BMW M3 E46's
 

Looking to purchase one in next few weeks, and wondered if anyone had any thoughts/views or issues with or on these cars?! Coupe or convertible/ SMG or manual??

Ta
Daz

Manual would be my choice less to go wrong , very good car's for the money they are fetching now.Although smg's drive really nice when you get the hang of them so its all down to what you preffer. Convertibles dont drive just as nice as the coupe's bit noisy! but good in the nice weather! They are fairly reliable rear coil springs break.Make sure its had the first 1200 mile run in service its very important it will be stamped up in the book.either that or its done nearly 12 k with run in oil in the engine , diff & gearbox

spec's vary massively, as do peoples idea of price.

Ye exactly, prices can vary by as much as 5-6k for the same car

be aware of the rear xmember on the coupe shell's the are well known for ripping around the diff mount, and not just on the m3's it can happen on all models. the amount of e46 coupe's we have fitted a revised xmember under warranty is unreal

you will regret not getting an smg,i guarantee it.sell better too,much faster believe it or not.a hand and foot cannot move as fast as the smg on ferocity level 5 or 6

The rear chasis thing was in very early models around the rear diff mount you have to measure the width of the crack have seen them getting the whole rear floor never a m3 tho mostly 99 model 323's & 328's the very first of the E46 have heard of a few very early m3's having this done & its still covered under warranty to this day we done one at the beggining of march (not a m3 tho)

Im thinking i'll go SMG, driven one but deffo takes abit of getting used to, agree about the prices ive viewed cars nearly 100% the same and about 4k dearer!!! Im hoping i dont regret going from my saph to an m3 then wanting a saph again, depends what u want in a car i suppose. are the convertibles noisey roof up on a motorway way then??

cab's are noiser all round really.

and noticably slower.

smg coupe.

exactly jay ;)

Autocar had a back to back test of a manual car vs an SMG-equipped one some while back if you like reading stuff

i would have a grey or black SMG coupe!

with read leathers :god:

grey with red leather and smg ;)

yes yes and yes

Black E46 M3 CS for me with the CSL CF intake

Wannabee!!! :cry::cry:

Show off!

Yeah baby:ban-split::ban-split::ban-split::cry:

Steve Sutcliffe in the SMG E46 got 0-60 in 5.1, 0-100 in 11.9
Chris Harris in the manual got 0-60 in 4.8 0-100 in 11.2
CH also broke the gearbox selector on the 5th run!

Autocar Dec 19/26 2001 issue Page 138

i drove a convertible with a hard top very quiet so you get best of both worlds :top:

i bought one recently after 18 yrs cosworth ownership ,e46 m3 smg estoril blue ,black heated leather ,all the right bits ,sat nav,hk system, 19 inch wheels ,full bilstien adj suspension scorpian rear exhaust sounds really nice ,carbon fibre simota intake,must say its a real joy to drive,the smg is excellent, auto if you feel lazy
go on get one
jp

ive never been in a cs or csl, are they much better than the standard car?

How much of one of these will £10k get you? I know you can get them, but are they likely to be leggy and lots of trouble?

well i have got a mint low milage m3 csl for sale? cough cough

personaly i wanted a manual box but the csl only comes with smg so i had a go with and loved it, its so easy to use,and if you cant be asked just put it in auto, not that i ever do like.

as much as i love the cars looks,sound,build quality and all the rest, if put it up for sale for yes youve got it, another cosworth!