Is the E87 worth buying as a daily?

[AlexFindley]

Hi!

Here's the situation: I own a 1997 E36 28i convertible as a hobby car, and until now, I had a company Kia Cee'd I used as my daily.
I am going to work elsewhere from May, and unfortunately they don't offer a company car, so I will have to get a daily driver since the old E36 is not suitable for that, even if it has the hardtop.
Long story short: I need something with 4+ doors that has reasonable comfort and usability, and it would be nice if it had better reliability than the old E36 - that car, as much as I love it, is producing the most bizarre problems lately.
I liked the Kia Cee'd and thought about buying one, but it's a boring car for sure, and I see that I could get a first generation 1-series for the same price, which is definitely a more appealing car for me.
Only problem is that I'm not made of money, so maintenance costs are a concern, especially since I have the E36. I don't really want to end up in a situation where I have two cars, with both of them being money pits. I don't expect new Kia Cee'd-like reliability since that's just unrealistic, but I'd like to get some experiences and opinions from owners of the 1st gen 1-series. Which engine should I get, are the N52 engines really that much worse than the M52 I have in my old girl? How reliable and expensive to maintain is one of these overall?

I'd only like to hear from actual owners.

Thanks!

[White94RX]

The N52 is a better engine than the M52 in my opinion.