Well i have been offered a trade for my subaru for a 2002 BMW 352i sedan, well i wanted to know the pros and cons of the car, what to look for, ect, ect.

 

You may want to see if the guy is actually willing to trade. The 352i is a pretty rare find.

 

BMW you WILL be paying threw the nose for parts and labor (if you don't have BMW specialty tools)

 

Especially if the model is rare.

 

I assume you meant 325. If you do not perform your own maintenance it is quite cost prohibitive to have the dealership and some independent shops perform maintenance on this car. The parts are generally more expensive the most manufacturers out there. But really that is not what will hurt your pocket book. It is the labor costs per hour that really send the prices beyond reasonable. A clutch replacement for example will run you $400 in parts from the internet, but if you do not know how to install you are looking at $1200 in labor costs alone. Buy the parts and labor form the dealership/shop and you can easily see a bill of $2500 for a simple clutch change.

 

You ruined the potential fun, Trent.

 

Sorry At 5.2 liters that thing would haul...........

 

fuck a 325 if you have a wrx, i doubt you will be pleased with the decrease in performance. if your interested in BMW's, youd be better off just selling your subaru and pick up like an e36 M3 for example. I moved to a 99 M3 after my wrx and absolutely loved the car. i am now on my second BMW since, and although parts are relatively more costly than other import manufacturers, you can find most parts online at affordable prices. But as BigBake said, you would be stupid to pay the dealership or possibly other independent shops for their labor. Find a tech-savy friend and pay him with beer for the time spent wrenching on his back in your driveway if your not competent enough yourself for the job at hand.

Bottom line though, i personally think you would be disapointed moving from your subie to a 325, and i would hope to god it isnt an auto either. anyways, good luck...

 

I would agree performance wise you are taking at hit in terms of power. The 325 is a little more stable and has great handling characteristics, but it ends right there. A 330 would at least give you more power, but it will still fail in comparison to a WRX in power. The M3 at least levels the field in terms of power, but then you are limited on modifications, it all becomes cosmetic at this point. Really any of the 3 series fail when it comes to making more power with basic bolt-ons and or even major engines upgrades. The only true means of getting power beyond 20 rwhp if you are lucky is going with FI. The kits for these cars are stupid priced. A supercharger kit alone will run near $10k, and you might pick up 80rwhp.
But appearance wise they are great looking cars and have a huge aftermarket for appearance items. So I guess it all depends what you are looking for in a car. As SmoknWRX said avoid an auto car, for some reason VW and BMW make the worlds shitiest automatic transmissions in the world for reliability. Another problem is to inspect these cars for subframe damage, it is not prominent on a 325, but some of the 330 and M3 are experiencing subframe cracks.

 

Do you want luxury or a quick car?

Everyone here has assumed you'd want to supercharge the BMW, which isn't surprising considering your "every car should come equipped with an ebc." Regardless, maybe you've grown up past that phase and couldn't care less, in which case my 325i was comfortable as hell, had a great sound system, and had the nicest leather seats and interior I've ever owned.