Thinking about replacing the BMW.....

[92BMW318is]

It's bleeding oil again...
After I replaced all the head gaskets like 5 months ago... Plus the power steering is going out. The driver sidedoor doesnt open from the outside. the power steering belt won't hold tension. The floor board has a small hole in it. The side skirts are rusting out. The hood clamps are broken (have to manually stick my fingers in and push the springs in to latch the hood) the fan shroud clips just broke. The passenger side doors lock is fucked ( have to lock and unlock doors from the trunk lock.) The plastic on the key broke now I can't put it on a key chain. The trunk has a hole in the floor board where the spare tire sits. The door molding is gone one most of the car. The fog light fell off. The clock always rests and only displays military time. The heated seats don't noticeably work. The 5 disc cd changer with cut in and out unexpectedly (once or twice every 20mins.) The heater fan keep shorting out blowing fuses.(possibly the biggest thing that absolutely pisses me off).  the passenger side window wiper is toast.(the bolt broke that connects to the gear only have one working window wiper.)  The passenger side mirror got ripped off and the windshield is busted.( hit a kid that ran out in the middle of the road at 5am. He's okay. My car isn't.)  The rims are shot and slowly leak air. The cars missing a Cadilitic converter.  There's probably more stuff I can't think of at the moment.

But with all this stuff thats wrong and keeps going wrong I think its time to put her out of commission. And find a car to replace her until until I get enough money to fix it all or just buy the same car and use her for parts. Idk. It's a hard decision. What does everyone think is a good course of action...  I could park her or part her or sell and replace or part out and replace... it will cost to much and take to much time to fix it all in one go. I love the car but she's breaking faster then I can put her together.

[DesktopDave]

I feel your pain.  On occasion I think along the same lines, but then I manage to fix something and it's better for a while.

If you find another one it'll have problems as well.  If you really like BMW, I'd be looking for something with different problems (like maybe an e30 M42 with a blown engine), then use your parts to get it working again.

The early e36 had a lot of teething problems; I like the e36 myself, but my mechanic warned me about anything earlier than '96.  A Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla makes an excellent beater.  I use my wife's minivan when my car is down for maintenance.  At least I will until the 633CSi is running...

[d.hitchcock]

If you don't (or can't) keep up on the maintenance for these cars, they can eat you alive.

I'm not sure it's noticeably different with other cars. The problems may be different, but there are still problems.