BMW 3 Series Depreciation

A BMW 3 Series will depreciate 45% after 5 years and have a 5 year resale value of $28,426.

Once driven off the new car lot, the BMW 3-Series loses value quickly, as do most BMWs. For new purchases, after three years, your 3-Series will be worth about 60% of its original sticker price. However, if you want to let someone else get the new car smell, and you want to save a bunch of money, consider one that is a few years old, and still falls within BMW's "certified pre-owned program", also known as a CPO car. Some good deals can be found here, and given that their looks don't change much, no one will even know that it's not a brand new car.

The chart below shows the expected depreciation for the next 10 years. These results are for vehicles in good condition, averaging 12,000 miles per year. It also assumes a selling price of $51,712 when new. Enter your purchase price, expected ownership period and estimated miles driven annually. Our depreciation calculator will predict an expected resale value for the BMW 3 Series.

If you purchase a used BMW 3 Series that is 2 years old, then you could save $18,047 compared to buying new, and still have a relatively new model with plenty of useful life remaining. If you plan to keep this vehicle for 3 years then your total cost of depreciation would be $5,239. Try other age and ownership length combinations, or different vehicles to see if you can find depreciation sweetspots where this cost is the lowest. Hint: Try vehicles between 2 and 4 years old, as brand new vehicles depreciate quickly. Also, if this is a recently released model and buying a few years old isn't possible, consider another vehicle, or perhaps wait until more used 3 Series models become available.