Shopping for a car for my kid

[Josh (PA)]

I've hinted at it in a number of threads, but I've begun to seriously look for a car that will be primarily used by my soon to be 16 yr old daughter, and then shared with her 15 yr old sister next year. She'll get her permit in April and her license at the beginning of fall.

I've pretty much narrowed down the search to a late model AWD e46 wagon or a similar end of first gen x3. I'm zero-ing in on these cars because (IMO) they're the right size for a new driver that needs to drag a ton of athletic gear around, I had good luck with my (non-2001) e46s from a maintenance perspective and if my wife or I ever need a third car to drive around, they're sufficiently pleasant that it won't be like driving a rental car. I'm trying to find something after 2002 and before 2006 (when the n52 was put in) under 100k miles and under $10k.

I'm more partial to the wagon, the girls like the idea of a CUV. Other than that, is there anything really different about the first gen X3 compared to the e46 that I'm not thinking about? AFAIK the engines (I'm targeting the 2.5 over the 3.0 in the x3 all things being equal), transmission, brakes, etc. are the same on both cars. My mechanic is inexpensive, good and e46s are very much in his sweet spot, so maintenance wouldn't be prohibitive.

Interestingly, if we find a good one, and as the girls get into driving, our need for the 7 seat MDX is significantly minimized. Not sure how soon we'd look to get rid of that and replace it with something more livable, but the dominos could fall in place.