As we have announced yesterday, BMW has released the lease residual values for the 1-series models. While the residuals seem to be fair for the upcoming 128i and 135i models, the money factor is pretty high. Of course, due to these factors, the monthly lease payments, on a well equipped car with zero money down, can exceed $700. 

In my opinion there are a few reasons why BMW decided to go this route: 

1. It's a brand new model with a large demand, good reviews and lots of hype around it.
2. The dollar is tanking and the euro is stronger than ever, therefore, very thin profit on the 1-series.
3. Based on the history of releasing new models, BMW is known to have bigger lease factors in the beginning.
4. Everyone was lucky to lease 3-series cars for anywhere between $400-600/month, just because BMW subsidized leases. 

With this being said, while I believe that a fair amount of people, will move away from the 1-series for now, BMW will do just fine and there will be plenty of buyers that will jump on the amazing 135i coupe.

Now, let's start a poll and see how many actually will go ahead and still lease an 1'er.

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