Since you're in college, on a budget, coming from Toyota ownership, have a fiance/wife to answer to and aren't real familiar with the cars...
That low purchase price is the cover charge to get in the door and doesn't reflect the cost of ownership. BMWs make people a little delusional about how much care and feeding they really need compared to a normal car. Parts aren't that expensive, but they do have some weak spots that require frequent attention and that can add up. The suspension bits are relatively lightweight and need to be refreshed completely every 80K miles or so. They've got more electronics than they need. The interiors aren't particularly durable. The cooling systems are rotten. Oh, and because they're so berkeleying fantastic when everything is working, problems really stand out. You'll feel the need to maintain them to a higher standard than you otherwise might.
Already said up thread, but do not buy a BMW if you're not doing your own maintenance and are on a budget. Servicing a BMW at a shop will cost than a lease on a new car if your goal is to keep it in good shape. You can keep on on the road for less, but it's not going to drive right and it's going to fall apart around you.
Any BMW is going to need all the rubber wear and shock absorbers replaced. Parts aren't horrible and you don't have to do it all at once. $400 at the front suspension and and about the same at the rear. $200 for motor, trans mounts and a rebuild of the shift linkage. $500-$800 for shocks and mounts. So figure $1500+ to get it to really handle right. Add in another few hundred if you plan to do the structural reinforcements the M3 got. Plus the the cooling system stuff. And if it needs all that, there will be a few more things in need of attention. Delaminating door cards and headliners, bad fluids, cheap brake pads, electrical gremlins, etc. So that puts you at more like $2K in parts to get an cleanish E36 up to a solid, reliable baseline.
Non-enthusiasts don't bother with that stuff, because it's not required if you don't care that the car is a pile of junk. At most shops the labor and parts markup make it insanely expensive to stay on top of those things. Factor all this into the decision not to just go out and spend the money up front on a super clean car owned by someone who knows what they're doing... or just skip the BMW and get a Miata.
All that said, when everything is working properly there isn't anything that feels like a better overall package. They're incredibly well rounded cars.
