I'm looking at picking up a used car for the daily highway only commute into work. The wife has always wanted to have a BMW, so I found this car and thought I'd get some feedback. It's an auto with 158k (miles) on the clock, the car fully loaded and is apparently in great condition mechanically and cosmetically. Asking price is $5200 Canadian. So what kind of longevity can one typically expect out of the 318 in terms of mileage? What kind of things should I look out for? Is that a fair price for that car?. Basically that is about $4600 US.

http://image3.usedottawa.com/YOW2801699.1.jpg

Aside from road testing, having a mechanic check it out, running a CarFax report (do they have these in Canada? Priceless!), the only thing I'd be concerned about is the "lifetime sealed" automatic trans.

My wife's 1998 318i has 83,000 miles, no problems. But if we still have it at 100,000 I'll be having the special BMW ATF changed per the advice of more and more techs in the BMW Car Club of America.

158,000 miles on the same fluid seems shaky to me. Did the old owner (and will the new one) drive it gently?