2001 BMW 330Ci, purchased for the specific purpose of having another manual, RWD vehicle that could be used for bringing back to life, and then for fun weekend drives and track days.
After deciding I didn't want an E30 or E36, and knowing that I wanted an entry-level car and didn't want the maintenance headache of a worn-out E46 M3, I looked for a while for the right car. I had a specific budget of less than $4,500 to spend on the initial car purchase, and had a requirement that it couldn't be modded, needed to still look relatively good, couldn't be rusty, couldn't have too many miles, couldn't be too neglected, could be brought back to life with a toolbox and some knowledge, and could be driven home without issues. Picking the right car would keep the costs involved with bringing it back to life under control, and allow for steady updates while I drove it and debugged it.
This particular car was originally from Chicago, and appears to have not been driven in winter. The CarFax is clean, but it does look like there was some paintwork done on at minimum the driver's side door and rear bumper. From firsthand experience Chicago is hard on cars; maybe not NYC hard, but Chicago parking is a contact sport, and it the car was probably bumped around and painted to repair. It is peculiar that the CarFax is clean, as a BMW is an expensive car to repair, so whomever commissioned the work must have figured out how to work around it. There is no visible damage or repair that says panels were replaced, but a very careful inspection shows some clearcoat blends around tape, etc. This is part of what I was expecting, as I couldn't afford a minty example, and the paint is good enough that it would fool all but the very trained eye.
Mechanically, the car had all of the regular E46 non-M issues-- Leaking oil from everywhere except the oil pan, all parts basically original, so a bunch of deferred maintenance, totally worn out suspension, mismatched tires, etc... The seller was not a car person and probably thought he needed a BMW, so he bought it from a colleague at work, and then didn't maintain it.
I've performed all of the deferred maintenance and the car is now a very reliable, attractive, pre-facelift E46.