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So for my first car I'd like to get a decent cheap bimmer. My parents tell me how Bmws are expensive cars to maintain and usually break down but im willing to maintain the car myself. I have some ideas what models I'd like to get such as a e30 or e36 of the 3 series but I'm quite not sure yet. Any recommendations??
Member
depends what you want to spend. Usually decent, cheap and BMW dont go together.
Last edited by Weller22; 03-05-2014 at 10:21 PM.
The Hound
If you know anything about BMW's and even e30's and e36's, you should know that they do take a good amount of maintenance to stay working in right condition. If you know what needs to be maintained ask yourself this: "Can I afford insurance for a BMW?" and "Can I afford parts and possibly labor for a shop to do this for me?" That second part of the second question is if you don't have much of a mechanical background. If you have answered Yes to both of these questions you're ready to buy your first car. If you've answered No to one of these questions, you might want to think about getting a used Honda or Toyota tank.
'95 325is in semi-rare Arctic Gray, clears, some ///M parts, and much more to come!
My Build Thread
Member
Go for it! When a timing belt pops or a rad hose blows and you chew a valve or warp a head you will share your parents sentiment. But if you manage to rebuild or keep the gremlins at bay (timing belt e30, warped head e36) you will love it. And you WILL have to deal with those gremlins, preventative or post catastrophic failure.
Member
How much do you think it usually cost annually for just standard maintenance? And @Weller22 I see some on craigslist around $5000.
Member
The thing I usually hear around this forum is that any used BMW, 80s, 90s, early 00s will cost about $2k in maintenance off the bat to get it back up to snuff. Beyond that it is likely more dependent on the model. I have had 2 e38s that have costs about $2k per year to maintain but an e30 or e36 is no 7 series when it comes to complexity and cost of parts.
Current fleet:
1999 BMW e36 M3
1999 BMW e36 328is with rotary valve engine head
1999 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight
1990 Jeep Comanche Eliminator
1962 Austin Healey Sprite
Member
Get the kid a japmobile. Unless you or your kid have lots of money. Don't get me wrong, these car are great. But you have to know how to maintain it and enjoy it. I had over 30 cars before I finally got one from a gift from my sister twice, and I finally bought a 01 325ci 5sp. Point is, best car ever. I always say if I have to crash in a car, it would be in a bmw. Your kid will survive mostly any accident with a bmw. As a parent, I was going to give my son my favorite daily driver car 95 325i 4dr auto to a 16 year old boy. I can replace a BMW, but not my boy.
Only reason is I had the car for 8 years and my sis had it for 4. I know the history and we never crashed it. Plus, I know how to work on most of the car. I have a 01 325ci also 5sp, completely different car. I want my boy to enjoy what a bmw suppose to feel like, not like the new bmws. I am not rich, but I can do repairs so that is BIG.
Also, if he can learn to drive without the traction control. He can drive almost anything.
My 2 cents
Last edited by tinfoilwrap; 03-06-2014 at 09:05 PM.
Member
Bank on $1200/yr to maintain a fairly decent 150k mile e36...$600 for an 'it gets me there' e36 $2400 for a 'really nice' e36
¯\(°_0)/¯
E36 was my first car, ended up keeping it for 8 years.
If you do your own work, they are quite cheap to own. I probably had under $1500 into the car in 8 years if you don't count oil changes and tires. Parts prices aren't bad, and the cars are relatively easy to work on. If you take the car to a shop for all repairs, or your expectation is to keep it in show car condition, cost of ownership will obviously increase dramatically.
20 Qs Exempt
Bring Money With
If you buy the right car you can avoid a lot of costly repairs and expensive maintenance throughout the first 2 years. Buy the wrong car and you'll be upside down 3k before you know it. Make sure you spend a little extra now and get the right car with the right maintenance records if you're going to go down that route.
Second and last point. Are you wanting to be a "car guy" or just the cool kid with a BMW? Do you have car friends that work on cars, or is everyone too pretty to get their hands dirty? If you want to get into cars as a hobby it's not a terrible platform to do so. As far as sports cars go they really aren't anymore complicated, and there's a whole forum of common fixes for these cars at bimmerdiy.com. That alone makes it nearly the perfect car to start turning wrenches on in my opinion (It's how I learned!) If you don't plan on doing the work yourself expect to overpay on parts and about 80-120/hr for shop time.
If you decide to go ahead study these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Z7WrN-tSE There's 3 parts, watch them all.
Good luck.
I'm the Damn Batman
lol Another one of these threads? It's like a daily occurrence now.
I'll be blunt with you, if you have to ask, you cannot afford it. If you're 16 and in school, you cannot afford it. Buy a civic, bide your time, save the money you would be spending on repairs as you drive your civic then buy a nice BMW when you have a full time job and can actually afford it.
BMW = Busted My Wallet.
¯\(°_0)/¯
Having owned both an e36 and a Honda, the difference in ownership cost isn't that great. What do you think makes an e36 so expensive? Parts are cheap, and most of the problems the e36 has are easy, if somewhat time consuming, DIY jobs.Originally Posted by spoonerDee
Again, I spent maybe $1500 on my e36 in 8 years, and that included new pads and rotors, 4 new shocks, a couple ball joints, and cooling system parts.
Even if your $3000 e36 costs $1500 every year, that is still very affordable transportation. No car is maintenance free.
Member
@E36BMW3series True and no I'm not trying to be a cool kid, I've always been a bimmer fan. I would LOVE it if I get a project car that I can work on. I can also learn from my uncle how to fix up them up.
Member
Do we really have to reply to these threads ad naseum? Can't we just post a sticky thread with the title: "If you're 16 buying your first bimmer, here's what to get" ??? Then we could make variations like "If buying a first bimmer for your college kid"; "buying a first bimmer for your illegitimate love child"; "buying my first bimmer with bitcoin"; "buying my first bimmer and I work two jobs, go to school full-time, and just started a hedge fund out of my dorm room."
That way we wouldn't have to repeat ourselves every single day until the end of time. Just my .02.
Member
Do not start off with a bmw, its almost highly likely that the car your buying that cheap has been neglected, high mileage, or on its last leg, there is a reason why people sell e36 for more than some e46, it is because the difference in price from the e36 has records like oil change intervals and maintenance record that they had kept. Start off with a honda and just work your way up. Insurance usually goes down for guys that are 25 and older so for now buy a cheap honda and save up for a good bmw that you know will last a long time.
Member
I don't know where you guys get 2k/ year and 1k/year from. Seems grossly inflated to me and I bought an e36 with 200k miles on it. Now the initial year is going to be rough. That might get to 2k. All the oem bushings can be replaced for under ~700, the trifecta (fcab, rsm, rtab) for ~160, new struts and springs if blown are another ~700. 300 for new fluids and all filters. anything left over for the water pump/ radiator. After that initial fix up, the car should be bullet proof. Plus the car is easy to work on. With a 152 piece tool kit, breaker bar, and auto zone tool rentals I've been able to do anything on the car. Dont let these people scare you, if you are serious about working on the car, go for it, I cant think of another car I'd rather drive for the money. I pay 300/ 6 months for liability. I use a few deductions, b student, family policy, statefarm young drivers program, etc.
0% Purple
Don't get a Honda. The ones under $5k are "race cars" with primer paint jobs beat on by every other high school kid who was told to "get a Honda". They can be reliable, but I wouldn't bank on it at that price point.
I do recommend a 4 cylinder E30 or E36. They're easy to work on, parts are cheap, and they're reliable. They're not fast, and therefore less likely to be abused. Still very fun though. I bought my 1.9L Z3 (E36) for $4900 with 188k miles. Five years later and 250k miles, and a high estimate would be $2500 total in maintenance. I have yet to find an E36 repair that didn't have a how-to with pictures posted online... hell, most things even have videos on youtube. If your school offers auto classes, I would highly recommend taking them. It won't teach you everything you need to know, but it'll get you familiar with the systems and comfortable taking on a project.
Member
Cheap is relative but you quoted $2500 in parts alone...
Member
Thats also close to worst case scenario. And I didn't make it clear but more of inferred it; the only prices you should be paying are part prices.
plus: the 'trifecta' is included in the ALL oem bushing cost, I just highlighted those as they impact driving the most directly. water pumps are 120, behr rads for 200.
any high mileage car is bound to have replaced shocks, probably a billy sport/ hr combo that will last.
Last edited by sullypants1; 03-09-2014 at 10:12 PM.
Member
I would say that's been about what my E36 has averaged - and I have put over 100,000 miles on mine in four years. I do most of the work myself. You could make worse choices for a daily driver. You just will want to go into it with clear expectations:
1. Don't get a ratty or abused one. Make sure the previous owner has taken good care of it, and take good care of it yourself.
2. Some parts like radiators and brake pads are fairly reasonable, although slightly more expensive than parts for a Honda. There were a couple of parts like the clutch and flywheel that were pretty pricey.
3. Most repairs are fairly straightforward, although there are one or two rather excessively tough jobs such as changing the starter.
4. Any original plastic parts in the cooling system will be dangerously close to their expiration date. Plan on replacing them. And if they expire while driving - shut the engine off immediately!
4b. Item 4 is true of any car out there out there that is over 15 years old.
Overall, an E36 is not bad for DIY repairs for a 15 to 20 year old car. But it is an older car and you should plan accordingly. I don't recommend one if you don't plan to do the maintenance yourself. But if you don't mind getting your hands dirty, and shop around for the right one, it's not too bad of a choice.
Matt Cramer
1997 BMW 328i convertible, 1972 Chevy C10 pickup, 1966 Dodge Dart slant six
BMW - where "Why doesn't everybody build cars the way they do?" meets "Why can't they build a car the same way everyone else does it?"
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E36 318is. Slow, fun, reliable and good on gas while being RWD and manual.
Member
E36s are cheap, parts are plentiful. My first car was an e36. Paid $2200, had it for a year. I changed front struts and an O2 sensor, that's it. Sold it and bought a nicer one, which I spent much more money than was necessary, to keep it in really good condition. Had that one for 5 years, never let me down.
Member
Hi, Ahdran. Besides mentioning seeing some cars for about $5000 online, you never told us what your budget is! Obviously, whether it be a BMW or Honda/Toyota, the more you spend, the more reliable a car you can get (with care and luck).
Member
My budget is about $6000 the most.
Member
Surprised this hasn't been quoted. Keep in mind: "Just because you afford to buy one doesnt mean you can afford to maintain one."
But by all means do what you want. We are just a pool of opinions and if you want to go the BMW way then screw it!
Last edited by rede39; 03-13-2014 at 12:47 AM.
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