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Further updates on this old banger , well the parking sensors only worked intermittently which was annoying me so I had two more replaced. They now work perfectly. That cost some ££
Also had the flappy pedal contact points changed which cost some ££
The brakes were bothering me since my wales trip as the car would sometimes swerve a bit from time to time on braking. I'm so had the rear rotors and pads changed which cost some ££
(brakes now feel much more competent )
All done by BMS Surrey who picked the car and dropped it back. very happy indeed with the high quality of their service.
(total cost incl labour for the above 3 sets of items. gbp 1k)

Other than that , dislikes :
a. the drivers seat , not the most comfortable seat. is leather and heated which is great but I'm used to better on the last 2 amgs.
b. rattles from the dash area since bmw replaced the airbags under recall. really annoying . will sort out
c. rattle from the passenger seat when no one is sitting in it
d. I noticed a tiny bit of rust beginning to develop near the passenger door panel. the rest of the paint work is pristine. I'll sort the rust asap.
e. cant really do low speed rear wheel slides due to the MP4s tyres . it feels AWD. luckily winter is coming so we will get to see whether I might get to enjoy the fact it is RWD soon.

f. the exhaust is too loud and I do get embarrassed slightly sometimes if I drive through town in 1st gear from a stop , at other times when cruising, I love the 6 cylinder hum.
g. rusty brake calipers need changing at some stage but I cant be asked spending more £
h. while it is certainly practical enough to have as my only car, an M5 4 door of its generation has it beat hands down. But this is probably better to drive IMO.
I. the chassis is very shaky over bumps and pot holes compared to a non convertible car or a boxster even. It almost feels like the frame of the car wobbles a bit lol
j. It's a bmw

Likes:
a. for the price and age, the engine and transmission are in great condition . for a car with around 330 hp(probably less now) , it is really fast.
b. much better car to drive on windy roads than the c63 due to its dimensions. It can fit in tiny gaps no problem. the c is portly in comparison so that car hardly gets driven in the surrey hills and part of north downs unless the wife insists I take it.
c. Unbeatable feeling of enjoyment with the hood down and sound experience while cant quite match the c63 , is so much louder in the cabin
d. absolute monster of a car at the traffic light gp , before the gears need shifting into 2nd , not many cars that are in the wrong lane that want to go ahead of me and then come into my lane in front can actually successfully do so. due to the perfect torque to weight profile, i reckon it beats the c63 to 30mph on the MP4s tyres. It is a real brute of a car that's 15 years old. Not that I participate in any other type of traffic GP, and never race anyone. Luckily v few folks seem to know what an e46 m3 is and think it is just on old banger so dare I say it is a sleeper !

e. for a vert, with the MP4S tyres , it is formidable on the handling side of things . I'm glad I didnt buy the coupe version especially as with the roof down, air in your hair beats the marginal performance gains of the coupe.

f. all the stuff just works , aircon , roof etc.not bad for a 15 year old car. for a car with no service history records, it is in much better condition than the previous bmw i bought with a full service history .

g. I do like the cornering ability and steering which has long ratios so turning is razor sharp accurate. i love cornering in this car just off centre though it is annoying to keep the car in the middle of a lane on the motorway.
h it has isofix!
I. combined fuel economy of 22.5mpg with v little motorway driving

I was going to initially keep it for a few months and go 2 door boxster or AMG, or 4 door m5 or other old sporty car so after putting on another 10k miles on this I may be on the hunt for another second hand hero

Screenshot_20190720-090901_Gallery.jpg
 
I'm glad its working out. I just wish mid/late summer had been a little kinder for convertible drivers.

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk
 
I'm glad its working out. I just wish mid/late summer had been a little kinder for convertible drivers.

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk
thanks , definitely hasn't been great over the last month or so. had the roof down the last couple of days but it is a 10 minute drive only from the station car park to home which is highly insufficient .

the other option is to keep this and get rid of the 63 and replace that , but looking on autottader there are literally only 4 used c63s estates for sale and around 13 non s versions so I'm v likely to hold on to it until electric cars are compulsory
 
I've convinced myself the E46 is a classic [emoji2]

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I've convinced myself the E46 is a classic [emoji2]

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definitely agree if one can put aside the stigma attached with being seen behind the wheel of one then yes it doesnt have many rivals at the current price point hahahah
 
After around 9 blissful months with the M3, I swapped it out for an E63.
Some issues relating to the BMW were as follows:
a. The car is a unbecoming of someone in their 40s and is more of a dream car for someone in their 20s.
b. the car isnt comfortable enough for passengers , coupled with the go kart handling , it is a car that is very difficult to drive sensibly especially with that loud and infectious exhaust note and fantastic steering.
c. the first gear ratio is too short and making any progress in this gear results in some really loud and anti social progress !
d. wife hates the lack of comfort and the gear shifts.
e. only being offered as a 2 door vehicle, it was a constant ball ache to use a child car seat. it is spacious enough but not ideal.

What I did learn about the car that i really appreciated:
a. as previously experienced , the handling is on another level compared to most other convertibles.
b. the sound is infectious and the car loves to be revved up to the 8k red line which is quite special
c. the car does have plenty of mod cons and is impressive for such an old model.
d. it never failed to put a smile on my face anytime I drove it and the connectedness to the asphalt is difficult to match.

summary:
if I had got hold of ah e46 m3 10 years ago, I probably would have kept the car much longer as it is an iconic automobile representing the pinnacle of engineering and sportiness.

Hello w211 E63
 
The gear shifts really do have to be experienced to be believed, don’t they!
hahah very true , I just think the Mrs has been spoilt rotten with the other cars we have been using . it was absolutely fine in manual shifting mode and all it took was to release the throttle after shifting gears briefly and it shifted very smoothly. but the trouble was I could never drive it sensibly and was also flinging it around corners and revving it hard everywhere to her utter condemnation until she decided to kick up a fuss anytime I suggested we use that car :( I guess she had outgrown sitting in such a rude and anti social car.

my daughter on the other hand loved it and kept egging me on to "race the car daddy", "that was fun " etc. utterly shameful behaviour from someone who just turned 3 years old to give me so much pressure to drive it like a nut case. it is all my daughter's fault...

so I did what anyone in my position would do, I bought a taxi...
 
I concur with some of your conclusions with my previous E36 Evo (manual though).

I had it at 24 and it was one of my dream cars back then but now I can't think of anything worse than an M4 for a daily driver even though I've enjoyed driving one on a track 3 times now pushing it to the max (under instruction).

I found the car comfortable to drive in my 20s for work here, there and everywhere (sometimes for many hours) but that definitely wouldn't be the case now.

Two doors is hard work just for me alone - I can't imagine having a nipper and baby seat...

However the handling and drive, as is the same in the E46 of yours as I test-drove one back in 2003, was unbelievable especially with a factory LSD.

The sound of that 3.2 straight 6 with an M exhaust is out of this world - revving up to 7.5k was amazing.

I thoroughly enjoyed my M3 at the time and even now 20 years on exactly this year, I still and will always look back with fond memories of what a great car it was.

Enjoy the E63 though... my W211 E55K is also held in similar regard but for different reasons to the M3!

PS: You picked the wrong engine. :D
 
I concur with some of your conclusions with my previous E36 Evo (manual though).

I had it at 24 and it was one of my dream cars back then but now I can't think of anything worse than an M4 for a daily driver even though I've enjoyed driving one on a track 3 times now pushing it to the max (under instruction).

I found the car comfortable to drive in my 20s for work here, there and everywhere (sometimes for many hours) but that definitely wouldn't be the case now.

Two doors is hard work just for me alone - I can't imagine having a nipper and baby seat...

However the handling and drive, as is the same in the E46 of yours as I test-drove one back in 2003, was unbelievable especially with a factory LSD.

The sound of that 3.2 straight 6 with an M exhaust is out of this world - revving up to 7.5k was amazing.

I thoroughly enjoyed my M3 at the time and even now 20 years on exactly this year, I still and will always look back with fond memories of what a great car it was.

Enjoy the E63 though... my W211 E55K is also held in similar regard but for different reasons to the M3!

PS: You picked the wrong engine. :D
hahahahahahha! I did pick the wrong engine , luckily for me the car is debadged so the general public at least wont immediately identify my impaired judgement. I am sure a previous owner was aware of this and took the badges off to hide their embarrassment :D

The sound in the E class is very muted and the air suspension is incredibly comfortable. I think my wife will probably overlook the fact that it is being powered by the flawed engine ...
 
The sound is too muted actually.

I guess the designers thought about wafting 4 execs up the Autobahn in comfort and speed!

I do get the NA 6.2 thing despite my messing around.

I do love forced induction for my daily, since my first W211 E55 9 years ago, but if the opportunity arose for a 6.2-based AMG as a second car, I think that would suit.

They won't be around forever so make the most of it I say.

I was in an MB dealership yesterday and they started up a modern 4.0-based AMG to move it around and it didn't sound as meaty as the larger engines do. Everything else is dropping displacement like a diseased rat so it's all going one way!
 
The taxi can become a hooligan too if provoked:thumb:
hahaha I suppose it can get there a bit quicker than an e220d...

The sound is too muted actually.

I guess the designers thought about wafting 4 execs up the Autobahn in comfort and speed!

I do get the NA 6.2 thing despite my messing around.

I do love forced induction for my daily, since my first W211 E55 9 years ago, but if the opportunity arose for a 6.2-based AMG as a second car, I think that would suit.

They won't be around forever so make the most of it I say.

I was in an MB dealership yesterday and they started up a modern 4.0-based AMG to move it around and it didn't sound as meaty as the larger engines do. Everything else is dropping displacement like a diseased rat so it's all going one way!

Other than the car lacking sound, which was exacerbated by the dealer revving it up and me not hearing anything while sitting in the passenger seat, I was immediately wowed by the seats and was transported back to my childhood when as a 17 year old , I used to drive my dad's 230.6 w115 , a car that was 19 years old and had done thousands of miles and wasnt giving up. I loved that car as I did the 230.4 123 series merc that I spent many hours in. in fact the interior had a similar smell, and I was smitten even before test driving it.

I had read many reviews about the Jag having excellent ride comfort but the reality is that it is nowhere near as being as comfortable as the w211. There really was a marked difference between them. As comfortable as the jag was, the merc was butter smooth and steering felt far more natural. it was an easy win for the merc despite its Luke warm engine ;).

the throttle response is perfect for silky smooth speed pick up to the speed limit in a flash without and drama as one would expect from a limo :)
I just wish there was more sound. some remedial work may be required at some stage...

sadly it hasn't passed the 3 year old's test yet who says she is missing the BMW and wants another BMW. she hasn't had a ride in the merc yet but I'm hoping she will change her mind ! I didnt realise a 3 year old could pledge her allegiance to a car brand this early on !
 

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