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Grover - good point on lease vs. buy. My 335i was originally a lease and I decided to buy it out at the end of the lease. The car was in great shape, and it paid for me to keep it. Resale after 6 years and almost 100k miles is still strong, and ultimately it was a great financial decision as little to nothing went wrong with it - not even really any "minor" repairs to speak of outside of warranty. But I think that was more luck than anything. I see repair bills in the near future (some pinging starting to occur, etc) hence the decision to trade now.
That said, I think the Geico MBI option on my insurance really made me feel much more comfortable with having the car well after warranty. I may end up keeping the 550 after warranty, as well, if things are going well as I plan to have the MBI coverage on it, too.
The other way to look at repair costs after warranty is against the cost of purchasing a new car, too. I'm happy to tolerate a $1,000 or $2,000 a year in maintaining a paid-off car with a few minor repairs here and there... as buying (or leasing) a new one would certainly be more expensive. To me it's about finding that "sweet spot" where the residual value on the current car is still decent and just before REALLY major stuff may start piling up... then it's time to trade-up. I've kept the last two BMWs around 6 - 6.5 years and that worked out well... granted they were 3-series, though, which has a better resale value and much less issues, I believe, than a 5! We'll see!
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