rrubino

I just built an E320 on mbusa.com with the following specs:

Premium Leather
Metallic Paint
E2
E3
4-zone climate control
CD Changer

Price: $56,511.15
Lease: $873.00


Then I built an E500 with the following specs:

E2
E3
CD Changer

Price: $60,426.05
Lease: $819.00


Why the heck is the lease on the E500 cheaper? I know the lease calculators on most websites are screwed up, but there is something weird about this. How is a car with a $4k higher sticker price be cheaper on a lease? I think the site assumes a 10% down payment or something like that, but regardless that shouldn't affect the lease in this manner. Anyone have an explanation?

bmms8

that is wierd....maybe the downpayment isnt right or something, but that is wierd

tokyokam

Usually, in a lease , the 'options' will not necessary
increase the residual value of most cars.
The E500 has a higher residual than the E320 when
you compare 'base model to base model'.

Which results in higher depreciation on the E320
compare to the E500.

Therefore, higher lease payments.

Barney

Part of the answer is because in each case the program assumes you are putting 10% of the BASE MSRP down as a capitalized cost reduction, that is $4761.50 on the 320 and $5551.50 on the 500. It still doesn't seem right though.

As for residuals at lease end, those are strictly a function of the total car cost (including options but without tax) multiplied by a factor. For 3 years it is 67% for the 320 and 65% for the 500. The 500 depreciates more RAPIDLY than the 320. The difference is relatively small the first few years but then widens. By year 4 or 5, both cars have the same resale value though the 500 cost several thousand dollars more at the outset.

Once you know the money factor MB is using and the residaul percentage, calculating lease payments is a snap and makes sure the dealer isn't trying to slip one past you.

rrubino

According to autospies.com the residuals on the E320 is 67% and 65% on the E500, as you said. Furthermore the money factor according to autospies is:

For 36 month leases with Tier 1 credit scores the factor is .00314
For 48 month leases with Tier 1 credit scores the factor is .00295


Therefore is should be impossible for the E500 lease to be cheaper, right?

Rob

mstrange

Hey has anyone else had problems with the www.mbusa.com site. It is slow to come up at times and the "build your own" area frequently gives me an "internal server error" of some sort. I called them twice and sent a couple of emails. I recieved one return call and the person calling had no clue as to what a computer was, much less what was going on with the site.

They asked me to tell them what server I was using!!! I am the client you idiot you have the server. This is sad seeing I am willing to spend $60K for a car from a company with this type of customer service. I called once at 10:30pm at night and was on hold for 15mins.

I am a current BMW owner. Can anyone tell me does the MB customer service typically work better then this?? I feel like I have some Dot com leftover person creating this site and providing the customer support. I hope they give more attention to detail on the cars then on the web site.

I don't want a fancy web site, just one that works!

Mike
BMW 540i

rayscar

I just went to the MB site and was able to build my car without any problems but I'm using a T1 connection.

Barney

I've intermittantly had the very same problem despite using a T1 connection. It all started after they updated the web site with the new info.

mstrange

Well I have tried with 4 different computers on a T1 and on a Cable Modem at home. At least I am not the only one.

Mike

boltonblue

i think they are burning up all their server bandwidth on the "E experience". you know 400MBytes per client

jhb

I am using DSL and have had periodic problems too. As to customer service, I have owned MBs for about 10 years now (6 of them) and have had good experiences. The vehicle with the most problems was a second month production '98 ML320 from the new plant in Alabama. All problems satisfactorily resolved with good service.