Stealer Pricing Observations

[Ecubed General Mailbox <general@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Gang:

Okay, so I decided to buy myself a Christmas present since I figured that
it was a safe bet that no one else was going to get it for me. What is it
you ask? (Okay, maybe you didn't ask.) A lighted shift knob (part # 2511 1
222 274) for my M3/4. Although I feel I should have gotten it with my car
(a 3/98 production date) since it was phased-in during this time, I gave in
and bought one.

Anyway, on with the stealer story... What is up with the "list price"? It
seems that almost every dealer has a different definition of "list price".
I got quite a wide range when calling around for CCA and list pricing on
this item. Check out my observations (best viewed in fixed-width fonts):

Dealer               List   CCA    In       
Name (State)         Price  Price  Stock?  Notes
- ----------------     -----  -----  ------  --------------------------------
BMW Store (Ohio)     $176   $141   Yes     James was great on the phone
Hendrick BMW (NC)    $176   $132   No      Advertises 25% off list price
Global Imports (GA)  $179   $142   No      Adverts "Meet or beat" policy
VOB BMW (MD)         $176   $129   No      Best $. Adverts up to 27% off
Peter Pan (CA)       $226   $189   No      Whatthe? $189 included 20% disc!
Stevens Creek (CA)   $189   $160   No      Took 15 mins to talk to someone

I really want to know what Peter Pan is smoking! Can you guess where I
bought it from? (Give you a hint... think next day air shipping!)

Is there a way to find out what true list is? Why the varying? By the
numbers I got, it seems that $176 appears to be the list price. Plus I
*know* that Steven's Creek marks-up their parts prices, their pricing seems
to match the $176 list price.

Makes you wonder....

- -Ed

PS:Does anyone know why the M cars have a different airbag wheel than the
Non-M cars? The M airbag appears much bigger. Thanks for any insight here.

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