“This is for your son?” IMO, that raises more concerns. I’m with Doc. You can buy a much newer, more reliable and less expensive car to work on for $10k. I would argue also that as good as a BMW might be, a 5 to 7 year newer something else could easily be much safer with a newer body and more mandated safety features. The name tags of BMW or Volvo are not automatically better cars for the money. Any older car with mileage into the hundreds of thousands…is a risk. 5 or fewer years on a reliable compact with fewer then half that mileage…less so. Put your son in a safer, more reliable car for that $10 k. Sounds like we are stuck on a name plate.
This is another issue about what the price should be. There is no “should be” price.
The price is what the seller and buyer agree on.
It is not some math formula or official price. It is what it is. What a like car was sold for the other side of the country does not change what the car you are looking at is worth or should be worth. It is only what you and the seller can agree to. If you can’t agree, then move on. Your expectations and/or the seller’s expectations may be unreasonable. Which one ??? It makes no difference. If you can’t agree that is all there is to it.
Good luck
@dagosa - not stuck on a name plate, done the research for the last couple of months - been some what of a challenge to find a car with a manual transmission. Looked a several German and Japanese cars plus american and to be honest the German cars seemed to be as solid used as they are new compared to the other cars. Plus BMW especially the smaller 3 series are just a hell of a lot of fun to drive. We already have a 2000 Hyundai and a 2002 Chevy Przim - and you are only 18 once. We also have all used cars inspected by our own mechanics and have turned down cars based on the results and estimates of cost going forward to bring it up to spec.
@JosephEMeehan - Agree
We have found a 325xi - first one around here with a manual transmission - taking it to the mechanic for inspection. Being in the north I think that the X Drive would be very beneficial during the winter and wet months that we have.
This is another issue about what the price should be. There is no “should be” price.
The price is what the seller and buyer agree on.
I agree to a point.
If you pay $2000 over what the car is worth…try getting a loan for that amount. A bank isn’t going to give you a loan on the price of the vehicle. Anything OVER what the bank thinks is a fair price you’ll have to pay out of you own cash.
Well we had the 325xi looked at by BMW and came away with some more knowledge. From what they say, all BMW leak oil, especially as they get older and if the wrong oil is used. The reason you don’t see oil in the driveway is that there is a pan under the engine in which there is material to absorb the oil. For this car the leak is little that is there was no pool of oil in the pan just some drops. The value cover leaks so that has to be replaced and the front CV have to be replaced - about $600 other then that it looked good for its age and the lower miles helped it.
Granted, like all cars that are at this mileage - domestic as well as foreign there could be some major repairs coming down the road if the car did not get serviced regularly. So that will be something to think about.
For the first year, budget $3000-$4000 for repairs to get a 75k BMW car up to spec.
That’s my car. Trust me, don’t buy it. You better have deep pockets! Ai-yi-yi, the problems that car gave me! Traded it for a Camry and RAN!
Boyd, Did you ever buy a BMW ?
Most of the cars I’ve seen in Chicago a few years old are total rust buckets. I’d head south. Just as a caution my son’s 2012 325 was stalling on him. According to son they did a computer update and some injector work at a cost north of $2000. A $3-4000 yearly repair budget is a little optimistic.
Old thread
“A $3-4000 yearly repair budget is a little optimistic.”
Please clarify
Do you believe it needs to be much higher? 
Yeah, I’d say for a 10 year old BMW it should be higher. I wonder what it costs just to install a new battery at the dealer? Remember the convoluted procedure for a battery replacement? But I was stretching a little to make a point. Folks on a budget though, I don’t think should be looking at BMWs but yeah this is an old discussion so who knows what he got.
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Yes we picked up a 2002 325xi. Based on conversation with my nephew - a BMW mechanic - we took his advice to go through the engine etc and get all the maintenance items up to date - since there were no record as to what had been done. It took a couple of days and we did all the work ourselves - replaced the oil filter housing gasket, replaced value cover gasket, replaced hoses, tubes, DISA, changed things over to use the “winter” parts, new injectors, new coils, filters etc.I think we spend between 1500$ and 2000$ on parts. Doing all the labor ourselves makes a big difference.
Car does not leak oil and no warning lights.
We took it to the shop to have new clutch put in and replace the front drive as there were a bit of metal shavings there as well as change out all the fluids to give us a baseline date.
Now the car runs like a champ and should be able to get another 150,000 miles out of it. We are back on track with basic maintenance - oil changes etc. Car only gets driven about 9 months out of the year - we park it in the winter -
Why did you need to replace the injectors . . . ?!
@db4690 - So all of this started when we saw a couple of codes - some around MAF etc. We dug in, replaced parts, tested to make sure codes went away and then saw new ones bubble up. Continued to replace and test until all the codes vanished -
Nephew is a BMW mechanic? What luck! You got no problems, no problems at all there … lol …
BMW’s are fun to drive, and well designed. Being performance cars, they tend to be a little persnickety tho. Not a simple to fix car for a diy’er. But having a nephew BMW mechanic solves that problem. You are good to go. Enjoy.
That must have been many years ago. I have family and friends who live in much snowier and more salt use areas - and the cars last close to 10 years before the first sign of rust. Only ones that don’t seem to hold up well are pickups without a spray on bed liner.
Great to see you doing the used BMW DIY right.
Beats the heck out of an overrated disposable plastic appliance
I am not sure if I even want to know what that remark means.
Something to do with the myth that German engineering is more durable than Asian or American.