RaceCarDriver

If they both cost about the same, I would take the 02+ C2, no contest.

If there is a big difference in price the E46 is still a fun car.

Benjamin Choi

pls man you r a harmless, a nice cosmopolitan kinda dude who roams Sunset hitting up the best of the West.

nothing jerk about that

htny

hahaha man I have to email that out to a few people, thanks for the compliment!

That's what's nice about the internet, you're often the very opposite of how you are in real life!

Benjamin Choi

what are you gay? (not that there's anything wrong with that)

htny

well not that far opposite!

pl

please util craiglist.org for those communications. (not that there's anything wrong with that)

kristap

YMMV but my friend, a better driver, in his manual e46 m3 falls behind me when I reach into 3rd gear in an 03 C2.

LowStro9

Wish I had seen this post earlier......

I had a 400hp M3 and a 550HP BMW MZ Roadster. The Blown MRoadster would easily walk just about anything that gave chase in this town except a few twin turbo vipers. They both had all the mods you could think of but when I bought that blown Porsche.......the ole bmw crew wasn't driven for almost two months. When I finally drove it, I drove to the trailer/shipper who was hauling it to the new buyer.

Don't settle & don't look back on your decision either.

911_993_997

I want to thank all of you guys for all your great insight, you've all been very kind & helpful & have made my decision easier. I've decided to buy a PT Cruiser, lol jk... My decision is not to settle, but instead wait for the right 996 to come along within my budget. I don't want to buy an M3 just to regret it everytime I see a Porsche pass by, & I know I would. So 996 it is! Hopefully I'll come across my car soon, maybe this month. I will definetely post pics as soon as I acquire one & will become a regular poster/visitor to the site. Thanks again!

I'm wondering how do I get an accurate estimate of what the car should cost? I want to get a good deal, like any other buyer out there would. Here's one listing I'm considering trying to deal with http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...r_id=243217289

htny

I really used to love those M roadsters. Many friends of mine had them back then, so light, so much engine bay to jam full of boost. 550 is a big number! US market car had ~240bhp stock, must have been a HANDFUL on anything but slicks. In retrospect I guess an M Roadster probably weighed about the same as a 996 Mk2, ~3100lbs, still that must have been a seriously fun vehicle.

triode

Actually, BMW later stuffed a 315 HP version of the S54 in the Z3 M Roadster. What a hoot!

Tbred911

sorry I have to interject here..... I have a 99 c2 with ROW 030 suspension and race it all the time against my friends E46 ZCP M3.... at MOSPORT... a world class track.... he also has dinan mods on it... he has 360hp... on the the long strait away I pull him every time... even when I have a passenger... the pulling is evident in the top of 3rd gear and more so in 4th 5th and 6th....

he drove my car once and said it was a totally different animal... and then he went to say he's never tracking his M3 again.

I've driven his M3 and it was a nice car... but you feel the heaviness and in terms of feel doesn't even come close to a porsche... feels like a modded 3 series... *a very capable modded 3 series* I might add... strait line the pcar edges it out and in terms of handling the ZCP package kicks butt... but so does the ROW 030 ... only thing is the M3 feels like a pig in the corners and destroys tires... and you need to put 19" tires on the M3 to take corners at track speeds or else its a no go... my 996 has 17" !!! braking on the M3 sucks as well... and so does the gearbox... not what I expected from an M car...

at the end of the day the M3 is for those who only want to spend the $$ on one car that has some practicality built into it.... great car for what your getting but its no pcar that's for sure... the ZCP M3 has great seats compared to the stock garbage seats that come in a pcar... I currently have a GT3 seat driver's seat and its one of the best mods you can make if you wanna "feel" and push your car to the limit...

the other thing I didn't like about the M3 is its raspy exhaust... sounded like its gonna break... but with an eisenmann exhaust you can really cure that problem...

also... the rear subframe is welded to the trunk so over time in tracking it will break unless you get it re-enforced.... not like a porsche...

you pick.

FLY996

Here's one listing I'm considering trying to deal with http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...r_id=243217289[/QUOTE][/B]

Wow, that looks real clean and blk/blk is a nice color combo. If a ppi checks out I'd ask $35 but would not mind paying $36k.

grizzy

I have both-- u can pm me if u want
05 m3 and 04 911 -- different animals that are always compared.
M3 is more utilitarian --like useable backseat
911 is pure bliss -- u could drive it everyday across country but when ure in it u can feel its one purpose and thts to carve up the road ahead of it
If i cud pick 1 I wud choose 911 and have a "normal" dd
Mike

AudiOn19s

It's funny how many perspectives there are on this. I too have both ('02 M3 and '99 996) and completely agree with your statements.

However if I had to have only one it would be the M3 as I don't think I could take a "normal" DD.

Andy