BMW E46 M3, what is it to you, iconic, overrated, epic etc.?
Discussion
blade7 said:
I expect the M3 would just drive away from the Integra around 130ish, I think the M3 is capable of 170+.
Yeah the M3 will have a higher top speed, the Integra will top out at 140ish I think...but will get there quicker IMO.I do think the E46 M3 is the best looking M3 there has been and is the last of the high revving straight 6 BMW's.
I've had mine up at an indicated 160mph once....but that was once and I probably push over 130mph once a year if even (on a private road).
For daily driving, there are much better options, and for out and out performance, there are also better options (at the same price, often with MUCH less maintenance and upkeep).
The M3 is a good jack of all trades car and is a beautiful looking car...but they are at the age now where they cost a lot of money to maintain, yet they are not good at anything in particular. If we took the actual M badge off it and it was remodelled a 332ci or something, you'd be hard pressed to find what the fuss is all about.
If mine wasn't burning a hole in my pocket I may have kept it, only because of the M3 badge and lineage I guess - plus they look gorgeous. But for daily duties or a spirited drive, it wouldn't excel at either by any means.
Had mine almost 11 1/2 years now, and loved it, used to use it as my daily, and now its one of my weekend toys. Makes a great N/A sound, Revs out to 8K rpm, handles very well (not as well as a modern boxster or Cayman) but well enough, generally still a quick car by today's standards, and crucially it still has (for me at least) a sense of drama and occasion to drive (unlike many of these newer Turbo 4 pots today)
These are definitely better used as a weekend car now, due to age things are going to wear out, and some owners have reported bodywork rust issues - not that i ever have though, its got its faults well reported on so easily sorted but sometimes costly, but still overall a car I've just felt i dont want to part with, even at one point looked at a 1M, and a 335i, an a V8 M3, and given the price differences of all three cars at the time, the driving experience just didn't feel as raw and edgy as the E46 did, the V8 M3 is superb, but a little heavier and feels more grown up compared. So mine is still in my garage used sparingly.
A future modern classic for sure?
Buy one while you can, £15K still gets a well sorted well looked after car, enjoy them while we still can! the future is a lot more bland than a 6cyl N/A manual, and even blander than a 4cyl turbo...EV's anyone! :-(
These are definitely better used as a weekend car now, due to age things are going to wear out, and some owners have reported bodywork rust issues - not that i ever have though, its got its faults well reported on so easily sorted but sometimes costly, but still overall a car I've just felt i dont want to part with, even at one point looked at a 1M, and a 335i, an a V8 M3, and given the price differences of all three cars at the time, the driving experience just didn't feel as raw and edgy as the E46 did, the V8 M3 is superb, but a little heavier and feels more grown up compared. So mine is still in my garage used sparingly.
A future modern classic for sure?
Buy one while you can, £15K still gets a well sorted well looked after car, enjoy them while we still can! the future is a lot more bland than a 6cyl N/A manual, and even blander than a 4cyl turbo...EV's anyone! :-(
king wept! 
Owned an SMG coupe for 4 years.
Great engine, disjointed handling and with the SMG gearbox neither here nor there with the performance/useability balance.
Now have an Z4M with the same engine and a manual gearbox and the balance has shifted towards the performance end significantly. My explanation due to the lesser weight, increased stiffness and more "pointy" nature of the car.
I personally think an E39 M5 would have fitted the bill of what I was originally buying the M3 for, a daily useable performance car. I don't miss the M3 (mine was bone stock) but would be tempted to try a chassis modified one on track if given the chance.
Great engine, disjointed handling and with the SMG gearbox neither here nor there with the performance/useability balance.
Now have an Z4M with the same engine and a manual gearbox and the balance has shifted towards the performance end significantly. My explanation due to the lesser weight, increased stiffness and more "pointy" nature of the car.
I personally think an E39 M5 would have fitted the bill of what I was originally buying the M3 for, a daily useable performance car. I don't miss the M3 (mine was bone stock) but would be tempted to try a chassis modified one on track if given the chance.
Always loved the look of them, but only recently considered one (and ended up making the jump)...Their success was their downfall in the early years, more common than a golf R and driven by idiots. The numbers have since thinned and the appearance is so gentle but still aggressive compared to the latest brash M4's etc... Now I see them as iconic for the right reasons, and a wonderful all-round package. I would approach an owner now confident they are a petrolhead, whereas before I wouldn't have even glanced in their direction.
Just be prepared to spend money keeping it going. Mine will be for sale at some point shortly, lower end of the price spectrum due to high mileage but it has the right gearbox and roof
. The only reason i will be letting it go is because I have the luxury of multiple cars, and the M3 deserves a space closer to being a toy than the daily runner (and I already have a car for that purpose). It really does everything very well.
If ownership interests you go and drive one, I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Just be prepared to spend money keeping it going. Mine will be for sale at some point shortly, lower end of the price spectrum due to high mileage but it has the right gearbox and roof
. The only reason i will be letting it go is because I have the luxury of multiple cars, and the M3 deserves a space closer to being a toy than the daily runner (and I already have a car for that purpose). It really does everything very well.If ownership interests you go and drive one, I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Edited by shantybeater on Friday 2nd August 16:39
Great cars.
Seems quite a few posters on here who describe it as slow have been trying to drive it like an Astra diesel. Keep it 5,000-8,000rpm and it is still a fast car by modern standards, even in standard form.
No way will a Clio 182 or Integra Type-R keep up with an E46 M3, let alone reel it in or get to 140mph quicker
No way. 11 years ago I had a play against one in my 300bhp 2002 Impreza STI Prodrive on a dual-carriageway and the M3 comfortably walked away from me above 80mph+ while sounding magnificent; up to 80mph there wasn't much in it. Fair amount of nonsense on here. E46 M3s will destroy those cars above 80mph. If not, the driver isn't using the engine and gears properly.
The E46 M3 is a jack of all trades, master of none, but that is its appeal - it's a superb all-rounder, a true proper BMW M car.
You can't have Lotus Elise-like handling, precision and steering feel + the ride comfort, daily flexibility and long journey cruisability/refinement of a Merc S500. Something will have to give and it always does. But an E46 M3 will marry those qualities as close as its possible to get in a 3dr four-seater coupe/conv body, while still being a very good fast road car, which has superb throttle response, balance and still looks and sounds amazing today.
I'd dearly love a 2006 M3 CS SMG with upgraded brakes, refreshed suspension and an Akrapovic titanium exhaust. Hubba.
Seems quite a few posters on here who describe it as slow have been trying to drive it like an Astra diesel. Keep it 5,000-8,000rpm and it is still a fast car by modern standards, even in standard form.
No way will a Clio 182 or Integra Type-R keep up with an E46 M3, let alone reel it in or get to 140mph quicker
No way. 11 years ago I had a play against one in my 300bhp 2002 Impreza STI Prodrive on a dual-carriageway and the M3 comfortably walked away from me above 80mph+ while sounding magnificent; up to 80mph there wasn't much in it. Fair amount of nonsense on here. E46 M3s will destroy those cars above 80mph. If not, the driver isn't using the engine and gears properly.The E46 M3 is a jack of all trades, master of none, but that is its appeal - it's a superb all-rounder, a true proper BMW M car.
You can't have Lotus Elise-like handling, precision and steering feel + the ride comfort, daily flexibility and long journey cruisability/refinement of a Merc S500. Something will have to give and it always does. But an E46 M3 will marry those qualities as close as its possible to get in a 3dr four-seater coupe/conv body, while still being a very good fast road car, which has superb throttle response, balance and still looks and sounds amazing today.
I'd dearly love a 2006 M3 CS SMG with upgraded brakes, refreshed suspension and an Akrapovic titanium exhaust. Hubba.
Edited by TobyTR on Thursday 5th September 05:44
Okay I'll bite...
I've owned an E46 M3 for over 5 years, prior to that an E36 M3 Evo both with a 80/20 Trackday/Fast Road Focus. The E46 M3 is a manual, with CSL suspension and Recaro Profi SPG seats, RS29s and CSL brakes - so possibly as BMW intended in development. After two days at the Nurburgring the car was faultless and I was very impressed, the car didn't feel slow or underbraked and the suspension dealt with the tarmac undulations extremely well.
However, a friend allowed me to drive his M2 DCT competition with 400mm brake upgrade this last weekend, and albeit a short test drive I couldn't find any parameter where the E46 bested it. BMW have moved the game along across all parameters and the romanticism for the E46 probably needs a second look IF prices were equal between the two cars.
The E46 M3 isn't slow, but the M2C has straightline performance similar to that of a E63 V10 M6 which is terrifying.
I've owned an E46 M3 for over 5 years, prior to that an E36 M3 Evo both with a 80/20 Trackday/Fast Road Focus. The E46 M3 is a manual, with CSL suspension and Recaro Profi SPG seats, RS29s and CSL brakes - so possibly as BMW intended in development. After two days at the Nurburgring the car was faultless and I was very impressed, the car didn't feel slow or underbraked and the suspension dealt with the tarmac undulations extremely well.
However, a friend allowed me to drive his M2 DCT competition with 400mm brake upgrade this last weekend, and albeit a short test drive I couldn't find any parameter where the E46 bested it. BMW have moved the game along across all parameters and the romanticism for the E46 probably needs a second look IF prices were equal between the two cars.
The E46 M3 isn't slow, but the M2C has straightline performance similar to that of a E63 V10 M6 which is terrifying.
I run a standard F80 M3 Comp and an E60/E63 M5/M6 V10 would walk away from me on a dual-carriageway.
A clean tidy E46 M3 coupe at £10k-20k would make a great buy and sensible money - like they were a few years ago. But at the prices we're seeing now for tidy good examples it's not worth it, when the push to an early M2 is not much further up and objectively better in every way.
Likewise when decent E36 M3 3.2s could be had for £10k, great cars too and superb buying.
A clean tidy E46 M3 coupe at £10k-20k would make a great buy and sensible money - like they were a few years ago. But at the prices we're seeing now for tidy good examples it's not worth it, when the push to an early M2 is not much further up and objectively better in every way.
Likewise when decent E36 M3 3.2s could be had for £10k, great cars too and superb buying.
Gouki said:
Okay I'll bite...
I've owned an E46 M3 for over 5 years, prior to that an E36 M3 Evo both with a 80/20 Trackday/Fast Road Focus. The E46 M3 is a manual, with CSL suspension and Recaro Profi SPG seats, RS29s and CSL brakes - so possibly as BMW intended in development. After two days at the Nurburgring the car was faultless and I was very impressed, the car didn't feel slow or underbraked and the suspension dealt with the tarmac undulations extremely well.
However, a friend allowed me to drive his M2 DCT competition with 400mm brake upgrade this last weekend, and albeit a short test drive I couldn't find any parameter where the E46 bested it. BMW have moved the game along across all parameters and the romanticism for the E46 probably needs a second look IF prices were equal between the two cars.
The E46 M3 isn't slow, but the M2C has straightline performance similar to that of a E63 V10 M6 which is terrifying.
You are biting at the wrong place I would say...I've owned an E46 M3 for over 5 years, prior to that an E36 M3 Evo both with a 80/20 Trackday/Fast Road Focus. The E46 M3 is a manual, with CSL suspension and Recaro Profi SPG seats, RS29s and CSL brakes - so possibly as BMW intended in development. After two days at the Nurburgring the car was faultless and I was very impressed, the car didn't feel slow or underbraked and the suspension dealt with the tarmac undulations extremely well.
However, a friend allowed me to drive his M2 DCT competition with 400mm brake upgrade this last weekend, and albeit a short test drive I couldn't find any parameter where the E46 bested it. BMW have moved the game along across all parameters and the romanticism for the E46 probably needs a second look IF prices were equal between the two cars.
The E46 M3 isn't slow, but the M2C has straightline performance similar to that of a E63 V10 M6 which is terrifying.
Of course the newer cars have moved the game on. Heck, even the V8 M3 is faster and more comfortable than the E46 M3. But somehow, the E46 has captured the spirit of what an M3 should be. BMW (a product of unintended consequences subject to another discussion) has managed for a change to strike a near perfect balance between looks/useable performance/practicality/reasonable running costs. That’s all there is to it. I will give you another example from the Porsche world - the 996 GT3. Much slower and less practical than the 991.1 GT3, yet mint low mileage cars are not far off the price of leggier new cars. That difference would only get smaller. Again it is because the sum of its qualities is far greater than a single individual attribute...
And yes, I do have an E46 M3 and also a mint low mileage 996.1 GT3 Club Sport in my garage.
P.S. Having had an E61 M5 in the past, there is no way a standard M2 or M3/4 would be on the pace in a straight line... The V10 is in a different league once moving...
Gouki said:
The E46 M3 isn't slow,
It isn't I agree, but in my case when I drove one my expectations were sky high from everything I'd read and seen about it. So when I drove one I was left disappointed. A similar thing happened with my E92 M3 and I'd always lusted after/wanted a M3 and the E92 M3 really appealed to me because I love V8's, but ultimately it left me flat/disappointed when I lived with it day to day.
I now ignore all the fuss/hype around cars if I'm interested in buying them, and keep my expectations low and that way I don't waste my money/feel disappointed with them.
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