[bmerdude]

I will start this out by saying that I have been shopping around for a new 328xi for a few months now. The nearest BMW dealership is about 350 miles from where I live so I did my research in a 500 mile radius which included two major metro areas and a few smaller-town dealerships.

After probably 50 emails to 9 different dealerships it came down to only two that showed sincere interest in really selling me a car and not just sending out a standard quote and then going on to the next. The two were not only the easiest to deal with they actually had the lowest figures and ARE NOT in major markets.

The two include Vern Eide BMW located in Sioux Falls, SD and Markel BMW located in Omaha, NE. I ended up purchasing from Vern Eide because they are the closest to my location and they were able to get the 1st choice color we wanted on short notice.

I also want to point out that the difference between the lowest priced major metro dealer and Vern Eide in SD on the same car was $1800 total. We lease our BMW's so I was payment shopping on a car with the same features on the exact same terms.

Also, Vern Eide's dealer fee's are a whopping $69! That is probably one reason why they were lower. I have been reading other posts that people have been paying misc. MACO fees, training fees and dealer fees of $800+ in major metro areas.

To those of us who thought that we would get a better deal in a big city dealership rather than a smaller one......well this has changed my thinking.

If you live around the area it is worth the trip to Sioux Falls. The internet guy at Vern Eide BMW-Mercedes in SD is Virgil Stensland. There were no changes or surprises when we arrived to pick up the car and it was the easiest car purchase we have ever had. I want to mention the internet guy at Markel in Omaha was Greg Friesen. He also was to-the-point and genuinely wanted to sell me a car, so I thank him for his hard work and would recommend him also.

I think the larger BMW stores know they have many more opportunities to sell a high end car so they will wait until that person comes along and makes an emotional decision to pay top dollar for that car rather than giving it away on the internet.