First post on this forum...Would appreciate some advice and/or tips

[Grezza]

So here's my story:

I am a college student and full-time worker. I've owned Hondas and Acuras my whole driving life, and really would love to make the switch. I'm 32, and have had several rough years in my life both financially and emotionally. I won't go into much detail, but the bottom line is this - I've decided that I want to own either an E36 or E46 by the end of this new year, and transferred $1000 into a specific savings account to fund this purchase. I know that's not a lot of money, but for me, its a start. I would love to get some help as far as what to look for when purchasing, price range, mileage recommendations, red flags, etc. Also, what are the pros and cons of each generation E46 and E36? I am the typical BMW newb, but am atypical in the sense that I have a goal, and have set guidelines and a plan to achieve that goal. My hope is to purchase one in full for around $8500-$10000. I am in love with the style, performance and history of these cars. The time frame may be reduced if I decide to get a loan from my credit union, but I would like to save and purchase it all on my own.
Anyway, that's my introductory thread in a nutshell. I look forward to responses and obtaining as much knowledge and info that I can.

Thanks!

[BradW]

if you can't afford to put a grand or so, maybe 2500, per year into maintaining things and fixing things, then you should probably stay clear.... and thats only if you do the work yourself. Double that amount if you don't do the work. Will you have the time? will you have the expendable income?

google "e46 pre purchase checklist", you will find plenty of information on things to look for before you buy, and you will get an idea of what you are in for.

don't get a loan. if you buy the car, and a year later you decide it isn't worth the headache, then it isn't as easy to get rid of if you have a loan (or at least make all your money back).

[pizzaman09]

if you can't afford to put a grand or so, maybe 2500, per year into maintaining things and fixing things, then you should probably stay clear.... and thats only if you do the work yourself. Double that amount if you don't do the work. Will you have the time? will you have the expendable income?

google "e46 pre purchase checklist", you will find plenty of information on things to look for before you buy, and you will get an idea of what you are in for.

don't get a loan. if you buy the car, and a year later you decide it isn't worth the headache, then it isn't as easy to get rid of if you have a loan (or at least make all your money back).

I am going to have to disagree with this a bit, Putting aside $2000 each year is certainly a good thing for maintenance for any BMW, however doubling that for not doing the work yourself seems a bit excessive. $2k per year is what my family has been averaging on our e38s with going to the dealer for every single item. Some years it was more, some years it was less but even with expensive dealer labor it was $2k per year.

$2k I personally think is a safe amount you should have put away for most problems with an e46 or e36.

That being said, $8,500-$10,000 can get you a lot if you are looking at e36s or e46s, I would suggest looking for the cleanest best maintained example you can reasonably afford and then get it checked out with a pre-purchase inspection. I wish you the best of luck.

[BimmerBreaker]

You should be looking at ~$6,000 cars and very simply - I'd put as much away a month as you can. $800/$1000 set aside per month plus your $1k initial fund will give you over $10,000 in your bank account at the end of the year, giving you the budget for a decent car, some initial repairs, and a buffer of ~$2k you can keep growing and growing. I'd keep this car stock, learn what you like abuot the car, what you don't like, and then when your bank is back up to about $10k again next year (provided you KEEP adding to it) then at that time I would sell the car and look at getting a really good one you can keep for awhile or a newer model if those tickle your fancy.

At least thats my .02; I wish someone advised me to do that before I got my first BMW.

Oh and get an E36. E46s are meh except in M3 guise and M3s are out of your budget. E36 325i is a great first car imo.

[BradW]

Ok, so, maybe my numbers are off a little, but the point is right on. They arent your typical Japanese import, put gas in it and drive, type car. The cost of ownership is pretty high comparatively and id rather err on the side of caution rather than paint some rosy picture that they are care free