RE: BMW M3 (E46) wagon: You Know You Want To

[ZX10R NIN]

That's a nice conversion.

[MrGeoff]

jonnyfive said:

Im gona say it again.....e46 M3 WITH SMG.....its the SMG that makes it.
-Fastest shifting (when you want it to be)
-Brutal (when you want it to be)
-Perfect every time, everytime! (you can even miss gears if you want, a quick double tap on the paddles and it will happily go from 1-3-5-6 for a more relaxing drive)
-Rev matching downshifts
-But slow and easy and gentle when you pootle to the shops.

I think until you have spent some time with one (so for me it took about 6 weeks to learn it...).... 7 years later and over 50k miles later....its still perfect. And in that time i've driven and owned and number of other cars...fast autos, fast manuals, slow autos, slow manuals etc... and i still come back to the SMG and think its incredible.

Agreed, never understood the problem with SMG to be honest. I think a lot of people struggle with it purely because they don't spend enough time with it, it does take a bit of understanding but once you know it, it's a great box.

[JohnnyQ86]

Saw this at a Cars and Coffee in Dublin a couple of years ago. Not a Touring, but equally as disappointing this wasn't offered from the factory. It was a manual too, if my memory serves me correct.

[HannsG]

I had a coupe in Silver grey with Imola red interior and a manual stick.

I would buy this

Edited by HannsG on Tuesday 2nd January 19:02

[Kitchski]

Been there, done that. Easy to do, but difficult to do properly, is my opinion! Built this one for a customer (didn't do the bodywork though):




Build blog, for anyone interested:

https://www.facebook.com/SouthwaysAutomotive/photo...

It's not as in-depth or well-written as I'd like, but it was a case of taking photos and documenting stuff, while learning it! It was a really nice car by the end of it, and I believe it's still being used by the owner.

Edit to add: Just found the owner's website: http://www.sireco.eu/car-projects-en/m3-cs-touring...

[p1stonhead]

Kitchski said:

Been there, done that. Easy to do, but difficult to do properly, is my opinion! Built this one for a customer (didn't do the bodywork though):




Build blog, for anyone interested:

https://www.facebook.com/SouthwaysAutomotive/photo...

It's not as in-depth or well-written as I'd like, but it was a case of taking photos and documenting stuff, while learning it! It was a really nice car by the end of it, and I believe it's still being used by the owner.

Edit to add: Just found the owner's website: http://www.sireco.eu/car-projects-en/m3-cs-touring...

Oh my

[blade7]

Great as the M3 engine is, the 2wd traction in slippery conditions is er challenging. For that reason I cant see past something with proper AWD for a performance dog carrier.

[Cotty]

Love that, its probably the only thing that would get my out of my E30 touring

[rtz62]

What about this, a mix of the 5 series touring body style and the M3 3.0 evo engine.
Based in Ireland, so close enough for an entertains drive back to our mainland...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E34-fitted-with-M3-...

[Superhoop]

rev-erend said:

R8Steve said:

A quick two minute search on PH's own classifieds would reveal this...

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

About a quarter of the price and about 12000 miles closer to home.

Looks great ..

From the advert “Still registered as a 318” hmm,

[1781cc]

That’s very tasteful

[NorthernSky]

Superhoop said:

rev-erend said:

R8Steve said:

A quick two minute search on PH's own classifieds would reveal this...

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

About a quarter of the price and about 12000 miles closer to home.

Looks great ..

From the advert “Still registered as a 318” hmm,

Ah. Well spotted. Missed that on first discovery...

[BFleming]

NorthernSky said:

Superhoop said:

rev-erend said:

R8Steve said:

A quick two minute search on PH's own classifieds would reveal this...

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

About a quarter of the price and about 12000 miles closer to home.

Looks great ..

From the advert “Still registered as a 318” hmm,

Ah. Well spotted. Missed that on first discovery...

Whilst you can change certain criteria by just sending the amended V5 back to the DVLA, you can't change the model name.
You can change:
- Body Type
- VIN number (bizarre one that)
- Revenue Weight
- CC
- number of seats
- Type of Fuel
- Engine Number
- Colour

So if it was registered as a 318i, it'll stay as a 318i forevermore on the V5. Let's face it, it's definitely not a factory M3!
Worth pointing out that you also can't change the CO2 value (of course); I know of a 118d that's running a S65 4.0 V8, the V5 registration document shows it as petrol & 3998cc, but it's taxed based on 128g of CO2/km!

Back to the car & ad that this article is promoting - if it was me selling that car, I'd include an engine picture.

Edited by BFleming on Wednesday 3rd January 09:08

[Tuvra]

blade7 said:

Great as the M3 engine is, the 2wd traction in slippery conditions is er challenging. For that reason I cant see past something with proper AWD for a performance dog carrier.

Really? In a world where 500bhp RWD estates (AMG's) exist you think an E46 M3 engine is too much for RWD?

BMW will even sell you a RWD estate with 330bhp these days and I'm pretty sure that will be more than a match for an E46 M3 in terms of outright power/speed.

[rev-erend]

BFleming said:

NorthernSky said:

Superhoop said:

rev-erend said:

R8Steve said:

A quick two minute search on PH's own classifieds would reveal this...

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

About a quarter of the price and about 12000 miles closer to home.

Looks great ..

From the advert “Still registered as a 318” hmm,

Ah. Well spotted. Missed that on first discovery...

Whilst you can change certain criteria by just sending the amended V5 back to the DVLA, you can't change the model name.
You can change:
- Body Type
- VIN number (bizarre one that)
- Revenue Weight
- CC
- number of seats
- Type of Fuel
- Engine Number
- Colour

So if it was registered as a 318i, it'll stay as a 318i forevermore on the V5. Let's face it, it's definitely not a factory M3!
Worth pointing out that you also can't change the CO2 value (of course); I know of a 118d that's running a S65 4.0 V8, the V5 registration document shows it as petrol & 3998cc, but it's taxed based on 128g of CO2/km!

Back to the car & ad that this article is promoting - if it was me selling that car, I'd include an engine picture.

Edited by BFleming on Wednesday 3rd January 09:08

Never realised that road tax loop hole... good to know.

[givablondabone]

chappardababbar said:

Something isn't quite right about the rear arch

I thought this too. Can't quite put my finger on it. Not flared enough? Or simply that we're not used to looking at a 'Touring' M3?

[Kitchski]

givablondabone said:

chappardababbar said:

Something isn't quite right about the rear arch

I thought this too. Can't quite put my finger on it. Not flared enough? Or simply that we're not used to looking at a 'Touring' M3?

Because of all the conflicting curves and swage lines, the rear arch from the coupe isn't anything like a straight forward fit onto the Touring shell. BMW chose (I think) not to extend the flare into the rear door, which to my eyes looked a bit funny. When we did the blue one further up, the bodyshop who did the bodywork said they'd flare the arch into the door a bit too. There are pics in the blog showing how they did it.

The bodywork is the hardest part of that conversion. I think only the front panel and front bumper were interchangeable. Pretty much everything else wasn't.

[Jhonno]

A friend has just built one, silver with M-Sport kit. Epic sleeper!

[Kitchski]

blade7 said:

Really. In stty conditions my old A4 quattro Avant would be all over those RWD estates. Obviously in the dry I wouldn't see which way they went, but that wasn't my point.

Driven a few M3s, have never once had an issue in the wet.

[blade7]

Kitchski said:

Driven a few M3s, have never once had an issue in the wet.

How many have you driven on snow, ice, wet mud?