I own a BMW, and have become an expert on them, I think it will be tough to find one for 15k that will also pass most lenders standards, the point I am making is that it will either be too old or have too many miles for most lenders. I suggest as I do for everyone to join a credit union, there are many great ones, they tend to have more flexibility and will be more likely to work with you. Finding the right car for 15k will require some patience. I suggest looking at maintenance history, if you can find a one or two owner car then you will probably have better luck at finding one with records. I also would not suggest going to used BMW or Mercedes unless you have the ability to do some car work on your own. They are great cars, my 06 330i has 205,000 miles and I love it but they are not like Honda's or Toyotas, they are more complex (perhaps too much so) and require greater care and the repairs can be very expensive. Personally I would wait for a BMW or Mercedes until I could afford 25-30k because you can find many 3 year old lease return BMW's in that price range with low miles.
