Help with first BMW choice?

Question

ok so I'm 20 years old and after dealing with a c**p honda del sol I'm ready to upgrade. Now i'm in love with the E36 325/328. My question is what is average yearly upkeep on one of these cars. and i know this is a far stretch of a question but anyone know about how much insurance will be. I've never had a wreck, speeding ticket, or anything besides a couple seat belt violations. If it helps someone help me with a price the insurance on my honda right now is only 68 bucks. and for my last question, how many miles is to many miles for an e36.

Answer 1

It depends on the car.  I have a 325 and I have fixed almost everything costing upwards of 10,000.  I had a warranty and it covered most.  It has now run out and nervous.  I would not buy anything without a warranty.  Mine was an extra 1700 but well worth it.

Answer 2

Stay away from the E36's.  Their performance isn't very "BMW" (my 2000 Jetta VR6 with intake, exhaust, pistons, heads, valves, injectors and a chip stomped my friend's E36 M3 in a straight line and after I put the coilovers on, it ate it in the turns, too... my S2000 hands it its *** all around... and we're talking the top of the 3 series lineup here!) and the reliability on them is pants.  They have lots of electrical gremlins and overall build quality was pretty spotty.  My friend's M3 is a money pit now that the warranty is long gone; repairs are astronomical and they're needed frequently.

I'd either save up and get the next generation 328ci or 330ci, or even get an E30 325i or, if you can find one that isn't priced wicked high, an E30 M3... one of the best BMW's ever!

BMW fanboys love the E36, but it was one of the dark points in BMW's history.

If you do decide to get one, get the 328i.  Same c**p reliability but more power.

Answer 3

When I turned 18, the first thing I did was take out a loan for $7400, and I bought a 1998 BMW 328is, five speed manual, for $6800. Honestly, it was the one of the best things I've ever spent money on, (falling just short of food)! If you love cars, a BMW is a perfect choice for you. I'm not sure what exactly the normal cost of repairs annually is, but in the two years I had it, I replaced the secondary air pump, and the radiator. The dealer gave me a qoute for the two in the range of $1200-$1400. I bought the parts myself, and had a local mechanic install them for a total of under $600, including parts.  

As for miles, it all depends on how the car was maintained. Before you buy a BMW, or any car for that matter, bring it to a dealer and have it checked out. For a BMW, don't bring it to a "mom and pop" mechanic, bring it to the dealer, and tell them you're interested in buying this car, and they will tell you everything wrong with the car, and they may be able to bring up the vehicles maintainence records. My car had 125,000 miles on it, and it ran like a top.

As for insurance, call around and get qoutes. I lost my license before I turned 17, and my insurance is astronomically high (think $1400 every six months for full coverage!)

All in all, the 3 series is a great first BMW, easy/cheap(er) to maintain, they handle excellantly, look great, and are a perfect balance between sporty/economical/luxury. I loved mine quite a bit, but I upgraded to a 2000 BMW which I can hardly afford!

Answer 4

BMW choice = just say no

Answer 5

Always go with the higher-horsepower engine.  In this case it'd be the 328i (or, if you can afford it, the M3).  Upkeep depends on the previous owner but you can do a little checking at CarFAX to see how well they did.  Generally BMWs are pretty reliable.  It's not unheard of to have upwards of 200,000 miles on a Bimmer.  Prior to purchase, find a decent independent dealership (http://www.bimrs.org has lists) and have the vehicle inspected.  If the seller balks at this, walk away.  Look for vehicles without extensive modifications (like crazy wings or whatever), preferably with the stock sound system -- this means the owners probably haven't molested the electricals.

You may not be able to find an E36 for $7500, but you should be able to find a plethora of E30s (the boxy looking cars from the late 80s and early 90s).  I think the E36 M3s are fetching around $9k with 80,000 miles on them.

For reference, my 2003 E46 330i sedan has 117k miles.  I had a 1988 E30 325iX with 156k miles that was totalled in a crash by someone pulling a U-turn in traffic.  My insurance rates are $100/mo, but we live in a relatively rural area of Arizona and I'm 11 years your senior.