# Which BMW should I put money into? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [May 17, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-bmw-should-i-put-money-into/79365 "2013-05-17T20:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Emmonawire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Emmonawire](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Emmonawire)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-bmw-should-i-put-money-into/79365/1 "2013-05-17T20:11:02Z")
I need a car for around town but I only have $2000 to spend. I have two cars that need work but I don’t know which one would be the best to put money into. My favorite car is a little 1975 BMW with 49,000 miles on it. I found it sitting in the sun in Phoenix, the interior was completely rotted and it needed a new paint job. The engine is in great condition, we can drive it. I got it painted, I have new seats but it needs to be put together, windows need to be put back on, the dashboard is pretty much non existent, etc. I have a lot of new parts just sitting around. My second car is a 1987 BMW 325, with 250,000 miles on it. It needs a new paint job and I’ve been told it is going to need a new differential sometime in the future. It has been well taken care of and needs things like new window switches and door handles. I think I could spend $2000 on getting things fixed now and then get the differential fixed later on in the year. So which would be the better choice? Someone gave me a price of over $6000 to put my 1975 car back together. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-bmw-should-i-put-money-into/79365/2 "2013-05-17T20:16:08Z")
Has anyone gone over the 2002 looking for ANY signs of rust? That’s a major problem with them. If the body is in great shape, I’d rather put money into it, sell the '87 and buy something to drive everyday. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-bmw-should-i-put-money-into/79365/3 "2013-05-17T20:16:44Z")
Either one of these cars is going to be a money pit. If your budget is only 2 grand, you need to find something like a used Honda Civic and use that as your daily driver, restoring the BMWs as you get more money. ---
**Author:** ![Emmonawire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Emmonawire](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Emmonawire)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-bmw-should-i-put-money-into/79365/4 "2013-05-17T20:22:17Z")
Amazingly, no rust problems on either car. Thanks for the advice texases and shadowfax.