my experience is that the first 7 I bought was a dog.
I don't know if that was the first year or what....but i had $5700.00 in repairs the first year i owned it (8 years old). i sold it on the 13th month. however, I took it to the dealer (big mistake, bend over).
I also bought that 7 from my dad which lives in brownsville (read 90% hispanic, 10% other) and the repairs we're NOT done at the dealer there...so I had alot of issues to overcome with non-BMW, uh, techs.
my 1995 740il has been super. my maintenance is/has been very low. I also quit going to the dealer.
if you can find a reputable "extended warranty" company that will cover that year (hurry up, after 10 the costs go up), you can probably have some assurance that for 2500 in 3 years or XXX miles, you can get a fair deal, hoping that you made a good purchase.
as a side note, i first found a 3 year old car i really wanted (this is 1998) and then had a leasing company buy it to lease back to me (good write off) and then i bought it from the leasing company at rock bottom price and it's still today worth more than i bought it.
just a thought.
mancho