What to know/ask of a BMW before Buying one!

[PsyK]

oK! Hello there, This is PsyK, Yes I am new I just signed up but I would like to ask any of you if you could help me with what I should ASK over the Phone to the buyer about the BMW what SPECS should I ask for and such, before going to see the person that is selling the BMW, Yes I am 17 Years of age and I would like to know if anyone out there/here could help me out that would be helpful? What I am looking for a is a nice under $15000 323,330,328 series under 75000 Miles,Black/Silver/Blue/Grey Manual I think those are all the Specs I know and the car is not for me it is for my G/F. And the sad thing is I do not know anything about a BMW just about Mitsubishi/Toyota & Such...If anyone can Help me out... - PsyK

[PsyK]

Also the year 1997-2003 That is all I know about the SPECS since my girlfriend wants to get one really badly... So I was helping her find one but I don't know anything about BMW as I just said before but yeah if anyone could help me out!? That would be great Thanks again... - PsyK

[Styles]

Haha she has good taste :P... I'm sure you could get an M3 e36 maybe for that price if you look hard enough. She wants manual? Even better... First when calling, or talking to someone about the vehicle... Tell them to describe it to you... If she wants leather interior... all the interior goodies.. sunroof.. Does she want 2 or 4 door sedan...... all of the models you listed are 6 cyl. If it sounds good.. go have her drive it... and get the vin #. I can run a carfax for you if you are serious about buying it. (or the dealer most likely will)
If you look at the different forums.. there are 3. for the 3-series.. one for early model, middle, and newest... typically known.. e30, e36, e46. the e36 line extended from 1992-1998... from 99+ they are considered e46's... For your information.. any Bmw made before 1996 is considered an OBD1 Car... This is the basic "software" the car runs on.. in 1996+ OBDII came out... You can find more information about obd in the FAQ section.
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Make sure the car runs drives, and functions properly.. test every little aspect that you would any other car.
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And if your still not sure... Run the records... post the info here.. and im sure a lot of people will tell you if its a good deal or not.
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for 15,000> you can get a very decent bmw in that range.. and there are TONS. So shop around.. any more questions? I hope that helped somewhat.