If you are at your cash limit to buy thr BMW walk away from it, nice motors they may be but at 80,000 miles big bills are just around the corner and coming up the straight. If you decide to go ahead give the car and its service history previous owners a good investigation.

My comments are based on a friend who recently bought a 3 series because it was a premuim car and has been very good at empting his wallet very quickly,service, tyres, blown turbo,ect

You have to think what your priorities are: if you want to play safe, buy something Japanese (petrols are better than diesels at this price) - Toyota, Mazda or Honda.

If you would find these boring, a BMW would be more fun, but for your money you;ds have to have an older car with, as you realise, the potential for expensive repairs.

I've been lucky in that the BMW Z3 I bought four years ago when it was 7 years old has been very reluiable - but it's purely a 'fun car' and I don't use it every day or for short journeys. I've done about 3,500 miles a year in it as I've got a Skoda for everyday. So if your mileage is very low, you might get away with something exciting: if the car has to do a job of work, if I were you I'd play safe.

If you need a bit of both qualities, think about a higher-powered Ford Focus or Mondeo or Skoda Octavia - cheaper to buy than a BMW and more fun to drive than a Japanese car.