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General => General discussion => Topic started by: tweed on 10 July 2013, 18:39
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Thinking of selling my cars to get a m3.
I want a nice e36 3.2 6 speed evo but for a price of a good one (6500) I can get a cheap e46 m3.
ive not drove either and only had a e39 528 bmw. But I do want more of a driving experience and bit of fun. It would be a weekend car really.
Whos drove both and what do you think about them?
Most of my mates say get a e46 but cant give me a reason why.
Dont want to ask a bmw site because that will turn into a fight.
cheers
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I've been looking at e36 328s :cool: fancy a bit of rwd fun.
Id say I'd rather have a good e36 m3 then a 'cheap' e46 m3 that could have problems, hence low price, so e36 for me. BUT, if I could afford a good e46 m3, that's what I'd have
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E36 is more of a future classic. I love them :cool:
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My mate had a e36 328 coupe and they need a lsd :grin: good fun though.
Good e46 is £10000 and that would mean I will have to sell you my karting gear. No chance! :smiley:
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My mate had a e36 328 coupe and they need a lsd :grin: good fun though.
Good e46 is £10000 and that would mean I will have to sell you my karting gear. No chance! :smiley:
:evil:
E36 it is then :cool:.
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having never driven either. id have the e36. just think its a nicer car.
either way im sure you wownt be dissapointed
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Having worked for and on BMW's for 11 years the E36 is the only M3 i wouldnt buy. The E46 is a better car full stop, not only in quality but also the way it drives, handles, performs, the engine is relatively bullet proof, buy a coupe in a manual and your not going to have many issues.
Convertible are nowhere near as good as the coupes and that goes for E36 and E46 models
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E36 is more of a future classic. I love them :cool:
+1
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Having worked for and on BMW's for 11 years the E36 is the only M3 i wouldnt buy. The E46 is a better car full stop, not only in quality but also the way it drives, handles, performs, the engine is relatively bullet proof, buy a coupe in a manual and your not going to have many issues.
Convertible are nowhere near as good as the coupes and that goes for E36 and E46 models
thats interesting to hear. I would only buy a coupe and only a manual.
Surely a e36 is better than a e30? They just worth more because they are the first m3
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pretty sure e36 evos suffer from vanos problems and the gearboxes are quite week aswell
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E36's in general have build quality issues.
Driven both but not played with both
E46 M3 is a bloody good car and good fun to boot. and it's nealry idiot proof ( till you turn the idiot proofing off )
E36 M3 driven one not booted one garantee it'll be less idiot proof and the slideing will be less progressive
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E46 is by far the better car for so many reasons, and I'm sure that in another few years will be the more desirable, and especially in Laguna seca blue, which is the only colour to have!
Thom
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E46 is by far the better car for so many reasons, and I'm sure that in another few years will be the more desirable, and especially in Laguna seca blue, which is the only colour to have!
Thom
+1 on the laguna blue its stunning in that :smiley:
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Im now thinking more of a e46.
Been looking for one for £6500 and they all high miles. 130000 :sad: still think be better to low mile e36 than a 130000 e46.
I always turn idiot button off because they always cut in well too early and ive done driving schools and race karts so hopefully I know how do drive one :undecided: :grin:
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So how bomb proof are these engines? My e39 528i was on 130000 and felt like a 60000 mile car. And m3's just as good?
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why not look at the e39 m5 :evil: 400bhp out the wrapper
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More fuel and not as fast as e46.
I want one to throw about on some back roads and enjoy myself. M5 too big.
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Just watch loads of videos and the e36 3.2 m3 is faster than the e46 m3 :undecided:
dont know what to do
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Im now thinking more of a e46.
Been looking for one for £6500 and they all high miles. 130000 :sad: still think be better to low mile e36 than a 130000 e46.
What's high milage about a 10ish year old car with 130+k on the clock!
Buy on originality, straight unmolested bodywork FBMWSH, least amount of owners, get a full independent engineers report. make sure the car that you buy is not in need of tyres, or brakes, that'll cost you towards £1600+ to replace, (or £1600 to chip!) and go over budget for the correct car!
Cars with heavy road rash on the front end, should not be rejected, many "in the know" owners prefer to have just the OE paint on the lightweight panels...
Thom
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Just watch loads of videos and the e36 3.2 m3 is faster than the e46 m3 :undecided:
dont know what to do
Unless you're planning on drag racing an e36, I wouldn't worry about the e46 being a smidgen slower.
On looks alone I'd take the e46. Don't know BMW's name for the paint but the dark silver looks pretty good. That or Laguna Blue would be my choice. I also think the interior of the e46 is a much nicer place to be than the interior of the e36. But of course this is aesthetics and it's down to personal preference - so not much help I'm afraid.
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Go to a beemer dealership/somewhere that has a m3 for sale and test drive. see which you like.
no point weighing up the pros and cons of each untill youv test drove IMO. once you get behind the wheel you may think that you dont like one...
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Just watch loads of videos and the e36 3.2 m3 is faster than the e46 m3 :undecided:
Surely this is semantics?
If you want a properly informed set of opinions on the E36/46 M3s get on Northloop - there are a LOT of enthusiast owners on there who will give you a proper view.
If you want a proper back-road blasting car and you're not too worried about practicality, but from what you've said budget is a bit of an issue (especially for consumables) why not consider a Westfield? From karting etc you're surely going to have a lot more and cheaper fun than an M3?
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Thanks ill check that out. Yes a Westfield would be a lot more fun but I do want to be able to put a suitcase in the back and go to wells most weekends.
Looks like I need to test drive a couple and make my mind up.
Still hoping I will like a e36 as I think they will only go up in value. But might fall in love with a e46
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Westfields have a passenger seat for a suitcase, duh!
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(http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/945926_4882114183590_1725469374_n.jpg)
Jus' sayin' like.
:whistle:
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Got two of my mates looking at two of my cars at 6 :grin:
might work some weekends and save for couple of months and get a e46. But going to test drive both first.
Im not spending money on one so stop showing me pictures like that :grin:
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Common issues on the E43 are, Rear springs like to go on them, unless you get some uprated one's. also the alternator packs on them very often. The SMG and SMG II. I think the SMG has a clutch and the SMG II have a torque convertor. Cant remember which ones it is, but one is not good when doing a launch control.
Also i'm thinking of getting one too or an edition 30. I spoke to a BMW M3 owner, he said i've had both SMG and manual. SMG are sh!te, them were his words. he says kid if you want one, go for a Manual. you can play about with them alot better. also SMG pumps ate common to go too.
Also the E46 has big bills when coming for maintenance. after so many thousand miles, they need to go in and get all the valves checked and adjusted. a mate has bought one and it costed him near enough £900.00 to have that sorted.
Also the rear tyres need to have the same amount of thread, if one has 4mm and the other has 6mm it will handle like sh!t.
The E36 is good, but you get the sequential gearbox in these too, but they are sh!te. basically their an SMG box.
Do your research and take it on from there. These cars are cheap to buy, but maintenance kills you :grin:
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Cool cheers bud and I will onky get a manual.
All cars sold now so gonna start looking very soon and test drive both typez
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i had a e36 m3 for 6yrs and my mate had a e46 m3 which i drive occasionally ,the e46 drives and handles much better and maintainence is also higher on e46 ....
regarding on the valve clearance it need to be adjusted on every inspection 2 service ....
like someone mentioned look for one that have recenly have tyres and brakes changed which will saves a few bucks also look for the one that just had an inspection 2 done which is the most expensive service ...
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regarding on the valve clearance it need to be adjusted on every inspection 2 service ....
like someone mentioned look for one that have recenly have tyres and brakes changed which will saves a few bucks also look for the one that just had an inspection 2 done which is the most expensive service ...
Correct. Expect close to £1k for an inspection 2 at the stealers :laugh:
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Bloody hell :sad:
these are sounding like to be nightmares :grin:
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Wouldnt worry too much, the valve clearences are pretty much always in spec, it just becomes an expensive cam cover gasket replacement, so if it was running sweet as a nut i wouldnt bother....
Then if your handy with a spanner you can do the rest your self :cool:
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(http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/945926_4882114183590_1725469374_n.jpg)
Jus' sayin' like.
:whistle:
Ooooo that's nice. I've changed my mind, tweed you need a e46!
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I keep looking at them :grin: just will have to wait couple of months untill I can afford a nice one :undecided:
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i found the gearbox to be very clunky on the e46, but the rev counter that ups the limit as the car warms :kiss:
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e46 and get this:
http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/partdetails/HPF/Turbos/Turbo_Kits/E46_M3/11037
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Well looked-after one here:
http://www.northloop.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?47082-E46-m3
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Decent e36 m3's are few and far between and command a higher price now days. I'd spend the extra and go for the e46, I've seen a number of reasonable ones for around the 7k figure, one thing to check is the boot floor isn't cracked, BMW still honour their bodywork warrenty on this as long as its less than 10 years old.
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its supriseing what BMW will do FOC when you dump a broken one on them.
mate had a free engine :smiley:
droped the car in to the steelers as it wasent quite feeling / sounding right, they decalared it fit and well
week later motor poped, towed it in they looked again, declared it fked but also declared that there eas some recall that the computer said had been done on but hadent actualy been done so they put a new motor in :)
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Get a convertible and become the gay hairdresser!
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Thanks guys. Main reason I want a e36 is because they are rare in 3.2 evo 6 speed manual and cant see them loosing value, only going to go up in value.
But I havent found a low mile e36 I want yet. I might put a bid on couple of e46 on ebay in the next few days.
But I might wait as I still got to shift my vr6 and some other bits I wont use again. I can still raise one or two thousand to put towards one.
And len im not vein. I want a drivers car so I can go out and have fun before I have kids.