Soldato
Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...
- Thread starter BananaDunka
- Start date
Was at Morrisons today and as I came back to the car, an elderly gent got out of a new Peugeot coupe and asked what year the M3 was. Then we had a conversation whilst he waited for the Mrs to finish the shopping. Mentioned the condition and that he hasn't seen one like this for a while, also that he had a 3 series from the early 90s and missed them days. Was a nice bit of conversational change with a stranger in current times haha. His car had diamond cut wheels and he asked how I kept mine so good so I pointed him to the direction of FA Wheels 
His words before leaving were "don't ever get rid of it".
I still have not had a chance to fit the water pump yet although have been keeping an eye on the current one which seems to have stayed put all this time. The fan has no play still either so the state of the original has been unchanged since I last posted about it. Either way the new pump is still boxed in the car and waiting for a tidy day with no other things planned...
Been out driving lately with no real destination as it's been some time since I've done any real long drives in it and realised I'd started to forget just how nice certain things are, the throttle response, the noise, the way power is delivered and how everything is felt through the steering wheel.
His words before leaving were "don't ever get rid of it".
I still have not had a chance to fit the water pump yet although have been keeping an eye on the current one which seems to have stayed put all this time. The fan has no play still either so the state of the original has been unchanged since I last posted about it. Either way the new pump is still boxed in the car and waiting for a tidy day with no other things planned...
Been out driving lately with no real destination as it's been some time since I've done any real long drives in it and realised I'd started to forget just how nice certain things are, the throttle response, the noise, the way power is delivered and how everything is felt through the steering wheel.
Soldato
Still miss mine and watching them go up in value is gutting so keep a hold of it for sure.
Many seem to share your thoughts years after they sell and move on! Could not bring myself to get rid, even if I get something modern in time, circumstances withstanding of course.
Even though the coupe has a sleeker looking top section, the convertible has slightly lower suspension and holds its own I feel
Even though the coupe has a sleeker looking top section, the convertible has slightly lower suspension and holds its own I feel
Soldato
its weird when I bought mine I did not find myself drawn to the convertible but as I got older I really like them and yours is stunning. I never thought i would regret selling mine for a newer evo.
Don't say that! Some will claim midlife crisis
I wish all the body panels were aluminium like the bonnet though. Wouldn't have to worry about rust/corrosion then and would save a whole lot of ball ache at this age.
I wish all the body panels were aluminium like the bonnet though. Wouldn't have to worry about rust/corrosion then and would save a whole lot of ball ache at this age.
Soldato
^Very well presented MRK!
I saw a nice Silver Gray / Red Interior very clean convertible down near my parents, it looks like it's had a good respray and the interior's also been well sorted..
I'm just splashing out on a large extension on the house, but if I have any left over I am tempted to sort out the paintwork (not rusty, just scraped/scratched and worn over the years) and maybe do some of the preventative stuff and hang on to it for another 5 years..
I saw a nice Silver Gray / Red Interior very clean convertible down near my parents, it looks like it's had a good respray and the interior's also been well sorted..
I'm just splashing out on a large extension on the house, but if I have any left over I am tempted to sort out the paintwork (not rusty, just scraped/scratched and worn over the years) and maybe do some of the preventative stuff and hang on to it for another 5 years..
I do want to just refresh some trim bits inside at some point but otherwise I think it's still going strong! Paintwork is always a tough one because every bodyshop is different in how they approach attention to detail and that can make or break the end results. Sure all will be well though
@mrk did you get you car detailed locally or did you clean it yourself?
I've just moved across from Southsea to Fareham and looking to get my car detailed. Anyone you can recommend?
Also need some tyres fitted, looking to avoid the likes of F1 autocentre, Kwik Fit etc after some poor work in the past.
I've just moved across from Southsea to Fareham and looking to get my car detailed. Anyone you can recommend?
Also need some tyres fitted, looking to avoid the likes of F1 autocentre, Kwik Fit etc after some poor work in the past.
I got the car detailed some years ago by Envy Car Care in Fareham, guy who runs it is called Tim Bomford, he will sort you out After that point I just maintained it myself really but do want to have ceramic coating put on it again in the near future as it really is good stuff.
http://www.envycarcare.co.uk
As for tyres, give Darren a ring on DG Mobile Tyres. He's recently set up this mobile service but used to work at another mobile tyre firm so has a lot of experience. I went to school with him so know he's legit.
https://dgtyreservices.co.uk
What are you driving now btw? Fareham is down the road Should do a 1 metre or greater meet one day
After that point I just maintained it myself really but do want to have ceramic coating put on it again in the near future as it really is good stuff.http://www.envycarcare.co.uk
As for tyres, give Darren a ring on DG Mobile Tyres. He's recently set up this mobile service but used to work at another mobile tyre firm so has a lot of experience. I went to school with him so know he's legit.
https://dgtyreservices.co.uk
What are you driving now btw? Fareham is down the road
Should do a 1 metre or greater meet one day Envy came up as the nearest place to me on a Google search so good to know they are recommended.
After a decade of driving 7 seater MPVs I had enough and bought a 2016 E350 Coupe. Not enough seats for the whole family but who cares
It's black and the chrome trim is looking cloudy. For now want to get rid of all the excess polish applied everywhere by the car dealers and get the chrome sorted. Ceramic coating is planned for later. Added the Android Auto update couple of weeks ago. After the new tyres I'll need to start saving again.
After a decade of driving 7 seater MPVs I had enough and bought a 2016 E350 Coupe. Not enough seats for the whole family but who cares
It's black and the chrome trim is looking cloudy. For now want to get rid of all the excess polish applied everywhere by the car dealers and get the chrome sorted. Ceramic coating is planned for later. Added the Android Auto update couple of weeks ago. After the new tyres I'll need to start saving again.
AH gotcha, yep Envy will sort that out no prob!
The arch to wheel proportions both front and back are just perfect in my eyes on these. The newer models just don't feel the same to the eyeballs.
On a less positive note though, my Lambda 2 sensor (pre-cat) has thrown an error code. I recall this happened years ago on the old engine and it cleared itself after an Italian tune-up. But I suspect this time round the sensor is on its way. Luckily they are not hugely expensive and is relatively easy to swap as long as I can jack the car up as the connection to bank 2 is the most tedious one to get to at the pre-cat location. It might be a rogue error though too as there's no change in power or economy.... Have cleared for now and will monitor.
Looks lovely mrk, I haven't seen any E46 let alone an M3 that looks that nice since ...well probably OcUK meets many years ago, a decade plus now probably. I have no idea what most people I used to see are driving now, not really kept up for about the past 7 years or so.
Blast from the past! Good to see a familiar name hah
You are right too, I rarely see another E46 any more on the roads, there used to be 3 other E46 M3s around town, one house a few blocks away even had 2 on the drive for years but rarely see them any more. One had rusted arches for far too long
MOst members seem to have moved onto more models it seems, maybe I am stuck in the past? I like it though, its old skool nature but sadly I'm getting rather tired of the old skool parts slowly failing and needing replacing. Such is the way I guess.
Haha well I'm keeping it sort of old school without actually been 'too old' I drive an F22 2 series Coupe with a manual gear box and a proper handbrake, it does not have an interesting or special engine though, just a 2.0 diesel. I bought it while I was commuting on the motorway a lot but I don't drive nearly as much as I used to anymore, well I suppose that's true of many right now but in this respect I mean prior to the human malware problem I dropped from a 40 mile commute to 2 miles, so started riding my bike when the weather was nicer anyway, words I never thought I would hear myself say but I'm much healthier for it. But I still prefer the 'old school' BMW's in many regards, the E46, E39 and even the E38, best looking and most fun to drive generation in my opinion and probably the best put together aswell. The F22 really reminds me of that generation in many ways actually.
Soldato
Yeh that'll grind you down after a while, especially if you already are fancying a change too.
I don't fancy a change that's the thing 
Just gonna keep throwing money at it until the end of time I guess
I have been driving but lockdown and beyond I have been driving far less to the point I bought a CETEK as my old battery had died after ~5 weeks standstill lol. Since then though I have been just driving around the local areas, luckily I live in a coastal part of the country with plenty of sea views and winding roads to enjoy at leisurely pace roof down so early or late, always an opportunity to get some fresh air and keep the mechanicals in half decent order I guess.
I've heard the 2 is closer to the old era as a driver's car than any other, especially the M2.
Just gonna keep throwing money at it until the end of time I guess I have been driving but lockdown and beyond I have been driving far less to the point I bought a CETEK as my old battery had died after ~5 weeks standstill lol. Since then though I have been just driving around the local areas, luckily I live in a coastal part of the country with plenty of sea views and winding roads to enjoy at leisurely pace roof down so early or late, always an opportunity to get some fresh air and keep the mechanicals in half decent order I guess.
I've heard the 2 is closer to the old era as a driver's car than any other, especially the M2.
New tyres got fitted today to the rear. The car came with CSL sizing all round so I always kept that as all these years CSL size worked out cheaper than standard size but this time round standard was cheaper so decided to drop to stock sizing and see if there's any difference in how the car feels. I am expecting slightly less road noise on the motorway is all I guess. The fronts are still 235 so will drop those to stock when it's time for them to be changed.
Have to say, PS4S feels like they were made for the E46 M3. So good in dry or wet and even when low on tread had not skipped a beat.
I have had PSS, CSC6 and PS4S. This will be my 2nd set of 4S whilst I had 2 pairs of PSS and only 1 set of CSC6 which I did not like and only got half the mileage out of them.
Ok so it's coming up to time I thought about replacing the Android stereo with something that has a bit more power and a nicer screen, bluetooth 5 support, Android Auto etc. I saw this video thanks to the youtube algo today and checked out the unit:
https://xtrons.com/bmw-various-android-10-hexa-core-4gb-ram-64gb-rom-pq8046bl
Everything looks quite nice, the depth of the unit is shorter than my current one too so I'll have a lot more room to tuck dongles and cable sin without having to shove stuff about like before, and that super wide screen is nice. I like it mostly because the main buttons retain the shape and style of the E46 console buttons so it still looks OEM. If I do decide on getting this them I will matte black spray the chrome knob surrounds so it's all black.
https://xtrons.com/bmw-various-android-10-hexa-core-4gb-ram-64gb-rom-pq8046bl
Everything looks quite nice, the depth of the unit is shorter than my current one too so I'll have a lot more room to tuck dongles and cable sin without having to shove stuff about like before, and that super wide screen is nice. I like it mostly because the main buttons retain the shape and style of the E46 console buttons so it still looks OEM. If I do decide on getting this them I will matte black spray the chrome knob surrounds so it's all black.
Last edited: