What am I missing out on?

[jpy1980]

Hey Guys,

Question for you manual coupe owners: what am I really missing out on as a manual vert owner?

I understand the issues with a vert vs a coupe: structural rigidity, better on track, quicker 0 to 60, 300 pounds lighter, less complicated due to not having a retractable top, can’t put race seats without a roll bar etc., forum/reddit/youtube kids say coupe are better than vert but, day to day, am I really missing something? I don’t really care about those differences as I don’t track anymore, hardly have time to go rip the canyons, and just enjoy driving the car around town when I have a moment in my busy dad life. I actually think the driving experience with the top down, the csl box and a manually transmission is amazing. Yet my brain seems to be constantly thinking that if I get a coupe, things would be different and that the driving experience would be different? Haha. Is it just FOMO when perusing the forums/reddit/yt?

I purposely chose a convertible since I live near the beach. Also my car is pretty much done now with the RB, Vanos and everything all sorted out with low miles. I even wrapped the car myself and got top shelf mods such as the csl box, custom tune, nice muffler, great SSK and BBS wheels. Not to mention that I have a hardtop as well! Totally sorted, but now I’m like let’s get rid of it and get a coupe and start over. Ugh starting over sounds bad as I went through some major Vanos issues until the owner of Beisan really helped me out - don’t want to go through that again. Haha also not sure I want to go through the hassle of selling my car (probably for less) and then shopping for a coupe (for more). I’m thinking this comes from being a former hardcore track guy before and seeing people talking about track mods makes me yearn for a piece of that - even though, honestly, I’ll never track? I even put up an ad last year with a WTT ad for a coupe but moved on from that. Eh. Guess I need to start prepping the wife for a car change. Haha she’ll be so pissed. So forum therapists, what are your thoughts? Talk me out of it.




/rant

[BL92]

Coupe or Vert

We are very privileged to own these cars, be happy with what you have my man

[dHam_Slow.46M]

If your goal is just a weekend fun car, you’re not missing out on much. Maybe the cargo space for if you need to move something reasonably long/large but then again with a vert you can always put the top down and have infinite cargo length.

And like what BL said, I’ll still ogle at any other e46Ms I see on the road regardless of config.

[oceansize]

You've got a bad case of FOMO (fear of missing out), let it go. You're not interested in track days anymore and not a single bit of anything you described matters since you're no where near the limits. FOMO is real and more prevalent than ever before due to social media and these forums. Like many, rather than continue to dump money into the e46 I bought other cars so I could have different experiences. If you've got money to burn buy some V8 muscle or go the other direction and get something around the 3,000 pound mark.

[sbay]

I owned both, first convertible and now coupe. The first time I got in a coupe after a year+ of dailying the convertible, I immediately noticed the difference in handling. Everything felt right in the world. Tight turns, less creaks and rattles. But then I realized I can only put the windows down to hear the S54 instead of putting the whole freaking roof down. On a nice summer day, the roof down, and an airbox or headers, the coupe just can’t compare.

So, it really depends on usage. And based on your type of driving, the convertible sounds like the better of the two. Driving with the top down in an M3 by the beach sounds like the dream.

[Nate047]

You’ll end up losing pretty serious money if you sell your vert and want to buy or build a comparably set up coupe. Also I don’t think you’re missing anything if you just want to cruise, and rip a canyon every now and then.

[ATB88]

Having committed hard to a convertible for the last 8 years based on a daily driver / non-track use case in Los Angeles, I wonder about this all of the time. My vert is very well maintained and it would cost an absolute ton to get a coupe and bring it up to the same standard. I've never driven a coupe and I'm always kind of afraid that if I ever did, I'd realize that I've simply wasted my time and money on the vert. But maybe not! My long term plan is to always keep the vert as a daily driver and get a more "toy" secondary car that I could enjoy on track, but already having an E46 M3 vert, it feels like picking up an M3 coupe for that purpose would be pretty silly and I should try and experience something different. But then that locks me out of ever having the "full" E46 M3 experience. Hrmph.

I think it is harder to keep a vert in "nice" condition, especially the top and interior, when you're driving top down all the time in dusty places like LA.

[lemoose]

the hoffmeister kink

[maw1124]

Claustrophobia to go along with your FOMO.

The only Coupes I ever liked were the big Mercedes.

maw

[jpy1980]

All your responses are golden! Thank you all and very interesting to hear your opinions.

[Obioban]

Back seat that can actually fit people (or 4 wheels/tires)
Trunk that can actually hold things.
Chassis stiffness (ride quality)
chassis stiffness (handling)
chassis stiffness (feedback)
chassis stiffness (responsiveness)
chassis stiffness (NHV)

If you're pushing the car hard, including on the street, the chassis stiffness is a pretty night and day difference. It's not subtle or slight.

If you're not, and don't value the back seat or trunk space, the vert is probably the better choice (assuming you live in a place that allows its use).

[elrichmeister]

If you're not maxing out for total performance then coupe vs vert is pretty much subjective. Personally i like silhouette of the coupe, over the vert. Also less things to break and maintain lol, but i cannot deny a nice vert dropped on some nice wheels.

[maw1124]

Back seat that can actually fit people (or 4 wheels/tires)
Trunk that can actually hold things.

Is the rear seat actually smaller, or are you talking about headroom with the top up? I actually bough mine because I was looking for a 4-seater drop top and have never had any problem with 4 people. But the top is almost always down.

Similarly, two sets of golf clubs and two weekend bags has been no problem in the trunk. Admittedly I lose some space to subwoofer and amps (maybe 10" up against the rear seats).

Tires don't belong in any of my cars except maybe the wagons.

maw

[Obioban]

Is the rear seat actually smaller, or are you talking about headroom with the top up? I actually bough mine because I was looking for a 4-seater drop top and have never had any problem with 4 people. But the top is almost always down.

Similarly, two sets of golf clubs and two weekend bags has been no problem in the trunk. Admittedly I lose some space to subwoofer and amps (maybe 10" up against the rear seats).

Tires don't belong in any of my cars except maybe the wagons.

maw

The back seats are pretty significantly smaller in the vert. As in the trunk.

I, happily or sadly, use both pretty often.
Going to the track is always four 275s in the back seat (with a blanket to keep things clean), and two 27 gallon bins plus a full size floor jack in the trunk, as well as a bag of clothes/laptop for the weekend. I've put thousands of miles on the car in that exact setup, driving to far away tracks.
As a street car, kid is in the back seat pretty often... and I'm 6'3 -6'4, so back seat space can be at a premium.

No joke, I'm pretty sure the trunk in my M3 (which admittedly is bigger than stock) is bigger than it was in my e39 M5 (which admitted had the factory sub woofers taking up space).

Edit:
no longer applies to me, but if the M3 is your only car, the increased capability of the fold through in the coupe adds a ton of versatility. Long ago I used the M3 to move a 65" TV.

[bigjae46]

You're missing out on heterosexuality

...kidding.