Discussion
After wanting one for a long time and being egged on by the cheap M car thread the E46 was finally getting affordable so I traded my Z4 3lr against this big chunk of black german coupe with a sprinkle of track nutter
ride is very comfy and copes well with the roads in the state they are just now (18s rather than the larger 19s being the driver's choice and finding plenty of grip). Gunmetal powder coated wheels with drilled discs all round and stops as fast as it goes. Adjustable side bolsters and lumber on the electric seats really grip you in place and it corners on rails unless you are being lead footed. Averaged 34mpg on a long run with cruise control and a 27mpg average over all so far with some hooning is better than I thought it would be. Had A new Alternator, brakes, tyres, auxiliary belts, diff seals, front and rear bushes and a few other bits and pieces replaced and the full inspection two service before I bought so it shouldn't cost much to run other than fuel for a few years (fingers crossed).Spent a long time finding the perfect spec, a black and dechromed 2003 car with less than 50k miles that had the M front strut brace and bi-xenon lights, the fully adjustable seats, sunroof and a manual gearbox. Road tax only £210 and insurance with the tracker only £800 a year was quite good. Maybe update the front with some carbon/black front grills to replace the chrome next and those carbon induction kits from the CSL do sound great...
.Looks like a nice example. I'm looking to replace my 350z with one of these after the summer as I need more seats. I'm surprised you get such high MPG. My zed struggles to get 23mpg most of the time, and that is a mix between town and mostly motorway driving. 
P.S. you need some tyre shine :P
P.S. you need some tyre shine :P
Lovely m3, looks really classy with the 18's.
As a fellow zed owner thinking of making the same change, I hope I could ask a couple of questions?
Firstly you say the ride is comfy, is it allot better than the zed and did you ditch the runflats from the zed?
Secondly i find the electric steering on the zed lacks feel, how is the rack in the m3?
Cheers
As a fellow zed owner thinking of making the same change, I hope I could ask a couple of questions?
Firstly you say the ride is comfy, is it allot better than the zed and did you ditch the runflats from the zed?
Secondly i find the electric steering on the zed lacks feel, how is the rack in the m3?
Cheers
Docwalker said:
Lovely m3, looks really classy with the 18's.
As a fellow zed owner thinking of making the same change, I hope I could ask a couple of questions?
Firstly you say the ride is comfy, is it allot better than the zed and did you ditch the runflats from the zed?
Secondly i find the electric steering on the zed lacks feel, how is the rack in the m3?
Cheers
I had a 3.0 Z4 (non sports suspension) on 19's and it was a total dog with the runflats. My girlfriend used to laugh at me because I was constantly dodging imperfections in the road. Even on 18's with non-runflats it was still harsh.As a fellow zed owner thinking of making the same change, I hope I could ask a couple of questions?
Firstly you say the ride is comfy, is it allot better than the zed and did you ditch the runflats from the zed?
Secondly i find the electric steering on the zed lacks feel, how is the rack in the m3?
Cheers
I ran an E46 M3 on both 18's & 19's (non-runflat Contis) and it was a dream in comparison. DO IT!!!*
- be prepared to grab lots of oppo compared to the Z though!
Docwalker said:
Lovely m3, looks really classy with the 18's.
As a fellow zed owner thinking of making the same change, I hope I could ask a couple of questions?
Firstly you say the ride is comfy, is it allot better than the zed and did you ditch the runflats from the zed?
Secondly i find the electric steering on the zed lacks feel, how is the rack in the m3?
Cheers
Steering is good old hydraulics and none of the change in weight and artificial feel of the z4. Still not the most communicative steering and if can feel a bit smooth and glassy around the first quarter turn (makes it stable at speed), but several steps up from the z4 for clarity and weighting without any of the stickiness you sometimes got on the z4. As a fellow zed owner thinking of making the same change, I hope I could ask a couple of questions?
Firstly you say the ride is comfy, is it allot better than the zed and did you ditch the runflats from the zed?
Secondly i find the electric steering on the zed lacks feel, how is the rack in the m3?
Cheers
For ride you can run over cats eyes with the 18s on under power and you won't notice the back skip, the traction light won't flash at you and your passenger won't wonder what the thump was (unlike the z4 though I did have the m sport suspension and runflats on mine)
Absorbs larger impacts much better and the damping is fantastic, best compromise of ride and handling I've felt in a long time. Feels like it rides better than the 325ci e46 I had previously which was also on m sport suspension and 18" wheelsIn short do it
Crusoe said:
Adjustable side bolsters and lumber on the electric seats really grip you in place and it corners on rails unless you are being lead footed. Averaged 34mpg on a long run with cruise control and a 27mpg average over all so far with some hooning is better than I thought it would be.
i must say i disagree with this, corner on rails they dont, it is so easy to get the back end out, not that thats a bad thing just the polar opposite of cornering like on rails.and you are averaging 27mpg? my friends only gets about 22mpg and my focus st used to get around 23 or 24mpg and civic type-r`s only seem to get 23mpg too.
perhaps it is your driving style that has you saying it corners like on rails and gets 27mpg. miss daisy per chance?
anyway lovely car you have there, and i reckon the mpg and rail cornering talk will disappear once you get a bit more brave with it.
like everyone else i think the 18`s have grown on me as i used to only like the look of the 19`s. but going against the grain, surely the 19`s are the drivers choice hence the m3 csl being equipped with them?
anonymous said:
[redacted]
True, i have heard a few reports that agree with that and also a few that mentioned no discernable difference. but after driving an m3 with the 19`s i really cant see how 18`s would make it any better, they are not a bone crunching ride anyway and the stiffer sidewalls should make for less flex etc.To be honest i doubt it makes much if any difference as the car does not feel like it has bonecrunching suspension anyway, whereas on a new civic type-r the 19`s really do make for too stiff a ride although i am not sure even the 18`s help much to cure that.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
i see what you are getting at, but dont tarmac touring cars have very large wheels? i know they have huge brakes but i am sure they could go a size smaller on the wheels if they wanted. i could be wrong on that but am sure they brakes dont fill the wheels on those.i might google it.
Tend to get decent mpg from most of my cars, live out in the sticks so minimum journey is always at least 8 miles so car always has time to warm up and I don't spend much time doing stop start stuff in town. Engine is in great health too after the inspection 2 so probably running at peak efficiency on new oil and filters. Snow up here today so driving like miss daisy sometimes not troubled the traction control light at all yet dry, wet or snow but have had it off just to see when there was some room to play. Like to think I drive quite smoothly these days after a run of rwd cars, slow in fast out rather than provoking the rear though compared to the lighter z4 on the same width tyres it grips a lot harder. You would have to be doing something silly with the throttle to accidently get the rear sliding in the dry on fresh rear tyres IMO.
not troubled the traction control light at all yet dry, wet or snow but have had it off just to see when there was some room to play. Like to think I drive quite smoothly these days after a run of rwd cars, slow in fast out rather than provoking the rear though compared to the lighter z4 on the same width tyres it grips a lot harder. You would have to be doing something silly with the throttle to accidently get the rear sliding in the dry on fresh rear tyres IMO.Edited by Crusoe on Tuesday 30th March 13:54
Crusoe said:
Tend to get decent mpg from most of my cars, live out in the sticks so minimum journey is always at least 8 miles so car always has time to warm up and I don't spend much time doing stop start stuff in town. Snow up here today so driving like miss daisy sometimes not troubled the traction control light at all yet dry, wet or snow but have had it off just to see when there was some room to play. Like to think I drive quite smoothly these days after a run of rwd cars, slow in fast out rather than provoking the rear though compared to the lighter z4 on the same width tyres it grips a lot harder.
Aah you keep the traction control on, that will be it. a sensible man. i would still wager that your average will not stay at 27mpg for long. not troubled the traction control light at all yet dry, wet or snow but have had it off just to see when there was some room to play. Like to think I drive quite smoothly these days after a run of rwd cars, slow in fast out rather than provoking the rear though compared to the lighter z4 on the same width tyres it grips a lot harder.Anyway, enjoy it. Oh and give it a good clean and get some more pics up.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff