E92 M3 Competition Pack

[FTW]

Lovely spec, I'm super tempted to by one. How do you find the manual 'box, how long do clutches last? I hear the change is a bit notchy and long, maybe something a short shifter can solve?

[PopsandBangs]

Looking for one just like this currently and stumbled across this thread..... I must say you have very good taste.... I recognise that plate on the new car from the history of my old M3....

Carbon black 2003 e46 by any chance?

[RS Grant]

davie3door said:

Car looks stunning in the pics, very nice.

Thanks Davie, yours looks great too... remember your 3dr Cossie from RS/Passionford days, was an absolute belter. Did it stay local/used properly or end up in a carcoon?

FTW said:

Lovely spec, I'm super tempted to by one. How do you find the manual 'box, how long do clutches last? I hear the change is a bit notchy and long, maybe something a short shifter can solve?

So far the manual gearbox isn't too bad, it IS a bit notchy and the throw IS a bit long.. it's not as good as the Golf was, but I think it is better than my E46 M3 was.. had planned to start with an F10 M5 gearknob and see what kind of difference it made, but have already been in touch with AS about a shifter kit, so might end up just getting it all done at once. The best/most enjoyable gearbox I've had was my S2000, so if I can get the M3 somewhere close to the positive shift and short action the Honda had then I'll be extremely happy!

Clutches don't seem to be common parts to wear out, but being a BMW with some added M-tax on top, I can't imagine it'll be cheap to replace if/when it does go though?!

PopsandBangs said:

Looking for one just like this currently and stumbled across this thread..... I must say you have very good taste.... I recognise that plate on the new car from the history of my old M3....

Carbon black 2003 e46 by any chance?

Wow, that's a car I was trying to track down about a year or so ago because I'd have bought it back in a heartbeat.. should never have sold it in the first place!! How come you got rid of the E46?

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

You clearly have good taste in cars too!!

Edited by RS Grant on Tuesday 24th October 12:54

[PopsandBangs]

[PopsandBangs]

[PopsandBangs]

[PopsandBangs]

There she is

Best car I've ever owned and wish i'd never sold it too. Was buying a house last year and needed the funds....

A close friend of mine had it after you I think (3rd owner) and drove it approximately 300 miles in a year and a half! I took it off his hands and put around 5k miles on in 6 months and that was only as a weekend car...

Unbelievably clean and unmolested car. Absolutely loved it and miss it dearly

[RS Grant]

PopsandBangs said:

There she is

Best car I've ever owned and wish i'd never sold it too. Was buying a house last year and needed the funds....

A close friend of mine had it after you I think (3rd owner) and drove it approximately 300 miles in a year and a half! I took it off his hands and put around 5k miles on in 6 months and that was only as a weekend car...

Unbelievably clean and unmolested car. Absolutely loved it and miss it dearly

Yeah unfortunately bricks and mortar has to take priority at some point, but that E46 was a real gem.. owned by new by an older guy local to me (only got rid because he'd just collected an E92 M3 Frozen Edition), it came with mountains of history, was immaculate, ideal specification etc... selling it was made a lot worse for me because I got rid of it for one of the worst cars I've owned (335i Touring) from one of the worst garages I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with!!

I'd really like another E46 M3 one day, but if things continue the way they have been then by the time I'm able to buy/store one properly, the price for a good one will have gone past a point that I'd be comfortable paying.

[thatguy11]

[quote=RS Grant]

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

I'd recognise this as Leven on Corstorphine Road any day, even without the clue of looking at the dealer plates on your photos Relatives of mine used to live literally just around the corner and I've been in the showroom a couple of times drooling, their selection is incredible. No wonder they produced an M3 like this, looks absolutely perfect! Top job

Edited by thatguy11 on Tuesday 24th October 13:52

[PopsandBangs]

That is the quandary I find myself in Grant... I was originally looking for another E46 but it appears good ones like ST53 HGG are very few and far between now and the few that come up are ridiculously expensive. Big regret letting it go, especially hearing now of it's charmed life before it came into mine I feel highly envious when I see another one out and about now

Obviously it has been a few years since you owned it, but how do your memories of it compare to your first impressions of the E92 (one of which I'm yet to drive)? I'm concerned i'll find it too big and heavy! Also, how does the sound in stock exhaust form compare to the lovely rasp of the E46?

[f1ten]

Lovely car op. A v8 m3 which needs revved is a good place to be

[Col 666]

Looking good Grant.

[ant man]

MRobbins1987 said:

Carlton Banks said:

The wheels are the 359m competition wheels

Sorry Carlton, they look the same to my eyes, any real difference or just renamed for the e92?

The widths are different too, as in wider for the 359M.

[stevesingo]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[RS Grant]

thatguy11 said:

I'd recognise this as Leven on Corstorphine Road any day, even without the clue of looking at the dealer plates on your photos Relatives of mine used to live literally just around the corner and I've been in the showroom a couple of times drooling, their selection is incredible. No wonder they produced an M3 like this, looks absolutely perfect! Top job

Haha yep the place is quite something, the showroom was a lot like my lottery win dream garage with a Ferrari 458, Porsche GTS, RS6 Avant.. in fact if my numbers were ever to come up then I think that's probably one of the first places I'd get in touch with now!

PopsandBangs said:

That is the quandary I find myself in Grant... I was originally looking for another E46 but it appears good ones like ST53 HGG are very few and far between now and the few that come up are ridiculously expensive. Big regret letting it go, especially hearing now of it's charmed life before it came into mine I feel highly envious when I see another one out and about now

Obviously it has been a few years since you owned it, but how do your memories of it compare to your first impressions of the E92 (one of which I'm yet to drive)? I'm concerned i'll find it too big and heavy! Also, how does the sound in stock exhaust form compare to the lovely rasp of the E46?

First impressions are similar, I went from a 123d (~280bhp and ~400lbft) to the E46 and from my Golf R (~370bhp and ~330lbft) to the E92. Both times I've been worried that the drop in torque would be an issue, but the relentless surge of power in an M3 is deceiving because you don't initially 'feel' like you're going that fast but the power just keeps building to the redline and the speedo shows just how quickly you're gathering speed.

The exhaust is quiet in the E92, although maybe the sound insulation dulls it a bit, I've not heard the car from outside. But inside the main noise I hear is induction howl which starts in the mid range and continues all the way beyond 8,000rpm... I'd like more exhaust noise, so that'll be addressed at some point. Not sure I'll be able to get anything like the rasp of the E46 though, apparently an Akrapovic exhaust gives a certain amount of rasp, but I'm not prepared to spend ~3k on an exhaust system. I got a good price for a cat-back Milltek exhaust locally, so think that will be the direction which I go when the time comes.

Handling-wise, I took my E46 on an Impreza Owners Club run in the Highlands and while I probably had to work harder than the other lads to keep up.. the M3 didn't disgrace itself despite not being designed to tackle for lumpy, bumpy mountain B-roads as well as the Impreza had been!! Any excuse for a photo:

IMG_6572 by RS Grant, on Flickr

...I've not taken the E92 up the same sort of roads yet, but will definitely report back once I have. But from the few roundabouts which I've tackled, it does seem like the front end is very direct and like it will hang on well under fast cornering.

stevesingo said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

That car has been for sale for a wee while now, plus IMO it's a little strong on the price too. But it's good to track down another one of the 22 manuals!!

f1ten said:

Lovely car op. A v8 m3 which needs revved is a good place to be

Col 666 said:

Looking good Grant.

Thanks guys.

Edited by RS Grant on Wednesday 25th October 11:50

[RS Grant]

Had the time to finally take the M3 out for it's first blast to the Scottish Highlands and the Cairngorms yesterday, it's something I always do when I buy a new car, it's my favourite place and tests cars in every way they'll be tested with me... and I wasn't disappointed with the E92, WHAT. A. CAR.

I like listening to music when I drive and had a habit of having it up loud in the Golf when out for a blast and I started the same way yesterday in the M3. However after a short while of snaking through b-roads and enjoying all of the revs the V8 had to offer, I turned the music right down so it was still audible but so I could listen to that engine in the mid to high rev range, what a sound it makes!!

These roads are good in the main but extra compliance to help deal with lumps, bumps and the fact they're not snooker table smooth is definitely welcome; so I played around with the EDC settings and found that I actually preferred the softest setting rather than the middle setting on these roads.. I have the M-button set to middle setting for normal fast driving and the hardest setting has been avoided at all costs so far.

The car is fantastic, it's everything that was missing from the Golf and exactly what I was looking for; I am over the moon with my purchase. So far there are only a couple of small things which I've noticed I don't have anymore; one being adaptive headlights which I NEVER thought I'd notice but I do and the obvious one: fuel economy, or lack of!! But you've got to pay to play and I went in with my eyes open, so it is what it is. I'm roughly £10 extra to fill the tank and it gets me around 40-50 less miles of range, it's a difference but it's one which I can stomach because the pay off is massive and my annual mileage is pretty low at 4-5k maximum.

Anyway, I took a few pictures yesterday so I'll share them now.. they were only taken on my phone and it gets a little grainy if you zoom in on Flickr but here they are anyway:

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

...I really need to get myself into photography/do a course to learn about it in more depth because I love taking photos but my iPhone camera isn't really cutting it anymore. However from what I've seen it's a hobby that can get super expensive pretty quickly, so maybe I'll start by asking Santa for a camera.

[f1ten]

Good pics and in particular good scenic roads. I'm thinking if another highlands blast in Jan

[MRobbins1987]

Looks fantastic, these photographs are great for a smart phone.

[MRobbins1987]

Carlton Banks said:

Ha they are definitely different, albeit marginal, spokes angle in on the csl wheel whereas they are parallel on the 359m comp wheel!

359m



CSL

I can see it now, you learn something new every day.

[anonymous-user]

Beautiful car. I know it's space grey but it looks almost like sparkling graphite in the recent pics. Lovely either way. Glad you are enjoying it on some good roads.

Edited by Polynesian on Tuesday 7th November 14:50