Stereotype is strong worldwide.

I met every policeman in 30-mile circle.
During 5-years owning & pleasure driving 3-Series (E30).

(If you must carry corpus delicti, do it by Hyundai Accent).

I'm member of BMW club (besides Citroen Xantia is my excellent daily ass-carrier).

3-Series E46 has better quality than precedessor.

"Beware, Missing Wallet!" E36 has much more shortcommings, cut-cornerings, even unadequate rust protection.

Early 90s was hard time for BMW. They were urged to cruel tighten their belts.

There is that reputation here also, though it's more of a stereotype than reality. I admit that I lack patience sometimes, particularly when driving on country roads and getting stuck behind slow moving traffic. However, I'd like to consider myself as a courteous driver, as I will always let other drivers out and give them space, as I know how frustrating it is to be in that position myself. I've encountered a lot of assholes who won't let me out, particularly when driving in London a few weeks ago.

Very beautiful car.

The one problem, at least on the continent, is that BMW drivers generally have the worst attitude on the road. They like to push you forward and out of the way.

When I drove a black BMW a while ago I immediately felt the result of this behaviour because it was more difficult to cut into traffic, whereas people usually wave me in...

So for that reason I'd hesitate to buy one, although they're great cars. And I do love old BMW's particularly.

My mechanical knowledge is practically zero so I'm not sure of all, but the main problems on the old car are:

Loud grinding sound from the brakes. Needs new brake pads?
Loud ticking sound from under the bonnet/hood, timing belt going?
Bonnet/hood cable is broken and therefore it won't close properly. There's a safety catch so there's no chance of it flying open when driving, but it will jiggle around and jump up and down at speed, which is distracting and doesn't look so good.
Rear exhaust had a small chrome clip when I bought it (just for cosmetic purposes). Recently I noticed that had disappeared along with half the exhaust pipe, which had rusted off. Technically it's not an issue but again it doesn't look too good with a broken exhaust pipe.

All the electrics still work, including the windows. The drivers seat is worn down but still comfortable. It starts and runs every time and has never let me down on that level. The mileage reads about 176k but it's had a reconditioned engine at some point so it's not known how much it's done on it, but that engine still runs very nicely and has many miles left on it yet I'm sure.

Very nice! I see 3-series prices are different in Europe, you're old car is probably worth what you paid for the new one here.

I know car fans tend to get attached to their vehicles, so I have to say; if you're ever feeling bad about doing this, don't. I should have bolted from my old car several months ago.

Nice new car! I wouldn't own a BMW though, reapiar and parts in Austrlia are much to high. Maybe you could mofify it like Death Race?!

Like what for instance? I'm used to driving older cars (though I've been "moving up" lately) so there's almost nothing that can bug me too much Does it just have little trim and cosmetic issues (i.e. a window won't go down, or a rattle in the dashboard) or does it have serious mechanical problems as well?

I didn't do a great deal to the previous one. The chrome arches for example were there when I bought it. I did add the bumper facade though, as the original bumper was cracked and the paint chipped, so it helped cover that. I also added the fiberglass side skirts which helped cover up the rusty sills, and the clear indicators were my work too.

Here's what it looked like when I bought it:


Seems like a lifetime ago now, it was so exciting getting my first car :p. It's always started up and ran fine and has gone some huge distances, but there's been lots of little niggles which can generally be attributed to the age of the car.

Tuning

Do what?