First time buyer needs advice

[m3f_Pitts44j]

I am looking for an E36. Preferably Black or Silver.

I found the following two vehicles.

What do you guys think?

1995 coupe, 94K miles, Automatic: $14K

vin#:WBSBF0324SEN9095

1997 coupe, 68K miles, Manual: $22K

vin#: WBSBG9324VEY73937





The first one is within my budget, but it has a lot of miles on it and it's an automatic. I can live with the Automatic aspect, but I don't want to have a sink a bunch of money into it in the next 30K miles. What do you guys think? Can anyone run a Carfax report for me?

Is it possible to abuse an Automatic? When I test drove it, it shifted smoothly, is there anything I should have looked for? How good is the tranny on those cars?





Thanks all,

Marc

[m3f_M3BOUND]

I just faced a similar decision over mileage and price with a 98 sedan with 114k or a 97 coupe with 59k. the sedan was 14k and the coupe was 22k and needed tires. I opted for the sedan since it was super clean and my mechanic said it was maintained well and ran excellent. Make sure you find a good mechanic that will be able to evaluate for you. My evaluation as 65 dollars and was well worth it. Here is some info from car fax:





The CARFAX database contains a total of 9 vehicle history records on this 1997 BMW M3 (WBSBG9324VEY73937):





DATE

REPORTED ODOMETER

READING INFORMATION

SOURCE GENERAL

COMMENTS

10/01/1996 Texas

Motor Vehicle Dept.

Katy, TX

Registered as

private vehicle





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10/05/1996 US Customs

Exported from:

Germany

Imported to:

Charleston, SC





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01/08/1997 100 Texas

Motor Vehicle Dept.

Katy, TX

Title #00022200051485824

Title or registration issued

First owner reported

First lien reported





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12/04/1998 38,172 Texas

Inspection Station

Houston, TX

Passed emissions inspection





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01/04/2000 47,814 Texas

Inspection Station

Houston, TX

Passed emissions inspection





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02/26/2001 Texas

Inspection Station

Houston, TX

Passed emissions inspection





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



02/18/2002 61,925 Texas

Inspection Station

Katy, TX

Passed emissions inspection





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10/29/2002 63,435 Louisiana

Motor Vehicle Dept.

Lafayette, LA

Title issued

Ownership transfer reported

First lien reported





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Not Reported Auto Inventory

Offered for sale

at dealership