Supercharge owner are you happy !

[Toby22]

I will jump in and comment even though everything has already been said. I am supercharged and I am moving to an N.A. build when I do my restoration to my m3.

You have to ask yourself this: What’s the point?

As many people pointed out, there are better options if FI is your thing. The e46 m3 is a 20 year car. Yes, supercharging it was great during 2004-2011. I did it because I wanted to run with all the high horsepower cars at the time. You only needed 450whp-550whp back then. Skip forward 20 years, what’s 450whp-550whp? That’s what most M cars, RS cars, AMG’s, mustangs, Camaros, etc put down from the factory without mods. You simply can not compete with the modern cars. You can get the M2 Competition that comes with the s55 engine and retains the small compact nature of the e46 m3. Better yet, you could get an e9x 335i n54 that makes more power and is compatible to an e46 m3 with a supercharger for the price of a stock e46 m3 manual coupe.

For me, when I saw that they were never going to make a comparable car to the m3 e46, I said it’s time to make it a car that you enjoy driving. As many pointed out with a CSL airbox, injectors, full exhaust and cams you could be making 410-420 hp, that’s as much power as an v8 e9x m3. Throw in some weight reduction and suspension work, you will have one fun little car that is not available new anymore. A 420hp, high revving, 3100lbs car is like a unicorn today. I keep hearing that it’s better to have a slow car feel fast then a fast car feel slow, and I think this is true of the e46 m3.


So again, you need to ask yourself: What’s the point?

this is actually a good thought on the subject. At this point, I may just have my e46 and add a more modern FI car that’s more convenient to have high hp (~500whp).

[jvit27]

bmw m3 s50 hit the nail on the head.

I think there's a fine line with FI vs NA that greys with age.... big power is easy nowadays, with other cars being 'better' choices. The difference between my 290whp S54 and 620whp one was simply how much of a db I wanted to drive like.

400-450hp is the sweet spot for an E46 (most street cars, actually). A mild supercharger setup is a great choice but the temptation for more is always there, yet 500++ brings too many compromises. Now that this car is sadly considered a classic, it's charm doesn't lie in it's numbers - it never did. Watch the patterns of owners nowadays, we're all kind of gravitating to the lightweight/analog ethos as time goes on because that's what this platform CAN do better.

[Cubieman]

I just think it comes down to people liking the E46 so much they choose to hotrod it instead of buying an F80 M3 or F90 M5 etc.

I have driven a few F90 M5's, they are stupid fast. I drove one with a full exhaust/tune, quite the experience.
But I would only own that if I didn't have to work on it, the S63 is a BITCH to wrench on. The S55 isn't too bad I suppose.

It's really just a personal choice, I understand both sides, here in Nebraska we don't have very many windy type roads so the temptation to make a roll racer or drag race type car with the E46 is quite a temptation for me now that I have my NA M3 all done up.
FWIW I'm not doing stupid shit on public roads, got that out of my system when I was much younger.

[Slideways]

I just think it comes down to people liking the E46 so much they choose to hotrod it instead of buying an F80 M3 or F90 M5 etc.

I have driven a few F90 M5's, they are stupid fast. I drove one with a full exhaust/tune, quite the experience.
But I would only own that if I didn't have to work on it, the S63 is a BITCH to wrench on. The S55 isn't too bad I suppose.

It's really just a personal choice, I understand both sides, here in Nebraska we don't have very many windy type roads so the temptation to make a roll racer or drag race type car with the E46 is quite a temptation for me now that I have my NA M3 all done up.
FWIW I'm not doing stupid shit on public roads, got that out of my system when I was much younger.

The S54 gets pretty annoying to work on when you have all the FI hardware installed. FI adds complexity and weight. CSL intake system does the opposite.