Baker Motor Co. recently bought a family-owned BMW dealership in a deal that involved about $8.2 million, according to New Hanover County documents and a company announcement Tuesday.

The company bought the assets of Schaeffer BMW, a Wilmington firm for more than 30 years and located at 4920 New Centre Drive, and started operating as the new owner Tuesday, according to a news release from Charleston, South Carolina-based Baker Motor Co. The dealership’s new name is BMW of Wilmington.  

"I think we’re blessed to have the opportunity to be in the Wilmington market," said Tommy B. Baker, owner and president of Baker Motor Co., on Tuesday. "It reminds me so much of Charleston; both are coastal communities, both are port communities and both have universities...I think if you look at the future of the United States -- everybody’s trying to get to the coast."

BMW of Wilmington represents two firsts for Baker Motor Co. by adding a brand that the firm has not offered before and buying a location in North Carolina. "We are thrilled to add the BMW brand to our group.  We are prepared to serve BMW clients in the Wilmington market and provide them with the premier Baker Motor Company client experience,” Baker said.

He said BMW dealerships rarely sell.  

"They [BMW] only have about four per year that change hands, and there are 400 dealers in America," Baker said.

With the new BMW location buy, the Baker group now consists of 13 automotive manufacturers. In addition to BMW, they include Mercedes-Benz, Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Sprinter, smart, Infiniti, Maserati, Porsche, Land Rover, Jaguar, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

All Schaeffer employees were given the option to join the BMW of Wilmington team moving forward, the release said. Matthew Scoggins, Baker’s operations officer, said in the announcement, “Our No. 1 priority is communicating how important Schaeffer’s existing employees are to us.”

Schaeffer was founded in 1984 by Milton T. Schaeffer Jr. when he began operations as a Buick dealer in downtown Wilmington. Schaeffer Buick moved to its New Centre Drive location, which consists of about 10 acres, in 1986, acquiring BMW in 1990. Schaeffer won the BMW Center of Excellence award in 2006 and 2012. 

Baker Motor Co. was founded in 1988 by Baker and is the largest privately held automobile dealer group headquartered in South Carolina, according to the news release. In addition to BMW of Wilmington, the company operates three manufacturer-authorized, new car locations: Baker Motor Company of Charleston Inc., Baker Buick GMC Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.