Need Advice: New car for 5-7k

[zxert]

My M10 motor just completely shit the bed. So with that needing an entire rebuild, the interior being filled with mold, broken windshield, transmission whine, bad suspension, and on and on.

I need a reliable DD. Then I can s50 swap my E30, cage, seam weld, racing seats, powdercoat everything James May style. All the stuff I REALLY wanna do to it.

I'm looking at $1000 cash down payment and financing $5000. It sucks that I need to finance.

E36 - My preferred car here. Lots of them up for that price. Definitely going for the 328 as I need some power.

B5S4 - I love this car. 2.6TT. Its biggest problem is that its a pig, and from what I hear its not reliable(blown turbos and such). Can make huge power.

E34 - Lots of them out there as well. But my biggest concern is that its not sporty enough. Maybe I'm wrong. At some point I can do an M5 swap and put a turbo M50 in my E30.

M45 - 2003-04 Something about these cars makes my junk tingle. I like them. But they're rare and a bit out of price. Though a 340hp v8 sounds nice.

Any other ideas? I can maybe afford to finance 7k which opens up the field a little bit, but I'd rather just get something I can pay off in 6-8 months.

[Ipaman]

Does your financing have any restrictions. Sometimes they do with used cars. They might only finance 80% of the cars KBB value, or they might only let you finance something with a certain amount of miles. Assuming you have that all lined up, for a nice daily driver I say go with an E34. They are built solid, comfortable, and look good. Chances are you could find a really nice one in that price range as well. One good thing is they are usually owned by older people who keep up on the maintenace, so you have a good chance of getting soemthing nice. I had a 95 525i and it was a great car.

[InuFaye]

E36 M3.

No question.

[tjts1]

Camry

[Pussy30]

E38
Ballllllllllll all day long

[LivingLegend06]

If you have to finance to pay for a used car I would stay away from the Audi and the infinity is out of your price range.

Be reasonable and get an e34 or e36. (or Camry)

[z31maniac]

Buy something cheap, that is dead nuts reliable.

Civic/Accord/Camry/Corolla/Altima/etc.

It's nice to not be worrying about your DD, when you are messing around with a project car.

[zxert]

What about performance with the e34 vs the e36. Obviously the E36 is 200 pounds lighter, and smaller. But is the added weight and size of an E34 all that noticeable? Can it still be a good occasional twisty driver?

[zxert]

Buy something cheap, that is dead nuts reliable.

Civic/Accord/Camry/Corolla/Altima/etc.

It's nice to not be worrying about your DD, when you are messing around with a project car.

I'm putting serious thought into this. Every car payment I make is stealing from my e30. But how nice would it be to have two BMW's in my garage.

[rustybullet]

if your going to have the e30 as a go fast car then get something cheap and reliable. why buy something fast if your going to make payments on it and its going to need work itself?

get a civic and be done with it man. good cars, fun to drive and most of all extremely reliable. my .02 cents.

[Simon S]

Buy something cheap, that is dead nuts reliable.

Civic/Accord/Camry/Corolla/Altima/etc.

It's nice to not be worrying about your DD, when you are messing around with a project car.

* second this *

[Ipaman]

What about performance with the e34 vs the e36. Obviously the E36 is 200 pounds lighter, and smaller. But is the added weight and size of an E34 all that noticeable? Can it still be a good occasional twisty driver?

Not really. I loved my E34, but it is just not as fun as an E36 or E30. Although a 540I might be. :)

[zxert]

if your going to have the e30 as a go fast car then get something cheap and reliable. why buy something fast if your going to make payments on it and its going to need work itself?

get a civic and be done with it man. good cars, fun to drive and most of all extremely reliable. my .02 cents.

Good point. Though my e30 is at least 1 year off. Maybe two. S50's aren't cheap. I guess it depends on what is out there really.

Couple quick questions:

1. How is the E36 on maintenance? I don't mind occasional stuff and I can do pretty much everything except full engine rebuilds.

2. Is coupe vs. sedan on E36's the same as E30's(being both about the same performance and weight wise)

3. Civic or Corolla?

Thanks for your help guys :D

[Danny]

You could just spend 1000 bucks on a reliable DD and not finance.

[blefevre]

318ti with sport package. It's my wifes DD and they are great.

Fun to drive
M44 is very reliable
Hatchback means you can haul like a pickup!
30+mpg
Cheap
If you know how to work on an E30 you know how to work on a Ti.
Actually good in the snow. We live in Denver and she has not once got stuck with all season tires. But it doesn't look like you get snow, so w/e