The transmission and engine itself probably will not be an issue. However, every electrical thing that breaks, every plastic panel that cracks, every seal that needs to be replaced, every hose that needs to be replaced, every coil pack that will need to be replaced, EGR valve, throttle body cleaning, etc will cost you a fortune wrto labor. (Parts will be reasonably priced from places like FCP Euro). The only way to keep a german car past 5 years is if you can turn a wrench or willing to pay a lot of money for it. My audi’s book value is around $2000-3000. I deferred any sort of major repairs. I could do it to save on labor costs, but parts itself would be significant, and my time. So I put up with a lot of leaks
German cars are not known for their serviceability. More recently, BMW actually tries to prevent serviceability from most garage mechanics by requiring custom tools and ECU programming, even for something as simple as changing a battery. Ask anyone who has an E90/E92 BMW 3 series, and ask them how much it costs to replace the battery. Dealer will be $800, independent shops will be like $400. Half the cost is labor, and that includes a required ECU reprogram.
