Reliability of older (1997-2003) BMW's?

Well my toasty friend like any used car it’s always best to run a background check and have a competent mechanic check it out but you can’t go wrong with a German car in my humble opinion. They’re well built and Mercedes, BMW and Porsche/Audi are the world standards for a reason. Although parts are expensive compared to domestic or even Japanese cars.

@SeventhSense I agree with you completely, it needs to have a once over before anything else.

Well, BMW’s of that age are known to be pretty much bomb-proof, so to speak. So if you do your homework & have abit of luck you should be able to pick up a real peach.

As said above, check the Carfax and have a foreign car specialist do a thorough inspection. And then buy it. I would suggest one with 100,000–125,000 miles if you are just doing average driving. 50,000 to 75,000 if you are doing a lot of long trips. Even though the car is sound, the more miles you rack up the sooner you’ll need service and BMW service isn’t the cheapest. The motor should last you for a long, long time, but it’s the wear parts that can kill you.

in july of 2008 i bought a 1998 bmw 328 i convertible for 6,500 with 120 k miles on it it is a 2nd car for me that i only drive in the summer due to the harsh new england winters i put about 12.000 miles on it and it has given me no trouble at all and it has great resale value i drove it for 2 seasons and its still worth what i payed for it or a least close to it . to sum it up i would highly recomend buying a used bmw i think i have a pic on my profile of my car . good luck to you !

@bandit77 That is exactly what I want to hear. Thank you.

if you do find a bmw that you like bring it to a mechanic and have them pressure test the cooling system for some reason the head gaskets go bad and the neck of the radiator breaks because it is made out of plastic and it is not very durable. the presure test is a small pump that the mechanic screws on to your radiator where the cap usually goes and he pumps it up and listens for leaks. and have your mechanic put the bmw on a lift and check the suspension that is another problem area on these cars ( my 328 had a brand new radiator just installed before i purchased it ) other then these issues i brought up these are great cars and i wouldn’t hesitate to buy another another ( and all car’s have certain flaws to them some more than others don’t get me started on cryslers ! )

Spares for BMW’s can be quite expensive. But still, I would recommend them to used car buyers. They have always been pretty reliable and solidly built cars. Just make sure you buy the car only after you are certain about it’s reliability. Check it’s service history for any issues and make sure it hasn’t been in a serious accident.

CarSingh.com

The 3-series is generally cheaper than the 5-series to maintain.

Check your local BMW enthusiast’s club web site to get recommendations for a good local independent mechanic. Do not go to the dealer for repairs unless someone else is paying for it.