GTP Cool Wall: 2001-2006 BMW M3

[Doodle]

@Famine Well that post was before I knew any better. I've changed since then.

 

[Dennisch]

Maybe it is because I see them every day, but I just don't like the styling. It looks bland. It does get some bonus points for the straight 6. But still, meh.

 

[MatskiMonk]

The sheer fact that BMW had to make the GTR to homologate the E46 to be competitive racing it makes the E46 uncool.

The only reason the E30 M3 was for racing and any performance update that came out on it was purely there so the race car could be faster.

Fair point. All things considered the E46 did have plenty of success in motorsport around the world, but it wasn't so much with the M3, as it was with the 320i (325i in the US).

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

This entire thread is making zero sense to me.

Sub-zero because this is the greatest M3 ever made. It looks sexy, sounds great, and drives great. I'm not some guy that judges cars based on who drives them. If you are that kind of guy, then I feel sorry for you. 👎

How exactly is it the greatest. Especially considering that the E39 was a better all around M Car and carried more to the modern era from the classic then the E46 did. I'd have to agree with Niky that if you look at the specs, numbers, and just sheer experience (which is subjective) the E92 is a better car.

 

[homeforsummer]

Fair point. All things considered the E46 did have plenty of success in motorsport around the world, but it wasn't so much with the M3, as it was with the 320i (325i in the US).

Indeed. I can't recall though, was the E46 ETCC and WTCC car always six-cylinder, or did the change to four cylinders happen before they brought in the E90 (which I suspect on numbers is actually the more successful race car)?

 

[Clark]

I always thought the E46 320i tourer was a six pot and I wasn't aware of them ever changing it.

Makes a glorious noise and makes me wish I'd been able to see one in person.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Indeed. I can't recall though, was the E46 ETCC and WTCC car always six-cylinder, or did the change to four cylinders happen before they brought in the E90 (which I suspect on numbers is actually the more successful race car)?

Correct, the E46 320 was an I6, the E90 went to the 4 cylinder. I'm sure the E90 320 did rack up more wins, but it was campaigned virtually from the out-set. IIRC the E46 320 didn't gain much popularity as a race car until halfway through its life cycle - I guess because people were still using the E36 318is's which were well proven and fairly plentiful. By the time the E90 came about, there was a massive works effort driving it, so it gained notoriety quickly (Andy Priaulx FTW ).

 

[homeforsummer]

If I recall correctly, the E46 would have been used from roughly 2000 or so, when most series around Europe dropped Super Touring.

 

[MatskiMonk]

If I recall correctly, the E46 would have been used from roughly 2000 or so, when most series around Europe dropped Super Touring.

You could be right, I'm not sure. Either way, the E46 M3 did not enjoy such widespread success, and that which it did was, as Clark pointed out, due to the V8 GTR. So little factual information is available for what happened to the supposed sale of road going GTRs that I'm inclined to believe BMW never even produced the required amount for homologation. Fun fact, I once had the sales brochure for the road going GTR, it was envelope size, about 6 pages, I scanned it, and sold it for £45.

 

[Crash]

I know we just had this great long discussion about all this, buttttt...

As much as I like the car and think it's great and would own one, because of it's status of not quite a classic but cheap enough to be driven by a lot of the douche factor folks, the car gets knocked down from cool to uncool.

 

[Nessy]

I know we just had this great long discussion about all this, buttttt...

As much as I like the car and think it's great and would own one, because of it's status of not quite a classic but cheap enough to be driven by a lot of the douche factor folks, the car gets knocked down from cool to uncool.

'Douche factor folks' drive expensive cars too.

 

[Argon]

'Douche factor folks' drive expensive cars too.

Totally agree and would go further and say that most of the biggest "douche's" that I've come across really do drive expensive cars, Ferraris, Porkers, Lambo's, Massers......anon.

One of the things that made the M3's so appealing to me especially was that they really weren't "expensive" for the amount of car that you got. Yes they could be pricey if you stacked all of the toys on them but the base model came in at a very reasonable starting cost of (£35k). By comparison;

At the time I acquired my second E46 I did a big sweep around all of the other "douche owners" cars and put money down on a 911 4S, it was almost £25K more expensive than the M3 and frankly didn't feel that much better. I came to my senses 4 weeks later and cancelled the order, rushed down to the local BMW dealer and ordered my last E46.

This taken the day I traded it in for the next one (below). It had 63k miles on the clock when this picture was taken.

The last E46 I owned. Almost exactly the same spec as the one above 19" wheels, SMG, all the toys

Definitely COOL cars IMO

 

[OriginalCheezIt]

Don't blame the car, blame the driver.

Here's my analysis:

M3: cool, 87% for it's psuedo-subtlety (subtle to the average Joe, lil' flashy to gearheads)
CSL: sub zero, 97%, for its balls-to-the-wall-lemme-beat-a-TVR attitude
GTR: cool, 72%, for just being too damn much. V8 in an M3? No bueno
CS (American kinda-sorta CSL): cool, 93%, for not being committed to a mental institution

The verdict? Well, about 96% of M3s produced were the base coupe/convertible
.97*87= 84.1%

1.7% were CSLs
.017*97= 1.6%

0.01% were GTRs
0.0001*72= 0.01%

2.9% were CSs
.029*93= 2.7%

84.1+1.6+0.01+2.7= 88.41%

So a mid-high cool.

 

[JAHHAJ]

Solid cool.