a lot of car for the money Danny, but a big pain in the pocket too at that age I'm afraid.
As an example, I bought my N reg e36 328i (similar engine / cooling system) 10 months ago, in that time, its stung me for circa £500 for merely a water pump , stat , ABS sensor, brake pads and oil service. -
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18056631&highlight=bmw+cooling
Note re the comments of overheating the M52 engine (which mine has) I was EXTREMELY lucky, I ran it with a collapsed water pump for a couple of days albeit very gently and managed not to warp the head, or, putting it another way, its not lost any coolant since the repair and has thus far not overheated again.....
Its MOT is up in 2 months and I'd hazard a guess I'll be looking at another £500 possibly to get it through perhaps (perhaps not!) - It does need new discs soon & pads at the front and it sometimes smokes slightly from cold - stem seals I'd guess - in other words, its going to cost me one way or another.
Depends how you look at it, if it costs me another £500 or so, then over 12 months its cost me £1k to keep on the road (excluding fuel, insurance etc) but the way I see it, had I spent £2k instead of sub £1k on an e36, I'd be no better off due to depreciation and a very good chance of having to spend that sort of money keeping the more expensive example on the road if you follow me.
To sum up,old ish 6 pot BMW's are great cars for silly money, alas, silly money is probably what your going to spend keeping it on the road, as long as you appreciate this then all well and good and thus far, mines been a good one on the mechanical side at least - (I just know I should not have said that!) the bodywork is a bit scruffy but its merely a work horse, rarely gets washed and the inside looks like a bomb has gone off in there
I kept my previous e38 7 Series pristine but that cost me circa £5k and was worth the effort of keeping it nice. The e36 is used and abused, perhaps I'll sort the bodywork this summer, perhaps I'll get another e38 as my heart keeps telling me to whilst my head says no!!!
In your case Danny, if you have money sat in a reserve "just in case", all well & good, if not, I'd stick it back on Autotrader and buy something a bit easier on the pocket - You may well even make a small profit on it, it looks clean enough certainly.
I like my e36 and love its engine but am well aware that it could potentially go pop and effectively become scrap, I hope you appreciate your in the same boat.
Incidentally, my Dad 1996 528i must be one of the very few e39's that ,as far as I'm aware, has not had its cooling system go bang, despite its absurd mileage (far side of 260k). I keep meaning to check through his service receipts to verify this, but 13 years of BMW & latterly independent invoices is an awful lot of paperwork and I usually remember that I want to do this once I'm on my way back home from visiting....
[TW]Fox;15799234 said:
Thats the problem with BMW's as they age - they get older, they get worth less but you still have to chuck money at them. If you are happy to do this you are rewarded with a great car, but you've got to really want one for it to be worthwhile.
Very very true, as long as you have the funds to do this, imo, your still get a far better car despite the relatively high costs of keeping it on the road. A few of my mates have laughed at me for my "sheddy 3 series" true enough, it is a shed but I bought it cheap and have spent less than the depreciation on many cars keeping it on the road. And unlike the vast majority of similar "sheds" that my £900 odd could have bought me, mine has been relatively reliable (see post quote above) i.e. its not let me down yet everything works as it should (ok, the passenger seat heater is shagged) and it still goes like a scalded cat as & when required. Worth every penny that undoubtedly it will continue to cost me!
(it won't, but still...)
One is blatantly stealing and other is taking advantage of a situation. 
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
