First car for a 16 year old?

[Pink]

You guys act like these things are gold. I could drive the wheels off an e30 every day and maintain it for under $600/year. What are you going to buy? Oil changes/brake pads/tires? I mean unless you have to do a timing belt all the parts are dirt cheap.

[ixsteve]

Hi Ahhdran,
My son at 15, fell in love with a 74/2002. Had to have it. He saved his money and when he was close , I helped out with the balance. We worked together to rebuild the head and all.modest suspesion
work.What I'm saying is DON'T GIVE HIM THE CAR, he must earn his fair share and be willing to get his hands oil soiled and spend the time to learn the mechanics of maintainance. We went on to do
an engine/tranny swap (89-2.5/5speedtrans) into a 76 2002. Lots of fun for my son and I. Positraction dif/ 2"exhaust/ Scared the sh..... out of my son. sold sold sold
I suggest a late 80's early 90's 3 . Maybe 2.0 or 2.5. Yes there are neccesary maint. requirements and cost but the cost of parts is not much more than the run of the mill tin boxes out there
competing for space allong side THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE AKA THE ULTIMATE MACHINE TO DRIVE . You have a good budget. Is your son contributing? if not DON'T do it.
I am driving my 7th BMW over 20 years and would not trade out side this mark.
good luck
IXSteve

[DYL]

Get a 4 cylinder E30 or E36, whichever you like more, and can find. Shatter your parents' preconceived notions that a BMW is expensive to maintain by spending less on repairs than they do on their car.

[bladerealm124]

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.

This.

If you are willing to do the work yourself an e36 can be fairly inexpensive to maintain and would be a great "cheap" car. I've had my AA supercharged e36 m3 for about 3 years and haven't had any major issues. Most of the money was spent on unnecessary modifications (by far). I highly recommend overhauling the cooling system first and foremost. A new radiator/waterpump/thermostat/fan switch/coolant should be about $200-300 and is well worth the insurance and peace of mind, I would also do the Fan Delete Mod. My mechanical fan got caught in the shroud, broke, and almost damaged my radiator.

An accurate water temperature gauge with an alarm or warning of some sort is also worth investing in. I use the Torque App for android combined with an elm-327 OBD2 Bluetooth adapter. I have it set to alert me if the water temp exceeds 215 degrees. 230+ degrees is potential for HG failure and the stock "dummy" gauge is borderline useless.
Suspension components may also need to be dealt with if looking at anything over 75k miles.

This is the list of necessary maintenance I've done in the past 3 years (not counting oil changes and tires):

-Water pump(Graf brand was a faulty POS), replaced with Stewart for $160. OEM Saleri can be purchased for $50
-FSU/Blower Motor relay $50
-Central support bearing $40 (My fault, tore it downshifting into second, but was in need of replacement)
-Tie rods $100 (Passenger side was shot, replaced both)
-Fan delete mod $100, my mech fan broke off on the shroud because I bottomed out causing the motor/fan to shift upwards

Total for 3 years: $450

I've spent thousands more on the car but the rest has all been mods and unnecessary maintenance, the hardest part of ownership is avoiding the mod bug.

I would recommend finding a cheap e36 328i for $2000-5000 and leave yourself at least $1000 for initial maintenance(cooling) and anything else that might need attention. Preferably look for a slightly newer one(98/99 will have side impact airbags) with under 120k miles. Make sure you do your research and don't jump on anything you're not sure about. It took me over 6 months to find the right m3.

This should also help:
http://edgemotorworks.com/index.php?...d=24&Itemid=55

Good luck with your search

[ixsteve]

Hi, is your son participating in the purchase cost. My son at 15, fell in love with a 74 2002,he saved about 3/4of the purchase
price and I helped with the balance. If your son is not contributing his fair share,then don't give him a car no matter what
mark. The experience was the best for his and my relationship. We went on to multiple projects, all BMW.
A late 80's/early90's 3 series would be a great start in experiencing the joys of THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE AKA
THE ULTIMATE MACHINE TO DRIVE.
good luck
IXSteve

[MIKYZZ4]

Get him a Z4,new or used,he will be the man the girls want to ride with,and ON!

[MrTeeThyme]

OP wants the car for himself. At 16, let's hope he isn't buying it for his son.

[sreilly]

Grab a 4 cylinder e36...learn to maintain this one and learn about the brand and enjoy the gas mileage while still having fun... Then upgrade to some M power!

[pjo33us]

Get him a Z4,new or used,he will be the man the girls want to ride with,and ON!

THIS... Help the kid out!

Seriously... if you (the kid) have the drive to learn how to fix it, and be honest here, it is much more fun to fix a car you love than some crappy Honda. My first car was a 17 year old 68 2002 (please don't do the math)... Learned an awful lot about both maintaining and driving on that car. Spend $4500 TOPS an a NON-M E36 that has really been maintained well. Bank the rest of the cash for tools & repairs.

[dawgeatdawg]

You can decide to spend very little to maintain it, just be prepared to be left on the side of the road. My three BMWs I owned, (including an e30 325is at 17) needed nothing other than usual wear items. I didn't mind if one or two cosmetic things didn't work or that it wasn't perfect but if they got me from a to b then you'll be fine.

[lithium726]

I just bought a super clean 97 328i (with sport pack and split loading rear seats) with 155k for $3200. All the maintenance had been deferred (aside from oil changes, waxes, new shocks and keeping the interior clean) so I spent a boatload getting it up to my spec. All new bushings/ball joints (I mean all of them), drive shaft, flex disc, cooling system (everything), all new O2 sensors, belts, fluids, exhaust hangers, brake lines, tires, and a couple small broken or missing items.

I also did a $300 3.15 LSD swap, $230 alpine HU, and $150 for clear lenses all around. Additionally I had to replace the HK amp and tweeters... the front channels were blown. Fortunately I had a spare from my M3.

All told, I've put about $3500 just in parts cost in the car. So I'm about $7k now. For that, I have a sorted, super reliable car. I'm an engineer, I'm seasoned in doing labor, and I was able to get it sorted in about 3weeks, including waiting for parts.

I would expect any 2-4k E36 that wasn't enthusiast owned to cost about the same. maybe a bit less, maybe a bit more, depending on the issues that the specific car has developed and what your tolerance level is on broken things. Mine is very low.

If you decide to get an E30/E36/E46, be ready to dive in head first and sort things out so you can enjoy the car.

[JAP Z3]

from personal experience for a first car, i personally dont think you should get a bimmer of any kind. Look i love my z3 and yeah some of the stuff repairing takes a. a lot of time(especially if you dont know what youre doing) b. kind of on the expensive side for parts and c. being a young new driver you never know what kind of things could happen (car accidents etc.). So personally i think you should get a good beater car, 90's nissan if you live in the U.S. 240 pretty much any year. Parts are cheap, easy to maintain, and they last a good long while(depending on how you treat it) but that goes for any car.... but i suggest finding a cheap beater and saving up for a bmw whichever you prefer so that way you know how to treat it.

[SneauxM3]

Prices seem so skewed all across the states.

For any oem parts, save this as a favorite - thebmwpartstore.com

And for shits and giggles, why don't you check a few prices on some items through local dealer, then check it on their site.