Originally Posted by SANguru

depends on how you define reliable.. Both those cars are getting up there in age and the B5's are notoriously expensive to maintain. More so than the E36's due to AWD layout. Lot of little things break even when they are new. The B6 made significant improvements in how it well it was put together.
I really suggest staying away from European cars if 10K is all you gotta spend.

BTW. the early model 325i were crap too.. stay away.