Olympic BMWs to be sold off

BMW plans to sell off a large proportion of the 3 and 5 Series vehicles used as part of its Olympic fleet through the UK national dealer network, it has emerged.

The rest of the cars will go on to serve in the Paralympic games from the 29th August to the 9th September.

The Olympics ended with the closing ceremony last Sunday evening, sparking rumours that people would soon be able to bag themselves a bargain ex-Olympic fleet vehicle.

BMW reveals official cars for London 2012 Olympics

On Bing: see images of the Olympic BMWs

BMW is yet to officially confirm what it will do with its lightly used Olympic vehicles, but it is thought many cars will make it onto dealer forecourts, marketed as ‘ex-demo’, low mileage cars.

The German automaker often holds private closed sale events of BMW fleet vehicles for its dealers in conjunction with British Car Auctions, which could prove a good resource for dealers to procure vehicles.

The Olympic fleet comprised 1,550 320d EfficientDynamics and 700 520d EfficientDynamics – both emit less than the 120g/km CO2 target of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Other BMWs used in the taskforce included 400 318d Tourings, 160 1 Series ActiveE electric vehicles, 20 5 Series ActiveHybrids, 17 X3 xDrive 20ds and 10 X5 xDrive 30ds.

A strong possibility is that the BMW UK dealer network won’t be able to absorb even 50% of the fleet straight away (the remaining vehicles will be used for the Paralympic games) so some cars may be auctioned off to private buyers.

BMW dismissed fears that the Olympic cars would have a negative impact on residual values of its used cars, stating that every step had been taken to ensure they are returned to market in a cohesive manner.

BMW Group UK General Manager of Used Cars, Matt Bristow, highlighted BMW intended to substitute the volume by reducing its staff car schemes:

“These cars won’t impact on the open market; disposal of the volume is business as usual. There will be no change in our young used disposal volumes; they are in line with previous patterns.

“Dealers will be hungry for them and we will also be able to sell them internally to staff and their families.”

All Olympic BMWs are fitted with sat-nav, with a variety of options designed to appeal to the dealer network.

BMW reveals official cars for London 2012 Olympics

On Bing: see images of the Olympic BMWs

Find out how much a used BMW 320d is worth on Auto Trader