Big depreciating asset for sure! (archive)

Depreciation on a 7 is as large as the car is. The '99 740 Sports I have looked at are being marketed in the high 40's, and seem priced about the same as the '99 540ia Sports or 6-speeds. Considering what the car's MSRP was, a big hit for sure.

BMW subsidises the 7's on the pre-owned market, as it is a "volume car" (like the 528's; try to get a subsidized deal on the low-volume 540's!). I don't know what current deals are, but ask a couple of local dealers (there was a dealer incentive or customer rebate, and a great lease rate/residual on '98 and/or '99 7's with BMW certifications, but I don't know if it was extended). You might be better off leasing and letting BMW take the risk on the residual on the car, as the current 7's will get hit hard once the new body style is out and the market gets flooded with older cars. One advantage the 540's have is that there just aren't all that many of them, when compared to 528's, so they tend to hold their value better.

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