Newest member of the ///M Club

[bimmer_87]

Would just like to say its good to be back, haven't been on here for many years.

After lusting for many years and finally being affordable, i took the plunge and bought my self:

A BMW e46 M3!

A Coupe of course :-)

Absolutely love it, previous car was a 330ci.

Specs:

MY2005
Carbon Black
Kiwi leather
SMG 2 Drivelogic
Full comms pack
heated seats
elec folding mirrors
Harmon Kardon
CD Changer
19" Alloys

Also has an upgraded ULF module for the bluetooth so it can connect to the latest phones including my iPhone 5.

Plus a hybrid TV tuner.

So far managed to update sat nav firmware and latest maps.

[///Mike]

Stunning, absolutely love the colour combination. I have an E92 arriving in a couple of weeks and had they have offered the same colour combo I would have ordered it. Bamboo is the new interior choice thats closest and its not a patch on Kiwi imo.

Enjoy it

[BuzyG]

Stunning looking motor, welcome back to the fold.

[bimmer_87]

Thanks guys, looking to join a m3 or bmw specific forum now too, only problem is theres so many out there.

Any recommendations?

[joema]

Nice, how did you update the firmware? I got part way through reading about it but was all old info.

I use M3cutters as there seems to be a fair bit of info.

[cringle]

M3cutters

Miss my old E46 cab

[Babw]

Congratulations, she's a beauty.

For the love of god please don't put replica CSL wheels, spacers, depo's (I don't even know what these are), lower it with some shoddy springs and put a scorpian exhaust on it!

[bimmer_87]

joema said:

Nice, how did you update the firmware? I got part way through reading about it but was all old info.

I use M3cutters as there seems to be a fair bit of info.

Theres a few sources online where you can download a .iso file or a cd image of the update disc.

The latest is v32

I used www.neiloakley.com

burn the image onto disc, pop it in your nav dvd drive and hey presto, will be done in 2-5 minutes.

But i had some bad experiences with a modified version (POI, speed cams, night mode etc) My nav unit kept intermittently crashing.

[M3Charlie]

Welcome. I do like a bit of kiwi leather. I would say M3cutters is one of the better forums

[Yell_M3]

E46 m3 is prob my all time favourite (owned) car. I loved the Kiwi leather, SMG etc. Just preferred the Phoenix Yellow paint job!

[bimmer_87]

Well its been over two weeks of ownership and have finally settled in, being my first m3 heres what i think:

Its as easy to drive as my 330ci, the steering is brilliant, a bit on the light side but very direct. Some of the interior trim feel better quality then a regular e46, i love the stitching inside the steering wheel :-P

Acceleration is just incredible and the noise!! oh wow! you'll never get bored of it, sometimes i'm just itching for it to warm up and the LED's to extinguish!

It does have if its quirks, such as the noisy cold start (air pump) the kangarooing, the clunky and jerky smg gearbox (only when cold or stop start traffic)

I even had one person tell me my tappets need adjusting! lol, i dont think he realised M3's have solid lifters.

Fitted it out with the oem Continentals, worth going for as they have a protective rib on the edge to protect your precious 19's.

Oh and nearly forgot to mention, for those of you in the limbo of coupe or cab? i drove one a week after ownership, I'm just so glad i didn't buy a cab, the difference in acceleration and stiffness felt clearly noticeable to me,

With the cab, the tinny exhaust note is more audible, where as the coupe its quite the opposite, its the induction noise of the S54, and i much prefer the latter :-D

[AB]

There's a beautiful M3 in Estoril knocking around here, seen it a couple of times today. CSL wheels. Bloody beautiful.

Nice car!

[0836whimper]

Nice car. I used to have a carbon black kiwi leather M3, full spec.
The sun roof was great. Induction dominated with it closed and when opened the exhaust rasp and downshift blips took over with two clicks of the left paddle.

Very happy days.

[bimmer_87]

not forgetting full bore changes in S5 or S6!