I want a manual car that I can learn to wrench on and that can be had for $4-7k (initial cost) in good-excellent condition and good cosmetic condition. Also, four seats and the cheapest possible DIY maintenance cost (AKA subtract the labor) that I can get. Preferably RWD, sedan body style is convenient but not really on the radar. Will be a daily so no Miata. People say BMWs are rewarding to drive and own so here we are.
I know I've mentioned money a lot, so I'd like to clarify before the 3k civic suggestions start flying. I am willing to spend money but after lots of googling I've learned that it is possible to circumvent the BMW horror stories by a combination of buying clean and learning to DIY. I'm not going to say that I have a set annual budget for maintenance or anything like that, since that's obviously impossible to define without knowing my car and its flaws yet. But as you can see I'm trying to economize to the max. If I'm wrong about the whole circumventing thing feel free to suggest your favorite jap econobox.
Anyways, this is all I want out of my car, BMW or not (hopefully BMW). I don't care about horsepower or luxury features or big touch screens, and I think that all BMWs in the early 90s-mid 00s time frame have adequate to good safety.
For the past few months I've looked at almost every 3 practical series and a few of the 5 series. Still completely clueless as to what is best for me. I'm going to analyze the entire 3 series, maybe seeing it through my eyes would help you help me.
The E21 is a bit too old. The E30 is simple and fun (my favorite) but extremely hard to find clean examples, especially so on a budget. The E36 is a great and affordable driver's car but with a shoddy interior and is getting progressively harder to find clean. The E46 appears to be the perfect blend of luxury and E36ness, however many say these early 2000s are the years your Bimmer's M/R gets expensive & complicated. The E90 is where luxury really starts to take priority, but the implications of this in terms of cost & complexity I have yet to discover (and I won't find an immaculate one with my initial budget, so there's that). F30 is pure sex, nearly E30 tier, but out of my price range for now.
I haven't done really any research on the 5 series cars but I really like the way certain ones look. E34s and E60s are beautiful IMO, and I've found a few E34s in decent to okayish condition. If parts cost and ease of maintenance are akin to that of their 3 series counterparts then I could have a whole lot more options.
My knowledge of the 7 series is zero. To be completely honest I don't know what the defining thing/things are that separate 3/5/7.
PS I'm in Jax, FL. Willing to drive 2-3h in any direction. If you're not busy and don't mind finding some examples for me to check out in person that'd be greatly appreciated. Preferably private sellers since I've just spent the past few hours visiting most all of the dealers' cars and they're either in abysmal condition, have misleading ads, or usually both.
Thanks and happy driving.
Gabriel Perez
Reliability and maintenance wise all 80's and 90's bmw 3 and 5 series are going to be similar, just get the best kept example you can afford
Christian Rogers
Get an e39 530i that hasn’t been beaten up and you’ll be fine. >sweet sounding inline 6 >beautiful, classy interior >good build quality >rwd sedan that handles well and isn’t too heavy I’ve owned one and it was great, don’t let autistic kids meme you into buying a soul crushing econobox
Jayden Perry
BMW is the most superior car brand in the world other peasant brands aka all other car brands are inferior AWD and FWD peasant that cannot keep up. Honda’s are shit ugly Subarus are a joke and gay the e30 is best rally car ever every bmw is one of the worlds best production cars anyone who says otherwise clearly has no taste in cars and should not be taken seriously. People who think bmw is not the best should be classified as lesser beings and or mentally retarded yellow belly jap cars are shit compared to all mighty bmw and don’t get me started on borderline autistic American cars germany will always produce better more reliable and actually nice looking cars. Prove me wrong
Brayden Harris
E24/E28
Aaron Hill
Funny you mention that, I've never seen an E39 listed until tonight but I just found a 525i with 90k miles for $4.9k. Looks pretty sweet. Low miles but price seems kinda high. If he's got service records then it should be fucking awesome. What should I work him down to? And what are parts cost versus something like an E36? orlando.craigslist.org/cto/d/2002-bmw-5-series-525i-5/6404464152.html Pure sex, u sure they're not too old?
Wow cool it’s a manual 5er, nice find. Mine was an 02 as well but a 530, great cars in general. See if you can get him down to 4000, at the very least take him down to 4.5k. Car will treat you very well, you’ll have fun with it
Chase Torres
Lol I just found that thing like five seconds before your post Thanks, just noticed it's a dealer but I'll try to not let that get into my head. That's a good start but still looking though.
What did parts for your 530 cost you compared to other cars you've owned?
Nicholas Adams
That's a screamin deal, less than I paid for mine. 83-84 is the best year since it doesn't have self leveling suspension. Just needs a Euro bumper conversion and some Recaro or sport seats and that thing would be perfect for ~$5k.
Brandon Flores
To expand on that, he dropped it from $4000 a few weeks ago. There's no way something isn't wrong with it and I can't really drop everything to drive to Tampa right now. I know nothing about E24s but if you can convince me I'll consider, seems to old though to be reliable and cheap to daily... or you could buy it aha
Aaron Anderson
>Thanks, just noticed it's a dealer but I'll try to not let that get into my head Sometimes that’s not such a bad thing because they’ll have all the service records and might even offer warranty.
>What did parts for your 530 cost you compared to other cars you've owned? Parts cost a little more than a Japanese car. Water pump was $300, takes premium gas and high quality oil, coolant hoses are dirt cheap. In general they’re easy to maintain especially if you’re not an idiot when it comes to cars and are willing to do some things yourself.
These cars are very solid if you don’t just abuse and neglect them like a woman or stupid teenager. They’re built very well from the factory but they’re not the type of car you can just beat the shit out of either.
Luke Nelson
I already have one and I'm in California. Why would being old make it unreliable? It's an M30, most reliable engine BMW has ever made, timing chain instead of belt, simple Bosch fuel injection. No plastic water pump/lines nonsense, hard to find a more reliable BMW, DEFINITELY more reliable than an E39. Adjusting for inflation those cars were $80k new, they are much better constructed than anything BMW has put out in the 90s and beyond. It's cheap because it has the hideous North American diving board bumpers, but the euro bumper conversion isn't too difficult to do.
Thomas Butler
e36/e39/e46 fit your qualifications, and are quite easy to wrench on.
Dominic Walker
Thanks, simplicity is my thing. There's this stigma that old=unreliable which is true for some 90s shitboxes but I somehow forgot that we're talking about kraut autism here.
I guess my main concern would be parts cost. What is your annual cost with one?
As long as things aren't going out constantly it's ok, and he does have the service records. Phone number looks to be redacted so I asked to be sure.
Isaac Hall
The only parts I've had to replace are the slave cylinder and the guibo which were $50 each. The mechanical parts are cheap because they made M30s for over 2 decades, trim is pricy though.
John Murphy
Thanks.
Jaxson Scott
E36 328is
Ian Hughes
Find me one between central Florida, west Florida and south Georgia
Lincoln Adams
i think a manual is300 would best suit your needs
David Thompson
Looks interesting but I found one clean example in all of Florida. Five hours away.
Inadvertently found the Lexus SCs, do you know anything about those? Also hard to find them. Are Lexuses expensive with DIY in general?
