# Should I buy a 2021 X5 now? Or wait for the 2022 model?



## iamlosthelp (Mar 30, 2021)

When is the 2022 X5 model expected to be released? I'm assuming sometime this fall? Other threads have said that it's best to buy at the end of the calendar year, so would waiting for the 2022 model be better? That way I can get the latest model and buy at a more optimum time?

I guess it also depends on how improved the 2022 model will be compared to 2021. I saw that the shift from 2020 and 2021 wasn't that substantial (though correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm a bit impatient to buy a car right now.

I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks in advance.


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## Autoputzer (Mar 16, 2014)

Grabbing a leftover, previous-model-year lot bunny will lower the cost. If you buy as opposed to leasing and trade frequently, your car will be considered almost a year older than it really is when you go to sell it. 

BMW offers a lot of incentives at the very end of a model year. It's also several months before the model year change. 
Factory ordering a car will get you exactly what you want. A big peeve of mine is having a spare tire. They're an option on the X5, but can't be had in on the 45e hybrid or in combination with a third-row seat. It's hard to find a lot bunny with a spare tire. The dirty little secret about run-flat tires is that you still need a spare tire if you plan on taking road trips, especially weekend road trips. Just ask this guy...

(365) The cost of no spare tire! | BimmerFest BMW Forum 

X5's are made in South Carolina. So, a factory ordered car will arrive faster than one made in Germany. Our 2018 X3 arrived in five weeks.

There are currently disruptions in the supply chains. So, BMW has deleted some options on a lot of their cars for 2021. A shortage of new cars also makes dealers more aggressive about pricing. The best time to buy a car is December or January. Business is slow then, and they've already stocked up their inventory for the new model year. So, prices are better and factory ordered cars arrive faster.

With vaccines, it looks like things are opening back up and getting back to normal That will mean brisk car sales for the rest of the year. That means fewer discounts.

BMW normally builds a platform for six model years. At the halfway point, they do a refresh of the design. The G05 has been in production for three model years (2019-2021), and it looks like it will be refreshed for 2022. BMW calls the mid-life refresh "LCI's" for "Life Cycle Impulse."

2022 G05 X5 LCI Facelift First Sighting (bimmerpost.com) 

The X5 40i already received the new mild hybrid (as opposed to a spicy hybrid) powertrain for 2021. So, they get one MPG better city and combined economy. An X5 is still a big, thirsty tank, though.

If you're a member of Pentagon FCU (3rd largest credit union in the US) for over 60 days, there's a $3250 additional discount on purchased (not leased) X5's. They're also a great credit union.

PenFed | Car Buying Service | Powered by TrueCar


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## iamlosthelp (Mar 30, 2021)

Autoputzer said:


> Grabbing a leftover, previous-model-year lot bunny will lower the cost. If you buy as opposed to leasing and trade frequently, your car will be considered almost a year older than it really is when you go to sell it.
> 
> BMW offers a lot of incentives at the very end of a model year. It's also several months before the model year change.
> Factory ordering a car will get you exactly what you want. A big peeve of mine is having a spare tire. They're an option on the X5, but can't be had in on the 45e hybrid or in combination with a third-row seat. It's hard to find a lot bunny with a spare tire. The dirty little secret about run-flat tires is that you still need a spare tire if you plan on taking road trips, especially weekend road trips. Just ask this guy...
> ...


Thank you for your response! I'm thinking about buying and keeping the car for the next ten+ years. And I'd like to have the newest possible model. Do you recommend just going on the BMWusa website and building my model out and seeking out dealers in the area?

Your link to the first LCI 2022 facelift sighting seems to show a very similar design to the current 2021 model. Should I just go for the 2021 then? Some commenters also seem to think that the LCI will be in 2023, not 2022.


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## Autoputzer (Mar 16, 2014)

Factory ordering a BMW is a no-brainer. There are a bunch of options that you'd enjoy for ten years that you'd not find on a dealer's lot bunny. You can also get that spare tire. Ordering a BMW also puts you on control of the sales process. The dealers know you can order the same car and any dealership.

The configurator on BMWUSA.com often has bugs in it, especially near the end of the the model year. I suspect they remove options to discourage people from factory ordering cars near the end of the model year. Go find a price guide for the G05. There should be one on the Ask A BMW Dealer board here. If not, Google is your friend. The price guide shows which options must/can/can't be ordered with other options.

Your info doesn't say where you live. If you see snow, you probably want xDrive (AWD). sDrive is what BMW calls their RWD or FWD cars and SUV's.

When BMW installs "performance" tires on most of their cars or SUV's they're a "staggered set-up," meaning the rear tires and wheels are slightly wider (usually 30mm) than the front ones. That prevents you doing a four-tire rotation pattern. The back tires wear faster than the front ones. So, you'll be buying two tires at a time or replacing all four when the front tires still have some life in them. With xDrive, it's important that the front and rear tires have very similar rolling diameters, to prevent damage to the xDrive clutches. For that reason BMW specifies that tread depth differences between tires cannot exceed 2mm (2.5/32") on xDrive vehicles. I'd avoid performance tires on an AWD SUV. Stick with the "all-season" tires in a square set-up (all four tires and wheels the same size), but I'd go with the optional 20" wheels. (That spare tire and some tools would allow you to do your own tire rotations, saving about $25 each stint.) The 20" wheels will also give you plenty of choices in replacement tires.

After 26k miles and regular tire rotation, the tread depths of the tires on our X3 are all within 0.25/32" (1/128") of each other. The differences after this rotation stint will be close to zero.

They don't offer non-run-flat tires with the 20" rims. That's too bad. We were able to get them on our X3 with 19" rims. Run-flats ride rough, wear out faster, and are more expensive to replace. With that spare tire, you'd have the option to go to non-run-flats for your replacement tires.

Test drive all three engines (40i, 45e, and 50i). But, the 45e eliminates that spare tire as an option. The 2021 40i gets better city MPG than the 2020 40i. The 50i is thirsty, and there's a history of long-term maintenance problems with BMW V8's (50i) My personal choice would the the 40i.

If you like money, say $3250, join Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PENFED.org) now and wait a month or so to order the car. You don't have to be DoD to join, but you do have to be a US citizen. Surf around on their website to see how to join without being DoD.

The trailer hitch is cool option. It allows you to rent a trailer to carry stuff, or to put one of those cargo platforms on the back for extra luggage on road trips.

There may or may not be some gotta-have option on the 2022's that the 2021's don't have. You man or may not get a better deal in December and January (when sales are slow). But, if you need a car you need a car. Dive in!

We're happy with our four-cylinder X3. But, I have to admit that just about everything on an X5 is better than on an X5. My favorite X5 upgrade is the two-piece tailgate.


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## iamlosthelp (Mar 30, 2021)

Autoputzer said:


> Factory ordering a BMW is a no-brainer. There are a bunch of options that you'd enjoy for ten years that you'd not find on a dealer's lot bunny. You can also get that spare tire. Ordering a BMW also puts you on control of the sales process. The dealers know you can order the same car and any dealership.
> 
> The configurator on BMWUSA.com often has bugs in it, especially near the end of the the model year. I suspect they remove options to discourage people from factory ordering cars near the end of the model year. Go find a price guide for the G05. There should be one on the Ask A BMW Dealer board here. If not, Google is your friend. The price guide shows which options must/can/can't be ordered with other options.
> 
> ...


Thank you! I live in a snowy state so definitely thinking about fwd.

if I may ask one more quick question, the threads here seem to say that we should calculate the invoice price (from edmonds KBB etc) and use that as a starting point in negotiations. But other threads say just to aim for around 10% of MSRP, before any incentives.

Do you have any thoughts on which route is preferable? I've found that it's hard to find the exact invoice price for my exact build model and all the features I want so would just focusing on MSRP be easier?


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## Autoputzer (Mar 16, 2014)

Car manufacturers, not just BMW, have stopped publishing "dealer invoice" prices. But, they did when we bought our 2018. The "dealer invoice" was 93% of the base car's MSRP, 92% of the options' MSRP, and 100% of the destination charge. When we buy our next BMW, I'll assume the 93%-92%-100% formula is still in effect. I put "dealer invoice" in quotation marks because there are a bunch of other payments that the dealer gets from BMW when they sell a car.

I'm not greedy when I buy a car. I'm willing to pay for good service. (Similarly, I tip servers in restaurants.) I also have a bunch of discounts and rebates. Dealers try to tack on a bunch of non-government "processing fees," up to $800 in Floriduh. They're just mark-up. I've been dealing with BMW of Bubbaville for over 20 years. They've provided me great service when I have work on my cars done there. So, I want the sales process to be pleasant and for them to value me as a customer. My offer is to split the difference between MSRP and "dealer invoice," with me getting all the incentives and rebates, and any of those bogus processing fees coming out of their side of the pie. With all my incentives, I was at 11.37% below MSRP before taxes and government fees when the dust settled on our X3.

I have friends who love to play "scorched earth" when buying a car. If the dealer treats me right, I'll treat them right. But, they have to refrain from typical car salesman games. We lasted about two minutes in the Honda dealership before getting the X3.

I try to do test drives in loaner cars, and I've done my research on options and prices before I talk to a salesman. I have what I'm willing to pay all worked out in a spreadsheet. I live and die by spreadsheets. If he's not a dick, he can make a lot of money in about 15 minutes.... or he can jack me around and make nothing.

I couldn't resist "building" an X5 for me or Frau Putzer, and doing the workup on my spreadsheet template. I fill in the white cells, and I'm done in a few minutes.

If I was going to buy one, I'd call up my salesman and tell him I'm coming by. Since him and the sales manager know me, I might just send him a .pdf of my work-up, and that'd pretty much be that. With PENFED and the current $2500 credit from BMW, I'd be at 11.1% below MSRP before taxes and government fees. BMW of Bubbalville's supposed income is $2701.

Randy the salesman would make $675 to $1080 (25% to 40% of the mark-up) for fifteen minutes work. Randy happy! Joe the sales manger happy! Frau Putzer happy! Autoputzer happy! 15 minutes... everybody happy!

(Frau Putzer's unhappiness is highly contagious. So, Frau Putzer no happy... everybody no happy.)


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## iamlosthelp (Mar 30, 2021)

Autoputzer said:


> Car manufacturers, not just BMW, have stopped publishing "dealer invoice" prices. But, they did when we bought our 2018. The "dealer invoice" was 93% of the base car's MSRP, 92% of the options' MSRP, and 100% of the destination charge. When we buy our next BMW, I'll assume the 93%-92%-100% formula is still in effect. I put "dealer invoice" in quotation marks because there are a bunch of other payments that the dealer gets from BMW when they sell a car.
> 
> I'm not greedy when I buy a car. I'm willing to pay for good service. (Similarly, I tip servers in restaurants.) I also have a bunch of discounts and rebates. Dealers try to tack on a bunch of non-government "processing fees," up to $800 in Floriduh. They're just mark-up. I've been dealing with BMW of Bubbaville for over 20 years. They've provided me great service when I have work on my cars done there. So, I want the sales process to be pleasant and for them to value me as a customer. My offer is to split the difference between MSRP and "dealer invoice," with me getting all the incentives and rebates, and any of those bogus processing fees coming out of their side of the pie. With all my incentives, I was at 11.37% below MSRP before taxes and government fees when the dust settled on our X3.
> 
> ...


Haha this is great. Thank you once again for your time and advice!


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## pb2 (Jan 3, 2012)

Autoputzer said:


> If I was going to buy one, I'd call up my salesman and tell him I'm coming by. Since him and the sales manager know me, I might just send him a .pdf of my work-up, and that'd pretty much be that. With PENFED and the current $2500 credit from BMW, I'd be at 11.1% below MSRP before taxes and government fees. BMW of Bubbalville's supposed income is $2701.


How do I get the PenFed discount? I've been a PenFed customer for years, but the only auto discount I see on their website is a link to Truecar.

Thanks,
PB2


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