Imola Red E46 M3
Discussion
Not long had this, only a couple of months. The E46 M3 has been my (realistic) dream car for a couple of years now and I've been dying to own one! So I was quite excited when I picked this one up!
Before I bought it I had a MkIV Golf diesel for about 6 years so it was a massive jump up in terms of performance!
First Rwd car too.
I bought this with relatively high miles 80k, but it was in great condition, had no expense spared on servicing repairs etc and was in the colour I wanted, Imola Red with Red leather interior. Oh, and manual!
Here it is currently on 18s with winter tyres. Bought it with the factory optional 19s as well which are in the garage waiting for spring!
Completely standard apart from the front indicators which will be getting swapped for the originals.
Excuse the crappy phone pics!
Awesome engine!
Before I bought it I had a MkIV Golf diesel for about 6 years so it was a massive jump up in terms of performance!
First Rwd car too.
I bought this with relatively high miles 80k, but it was in great condition, had no expense spared on servicing repairs etc and was in the colour I wanted, Imola Red with Red leather interior. Oh, and manual!
Here it is currently on 18s with winter tyres. Bought it with the factory optional 19s as well which are in the garage waiting for spring!
Completely standard apart from the front indicators which will be getting swapped for the originals.
Excuse the crappy phone pics!
Awesome engine!
Edited by calum_ek on Friday 3rd January 20:19
This is the first red on red I've seen, and it looks great. I really dislike the red interior in pretty much all the other body colours! It is also the latest Imola car I've seen; did you escape the higher tax bracket?
Glad those horrible indicators are being replaced with standard versions
Glad those horrible indicators are being replaced with standard versions
Thanks for the comments, I'll be keeping this a while I think!
It's such a great car the M3. Fast, comfortable, sooo smooth and stable, sounds awesome when you nail it! And for the performance, isn't as expensive on fuel as I thought it was going to be!
Seriously can't think of anything I would have rather bought the cheap side of 10k!
It's such a great car the M3. Fast, comfortable, sooo smooth and stable, sounds awesome when you nail it! And for the performance, isn't as expensive on fuel as I thought it was going to be!
Seriously can't think of anything I would have rather bought the cheap side of 10k!
Refreshing to see one in Imola. Even more refreshing to see one on the proper wheels! Lovely choice sir. Get the rear subframe/boot floor checked out ASAP, as if it's not been done already I believe your car will still be covered as it's on a 55 plate! Saves spending your hard earned getting it sorted!
Was by far my favourite colour too and I held out for ages for one! Probably looked for a good 6 months, trawling through the classifieds before I found it. One thing I noticed while looking, there sure are a lot of dogs out there for sale!
I drove it for the first month I had it on the 19s before the colder weather set in and changed to the winter set, and I can say it does drive better on the 18s. Noticeably more comfortable, less jarring ride and a lot less tram-lining. Looks better on the smaller wheels too I think!
From what I've read, OEM suspension is the best for these, especially on the roads round here anyway so I'll be keeping this one totally original, just as BMW intended!
I drove it for the first month I had it on the 19s before the colder weather set in and changed to the winter set, and I can say it does drive better on the 18s. Noticeably more comfortable, less jarring ride and a lot less tram-lining. Looks better on the smaller wheels too I think!
From what I've read, OEM suspension is the best for these, especially on the roads round here anyway so I'll be keeping this one totally original, just as BMW intended!
calum_ek said:
I'll be getting the subframe checked out shortly, am I right in saying it's covered under a 10 year goodwill from BMW? I've got a good Indy close by to me so I'll probably get them to give a once over first.
Next thing to do is a 4 wheel alignment, want to keep this tip top.
Yeah, 10 years, which is why it's worth getting done. If the alignment is out you won't believe the difference when it's done... like night and day. IMHO the only worthwhile modification to these is the Gruppe M intake (or the GSR copy for a lot less £££) and CSL wheels look the dogs. Next thing to do is a 4 wheel alignment, want to keep this tip top.
Once again, lovely motor.
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