BMW 2.5l I6, how reliable?

I am going to go test drive a 2003 325it wagon, it has the 2.5 inline 6, and has 147,000 miles on it. should I even bother... or do these things run forever?

 

bmw's run forever, and ever. i had a 87 325is that had iirc 370xxx and the only reason the motor went is because i lent it to a friend that thought it was a ferrari.
and if your looking for a nice replacement for a subaru, look for the ones with an x after the series/motor (ie 325xi) since they are awd.

 

thanks.

 

Here's some stuff to munch on.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/wiki/index.php?title=BMW_E46

The I6 is considered pretty reliable if you take care of the coolant system issues.

 

I thought BMW were very reliable up until 2000. So if you could find something in the late 90s with good milage take it instead of 2000+ models. The maintance is very $$$ and time consuming. Timing belt replacement sucks, you have to take the entire front end to get to it. If you have time to do maintance yourself these cars will last for a while. GL with your search.

 

Idk bout the 2000+ ones, but I have friends with e28s, e30s and e36s... all are very reliable, just as reliable as any subaru/honda... and if u know where to look a lot of the parts aren't as expensive as you would think.. A co-worker has a 83 533 that has over 400k with no major work done.. I'd only get a rwd bmw though, kinda the whole point of having one to me, my next car will hopefully be a e34 535..

 

I have no direct experience with the 2.5L I6, but I have had BMWs. In my experience, the main systems are not what make these cars costly to own it is all the ancillarys. AC parts, suspension components, brake boosters, cooling system and other ancillary pieces fail and are costly to replace.

For example, while not a direct comparison, I bought an '06 Mini Cooper S JCW last year. The car was at the end of its warranty and on the test drive I noticed the AC didn't work. The car went into the dealer and was diagnosed with a bad evaporator and a leaky waterpump. Thank god for warranty. The repair estimate was roughly $5K!

 

Thanks again guys, I think I might go another dirrection on the daddy car,

 

Try to find 98-99 M3 they are sweet and could be found for <$8,000

 

I think I may go with a Nissan Spec-V w/Brembos!!!! YAY...

 

Spec-V... Why not just keep the Impreza?

 

very nice cars, but i think the thing we all missed is they are NOT cheap cars to own, if anything does go wrong you are looking at ALOT of money to fix them.

 

Payments are too high, kinda want to get under $250.00 per month, and reduce my insurence cost, and retain the fun factor.

 

Don't buy new Sentras they are fugly. I really like Altima SER or older generation Senta SER V-spec 6sp. But they are hard to find.

 

THAT WHAT i'M GETTING A 2005, w/brembos!!!! PLatmetalic! Pristine..... Ohh the fun we wil have.....

 

+1 for the BMW st6, our 2004 3.0L has ran like a champ, we're at 80k and have never had to do anything to the car,