How much money is it normal to spend on maintenance on a 20 year old car...

How much money is it normal to spend on maintenance on a 20 year old car? I've already had to shell out 500€ for various repairs after owning the car for 4 months, and there are still more things to fix. Is that normal or did I buy a lemon? It's an E46 by the way, so I'm thinking it's not all that unusual.

used cars are infinite money pits.
used BMW doubly so

>E46
You're never going to stop putting money into that car.
Better hope it never overheats too.

It's at its youngest a 12 year old car. Everything rubber is going to need to be replaced. It's a bmw from that era so the cooling system will need to be done too if it hasn't already. Hopefully you got the big engine so the driving experience is worth the cost.

More common than ya think. And that's the price you pay for getting a "good" deal.

That's the thing, most of the common problem areas (mainly the cooling system) have already been taken care of by the previous owner, so I thought I would at least have some peace. But now literally everything else that hasn't been replaced is breaking all at once. So once I replace what's remaining, will I have some peace or is that too optimistic?

With old cars, you'll always be replacing shit user. That's just nature

What's wrong with it?

Right now the biggest issue is that it shakes really violently at idle sometimes, I can feel it through my seat. The weird thing is that it runs perfectly smooth once I rev it and it only happens once a week maybe, usually it runs fine. I searched the internet for solutions and it would cost me another few hundred € to try what people recommend and there's still no guarantee it would fix it.

Do you have any local shops that specialize in BMW? Take it there for their diagnosis

$300 a year if it's really fucked

t. toyota owner

>20 year old car
Oh shit nigger what are you doing
>20 year old euro car
Stop please I'm begging you
>20 year old BMW
*breathes in* BOI

well it all depends on how well it was maintained throughout the years. i know the E46 and most of it issues are mainly related to the electronics and are fairly easy to repare, but the most common issues with this era of BMW, are the overheating problem especially with the 6 cylinders engine and oil leaking issues, they also consume a lot of oil and its normal so check this out. another thing, if you happen to have an engine with the vanos system, they are know to break often and if you don't service it quicly, it may well destroy your engine.

Have you changed the spark plugs and coils? If so did you use oem parts? Does it do it in neutral?

Spark plugs are basically brand new, the coils could be an issue, but I'd rather try other options first before spending 70€ on new ones and find out it didn't fix the problem. And yes, it does it in neutral too, although I haven't tested if it shakes more intensively in gear compared to neutral.

Did you use the right plugs?

>20 year old car
>e46
are you living in 2019?

also, my e46 needed five GRAND of work in seven months

you are fucked

5 grand? Did you replace the entire car?

entire front suspension (

I can see why so many get parted out, it makes much more sense financially

Sounds like the engine mounts.


It's normal unless you have a reliable old car. Like a lexus with a 2j or a manual honda.

...

VANOS rebuilt kits aint too expensive. There are at least two, (yes 2) youtube vidyas on fixing it, and countless (around ten or so) forum posts on the matter. Or it's the engine mounts. Or any number of other issues.

If it's an intermittent issue; something that comes and goes, you're in for a treat. These problems are the most fun to fix, because they really tap into your gumption.

Don't listen to this retard. If you have a 20 year old BMW and can't fix it yourself, you have a problem. A pitasoft scanner can be bought for under 30 dollers on ebey. The rest is common sense with a bit of experience and knowledge and elbow grease.

Wolfdale you seem like a proper retard.

>If you have a 20 year old BMW and can't fix it yourself, you have a problem.

This, exactly. If you have to take it to the shop for every little thing, it's going to cost you. Particularly if it says BMW on it.

If you want a 20 year old car, you have to be either rich, a decent mechanic, or eternally broke.

>tfw you find out you're a "decent mechanic"

nigger, when has failed vanos ever destroyed an engine? unfixed vanos seals will cause poor engine performance at the bottom of the rev range, but they will not damage the engine.

are there any OBDII codes? idling issues can be caused by vacuum leaks which are common on E46s. it could also be coils. Can you get the OBD2 codes / is the check engine light on?

I put in the same amount of money in neglected maintenance as the purchase price of my "good deal" the first year or ownership. Now it's a "market rate deal" minus the time and hassle of the process.

But I must admit that in the last year it runs great with regular oil changes and needs nothing *fingers crossed*

Replace with polyurethane and it will never be an issue again

My 20 year old Taurus has needed a new coil pack and new fuel tank in the last year. It cost me about $350 for both. Stuff will always be breaking. When the failure comes where you'll spend more fixing it than the car will be worth after it's fixed, it's time to let go.