Why didnt they ever build an E46 M3 Saloon?
Discussion
Hi all,
At the moment i own an E39 M5 and after a year of ownership i'm getting the urge now to move on to something different. There is however nothing wrong with the car, i just get bored very easily and even a year is a long time for me to have kept a car. After trawling through the autotrader/pistonheads ads for suitable replacements nothing seems to float my boat except for maybe an E46 M3 just for the fact that it's that little bit fresher and more modern. Then i started thinking why did they never make a saloon version of the M3. So i did a google search to see if they maybe had and it had not made it to the uk market.
I came across this link http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=5789...
The guy who started the above thread is basically mental but at the same time a f*****g genius!! Theres 70 odd pages to read through but if your bored at any point and want to see a materpiece take form then i suggest you take a look. The attention to detail is amazing. Almost very nearly looks like its come out of the factory at the end. If i were nit picking then theres about four things i would've changed to how he did the car which is kept the original chrome kidney grilles/gills, body coloured mirrors and roof and original seats but then i'm just being pedantic.
This is well over a years work.
If people have seen this then sorry for duplicating a post just thought it would be interesting for people to see. I definately would have bought one if it had been available!
Cheers
Andy
At the moment i own an E39 M5 and after a year of ownership i'm getting the urge now to move on to something different. There is however nothing wrong with the car, i just get bored very easily and even a year is a long time for me to have kept a car. After trawling through the autotrader/pistonheads ads for suitable replacements nothing seems to float my boat except for maybe an E46 M3 just for the fact that it's that little bit fresher and more modern. Then i started thinking why did they never make a saloon version of the M3. So i did a google search to see if they maybe had and it had not made it to the uk market.
I came across this link http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=5789...
The guy who started the above thread is basically mental but at the same time a f*****g genius!! Theres 70 odd pages to read through but if your bored at any point and want to see a materpiece take form then i suggest you take a look. The attention to detail is amazing. Almost very nearly looks like its come out of the factory at the end. If i were nit picking then theres about four things i would've changed to how he did the car which is kept the original chrome kidney grilles/gills, body coloured mirrors and roof and original seats but then i'm just being pedantic.
This is well over a years work.
If people have seen this then sorry for duplicating a post just thought it would be interesting for people to see. I definately would have bought one if it had been available!
Cheers
Andy
I believe the reason was that the M3 was alwys supposed to be a coupe from the design opffice and that there were other cars within the range which better suited 4 doors.
The design of the M3's bodywork also made making an saloon somewhat difficult especially when demand globally would be low.
The Audi RS4 showed that four doors could work, Lexus and M-B now have four door performance saloons so there is a market for such a car.
The M3 in my opinion should be a seriously sporty coupe, no convertible and no saloon options. They should also always have a CSL option for track use, stripped down, better brakes and suspension but not priced at £115,000!!!
The design of the M3's bodywork also made making an saloon somewhat difficult especially when demand globally would be low.
The Audi RS4 showed that four doors could work, Lexus and M-B now have four door performance saloons so there is a market for such a car.
The M3 in my opinion should be a seriously sporty coupe, no convertible and no saloon options. They should also always have a CSL option for track use, stripped down, better brakes and suspension but not priced at £115,000!!!
But if that was the case why did they bother building an E36 M3 saloon and then skip the e46 only to go on and do another saloon for the e90. It doesnt really make sense and i'm sure there would've been a market for it. If anything just for people who didnt want to go the whole hog with a big M5 but still wanted the saloon car practicality but M3 performance.
The E36 M3 although fast was aimed at a different market than the E30 M3....the E36 was more executive, more mass market and less sports orientated. It devalued the M3 badge and could never be raced successfully although it was a nd is a tuners delight. The 4 door is the better car too.
One believes that the BMW marketing people who hold focus group discussions and undertake research felt that after the E36 a new M3 has to be a coupe and more hard core....which it was.
The latest version has 4 doors and although you do not see so many around has probably taken sales away from Lexus and M-B AMG cars because it looks great and drives as well as the coupe, but offering more family fun, or company car acceptability.
One believes that the BMW marketing people who hold focus group discussions and undertake research felt that after the E36 a new M3 has to be a coupe and more hard core....which it was.
The latest version has 4 doors and although you do not see so many around has probably taken sales away from Lexus and M-B AMG cars because it looks great and drives as well as the coupe, but offering more family fun, or company car acceptability.
I should imagine they didn't make one because they didn't need to. The M engines were sophisticated and therefore expensive to develop and build. It therefore would have paid to spread them across as many models as possible. They built an E36 saloon to maximise the number of models using the engine, but then found they could use the engine in the Z3 as well. When the E46 came out, they used that in the Z3 too and then the Z4 so they didn't need to develop a saloon version.
This would also explain the need for an M5 touring, as I suspect the S85 was extremely expensive to develop.
This would also explain the need for an M5 touring, as I suspect the S85 was extremely expensive to develop.
belleair302 said:
The E36 M3 although fast was aimed at a different market than the E30 M3....the E36 was more executive, more mass market and less sports orientated. It devalued the M3 badge and could never be raced successfully although it was a nd is a tuners delight. The 4 door is the better car too.
One believes that the BMW marketing people who hold focus group discussions and undertake research felt that after the E36 a new M3 has to be a coupe and more hard core....which it was.
The latest version has 4 doors and although you do not see so many around has probably taken sales away from Lexus and M-B AMG cars because it looks great and drives as well as the coupe, but offering more family fun, or company car acceptability.
the E36 was designed from the word go with racing in mind but by the time it was ready the rules had changed and BMW had pulled out of DTM, hence why it is so good mildy fettled for trackOne believes that the BMW marketing people who hold focus group discussions and undertake research felt that after the E36 a new M3 has to be a coupe and more hard core....which it was.
The latest version has 4 doors and although you do not see so many around has probably taken sales away from Lexus and M-B AMG cars because it looks great and drives as well as the coupe, but offering more family fun, or company car acceptability.
andy3781 said:
That forum is impossible to read. 
belleair302 said:
The E36 M3 although fast was aimed at a different market than the E30 M3....the E36 was more executive, more mass market and less sports orientated. It devalued the M3 badge and could never be raced successfully although it was a nd is a tuners delight. The 4 door is the better car too.
One believes that the BMW marketing people who hold focus group discussions and undertake research felt that after the E36 a new M3 has to be a coupe and more hard core....which it was.
Well the E36 was obviously more executive, mass market and less sports orientated because it wasn't a homologation special. You could almost say the same about the E46 and E90 too when compare to an E30 though they are better M3's than the E36 (one of which I bought new in '97).One believes that the BMW marketing people who hold focus group discussions and undertake research felt that after the E36 a new M3 has to be a coupe and more hard core....which it was.
I think the reason they didn't make an E46 saloon was because the E36 saloon sold in very limited numbers compared to the coupe which was a massive success...that would be my guess. By the time the E90 was launched I think BMW felt that the market had changed sufficiently to justify making a saloon....the likes of the AMG C Class Merc's and S4 Audi's sold in nothing like the numbers of the E36 M3 but today it's a much more even split between the E90 and it's contemporaries.
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