E46 M3 - coupe or convertible?

[Some Gump]

Guys,

I'm thinking of getting an E46 M3, and although the default assumption is that the coupe will be lighter, stiffer, better etc, I do like top down motoring of a weekend.

Has anyone tried both, and if so, can you say how much difference it makes to the dynamics of the car?

Also, any key options that are a must have?

Cheers

Gump

[Y282]

manual, coupe.

[Frog Dog]

19's and nav, Glass's gives the car valuation a £1000 hit without them...

Only driven the convertible SMG, but I bloody loved it.

[Y282]

Frog Dog said:

19's and nav, Glass's gives the car valuation a £1000 hit without them...

Only driven the convertible SMG, but I bloody loved it.

funny, the 19s do that yet they seem to handle better on 18s (which imho are aging better)

[Frog Dog]

Y282 said:

Frog Dog said:

19's and nav, Glass's gives the car valuation a £1000 hit without them...

Only driven the convertible SMG, but I bloody loved it.

funny, the 19s do that yet they seem to handle better on 18s (which imho are aging better)

Indeed, the nav isn't amazing either, but its the same with most BMWs.

[0836whimper]

Coupe with sunroof, best of both worlds.

[nottyash]

Ive had Sat Nav on both mine and while it was good in the day its no where near worth paying extra for these days.
I prefer the CSL wheels out of all of them, but both mine had standard 18's on.

I never had heated seats before, this one has, same with rear blind. Never used them though. I think the HK stereo is worth having as this one doesnt have it and its definatly better, and i would of prefered a sunroof.
I didnt want an SMG as i prefer a manual, its much the same as to whether you want a Cab or Coupe. I am not a cab fan, so bought Coupes but its really a personal preference. The cabs dont look to bad with a hard top on mind.
Same with the colour, I had Carbon black, it showed every mark, i now have an Imola red, which isnt to everyones taste. Same with the Pheonix yellow, I cant stand them but know people who love them.
Its really difficult finding one in the colour/ spec you prefer.

[billzeebub]

I would have to say SMG, cos Im a London driver..but the Convertible is a car for all seasons and doesn't suffer from the restrictive/ridiculous boot size of the metal-roofed current model..

SMG Convertible unless you are a track day bod!

[Some Gump]

Cheers for the input guys!

Still interested in anyone who has had both coupe and convertable - I know they'll be different, but i was wondering if they were 80's Ferrari different, or 2006 911 different in terms of feeling like blamange, or only feeling any different if you're in a pub...

[Y282]

billzeebub said:

I would have to say SMG, cos Im a London driver..but the Convertible is a car for all seasons and doesn't suffer from the restrictive/ridiculous boot size of the metal-roofed current model..

SMG Convertible unless you are a track day bod!

i'd say smg will hit resale. the e46 m3 is starting to tumble a bit again now and this could prove problematic when you come to sell it.

[Paddymcc]

If you go for a convertible dont bother with the hard top as its a waste of time and a pain in the arse to store when not in use and a bigger pain in the arse to take on and off.

Theres nothing nicer than the sound of the M3 with the roof and windows down on a sunny day.

I wish i had not specifically sought out a factory hard top convertible when looking for mine as i paid a bit of a premium for my spec at the time.

[jonah35]

id go convertible

rarer
top down sound
looks better imho
ok, so on the limit it won't handle as well but 99% of the time you won't be flat out at the 'ring so that doesn't matter

depends what you want it for, track weapon or just a nice car

[mat205125]

Frog Dog said:

19's and nav, Glass's gives the car valuation a £1000 hit without them...

..... On what age of car? That's either a ridiculous 10% of the value of an older car, or a slightly more acceptable 5% (or less) of the last of the line cars.