Cost of ownership for 90s/early 00s BMW 3 series?

[ektarabel47]

Hey all,

I'm looking to get a new vehicle, specifically a slightly sporty luxury vehicle, and I keep steering back to getting a BMW.

I intend to only get one with excellent records and maintenance, and plan to do most rudimentary repairs and maintenance myself. That being said, how costly is it to keep a 3 series? I'm looking mostly at 318s, 328s and 330s.

The other vehicles I'm looking at are an 01'-03' IS300, or a 03'-05' RSX-S for comparison.

Thanks.

[E.C.]

If you don't have much rust on the car and don't have to do any bodwork I would probably say around 10-20kNOK a year for maintenance and parts. That will depend on the quality of the parts you buy (OE/aftermarket), your driving style and how much you can do yourself, the workshop equipment you have and also on how much preventive maintenance you want to do. So the numbers can be both higher and lower.

I've had a winter beater E39 that I drove for two years without spending much at it at all. It was in a rough shape though.