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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[–] JackBurns ago
Depends on how many miles it has on it. BMW's can last relatively forever if they are maintained right. And your inexperience with working on cars doesn't really matter because they really can't be worked on by the average person. That said if it's in good shape it will last but when something does break it will cost you an arm and leg to fix.
[–] SkepticalMartian ago
I was with you until you came to "can't really be worked on by the average person" which is pretty much bullshit. For any given model you'll find tons of videos and information on how to do various common tasks. They can be worked on just like any other car.
[–] JackBurns ago
Right on. There's vids for everything. All I was saying is that working on a bmw probably requires experience with cars. Sure enough research and the right tools you can fix anything.