He won't have it though, it's got to be a <100k miler.
....and therein lies the problem, there is a general mentality that cars over 100k miles are not to be trusted/bought hence why the industry penalises high mileage cars on price.
So while in priciple, I agree with what you're saying, should you chose to sell the car in the future, you're going to be in a worse situation having a car with even higher mileage and lower target audience.
...as for big bills coming up....on a petrol E46? The only thing you've really got to budget for upto 100k is the suspension bushings (cheap and easy to do - took me two hours at the weekend) and the water pump....so long as you flush the auto every once in a while...
