I've been looking at e46 M3's. No idea why still love the megane just something about them. Can somone one share their opinions on them?
Do it! They are beautiful cars and a future classic especially if you can find a clean example. I know of one for sale near Huntingdon. I drive past it every day, it looks mint.
I've nearly bought one a few times, my mate is the business manager at Sytners nottingham, he let me have an 06 SMG WITH individual paint Cadburys purple colour one for a couple of hours, it was stunning, sounded great went like stink but for some reason I never bought it, think it was more of a cruising get from A-B fast car than a fun put a smile on your face car Chris
The clean examples seem to be rising in value. I need to find one to test drive I think to make my mind up. How do they fair with age? They are getting on a bit now...
That could have been my dads old one. He imported it from Belgium many years ago. Was in a purple colour that wasn't a colour option in the UK.
M3 can also stand for Money 3 times over , shouldn't imagine their cheap to run but if it's worth it to you then who cares mate , like you say go and try one
I love them, a few friends run them and I've worked on loads when I was at stratstone. I had this dilemma when I bought the megane but as steve1 said its more of a fast a 2 b car and I wanted something I could be smashing round track and I'd imagine an M3 could soon get costly on track Also things like the cracking floor pans put me off as it seems really common and good as 2k to have it repaired! Still do look at them from time to time but i also have a 1 series m sport diesel and the e46 doesn't feel as nice or modern to drive as that in my opinion
my cousin has got an e46 m3 and my dad has got e46 csl and they are great cars. get on average about 25 mpg so not the best cars fuel effcientcy wise. and you do pay an 'm tax' on parts they can get very expensive they are very practical though, big boots and 4 adults can comfortably fit the main problem is the rear boot floor, they are susceptible to cracking and falling out so u need to make sure to check that it has been fixed/repaired as its expensive (tons of info about it on the tinternet)
Look on the net Ste, there common for cracking around the subframe mounts, reddish motorsport seem to be popular for carrying out repairs. My friends owns an independent bmw approved specialist and says it's rather common as well as head gaskets now days!
Haha imagine driving down the motorway and your boot falls out along with your suit cases, that's mad
http://www.redish-motorsport.com/E46M3FloorSubframeCrackRepairReinforcement.html It's not so much that, it's imagine driving down the road and the subframe becomes detached!
As said, Its not the boot floor that falls out, It cracks where the subframe mounts. BMW will contribute to the repair for cars upto 10 years old though. I was dead cert on changing my Megane for one next but i have decided against it now as i would have to spend a serious amount of money on it to make it brake, handle and perform like the Megane does on track. Probably will still own one at some point though as they are a cracking piece of kit, a true drivers car. Just a shame they have shite brakes and weight the same as a small moon. Oh and overall running costs are about 2/3 times what a Megane's are, I can insure my 250 all declared for £350, A stock M3 is £1400. Do you research and don't buy a dog, Get one with good service history and you should be set
Hopefully I can talk myself out of it, I'm just craving something that doesn't rattle all the time. I'll test drive one I think I'm in no rush so see how it goes.
I think if I was to buy one now I'd either go for a v8 and stomach the tax or buy a 335i, same performance as the e46 but newer car. For me the e46 now feels old fashioned
Been having a mooch and 10k seems to get a decent low mile ish example with the subframe fix. Still I'm not sure I even want one, it might just be a phase of me not loving the Meg.
I set my budget for 10k when I was looking but personally examples around weren't to my liking I ending up looking more towards 12!
Worth noting - no LSD in a 335i and not much scope for an aftermarket one either. No LSDs in any non-Ms, even the M135i.
Quaiffe do make a diff for them and they'll no doubt be more but do a majority of people really drive that hard to warrant one?
I know what's the big thing about having a Diff anyway, , think out of 20 cars 3 have had a diff, never slowed me down without one
Majority of folk I know that drive m3's are either A) to chicken shit to drive them hard in fear of them breaking! Or B) Don't have the driver skill to drive them to there full potential! For example how many actually see a track? Most are driven by small time local drug dealers now days lol
Yes this is fair enough, But again you don't need to be driving hard or fast to benefit or notice an LSD.
I have a r26 and on track I could feel the benefit of it for sure but I rarely push it hard enough on the road
But it's in the name "limited slip diff" if one wheel starts spinning it feeds more drive to the slower moving wheel. Explain how this would be a benefit if I'm on me way to work like an average road user?
One quick reply as I'm away out. Massively increased traction in damp/wet conditions, Even without driving like you stole it
Not doubting that at all as the principle will clearly apply, but a modern day traction control will take car of that to a degree Like I say I also drive a BMW 1 series msport diesel, granted it's only 177bhp but it's plenty left quick enough and I drive it fairly hard, not once have I felt the need for a lsd If YOU needed a LSD that bad manufacturers would be fitting them to pretty much any car
