learn me - older BMW 3 series

My starving student daughter is thinking a BMW might improve her image. I know nothing about them and am looking for feedback on the pitfalls of her owning a low dollar BMW. She lives in another city so my garage and skills are not available for keeping it running.A couple of possibilities: http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/calgary/1985-bmw-3-series-325e-sedan/567571093?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/edmonton/1985-bmw-3-series-sedan/567831881?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

Thanks

E30s are great, but at this point they are pretty much guaranteed to require significant amounts of work due to deferred maintenance. The big issue is the timing belt, for obvious reasons, but a full suspension refresh is very likely needed, along with a host of smaller things. Additionally, I'd run screaming into the night at the thought of owning one with an automatic, but maybe that's just me.

In short, probably not the best option for your situation, unless your starving student daughter also likes to wrench on old cars.

If she can wrench, a BMW is a great car. They are logically built and are designed to be easily maintained. The parts are not even all that more expensive (I found Hyundai parts to be -more- expensive than BMW)

if she can't or won't wrench.. they turn into money pits because the dealers and mechanics will charge lots of money to do even minor things.

While the E30 is a great car.. if she is convinced she wants a BMW.. I would suggest an E36. They are a better all around car if slightly less sports focused.

My starving student daughter is thinking a BMW might improve her image.

What is her image now? Perhaps a fine ladies hat could elevate her social status for the same or less money?

What does she think "cheap" is? $500? $1000? $5000?

I am a huge BMW fan and have brought a few $500 gems to a good end but no dirt cheap car is really cheap in the long run if you can't turn your own wrenches (and that's just trading time for money).

i dont think a 4 door slush box e30 will improve anything but the recycle bin, dont get me wrong i have put enough of them into the wall...

If she is a starving student, an older BMW is probably not the best choice. If she's caught up with "image", point her in the direction of a well taken care of Lexus ES300. Car folks will know it's a Camry, but the superficial masses that she is looking to impress will only see the "L" badge.

Joe nailed it. I'd say an SC300 or SC400, though. If you want to go more modern, a Lexus IS300 isn't a bad choice (1999-2005 only, though)