im looking to buy a used bmw for around 4-7k.l was wondering how reliable are these cars?all the places ive looked say that they are but l wanna know from people who arent selling there cars.how much work have you had to put in it/what costs roughly?

also, about how much would my insurance go up?
im 17, clean record, and l currently drive a '94 f-150
i dont care about how it drives in the snow, if im gonna use it to drive up the mountains, im getting snow tires.l wanna know about the engine and brakes etc.how much does it cost to maintain a 95-00 5 series?

BMW is the worst for handling in the snow and ice.

As far as reliability it concerned, it depends on the model.

Most BMWs are RWD and do not have snow tires on them. People got around just fine with RWD in snow for many years before FWD came out. Besides, some BMWs are AWD.

l have never owned one so all l will have is an opinion best bet is to try this link is a free site we use every time we change or vehicle as it has reviews from owners and not sellers.

http://carsurvey.org/manufacturer_BMW.html

For that kind of money, l imagine you're looking at something about 10 years old. In the case of the 3 series, that would be an E36 chassis car. If it is a 4 door with a manual gearbox that has not had an after-market stereo or alarm installed, it might be fairly reliable. The 2 doors have power windows that need to pop open a crack for the frameless door windows to unseal whenever u open the door. In 90,000 miles from new, our 325is had its driver side window motor repaired twice & the passenger side once, since that door did not get used as much. The dash lights no longer work, as they've been replaced a couple times by BMW technicians who damaged circuit boards in the process. Once u learn where everything is & what it does, u can live without the lights. Get a manual gearbox, & u wo not need to replace the transmission every third oil change, which gets old with the automatic. My friend who is a BMW mechanic tells me that the seemingly very cool plastic intake manifolds r now breaking up with age. Cars whose owners believed that the oil changes only needed to be done every 15,000 miles like the service interval indicator suggested now have engines that r often sludged up to the point that the bearings starve for lubrication triggering rod incidents. Drive an old E36 aggressively, & u have the potential for experiencing the rear subframe failures that these cars r famous for. If u find a pampered E36 that has been properly maintained, it will still go to pieces on you, but they r the all time highpoint for 3series ride & handling balance. They r not reliable though.

One of the foremost BMW experts in the USA told me not to buy a 3 series made after 1991 or a 5 series made after 1988. The owner of a large BMW dealership told me last year that he ran off owners of cars that were off warranty, as their service department can not keep up with warranty repairs on the new ones. The only problem with 1987-1991 E30 325, 325i, & 325is models is that they're now ancient. They r great cars, but even great cars wear out or deteriorate over time. l sold my 1988 325 last year with 155,000 miles. The engines r often good for double that, & the rest of it was holding up better than our E36 & E46s, but it was going to need some serious spending to make it as a daily driver that would have to pass California emissions testing. In its day, the only Achilles heal of the E30 325s was their timing belt. They need one every 60K miles or 4 years, IIRC. The cars have reached an age where many owners r not spending the money($300 at a good independent BMW specialist), & that equates to valves meeting pistons & one less E30 on the street.

Having loved BMWs since about 1980, driven them for almost 20 years, been a member of the BMW CCA, known the club president for years,worked as a service writer, being a good friend to a BMW specialist with an engineering degree, & having talked to many a mechanic at an all makes shop, l did what the BMW tech & every other mechanic told me to do when new car time came around. l bought a new Honda.

You can get a nice Honda Prelude 5 speed with that money, and laugh at the BMW owner who is struggling with the electrical system and transmission problems of his Ultimate German Machine. Fine drivers, but huge maintenance nightmares. Good luck.

Like any car, it depends on the previous owner. BMWs r not unreliable, its just that people drive them like race cars everywhere they go, & that takes a toll on the engine over time. For that price, have u considered the 3 series? l bought a 98 series, & l absolutely love it. Yes, they r a little more expensive to maintain, but stuff does not brake on them as often, so it is a fair trade off. And, u can also find parts cheaper on the internet, than at a mechanic. l bought my bmw when l was 18, after l had already been pulled over 13 times, & lost my license, & my insurance was not unreasonable, only about $20 more per month than my grand prix.
So, they r really reliable cars, just beware of the previous owners, I'd get a carfax to see how well it was maintained, or u could end up paying a lot more than u expected including repairs.

It all depends on the previous owner. As with absolutely any car. If they have not cared for it, then it will fall apart. But l know of 35 year old BMW is with over 600k miles on their original motors and transmissions. They will hold together fine if you care for them.

l have owned many BMWs in the past few years both old & new. For the most part, l consider them reliable. The most unreliable car l ever had was a new Honda which l had for about 6 years. It was in the shop most of the time. Usually for the same problem which they never could fix.
Anyway, u mentioned a 95 5 series. Beware of the Nikasil issue with the 94 & 95 8 cylinder cars. Many of them had problems because of the Nikasil coating. However, many of these were replaced with Alusil engines which r fine. l have a 90 5 series with the M-30 engine which is almost bullet proof. Mine has 260000 miles on it & does not use a drop of oil. They r just great rugged torquey engines which get an average of about 20 miles per gallon. Since it is a car which has that many miles other things do happen.. l consider the rest of the car to be about average in reliability. Also try to stay away from automatic transmissions. A problem there will set u back bigtime.