Hi all,
I recently joined this forum and am relatively new to the world of E46 M3 ownership. I was sad to see the death of M3forum.net even though I was not a part of the M3 world at that point. Many thanks to Obioban and others for taking the time to preserve the content from M3forum.net.
I purchased my M3 in September of 2020 and my love of the car has been growing over the past year. The S54 is such a gem and couldn't be more different than the S62 in my E39 M5. I've had the M5 for now seven years and will say that both cars complement each other so well. The personas of each are so different that it makes it an absolute blast to drive them back to back. I'm still pinching myself that I own both of my childhood dream BMW M cars. I will say that I've been spending more seat time in the E46 and less in the E39 since bringing home the M3. It's just too fun to rev that S54 through it paces.
The M3 is a 2002 Carbon Black over black coupe factory six speed manual with just over 72k miles. I'm located in the Boston area and flew down to Orlando to pick it up and drive it back up to New England. I'd describe the car as very "OEM+" in its current set up. Everything is factory except for Fabspeed headers, and Borla mufflers (factory section 1 & 2). Overall, I really like the sound but plan on replacing the resonators to alleviate some of the mid-range "rasp." The previous owner tackled some of the pain points of the E46 which originally drew me to this particular example. The subframe had been reinforced as well as the common VANOS failure points addressed with Beisan Systems parts including their anti-rattle kit for good measure. Over the past year, in typical E46 M3 fashion, I have had to deal with quite a few common failure points including a leaking CPV, VCG, and lower timing chain tensioner. At one point I had three separate oil leaks but all three were relatively easy to diagnose and correct. I also dealt with some odd electrical issues that, through research, determined are somewhat common on the E46 with age. These included a failing ignition switch, starter motor, instrument cluster, GM5 and door lock actuator. Never fun but at least the car should be fairly bulletproof at this point.
Future plans for the M3 include replacing the factory struts with Koni Yellows and Dinan lower springs as well as refinishing the ZCP wheels (Style 163M) that came on the car. I'm also planning on having the front end (bumper, hood and fenders) resprayed as there is quite a bit of road rash from over the years.
Super stoked to have joined the M3 community and glad to have found this forum!
I recently joined this forum and am relatively new to the world of E46 M3 ownership. I was sad to see the death of M3forum.net even though I was not a part of the M3 world at that point. Many thanks to Obioban and others for taking the time to preserve the content from M3forum.net.
I purchased my M3 in September of 2020 and my love of the car has been growing over the past year. The S54 is such a gem and couldn't be more different than the S62 in my E39 M5. I've had the M5 for now seven years and will say that both cars complement each other so well. The personas of each are so different that it makes it an absolute blast to drive them back to back. I'm still pinching myself that I own both of my childhood dream BMW M cars. I will say that I've been spending more seat time in the E46 and less in the E39 since bringing home the M3. It's just too fun to rev that S54 through it paces.
The M3 is a 2002 Carbon Black over black coupe factory six speed manual with just over 72k miles. I'm located in the Boston area and flew down to Orlando to pick it up and drive it back up to New England. I'd describe the car as very "OEM+" in its current set up. Everything is factory except for Fabspeed headers, and Borla mufflers (factory section 1 & 2). Overall, I really like the sound but plan on replacing the resonators to alleviate some of the mid-range "rasp." The previous owner tackled some of the pain points of the E46 which originally drew me to this particular example. The subframe had been reinforced as well as the common VANOS failure points addressed with Beisan Systems parts including their anti-rattle kit for good measure. Over the past year, in typical E46 M3 fashion, I have had to deal with quite a few common failure points including a leaking CPV, VCG, and lower timing chain tensioner. At one point I had three separate oil leaks but all three were relatively easy to diagnose and correct. I also dealt with some odd electrical issues that, through research, determined are somewhat common on the E46 with age. These included a failing ignition switch, starter motor, instrument cluster, GM5 and door lock actuator. Never fun but at least the car should be fairly bulletproof at this point.
Future plans for the M3 include replacing the factory struts with Koni Yellows and Dinan lower springs as well as refinishing the ZCP wheels (Style 163M) that came on the car. I'm also planning on having the front end (bumper, hood and fenders) resprayed as there is quite a bit of road rash from over the years.
Super stoked to have joined the M3 community and glad to have found this forum!
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