Would you put more money into this car?

What condition is the vehicle in?

Some of those things you can do by yourself and save a lot.

You'd be doing the Y!A world a kindness by pasting this question *as an answer* to the vast number of dullards around here who want to know if they should buy old BMWs.

The BMW people make a nice car with superb engineering. But repairs can be tremendously expensive. I know. I owned a 1600, long, long ago. In your case, as you suspect, BMW stands for Bundles of Money Wasted. Also (thanks to Jay P) BuM Warmer.

If you can't do the work yourself the car needs to go if you can its still a lot of money your never going to get back just on parts and materials if your paying to get it fixed cut your loses and get rid of it before it eats more money yest there will be more things fail.

The cost of repairs will probably exceed the value of the vehicle. That is why you got it so cheap from the previous owner. A rough estimate of the repairs noted would be around $5k.

Unless you are good with wrenches they can turn into money pits.

All that is simple but I don't buy that's all that's wrong with it if it needs shocks and control arms then it needs u joints and ball joints all of which are more important and on a sports car will fail on the highway and cause a crash.You already put 6k you are sold on this car it's to late to sell it I say fix it up to a point where you can unload it for ATLEAST getting the 6k back and run for the hills old BMW are the worst investments they cost so much for repairs.

I would not do such thing. I would go to a government seized auction and get something better. This is where i got mine 2013 BMX X3. copy & paste > http://bit.ly/2gXLisV < hope this would help.

Scrap it.

Personally I don't believe in cars so no

It sounds like you bought a crappy E46 that had been neglected. Why does it need a hood and fender? Or a seat? The PO took terrible care of the car and now you are attempting to set it right, which can be a very costly exercise. It isn't the car's fault it was wrecked and mechanically neglected, so I'm not sure why you are upset that it requires work. E36 are great cars too but they certainly have their own host of problems (crappy interior, bushings wear out, rusty jack points and trunk, etc).

The valve cover gasket is easy. It's a two beer job; I'd suggest doing the filter housing tasks as well (four beers). The rear shocks are stupid easy - you literally don't even have to lift the car to change them. Window regulators can be rebuilt and they take about a half hour to replace. Sensors are easy to change provided you know which ones you have to replace. It's an old car with 140k - of course it needs bushings.

Put it up for sale for about 650 dollars, at-least you should get more the scrape price.

sell it. probably would get at least the money back you bought it for since you did replace the major dollar item that being the clutch, if you think you can do those repairs that need to be replaced control arms, valve cover gasket, shocks, and alignment. then do the little things which can all be bought at the junkyard

Scrap it.

https://www.getbmwparts.com/parts/2004/BMW/325xi/?siteid=214672&vehicleid=174008&section=FRONT%20SUSPENSION

Some of those things are not essential such as the bum warmer, window regulator ( unless it is for the driver's door ), ambient temperature sensor, etc.

But even if you delay or don't bother with the non-essential, that shopping list is still easily going to be well into the thousands. From what you describe, this vehicle was not looked after very well which could mean many more headaches in the future. Personally I suggest cutting your losses and dumping it now.

Of course, that's a personal decision, but the old saying "throwing good money after bad" springs to mind here. If it were my car, I'd sell if for parts and get something else.

It should be a good car.
Maintenance is key here.