So this is the car I'm looking at:

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=130595466&listingRecNum=0&criteria=feedSegId%3D28705%26rpp%3D50%26isDealerGrouping%3Dfalse%26sf2Nm%3Dmiles%26sf1Nm%3Dprice%26sf2Dir%3DASC%26stkTypId%3D28881%26PMmt%3D1-1-0%26rn%3D0%26zc%3D15136%26rd%3D50%26crSrtFlds%3DstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-pseudoPrice%26mdId%3D21392%26stkTyp%3DU%26mkId%3D20005%26prMn%3D0%26sf1Dir%3DDESC%26prMx%3D20000&aff=national&listType=1

I checked it out at the dealership today, it's beautiful and in great shape
only has 63k miles on it and has the SMG transmission.

List is 19,699 but what do you think a more accurate price would be? I was thinking closer to 17,500 or 18

Also what is maintenance like on a BMW? do they tend to have problems more or less frequently than your average car? costs?

Any help would be appreciated as this is potentially the first car im going to buy

Not a good start.. page says you got a lemon car cannot be found ;/

you make a good point lets see if i cant fix this!

ehhhh not sure why the link is fucky.

http://www.cochranofrobinson.com/VehicleDetails/used-2003-BMW-M3-Coupe-Pittsburgh-PA/2112974183

This post was edited by Jewslicer on Nov 14 2013 12:17pm

repairs are expensive.. be ready for that. Friend of mine got rid of his 2005 M3 because of it

Link still isn't working but ill give you my opinion based on the very limited amount of info you provided.

They are nice cars but not a great idea for a first car, especially if its your daily driver. Service on these cars are very expensive to say the least. Even though it has low miles for the year its gonna need plenty of regular maintenance as well im sure some things are bound to starting breaking in the near future with frequent driving.

As far as the price I have no idea but I would at least try to get a couple grand knocked off of the asking price if you decide to go for it.


Edit- Link is working now.. Looks like a very clean car from the pics. Make sure it has full maintenance records to go with it of course (Link says it does but make sure you check them over)

This post was edited by Killerme99 on Nov 14 2013 12:23pm

yeah the service is my biggest concern at this point. I dont really rack a lot of miles up as i live 10 minutes from work and dont drive a ton aside from that. Theyre fixing the brakes at the dealership then it would be good to go.

the SMG is pretty unreliable in the e46.
try to get a manual one

I haven't driven a manual before so I was hoping this would be a nice transition into it since it has both the paddle shifters and the option to go fully automatic

its a unreliable transmission and driving a manual isnt really hard. takes about a few hours and you should be fine, not to mention that its more fun

This post was edited by Kurdisch_styler on Nov 14 2013 01:42pm

That price is way too high. And avoid those SMGs like the plague, they're known to go by like 90k and it costs more than the cars worth to replace.

This post was edited by ride686 on Nov 14 2013 03:36pm