I'm late to this party but this was how I approached buying mine last year:
I looked at 11 different e92s before I found the one I bought (lucky number 12). My main concern was wear and tear. I wanted something that had been well taken care of. I walked away from a few cars where the owners didn't know anything about rod bearings, throttle actuators, etc... and changed their oil like every 10-15k.
The one I found was from a forum member, and he bought it from a forum member previously. The car had meticulous records with lots of work reported, which tells me that the more stuff was taken care of, the less I'll have to worry about those things.
Then came the spec. I wanted red with ZCP and 6MT. I would have settled for jet black or grey if everything else considered was great. In one year of looking, I couldn't find what I wanted - at least not within my miles (on the odometer) and price range. I finally found a red, with perfect spec, that was m head and shoulders better maintained than the other 11 I had already looked at. The price was right so I pulled the trigger.
The caveat was that it was NOT a 6MT.
Overall, I'm thoroughly happy with the sacrifice that I made and now i drive a great car. I've kept my eyes open since buying this one and I still haven't seen the right spec with 6MT in great condition come up yet.
You may have to compromise somewhere but if you follow your gut, you'll come out okay in the end!
