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I called and spoke to a Finance Manager at a local BMW dealership here in Georgia but I'm not really believing what he's telling me as far as BMW credit tiers are concerned. He said the following: 740+ Super Elite, 700-739 Elite, 675-699 Standard, 640-674 Standard Plus and 601-639 Progressive. I asked if it was FICO Auto 8 or 9 scores. He said, no it's your actual credit score and they use Transunion (which happens to be my lowest score). I thought for car buying, all dealerships especially captive lenders used the FICO Auto 8 or 9 scores. Does anyone have any experience with BMW credit tiers? I've googled and read on this forum and it seems to be all over the place about the actual credit tiers that they use.
Most captive lenders keep any official documentation on their tiers limited to internal staff. I have never financed with BMW financial, but the breakdown of tiers seems pretty accurate. Most brands the top tier is 700+, but I know Ford has a Tier 0 that is only for 740+ with previous history with Ford credit, so the "Super Elite" could be similar to that. There are a lot of auto lenders that do not use auto enhanced versions, so I would imagine it is very possible that BMW financial does not.
I can speak for me. I financed a new BMW last month (April 2021) with a score of 675 and I got 2.49% rate. Which was their advertised rate. The BMW dealership here (Houston TX ) pulled Experian.
@Spider07 @thank you. I'm hoping the dealership will pull my best score which is Experian. My transunion is not so great.
Good Luck!
Just wanted to thank you for your real life example.
BMWFS rewards you if you have done business in the past with them.
Those credit tiers are "official" numbers but it comes down to the dealer and BMWFS for your rate.
When I first started with my first BMW (2006 328i AWD), I was young and didn't have a great score (low 600s) but they still financed me at an OK rate and I still had to put down 20%.
Then as the years passed and I moved into a much pricier X5 gas, then X5 diesel and X5 PHEV; my scores were in the high 600s but BMWFS still approved me for their best base MF lease rate with ZERO down.
4 years ago, I bought a CPO BMW 528 and even with a score of 690, I got into their 0.9% best rate.
The reason: the dealer backed me (I got over 6 cars from them) and each time with BMWFS.
It's amazing how much pull a dealer has on your rate!
If you lease, don't put any money down - only use MSD for lowering your MF.
Now that I am in the mid 700s, I am considering the new all electric BMW iX
@4sallypatthank you for the insight. I definitely think the dealer can push me through to tier 1. Right now I would probably qualify at tier 2 but I'm trying to get the 1.9% financing deal on the x4. I've never owned a BMW before so this would be the beginning of my relationship with them...fingers crossed.
@Anonymous wrote:@4sallypatthank you for the insight. I definitely think the dealer can push me through to tier 1. Right now I would probably qualify at tier 2 but I'm trying to get the 1.9% financing deal on the x4. I've never owned a BMW before so this would be the beginning of my relationship with them...fingers crossed.
Yes, the dealer has the ability to bump you up tiers if they want to.
You may need to shop around for a dealer willing to help.
Remember, when you find the dealer that treats you well, you should remain loyal to them.
That's how I have been able to get the best rates thru BMWFS.
1.9% is a very good rate on a new X4.
Best of luck to you!