Discussion
Morning People.
I'm exploring the possiblity of purchasing a m3 e46 cabriolet/coupe for as cheap as possible as a second/fun car.
I have owned a RS4 Cab and an m3 e92 coupe manual in the last 12 months but had to sell to buy a range rover sport because of a baby on the way. i'm looking to buy something fun for a cheap second car and the e46 m3 has always interested me and a work colleague had one with CSL wheels and a SMG gear box. He said it was excellent and the noise was mental. I'm not looking to spend much at all £6/7/8k.
Is it worth doing or will I just be wasting money on buying a dog?
Advice and tips welcome.
I'm exploring the possiblity of purchasing a m3 e46 cabriolet/coupe for as cheap as possible as a second/fun car.
I have owned a RS4 Cab and an m3 e92 coupe manual in the last 12 months but had to sell to buy a range rover sport because of a baby on the way. i'm looking to buy something fun for a cheap second car and the e46 m3 has always interested me and a work colleague had one with CSL wheels and a SMG gear box. He said it was excellent and the noise was mental. I'm not looking to spend much at all £6/7/8k.
Is it worth doing or will I just be wasting money on buying a dog?
Advice and tips welcome.
If you're on a budget stay away from the SMG box. In the CSL the software is excellent on track, auto blips perfectly and doesn't slur on the upchanges. However in a regular M3 it's crap, it doesn't revmatch, so you have to, which is harder to judge when you're not the one swapping the cogs, plus the pull away in slow traffic is awful, as for parking on a hill - yeah good luck with that!
Get a manual, less to go wrong and it suits the character of the car more, plus BMW pedals are beautifully positioned for heal and toe, so you've really got no excuse.
Get a manual, less to go wrong and it suits the character of the car more, plus BMW pedals are beautifully positioned for heal and toe, so you've really got no excuse.
Mitch2.0 said:
If you're on a budget stay away from the SMG box. In the CSL the software is excellent on track, auto blips perfectly and doesn't slur on the upchanges. However in a regular M3 it's crap, it doesn't revmatch, so you have to, which is harder to judge when you're not the one swapping the cogs, plus the pull away in slow traffic is awful, as for parking on a hill - yeah good luck with that!
Get a manual, less to go wrong and it suits the character of the car more, plus BMW pedals are beautifully positioned for heal and toe, so you've really got no excuse.
Well,Get a manual, less to go wrong and it suits the character of the car more, plus BMW pedals are beautifully positioned for heal and toe, so you've really got no excuse.
I've done 90K+ on mine (Regular M3 SMG) and I'd say 90% of that is BS!
The only comment I'd agree on is the pull away in slow traffic takes some getting used to (but I wouldnt call it a real issue)
If the one you drove didnt rev match, it was faulty and I have never had a problem with prakking on a hill!
Less to go wrong? by a small amount maybe, but the box itself is essentially the same and as said, I've done 90k+ without issues (car has 138k on it)
AngryApples said:
Well,
I've done 90K+ on mine (Regular M3 SMG) and I'd say 90% of that is BS!
The only comment I'd agree on is the pull away in slow traffic takes some getting used to (but I wouldnt call it a real issue)
If the one you drove didnt rev match, it was faulty and I have never had a problem with prakking on a hill!
Less to go wrong? by a small amount maybe, but the box itself is essentially the same and as said, I've done 90k+ without issues (car has 138k on it)
You agreed with 1 thing I said, however you said 90% of it was BS... I didn't even mention 10 things.I've done 90K+ on mine (Regular M3 SMG) and I'd say 90% of that is BS!
The only comment I'd agree on is the pull away in slow traffic takes some getting used to (but I wouldnt call it a real issue)
If the one you drove didnt rev match, it was faulty and I have never had a problem with prakking on a hill!
Less to go wrong? by a small amount maybe, but the box itself is essentially the same and as said, I've done 90k+ without issues (car has 138k on it)
A lot of them don't revmatch mate, unless ALL the ones I drove were faulty, and half the ones on m3cutters (wa*k forum, but anyway) are faulty. I think only the later ones did, or the ones with updated software.
The box is the same 6 speed getrag, it's builtproof; however the SMG pump has what could be called a high failure rate. A bigger worry in all E46 M3s is the boot floor getting subframe cracks though in my opinion.
I know you're just trying to defend your car, but saying I'm talking BS when infact I know more than your average about the S50-S54 drivetrains, ZF and Getrag boxes, E36 and E46 Chassis is a bit over defensive. If you've had 90k of trouble free miles then good for you, doesn't mean what I said was BS, I wouldn't have written it if I didn't know first hand.
If it cushions the blow mate; you've still got a fantastic car, with the best N/A Straight 6 ever put into production. Just don't pretend it's without faults - no car is.
I'm looking at these at the moment, around the £8k mark seems to be where the good ones start. Something like this would be as cheap as I would go:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3450522.htm
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3450522.htm
Mitch2.0 said:
If you're on a budget stay away from the SMG box. In the CSL the software is excellent on track, auto blips perfectly and doesn't slur on the upchanges. However in a regular M3 it's crap, it doesn't revmatch, so you have to, which is harder to judge when you're not the one swapping the cogs, plus the pull away in slow traffic is awful, as for parking on a hill - yeah good luck with that!
Get a manual, less to go wrong and it suits the character of the car more, plus BMW pedals are beautifully positioned for heal and toe, so you've really got no excuse.
Again...thats almost total BSGet a manual, less to go wrong and it suits the character of the car more, plus BMW pedals are beautifully positioned for heal and toe, so you've really got no excuse.
It does rev match. I drove 3 SMG's, they all did.
The pull away is same as the manual (unless the clutch is completely knackered)
Parking on a hill is easy. As is holding it absolutely still on the clutch if needed. You had trouble with this??? (lol)
I have had a manual M3 and SMG. They each have good points. I also drive a manual car every day (works car) but Id take SMG over manual having had both. Its awesome on the track.
Please note the op said that his work colleague had a car with CSL wheels, not a CSL.
Only thing that Id agree with, is that SMG IS something else to go wrong.
Its also likely that a 7k car will be high miles or wont have been well looked after so probably will need some work. An E46 M3 isnt a cheap car to run so may not be the best option if on a budget.
Edited by BenGismo on Saturday 28th January 15:54
chris116 said:
I'm looking at these at the moment, around the £8k mark seems to be where the good ones start. Something like this would be as cheap as I would go:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3450522.htm
An e46 m3 without the 19s is just tragic...http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3450522.htm
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