Rob W

I had fabspeed mufflers on my 1996 carrera before I sold it I don't think they were supercups but they sounded better than stock and coupled with the program remapping made a difference in performance. I would love to have that sound back instead of the weedwacker like sound my 2002 m3 delivers.

Chris - 97C2

Well the E46 has a much better exhaust note than the E36, but it's no 993, and it sure isn't a Vette. Best sound a motor ever made was my '90 ZR-1 with Watson headers and FlowMaster exhaust. Sounded like a honest to goodness race car -- if it only had had brakes.....

Anyway, the E46 M3 sure sounds good (mostly induction/motor noise) when it's above 6000rpm and sure doesn't sound like a weed wacker. Just my opinion.

Randall G.

[quote]Originally posted by Silver Bullet:
<strong>Maybe they were MaxFlow's...

Boy the E46 M3's have been taking a beating over the past year....</strong><hr></blockquote>

Hey Kim,

I'm not a BMW owner and don't follow them closely (like I do 911s), but I am keenly interested in the E46 M3. Can you expand on "taking a beating over the past year"?

Thanks!

Fred R. C4S

Check this out BEFORE you buy an E46 M3. This might make you sick.

<a href="http://members.roadfly.org/jason/m3engines.htm" target="_blank">http://members.roadfly.org/jason/m3engines.htm</a>

Chris - 97C2

My opinion is that the E46 M3s were SOOOO over hyped by the media that everyone was just expecting too much. This is an extremely fun and good looking car (and it rides great), but for my tastes it's too much of a sedan and there isn't enough sports car edge. I am sure the major tuners (and I'll bet some tweaking by BMW in coming years) will change that. The major magazines have caught wind of this and are not ranking it quite so highly now. Funny how that works.

Anyway, there have been some engine failures, but some of them have been due to missed shifts. The others which haven't been (the more worrysome aspect) have been constrained to a limited production run I believe. I think it was November '00 cars or something like that. Don't know what the issue is, but am told that if you keep the car under about 7800 rpm (redline is 8050 I think) you should be ok. Mine was an August '00 production run so I think I am safe


Anyway, I am doing a DE at Road Atlanta in my E46 M3 in just a couple of weeks, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Randall G.

Hmmmmm .... very interesting. Makes the 964's leaking heads (overblown ... oops, I made a pun ) and faulty DMFs look like kid's stuff.

Looking at (for example) cars.com, seems like prices on used E46 M3's are still pretty high, regardless. Perhaps they're not moving?

Chris - 97C2

From what I am being told by one of my local dealers, the E46 M3s are still selling at a nice premium and are still moving. '01s are a little slower than '02s as you might expect, however the '01s are *still* just over MSRP.

Anir

As an E46 M3 owner, I do agree that the pure sports car aspects were a bit overblown by the media, but I think this applies even more to the 4000+ lb. M5. Any car with that much weight and that forgiving of a ride isn't going to handle as well as a stiff sports car.

Having said that, the M3 is possibly the most competent family street car that I've ever driven, and I've tested the M5, Ferrari 456GT, and Mercedes S500 Sport. It is superbly comfortable, yet handles extremely well on highways at speeds approaching 120 mph in the curves. Absolutely stable.

The SMG-II is a blast, the seats are very supportive yet comfortable for long hauls, there is a good trunk, etc, etc. Plus, it looks good and costs less than $60K. Four years of free maintenance ain't bad, either.

The reported engine troubles actually seem to have affected a disproportionate number of November 2001 production models, rather than 11/00 as Chris suggested. Fortunately, our 12/01 model has been flawless in its first 7000 miles, and I truly believe that relatively few cars have been affected by any sort of engine difficulties. Of course, I do hope that BMW will stand by these customers, and not try to blame them. After all, these cars are marketed for the driving enthusiast, so BMW should expect them to be driven "enthusiastically".

The M3 has one of the best induction engine notes ever for an inline-6, but I agree that the exhaust is a bit raspy for my tastes. I'd love a deeper tone.

LAT

My experience with BMW is that they are not as good to deal with as PCNA. I drive both a 98 528i Sport and 97 C4 Cab.

The weld on the driver door check rod came loose and PCNA covered the cost. That happened this spring and I am the second owner of this car.

My BMW went in on warranty work and I had to wait a week for parts and BMW would not cover the cost of the courtesy car. I purchased the car new, this is my third BMW, maybe my last.

I live in Canada and BMW may be smarter in the US.

Chris - 97C2

Damn, that's what I get for multitasking, Anir is right, I lost a year in there somewhere. It was Nov '01 and mine is an August '01 production, '02 model year. I now have 9560 trouble free miles.

Although the oil light came on on the way home tonight, guess it uses some oil just like my p-car