e46 or e92 M3

[eamo]

Great feedback Dave - how about the 335i? you've had me thinking about one of them since I seen you replaced the E39 M5 with one. Having said that I'd love to go back to an E39 M5 again

[Dave]

Great feedback Dave - how about the 335i? you've had me thinking about one of them since I seen you replaced the E39 M5 with one. Having said that I'd love to go back to an E39 M5 again

I bought the 335i as a daily, they're 25% the cost of an M3 and they're definitely not 25% the car.

I picked mine up for what I thought was small money, full main dealer history with clean bill of health, just had a €2k service, including new water pump, rocker cover and gasket, pcv, and oil filter housing.

Now, having put 1500km on it, here's the issues.

Waste Gate rattle - fix - new turbos - €2500
Inexplicable haemorrhaging of engine oil - ??
Occasionally, I have absolutely no brake bite - assuming it's a brake servo - €600

Suspension refresh - €1500

That's outside of a new set of pilot sport 4s tyres €850 + €100 fitting and balancing

I think this is gonna be a €10k car by the time I have it sorted and it may have been much smarter to buy a facelift DCT N55. Then again, I'll have an absolutely sorted car with forged internals and an easy 500hp as I'll be fitting uprated turbos rather than the OE units. Fit an LSD and it'll be a monster.

Parts are also cheap, they're half the insurance cost of the M5 and it'll do 30 mpg (which is important to me as I'm a fan of putting mileage on my cars) but I'm not sure they're the bargain everyone thinks they are, especially if you're particular about the car being right.

Mines in getting fixed at the moment, I'm back to the Lexus which has taken nothing but fuel since I bought it.

JohnH's friends car was probably the one to buy.


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[Peter-E36]

I bought the 335i as a daily, they're 25% the cost of an M3 and they're definitely not 25% the car.

I picked mine up for what I thought was small money, full main dealer history with clean bill of health, just had a €2k service, including new water pump, rocker cover and gasket, pcv, and oil filter housing.

Now, having put 1500km on it, here's the issues.

Waste Gate rattle - fix - new turbos - €2500
Inexplicable haemorrhaging of engine oil - ??
Occasionally, I have absolutely no brake bite - assuming it's a brake servo - €600

Suspension refresh - €1500

That's outside of a new set of pilot sport 4s tyres €850 + €100 fitting and balancing

I think this is gonna be a €10k car by the time I have it sorted and it may have been much smarter to buy a facelift DCT N55. Then again, I'll have an absolutely sorted car with forged internals and an easy 500hp as I'll be fitting uprated turbos rather than the OE units. Fit an LSD and it'll be a monster.

Parts are also cheap, they're half the insurance cost of the M5 and it'll do 30 mpg (which is important to me as I'm a fan of putting mileage on my cars) but I'm not sure they're the bargain everyone thinks they are, especially if you're particular about the car being right.

Mines in getting fixed at the moment, I'm back to the Lexus which has taken nothing but fuel since I bought it.

JohnH's friends car was probably the one to buy.


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Yep, I adored my 335i and it never gave me any trouble but I would be nervous of picking up another unless I know it’s history and it has the right work done otherwise it can get very expensive - LSD is a must!

John’s friend’s 335i is gone - the 530i’s previous owner bought it

[schoonerm3]

I would fancy a run side by side an e92 m3. My e46 is a weapon at the moment with the mods.

That is a CSL airbox, tuned to suit, 4.1 final drive. Lots of other mods including racing tunnel mounted gear shifter but the airbox and final drive are the main performance upgrade. Its also a nice bit lighter than the e92. Would be interesting.!

[Dave]

I would fancy a run side by side an e92 m3. My e46 is a weapon at the moment with the mods.

That is a CSL airbox, tuned to suit, 4.1 final drive. Lots of other mods including racing tunnel mounted gear shifter but the airbox and final drive are the main performance upgrade. Its also a nice bit lighter than the e92. Would be interesting.!

A decent E46 is 15-20k €5k more gets you into an E92 and objectively, they're a different class of car.


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[alan b]

A decent E46 is 15-20k €5k more gets you into an E92 and objectively, they're a different class of car.


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Very true, e92 m3's have there own issues that would need sorting though. would say rod bearings should be done asap. After all they are exact same as the v10 and have the same problem. So add another 2 odd grand onto the price of one.
E46s have fallen into 3 categories now.
Low mileage "investment" garage queens
Higher mile well maintained cars
Rough ones floating about the 120k mile range with big bills pending.

I would say if your going to daily drive one i wouldnt be too worrid about mileage and buy one condition and history

[CitizenKane]

Funnily enough, I'm in a not too dissimilar boat as yourself at the moment. So I'll share my feedback, ignore it if you like.

I had an E39 M5 which I recently sold after 3.5 years of ownership.

I've been deliberating all kinds off options and have driven the following cars. E46 M3, 997 C2S, M135i, M140i, M2, Audi B7 RS4, C5 RS6, manual E92 M3, DCT E92 M3 and Rebel.Ranter was kind enough to let me take his M6 for a drive.

This is my opinion of each car.

E46 M3 - gorgeous, but arguably slow, if you buy a tidy one, they're now almost too valuable to plough mileage onto.

997 C2S - Not convinced on the engine, the M5 was more of occasion, handling wise the steering feel was stellar, they do feel a bit cheap inside though. Too expensive

M135i - so much bang for your buck, feels very very small compared to the others, it took it for a reasonably spirited drive and the chassis doesn't feel as competent as the drive train - good value proposition and I think ownership would be reasonable.

m140i - awesome engine, more refined and feels more planted, feels a good bit more powerful than the M135i. Both the M140i and the M135i feel more like very capable hot hatches than anything special.

B7 RS4 - planted, steering slightly corrupted under power, great handling. Probably a bit over priced for what they are, thirsty and can get spendy.

C5 RS6 - cool as fuck, very quick, crap gearbox, I'd be tempted but want a car that's made for the twisties.

E92 M3 - best looking car of the lot, feels very special, the DCT has a sense of occasion about it and provides another layer of personality that suits the engine very well, but as rebel.ranter says, it's almost too capable, the gear shifts are perfect. The manual car feels more old school, great steering feel. Really liked it but the DCT would be my pic.

I think they are in a funny place in the market, they've been a 25 - 30k car now for 6-8 years. I was looking at sub 50k mile cars with DCT, EDC, extended red leather and logic 7.
I think their values are going to take a serious hit over the coming months with M2 / M4 and F80 M3 prices plummeting.

After all of them, I drove the M6 and it is, hands down the most special car I've driven, the sense of occasion of the thing is on another level and I would love one but the ownership costs terrify me.


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Great post, thank you!

I've also considered some of the other cars you've mentioned but ruled them out for various reasons (mainly because I just don't like the look of them, i.e. the 1 series or the RS4 or RS6...). I agree with you that the e92 m3 is the best looking out of all of these, I think it's just about perfect looking.

Naturally I have been looking at 335i's as well. I loved everything about my LCI e92 except for the fact that it was a 4-cylinder diesel, so a similar spec 335i would probably tick a lot of boxes for me, and I guess would be a lot more suitable as a daily driver than an M car.

Having said all that, I haven't driven any of these cars yet!

Interesting point you make about the value of the e92 M3. I sort of assumed these cars had started to bottom out now, but I hadn't really considered the impact of the subsequent generation depreciating.

[Moe]

E46s have fallen into 3 categories now.
Low mileage "investment" garage queens
Higher mile well maintained cars
Rough ones floating about the 120k mile range with big bills pending.

I would say if your going to daily drive one i wouldnt be too worrid about mileage and buy one condition and history

This is exactly right. I would also include the category of the "shitter"...a 4k sterling one thats a total pig.

[Remote]

Had two E46 M3's, one manual and an SMG CS, driving a manual E92 M3 now.

To be honest I think the CS was my favourite.

The E92 engine is brilliant and the sound is amazing but im not in love with the car and could move on without missing it too much.

I think the E46 has more character to it and to be honest I think its ageing better.

On the motorway the E92 is fantastic and I could be tempted o try a later model DCT at some stage.

Both lovely cars.

[CitizenKane]

Had two E46 M3's, one manual and an SMG CS, driving a manual E92 M3 now.

To be honest I think the CS was my favourite.

The E92 engine is brilliant and the sound is amazing but im not in love with the car and could move on without missing it too much.

I think the E46 has more character to it and to be honest I think its ageing better.

On the motorway the E92 is fantastic and I could be tempted o try a later model DCT at some stage.

Both lovely cars.

Thanks for the feedback.

It's interesting the number of people who seem to prefer SMG over manual on the e46, given it's contrary to the prevailing view. If I could get on board with an SMG it would certainly make my job easier finding a car! I must test drive one if I ever get the chance.