i work at a local mitsy dealer and as a result (of evos) we get a lot of nice trades in. today saw another sweet e46 ///M trade in. its laguna seca blue, black leather with all the bazillion options and 19' with a 40 inch dish on the rear wheels! i took it for a test drive. damn, being a long time honda owner i forget what torque is like. they are very fast. my nieghbor has one and when we play around he pulls on me pretty good. i can hang with him till about 40mph or so, then hes gone.

so anyway, it temps me, BAD. please talk me back into my s2k guys. i love my s, but jesus, ///M3! i wish i could have both!

 

What year is it? Watch out for first year laguna blue e46 m3's...many of them were the inital demo cars and were beat hard. Not to mention that the first year cars had a habit of motor granades.

 

buy it, then deal with the maintainance.

 

Just ask yourself these questions.

1. Can I afford the M3? Maintenance has go to be $$$.

2. Can I sleep at night knowing I no longer have access to one of the best handling cars ever produced?

3. Am I really gonna be that impressed with the overall package?

 

A good friend of mine had an 02 for a year in 04, he got it with just under 35k on it. It was a 1 owner, by a 55 year old man.

Just before the 36k drivetrain warranty expired, his
Differential
Clutch and Pivot
Steering wheel [excessive wear]
A couple misc. suspension issues

He did drive the car a little hard, but come on it is a M3, and he only had it for 1k before all these problems occured. The only reason the BMW dealership did the work without too much trouble is that his dad is GM of Landmark Chevy down the road from the BMW dealership.

The total cost was over 4k dollars. If it had happened just a few months later, he would have been stuck with the bill. 4k in maint. on a 35k mile 3 year old high end car? No Thank You.

Some unbiased Pro's and Con's.
Pro's-
Great engine
Fairly fuel efficient
Great high speed stability
Good high speed handling
Good brakes, etc.
Con's-
-TERRIBLE gearbox. Try it out. It's disgusting. The old z3 transmission was fantastic, but this one is garbage, especially compared to a s2k.
Looks exactly like any other BMW.
It's like driving a rwd 240hp civic instead of an s2k to me.
-E46's don't handle well in tight turns, and aren't nearly as fun to drive as a s2k.
-Makes s2k mods seem free.
-Feels too heavy, understeers.

Obviously JMO, but I have no reason to be biased.

 

do what you feel is right Wyatt was looking at m3s 01-02?

 

it was an SMG car, i love the launch control! you guys make some valid points. all those concerns have crossed my mind. i cant stomach the thought of giving up the s2k. i wish i had the $ to have both.

 

Wait till the new M3 comes out and the current M3 will drop like a rock in price. It happened with the E36 M3

 

they dont have that much tqe imo

 

but they are nice cars.

Drive a C5 Z06 and you'll feel TQ