A little comparason i posted on an other Forum M3 Vs GTI

[Jules86]

I like this thread - due to be buying an E46 M3 in a couple of months! A lot of interesting information, and has answered some of the questions that I had thought about!

Thank you all 

An itch i will scratch! Even if it isnt an E46 i will own an M3 of some sort at some point in my life 

[gobbleplease]

Even if the skoda/leon/golf was quicker i would still have an E46 M3. You could buy and supercharge one for much less than ED30 and mods so not a real comparison imo.

They are not hugely fast standard but then 1 sec difference to 60 on the roads is about half a car length! I left one behind with ease in the 32 in the rain about a month ago and kept up with one through the twisties as the haldex made the car drive better than i could get it to as im a poo driver   The 32 simply caught it out the as its very slow compared to the M3, had one obliterate me in the dry once but it was a CSL (well was badged as one)

Love M3's  


If you want a supercharged m3 you are looking at 6K for the kit so defo not the cheapest to mod.
You wouldnt want the cheaper versions as these suffer from heatsoak as they are non intercooled (also add another 1K on top of that for fitting ). Another good mod if you want to stay N/A is a full Eisenmann exhaust or supersprint about £3k and a CSL style Plenum with alpha N mapping should see you with an extra 30bhp the crap BHP gains for the money says nothing about the actual drivability after this mod, the results are Stunning, the best automotive Note in the world seriously.
 

[gobbleplease]

I like this thread - due to be buying an E46 M3 in a couple of months! A lot of interesting information, and has answered some of the questions that I had thought about!

Thank you all 

The bad thing about the M3 is ownership costs inspection 2 £1000. Brake disks and pads £650, oil £95.
And modding is ridiculous, there is a very high standard of gtis, s3s, leons, Vrs s on this forum and to keep an M3 up to this standard you are looking at mega bucks, I was looking at easily £10k worth of mods to get the M to the grade i wanted. This was far too much for me so i decided to cut my losses and go for something i can get to spec for a lot less............Enter the GTI

As far as cars go GTIs and M3s have been my bread and butter and have owned a few of each. Im more clued up on my Ms at the moment as my last two cars have been M3s. 

If you have any questions reguarding your next car the M3 ( Great choice by the way ) give me a shout and ill do my best to answer

[Jules86]

Thats why, as much as i love the E46, i want to get a 335i as a map will put it well past an E46 M3 and not far off an E92 M3. Would love an old M3 as a weekend toy 

[Poverty]

i fully agree that a modded ed30 is a quick as an e46 in a straight line (my brother had an e46 m3 and i still have an s3 with GIAC)

The s3 was quicker in a straight line and i know an ed30 would be just as quick as my s3.

Now when my borther got his e90 m3 (4 door model) it left my s3 and my friends rs4 for dead and that is no joke.

Forget power to weight people get to hung up on it (gearing,power delivers,torque etc etc all play equally important roles),its how the car performs on the road and time and time again the m3 left my car and the rs4 for dead. They are a different class.

The only downside is that your average driver cant access all the power easily like you can in the s3/ed30

Think you need to do some more mods mate lol.

My mates e92 m3 was only slighlty quicker than my cupra when I had only a map and hpfp.

Beat them now though.

[Leeds s3]

saving my pennies for an e92, different class of car. I know that the ko4 with a hpfp is a good package but dont want a modded car again (not one in warranty anyway).

[Oli]

The off putting thing about an E46 M3, for me, is how dated they feel inside. However the upside is how well and rewarding they drive, and how frugal they are in normal driving.

We looked at supercharging a customers car, and spoke in depth to CA automotive, even got to the stage of demoing their outrageous 500plus bhp yellow car!- check it on their website. Anyway the point I'm getting to, is it not just a case of slapping a charger on. Brakes need to he uprated, as they're sh*te, uprated clutch, new x pipe etc, and all this fitted with the SC kit was north of ten grand!!  And what a lot of people forget is the general running costs as pointed out above.

However, I do agree, they are an itch to be scratched, and well worth it, if you get a good one. I'm lucky enough to have driven and sold lots, so my itch has been scatched, I just have the 911 one to sort out, but the plans are in place for that one.......

[gobbleplease]

i fully agree that a modded ed30 is a quick as an e46 in a straight line (my brother had an e46 m3 and i still have an s3 with GIAC)

The s3 was quicker in a straight line and i know an ed30 would be just as quick as my s3.

Now when my borther got his e90 m3 (4 door model) it left my s3 and my friends rs4 for dead and that is no joke.

Forget power to weight people get to hung up on it (gearing,power delivers,torque etc etc all play equally important roles),its how the car performs on the road and time and time again the m3 left my car and the rs4 for dead. They are a different class.

The only downside is that your average driver cant access all the power easily like you can in the s3/ed30

Think you need to do some more mods mate lol.

My mates e92 m3 was only slighlty quicker than my cupra when I had only a map and hpfp.

Beat them now though.

Im planning on doing all my chassis, visual mods before i even start on performance so i havnt done much research on this yet
im just wondering what a k04-3 car will max out at after tuning.

I plan on going stage 2 Plus (not this year though) full miltek, star performance HPFP, carbonio revo stg 2 +
i dont want to loose the engine cover so im not going for one of the tastey Induction kits - what sort of performance do you reccon this will make eg ingear times, 0-60, 1/4 mile, top speed.

Comments greatly appreciated.

[gobbleplease]

yea leeds they are comming down in price nicely at the moment, thats a good theory you have about not modding. It will take a fair bit of will power though


I didnt think the E46 felt that dated inside TBH 0li,  it was bloody "hang your self from the sunroof" boaring though.
Yea that CA monster must of been a beast, like you said though mega expensive 4k brakes 7-8k for the ESS Vt supercharger,
where do you stop ? I still go to the M3 meets as im still a big fan and i know someone who will be getting one fitted soon so he is going to come and take me for a spin, It will be an experiance 

[Hurdy]

I'd never consider an E46 M3!  *dons M3 lovers armour!!*

For the cost of modding an M3 I'd rather buy an R32 and go for twin-turbo power

[Jules86]

I'd never consider an E46 M3!  *dons M3 lovers armour!!*

For the cost of modding an M3 I'd rather buy an R32 and go for twin-turbo power

Ive changed my mind, im with Hurdy! Ill start saving with you and we can share it, i get mon, weds, fri and sun and you get tues, thurs  , sat   

[Hurdy]

I'd never consider an E46 M3!  *dons M3 lovers armour!!*

For the cost of modding an M3 I'd rather buy an R32 and go for twin-turbo power

Ive changed my mind, im with Hurdy! Ill start saving with you and we can share it, i get mon, weds, fri and sun and you get tues, thurs  , sat   

Sounds good to me

[john_o]

a similar thread from a while back
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7692.0
includes my end of term review with my E46 M3 

[WhiteGTI]

I like this thread - due to be buying an E46 M3 in a couple of months! A lot of interesting information, and has answered some of the questions that I had thought about!

Thank you all 

If you have any questions reguarding your next car the M3 ( Great choice by the way ) give me a shout and ill do my best to answer

Much appreciated! Thanks mate 

[jonnyc]

My ED30 with K04 walked on my Dads E92 M3 nooo problem.. Like cars and cars.. And the E92 is a HUGE amount faster than an E46..



Still, the M3 is a beautiful car, I enjoyed driving it a lot, and at the end of the day, its hardly apples and apples comparing a modified hatch to a V8 Coupe..

For me I would far rather have an unsuspecting hatch, it just makes it so much more fun blowing these guys away.. Which is why I have the Golf..