Faults:

The lights kept randomly turning off.

Onboard computer backlighting broke.

Vehicle "shimmys" at 90km/h.

Air con not working.

General Comments:

The headlights and tail lights thing is a well-known problem and easy to fix on your own, or you could pay an auto-sparky - it's a 15 minute job resoldering some connections. I also cleaned the headlights out and got far better light - they fill with dust - being good Hella units they can be stripped and cleaned with little fuss.

The OBC backlighting is just a bulb I believe - but its hard to get at because someone previous installed an aftermarket stereo that's a pig to get out...

The shimmy is also a well-known worn bush fault and is about $300 to get fixed with after-market bushes, or about $450 using genuine BMW parts.

The Air Con was going to cost over $1000 to fix due to a valve in under the dash that needs fixing - hell, I have a sunroof and windows to wind down :)

Overall tho its pretty reliable for its age, and a dream to drive. Its not the most economical car to drive, but if I wanted a Mazda 121 I would buy one (then I'd shoot myself :)

Faults:

Motor mounts and transmission mounts went bad, causing the drive shaft to hit the heat shield and making a horrible (to me) clicking noise when I took a corner (keep in mind I drive the car fast).

Radiator overflow hose came off, so when I went to fix that, I busted the connector piece for the hose and ended up having to buy a new radiator.

Brake caliper bolt fell off while I was driving (my fault, didn't tighten it enough when I changed pads) on a very bad road, lots of pot holes, so now I check the bolts regularly.

One day I used the anti theft immobilizing function when I was in a questionable part of town, and when I got back to the car, I put the code in and it would not accept it. I knew it was right, because I had used it before, and the code was 4 of the same numbers, so I had to disconnect the battery, wait 5 minutes, connect it, then wait 15 minutes, then put any code # I desired in. Then it started right up, so don't know why it did that, but oh well. It was an experience, plus I talked to this beautiful girl while I was waiting.

General Comments:

Overall the car is awesome, wouldn't trade it for any car (except for an M5 or a Corvette Z06 and maybe some others, key word... "some")

The car handles like a dream, even before the new wheels and tires, which made me love the car even more.

Yeah, it may be a little bit expensive to maintain, but the way I look at it, is life's too short to be nitpicking about that kind of stuff, just get what you want, that's just my opinion though.