Looking at getting a BMW

[USMCKoontz]

Currently driving a 2005 Buick Lesabre, but the tranny and motor are about shot in it. Anyways wife and I have around 13,000 cash, and are looking to outright buy a car. I actually have found some BMWs I like around the 10-12k price range.. My question is how many miles on a BMW is something to worry about? Is 80k too much? 100k? What else should I look for? Wife is worried about Mileage...

My wife is a fan of the Chevy Malibu (yuk), and Ford Fusion (eh), I have been trying to talk her into a BMW or Audi or something similiar.... How can I bring her to the dark side?

[Rudolph320i]

Mileage isnt as important as maintenance, get something well maintained with records of what has been done.

[beshannon]

Currently driving a 2005 Buick Lesabre, but the tranny and motor are about shot in it. Anyways wife and I have around 13,000 cash, and are looking to outright buy a car. I actually have found some BMWs I like around the 10-12k price range.. My question is how many miles on a BMW is something to worry about? Is 80k too much? 100k? What else should I look for? Wife is worried about Mileage...

My wife is a fan of the Chevy Malibu (yuk), and Ford Fusion (eh), I have been trying to talk her into a BMW or Audi or something similiar.... How can I bring her to the dark side?

You need a pre purchase inspection and maintenance records as well as a car fax.

My last BMW had 12,000 miles on it when I bought it. I kept it for 22,000 miles, 30 months and almost $9,000 in repairs and maintenance not including the totally failed transmission that was paid for by BMW, before I got rid of it.

If you do buy something be sure to save for repairs and maintenance unless you can do that yourself.

Good luck!

[e30jrosso]

Different models have different things to look for when buying a BMW, sometimes different years in a model have different things to look for. $10-12k can buy you a nice car, even a nice BMW but the key is to find one that has a good documented history. Of course you have to be prepared to maintain it after you buy it as well, which isn't bad if you stay on top of it which a lot of people don't like to do then they complain about how expensive they are, or how unreliable they are, etc.

[BimmerBreaker]

If you have $13k cash (I hope thats your budget not your bank account!) you need to be looking at like an $8k car.

E46 would be good for you I think. Women generally like the looks, they are fun yet easy to drive, fairly cheap to maintain. I'd get a 325i or 323i for $6-8k in your shoes.

[USMCKoontz]

If you have $13k cash (I hope thats your budget not your bank account!) you need to be looking at like an $8k car.

E46 would be good for you I think. Women generally like the looks, they are fun yet easy to drive, fairly cheap to maintain. I'd get a 325i or 323i for $6-8k in your shoes.

Yeah thats the budget LOL... I could possibly go up a little more of course

[shiftmygears]

E46 330ci ZHP, regular 330ci, or E39 540i would have my vote. Should leave you a few grand to save in case things go wrong. Doubt you'll need to spend that few grand if you don't take your car to the stealership and learn how to fix little things.

[pottsalot]

E46 Zhp has my vote also. Very versatile car and easy on maintenance cost.

[montaillou]

To echo and emphasize what others have said, get a PPI.

Many cars will go the distance if they're taken care of.