Hi, all, I am a student in college, and have found a pretty good deal on a BMW 3 series, e46 generation. However, I have only driven new cars before, and I have 0 experience in fixing anything car related. I would like to know what maintaining costs would go into owning an old BMW, as well as its durability, the chances of it actually breaking down, if it is durable enough to be driven in the winter. All in all I am just concerned about how durable it is, not really trying to have it die on me on the freeway :/. Thank you all!
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[–] 1072462? 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago (edited ago)
BMW vehicles are awesome if well maintained, but have a poor resale value because of unreliability and expensive to maintain and fix, so, you can either consider it a bargain if you know how to take care of a BMW, or you can consider it a money pit if you will be at the mercy of BMW mechanics. You would be better off with a used subaru, toyota, or honda.
Edmunds
Consumer Reports
Clark Howard
[–] SkepticalMartian 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Depends on the model and the year. The M series cars in the E46 lineup actually still sell for a decent amount - especially the M3 which is often sought after by enthusiasts due to it's incredible handling.
[–] 1084181? ago
good point, I was just generalizing.