Greetings all,

My partner is a little stubborn so I figure since I am the one who will most likely be looking things up about the car I might as well register now.  (I personally love my Honda, but the man insists on a Bimmer which I know nothing about.)  I managed to find great info online to keep the last one going for a bit (once I was able to convince him to listen to me, that is - solved an overheating issue with a proper bleed of the coolant system, located the crux of the failing power windows in the hidden relay box, and solved the mysterious battery draining problem with some electrical tape over some exposed wires in the trunk joint), but a few weeks ago something in the steering column broke  completely so we'll be parting out the 92 325i and are looking for something to replace her.  I hope that we can find something that has been looked after well even if it is advanced in age, but we only have about $6,000 in hand to play with right now.  I am wondering how hard it will be to find something that he likes within this budget that isn't going to break us in maintenance costs.  Any advice?    

He's in love with the looks of the E36 sedan type body style, and would prefer a manual transmission (we've been through two 325's and a 318 in less than 10 years. I think that the generation after that would suit as well provided it looks similar, but I am hoping that we can find something closer to the 318 since I think he's a little bit a better driver in the 4-cyl variety bimmer - at least THAT accident wasn't his fault), but given our budget I am guessing we are limited to a car that is getting on in years.  Neither of us is familiar with anything that came after the E36, so are there any models that have shown some quirks or anything to specifically avoid in terms of problems/likely issues?   Is the "steptronic" transmission type more difficult (costly) to maintain or repair than a regular manual transmission?

Any guidelines or buying advice would be appreciated.  I'd really like him to be happy with his car so he won't end up taking it apart to "fix" it, but I am afraid my expertise ends with my civic service manual.  Anything I can do to actually prevent me having to visit the forum in the future with problems?  

Thanks!  

Thanks,

Hey welcome to the forum.its glad to meet you.this forum is really very good and knowledgeable.i am sure you'll get lots of information from here.


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hi you .welcome to the forum .I'm glad to meet you . good luck for you
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