Is there a genuinely decent alternative to the E46 330ci?

[octane83]

C70R said:

I give up on this thread. If people don't understand the meaning of the word "alternative", I'm wasting my time.

I think you are implying the 'alternative' to be from the 330ci's original competition when it was new. 15 years later several 'alternatives' have emerged. Like another poster said it depends on what you're looking for in the car. If a relaxed big engined coupe is what you want then the list is fairly short. However if you're looking at what you can get for the same money as a good 330ci then you've opened up a whole new set of 'alternatives'.

Small but important difference in my view.

[_rubinho_]

How about an Alpina B3S Coupe? 330ci based but a bit more go and a lot more exclusive. Not as needy or expensive as an M3. You might struggle to find one for sale.

[48Valves]

C70R said:

I think people slating the 330ci for not being hard-edged or sporty enough are missing the point entirely. If you want a sporty car that costs loads to run, and isn't very good being driven daily in heavy traffic, you get the M3. I've driven and passengered plenty of miles in the E46 M3, and it's completely pants as a daily traffic hauler - you'd be an idiot to drive a manual, and the SMG is useless. However, you get the M3 out where you can stretch its legs, and the engine/chassis combination is an absolute belter.

Really?

I drive my SMG E46 M3 every day in reasonably heavy traffic and its as easy and sedate to drive as any other car I've owned. It's quiet, comfortable and smooth. But when I get to the twisty bits where there is no traffic I can open her up and she comes alive. That's the beauty of it, it can do both reasonably well. I even us the SMG in auto mode

And as for the SMG being useless, I would say that's nonsense. It's not as clever or smooth as DTC or DSG, but I wouldn't want it to be. It suits the character of the car perfectly. I think a lot of the reason people call the SMG rubbish is partly due to Clarcson and his campaign against 'flappy paddles', the bad press they get from breaking manual owners that can't get their heads round driving the SMG.

Also the SMG is much improved by the applying the CSL map to it.

[V8RX7]

RobM77 said:

It depends on your priorities. What about handling?]

Some would be nice.

I was making progress down a local B road and saw a 60's Elan catching up - I went a little faster and was surprised to see dirt being kicked up where the rear was clearly drifting a little and hitting the dirt verge.

I had no idea this was happening as there was zero feedback through the car - I'm told they call this "refinement" but it felt like driving wearing thick gloves and wellies.

I genuinely believe that a standard Mazda6 Sport or Mondeo ST is a sportier drive, you shouldn't have to spend M3 money to get a bit of involvement.

[RobM77]

octane83 said:

RobM77 said:

It depends on your priorities. What about handling?

Handling's not great either. Its safe and predictable as standard,

What exactly do you want out of handling then? Unsafe and unpredictable? I'm confused.

As I said above, I sold mine quickly because I hated it (worst car I've ever owned), and many of the issues I hated you went on to describe (cantankerous laggy controls, no feel, grabby DSC on the open diff etc). The actual handling though was class leading, that was my point.

[s m]

406 V6 coupe perhaps

[V8RX7]

RobM77 said:

octane83 said:

RobM77 said:

It depends on your priorities. What about handling?

Handling's not great either. Its safe and predictable as standard,

What exactly do you want out of handling then? Unsafe and unpredictable? I'm confused.

I sold mine quickly because - no feel

The actual handling though was class leading, that was my point.

To me good handling, requires good feel / feedback.

[RobM77]

V8RX7 said:

RobM77 said:

octane83 said:

RobM77 said:

It depends on your priorities. What about handling?

Handling's not great either. Its safe and predictable as standard,

What exactly do you want out of handling then? Unsafe and unpredictable? I'm confused.

I sold mine quickly because - no feel

The actual handling though was class leading, that was my point.

To me good handling, requires good feel / feedback.

To me they're entirely separate. That'll explain the confusion then!

You've also edited my post to make it sound like I e said something different to what I actually said - was that intentional?

[CX53]

The OP obviously got bored with all the random off topic M3 chat!

I'd probably go ST220 if i were looking now, fairly low running and maintenance costs, looks nice, sounds great, quick enough, good handling, not rwd but who cares... Plenty of them around

[V8RX7]

RobM77 said:

You've also edited my post to make it sound like I e said something different to what I actually said - was that intentional?

I thought it made it easy to see the bit I'm discussing.