsheet to build any new BMW. However, there are so many rules (An equipment incompatible with another, required by another, price discount when bought together) that building this in Excel wasn't reasonable, so I decided to make an online application!
Here is what I came up with: Configurator - Even though one should be able to build the ideal car without too much hassle, this project is in a very early stage, and far from what I ultimately envision. So I'm here to ask for your help more than advertise a finalized product!

Here is how the configuration page looks like



I need feedback: What do you think? Do you find it useful? Easy to use? Do you like the spreadsheets you can download? what about the financing calculator? If you plug in your own numbers, do you end up with the correct monthly payments?

Ultimately, if you guys find it useful, I'm hoping to build some kind of database storing recent car purchase transactions. Basically who bought what car, when, where, which dealer, and most importantly, at what price, so any potential buyer knows what price is fair!

Here is a preview of the BbCode generator output:

	My BMW 2011 335i Sedan
	U.S.A. Port of Entry
		MSRP	Wholesale
	Base Vehicle	$41,100	$37,810
381	Le Mans Blue Metallic	$550	$500
4MG	Glacier Silver Aluminum trim
LCSW	Black Dakota Leather
2MF	18" M Light Alloy Star-spoke wheels (Style 193M) with mixed performance tires
205	STEPTRONIC automatic transmission	$1,375	$1,305
609	Navigation system	$2,100	$1,910
655	Satellite radio w/1 year sub.	$350	$320
688	Harman Kardon surround sound system	$875	$795
6FL	iPod and USB adapter	$400	$365
6NF	Smartphone Integration	$150	$135
ZCV	Convenience Package	$1,200	$1,090
ZCW	Cold Weather Package	$1,000	$910
ZMP	M Sport Package	$3,750	$3,415
ZPP	Premium Package	$2,650	$2,410
7XA	M Sports leather steering wheel with paddle shifters (added by 205 & ZMP)	$100	$90
615	Online Information Services	w 609
217	Active Steering	$1,550	$1,410
541	Active Cruise Control	$2,400	$2,185
5AC	High Beam Assistant	$250	$230
Del	Destination & Handling	$875	$875
Gas	Gas Guzzler Tax
TRA	Training Service Fee (Excludes Euro Delivery)	$200	$200
	Total (Without Taxes)	$60,875	$55,955
	See and Modify this config on www.BmwConfig.com

[wrickem]

I don't know, could be just me, but I never had any trouble with "building the perfect car" on BMW's website in a short amount of time. And unless I was actually the one to input the codes and order my car directly from BMW, which they won't let me do, I don't really need those codes to order the car. After it's ordered the dealer gives me a sheet with them anyway.

Maybe someone else will find it useful, but I've got to give you props for going all out with this.

[eekthecat]

I did something similar in excel, and found it useful to be able to have everything on one sheet. This way I could immediately see the effect of adjusting any number of variables. Kudos to you for putting this together. I'm not sure if you already have, but be sure to build in bmw's current rates and promotions.

[Ali.K_BMW]

that wholesale is WRONG.

[cgpublic]

It is very straightforward to use, and worked without issue using the newly released IE9 & Win7.

A couple of points:

1. As previously noted, there needs to be a mechanism to incorporate credits, e.g., AWD and automatic.

2. I would consider mobile platforms, i.e., iOS, Windows Phone and Android.

3. You need to begin thinking about intellectual property issues, i.e., trademark, logo, etc. Also, I'm sure of what legal issues surround the incorporation of wholesale pricing.

Good luck!

[mr_milo]

I have also made an excel sheet to figure out my order configuration. Like the OP said, it's nice to have all the option on one page as well as the finance info. Seeing how each option / selection effects the price allows me to make a better decision to get the best bang from my bucks.

The website you have works very nicely as well. I wish I knew of it before spending the time on my spreadsheet. It's actually a lot nicer with the pre-selected options once a package is selected. Nice job! I ran a few configurations and compared it to my spreadsheet. From what I saw it was pretty close to what I was getting.

My only question is the OP that stated that the Wholesale prices were wrong. (?) They seem to be very close or the same to what I have found, although I guess they are changing come March production.

[ParisSF]

Thanks very much!
I definitely have plans to incorporate the credits from BMW, as well as make handheld versions. It should be quite useful to have this on the go, at the dealership or wherever.
Regarding the wholesale, these are indeed non-public data, so they might be off as they are my own estimates. I'm applying simple discount rules. Comparing with other websites such as Edmunds gave me pretty close results. This might still require some work though.

Thanks to whoever gave this a try, whether you posted on the topic or not!

[mr_milo]

I just went back and tried a few more configs. The pricing is working nice but I think there is something wrong with the financing calculations. My numbers don't match and I think it has something to do with the "Drive off" cost and taxes. With a finance the only drive off cost would be the down payment but this isn't how the website is working. Just a FYI

[ParisSF]

Thanks mr_milo. You are right, the "drive off" I have includes the registration and the first monthly payment on top of the down payment.
I will change it to be simply equal to the down payment
Thanks!

[mr_milo]

Originally Posted by ParisSF

Thanks mr_milo. You are right, the "drive off" I have includes the registration and the first monthly payment on top of the down payment.
I will change it to be simply equal to the down payment
Thanks!

No problem, thanks for the great tool. Make sure to take a look at the monthly payments too. I think it was including tax in each payment or something. Or maybe I was just thinking so because of the other differences.

Thanks Again