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Had a test drive and my recollection are that it went fast but without the turbo punch also that the ride was so hard it could dislodge tooth fillings. I actually liked the engine noise and it did rev extremely well.
There are a lot around but black and grey still look good.
If you find a good one for 12-14K I think you are still getting a lot of car for your money
Location: Where age and treachery reins over youthful exuberance
Posts: 5,281
E46 M3 was top of my list for a long time. Until I drove one. Deffo a case of don't meet your heros And I have to say they do look dated now, with not such a nice image. Handsome, but no longer contemporary. Give it a few years and they will be classics for sure though.
The car in the OP must just be a slightly tatty version of an older, high mileage car. I don't believe 35mpg for a second. 25 more like.
I bought an Audi S4 in preference, three years old, with 4WD and a stunning V8 for M3 money. Quicker round the Top Gear track too Love it. But if you just want to go fast, a lightly modded Scoob is a very tough act to beat at almost any money.
Richard, i regularly get 360~380 miles to 59 litres when cruising at 80~85. Which equates to 27.7mpg.
The computer tells me i have averaged 24mpg since i bought the car some 60000 miles ago, and thats usually where a standard tank will end up averaging.
My wife used the car for a week a while back, and she averaged 32mpg just pottering around! Don't ask me how, but she did!
Fogetting the badge - Great cars IMO - But prices are high at the moment. There are a fair few specialist dealers in them at the moment, snapping up whats about and demanding top money, which in turn is pulling up the prices on private sales.
Between Jan and March a E46 Coupe with circa 60K and good spec were plentiful at around 10-12K and Cabs for 11-13K, with the upper end ones being around for ages.
Prices seems to have jumped at least 2K retrospectively at the moment.
I'm considerting/looking for one myself, but not seen the right one at the right price in the right location yet.
Still quite fancy one, I dotn think they look dated, very handsome car, for 10k you will probably get a ratty high miler in that horrible yellow bile colour they did, plus they seem to be now in the hands of shaven headed bling wearing ownership at the moment.
The previous ones must be well cheap by now as they havent attained mythical status like the first ones and probably never will, now those do look dated !
Just my 2 pennies. Couple of weeks ago i was down at Donno on a evening session, even tho not in my scoob, in garage having rebuild, so went along with my cousin who's first trackday! Now he has a 55' plate M3 smg. I went in with him for first few laps to give him a few pointers on lines ect and considering it was his first trackday i was pleasently surprised with the the whole package from power to handling and braking. The flappy paddle was very good indeed on track. I think a car like this is a very good buy straight out the box considering you dont really have to modify it. My scoob runs 450/485 so it is miles apart from what i am used to, but i would recommend a m3 e46 to anyone for an all rounder
These are dated to hell hence the tumbling in prices. E46 vs E92 and like someone said before, the E46 looks like a 318 next to the new model.
Its a bit like buying a classic impreza or an Evo 5/6 i would say.
You have to drive them at full revs to get them to move anywhere quickly. Okay if you are on your own and you like that style of driving but kind of embarrassing if you have other people in the car that are not really into cars as such and dont appreciate high revving engines. You come across a tad ''boy racerish'' thrashing an engine like that everywhere.
Current 335 would make mince meat of the old E46 M3, its near enough on the bumper of the E92 M3 with 100hp more.
Sorry, times have moved on, they are not the 'weapon' they once were.
These are dated to hell hence the tumbling in prices. E46 vs E92 and like someone said before, the E46 looks like a 318 next to the new model.
Its a bit like buying a classic impreza or an Evo 5/6 i would say.
You have to drive them at full revs to get them to move anywhere quickly. Okay if you are on your own and you like that style of driving but kind of embarrassing if you have other people in the car that are not really into cars as such and dont appreciate high revving engines. You come across a tad ''boy racerish'' thrashing an engine like that everywhere.
Current 335 would make mince meat of the old E46 M3, its near enough on the bumper of the E92 M3 with 100hp more.
Sorry, times have moved on, they are not the 'weapon' they once were.
ever thouht some people like the classic for what it is, as for the beemer i would get 1 as the E46 is in budget now and cant aford a 335i, since when did a 318 look like an m3
318
m3
O yes i can see now, look the same to me
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If you ain't got nothing good to say.......then say fook all
Older cars look great as long as they are are cared for.
Look at standard spec classic scoobies, no chav ad-ons please.
You will get 80% + performance from the E46 M3 for 50% of the price of the E92.
In the words of the great man ( did I say that?)
Fill yer boots!
Ive owned an smg m3 and at the time drove several S4s and more recently 335i and new shape S4.
I loved my M3 except the smg box. With decent tyres on the handling is fantastic especially compared to the boat on wheels that is the S4, even the steering in the new S4 is so vague (sounds great though).
I would still have mine if i had bought a manual and could afford the insurance, similar in terms of speed to a ppp blobeye but far better built and a much nicer place to sit.
As for the 335i comment, i was a bit dissapointed by the 335i in terms of flat out speed, wouldnt be as fast as the e46 m3 but they can be mapped and then yes it would probably kill an e46 m3 but we are talking 13k vrs 20k here so its not really a choice is it?
Mark
ps people who say you have to thrash them obviously havent owned one, 10k in mine and loved every minute, makes a fantastic noice when thrashed but is perfectly happy ticking over in 6th at 70mph.
Once again I went to leman this years with some mates in there E46 M3, and was pitched against at the tmie my S4 running a proper 440bhp/470ft/lb and a RX7 running 500bhp amongst other cars.
Note my S4 was much quicker than any of the quickest scoobs I have ever owned including 2.5 380/380.
However:
In a straight line the S4 and RX7 would pull away but they hardly destroyed the M3. It was very close - only big difference that was nice, is that on a motorway in a straight line I could just plant it in 6th and be on song straight away where as the M3 had to drop to 3rd or 4th and nail it through the gears to keep up. But as nice as that was I might as well have been driving an automatic and wasn't great in the driver involvement stakes.
The S4 had full RS4 suspesion with polybushes all round with RS4 breaks, yet the M3 was all over me with with better handling, and the S4 for all it punch and torque was a real handful on the twisites and very difficult to exploit the torque into a corner and out of a corner. The M3 had far more control than me and could have probably pushed on allot harder driven right on the very edge of limits.
Everyone bangs on about having to rev the nuts of a M3 to get the best out of it - which is true to a degree, but its hardly slow driven normally its a got a straight 6 - 3.2ltr engine .! Its not like a S2000.
Its all about perception of speed, and whether you want to feel like your going fast or actually get from point A to point B without drama, and do it in relative comfort and not worry about something falling off or breaking along the way. I don't particularily like the M3 badge, but can't get away from the fact its such a great package for good money.
So what is it about the SMG that peope like/dont. personally id want it to ease commute into reading. CBA changing gear all the time n holding the clutch n what not. Especially if there is a perfectly good SMG/auto box outhere which will still let me take control of gear changes when out of reading town center.
Sod the convertible.. Gonna have to be a coupe in csl grey or black i rekon... seems plenty about at the moment!
As i started this thread, you would have thought i would have done a bit of reseach. I need 3 seats in the back, does the E46 on 02 or above come with a 3 seater or are they just the 2. cheers
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If you ain't got nothing good to say.......then say fook all
Needless to say only the coupes can seat 3 in the back. I notice some have a lap strap and some have 3x3points. Not sure if this was a change over thing between the years.
And I have to say they do look dated now, with not such a nice image. Handsome, but no longer contemporary. Give it a few years and they will be classics for sure though.
Love it. But if you just want to go fast, a lightly modded Scoob is a very tough act to beat at almost any money.
if you want to chase power get a manual not the smg
, so went along with my cousin who's first trackday! Now he has a 55' plate M3 smg. I went in with him for first few laps to give him a few pointers on lines ect and considering it was his first trackday i was pleasently surprised with the the whole package from power to handling and braking. The flappy paddle was very good indeed on track. I think a car like this is a very good buy straight out the box considering you dont really have to modify it. My scoob runs 450/485 so it is miles apart from what i am used to, but i would recommend a m3 e46 to anyone for an all rounder
