Its a tossup between the E46 and the E36 for being the easiest BMW (easiest car in general?) to work on, ever. The only "hard" BMWs to work on I'd say are the X5s and X3s, and except for the 2007+ X5s, they arent too bad. The E70 X5s are impossible though.
Basically do your own work. BMW shit tends to be more expensive if you dont DIY, so its even more incentive to.
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ASE: Brakes
Yea..that very well could have been the most retarded idea I've ever heard, but .. do it anyway. -TheShow50h