[1ForAllFor1]

Hi guys and gals,

I'm trying to do some homework for my friend who is considering replacing his 2003 Mazda 6. Apparently, his mom has offered to GIVE him her completely paid off 2000 323Ci convertible. I was just looking at the specs for this car, and it doesn't look terribly powerful, but let's face it, it's a free BMW sooooo...

I was wondering if anyone had any useful thoughts or information about this model that they could provide? He's also considering BUYING a new 1 or 3 series, so that's the other possibility.

All input is greatly appreciated, positive or negative.

Oh, and the vert is silver with some sort of tan leather.

[pit1]

Miles? Condition? Past Issues?

It can be tough to budget upkeep on an older BMW. I got out of my paid off '02 330xi because it had 125,000 and was racking up a few thousand on little repairs, from axle boots, A/C, Suspension, Gearbox, Clutch, etc. They will run forever but you have to be able to save up for those $2,500 days at the shop.

[roldan]

May as well take it... ?

Ain't no better deal than free. Especially if she wouldn't be pissed about him selling it later -- a 323 vert isn't too shabby and could probably fetch a decent sum for when he wants to upgrade.

[1ForAllFor1]

90,000 miles, pretty good mechanical condition, from what I can tell. The paintwork is not in terribly great shape, but then again, he's not the kind of guy who would ever hang around on a forum like this, so you can imagine how much he really cares about scratches anyway. I also don't think that the car has had any major issues, it just happens to be almost nine years old.

Does this model offer more power than it appears? I'm reading less than 200 horses...

[1speedbike]

thats an 8-9 year old car.. i'd take it for free but buy another one anyway. if i had to pick just one, i wouldn't really want to worry about mechanical problems etc in my "new" car.

and yeah it's 170 horses. looking at old forums i'm seeing a 0-60 time around 7 seconds. some people claim it can do the 0-60 in the upper 6's, not much slower than a 128i, which is still fast. still, i wouldn't really take a car that used over a new, reliable car if i had the cash for the new car.

[WhiteOne]

Its a free BMW! Drive it for a couple of years while saving 500 or 600 dollars a month. $5000 to put into an IRA for the next two or three years while cruising in a BMW ragtop. A no brainer. JMHO