e46 M3 Individual. Version 2.

[Sir_Dave]

So then, this wont be a massively long thread full of modifications & faffing, it'll just be a place to put a load of (cr4p) pictures now & again.
I went out looking for an e92 M3 to replace the M135i and ended up buying this instead, half the price spent meant more money for other things.

Its an '03 with Individual Aegean Blue paint, Lotus White leather & Black birch wood trim. Every option ticked (bar extended leather), including:
Satnav (minidisc lol), Trafficmaster, Voice control, Harmon Kardon, Heated Seats, Electric Sunroof, Folding Mirrors & Electric Rear Blind.

The previous owner had also fitted some Storm Titanium SMG paddles & had the steering wheel re-trimmed by Jack at Royal. With full BMW history, BMW warranty until 2013, BMW subframe repair in March 2014 and an Insp2 done at Redish in Nov 14 inc. gearbox/diff oil, the car pretty much sold itself to me, the history file is about an inch thick!! I'll probably keep up the basic BMW servicing, but do everything else myself.

The car currently needs a clean, but here are a few pictures anyway, i just love the colour combo, the interior is just sublime imho!!

Current fleet:

The masterpiece:

Lotus white goodness:

Trafficmaster, proper oldskool display style lol!!

Minidisc player lol

And the colour when clean:

Things that will be changing? I quite fancy a Storm Titanium SMG shifter to match the paddles, as so:

Other than that? Maybe some Eibach springs when the OEM ones fail, CSL gearbox settings and possibly an airbox, the car isnt as loud as i remember, although i am probably just used to 3.0 turbo noises being played through a speaker in the car

 

[Addicted]

Tidy!

Very nice fleet atm!

Still think the E9x was the winner though

 

[daveski]

Love the colour combo.

 

[Lal B3N]

Interior looks superb!

 

[_Tom]

Colour combo makes it. Lovely car and you seem very happy.

 

[Poopensharten]

That is absolutely stunning, Dave!

Aegan blue lol

Some of the names car manufacturers name their paints make me assume they're f**king high!

"Ah yes, its centre of the earth iron silver"

 

[rctempire]

Looks lovely.
Seat colour is pretty special.

 

[cat171]

Fantastic!! The whole thing is made of win imo. I love it!

 

[C.J]

Nice, I prefer this to the 135i. I'd have one.

 

[Short Norman]

That is absolutely stunning, Dave!

Aegan blue lol

Some of the names car manufacturers name their paints make me assume they're f**king high!

"Ah yes, its centre of the earth iron silver"

my lad just pick up a car called shiny grey....

nice M3, on my radar to have one sooner rather than later. Other things keep getting in the way and taking my money though.

Dave does the M3 suffer from the same poor handbrake design as the regular E46. My 320d's hand brake has never worked properly.

 

[Martin.]

Everything about it looks awesome. Interior looks amazing for a car of this age!!!

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

Looks mint does that.

 

[Rob]

Really like that, it's no v8, but it's lovely all the same.

Interior colour is superb! Somehow modernises it?

 

[Herr Flick]

Best thing about that car is the wood trim. :smile:

 

[Cookie]

SMG probably going to explode etc
I like the colour
@ohara - Your handbrake probably just needs the cable adjusting. Mine was s**t until the garage adjusted it before me. No longer have to launch the handle into the sky to get it to hold.

 

[imprezaworks]

You have had some really nice cars, this looks like another

 

[Cliotoby]

More pics please. Show off that colour, looks insane!!!

 

[JD]

S54 fwend.

Like it a lot. But still would have gone for a v8...!!

 

[Hixle]

Love this Dave.

Saw you in the Mini a little while back!

 

[chris_p]

I have to agree that an e92 V8 would have been better, but the e46 is and always will be a terrific car.

I can't see you keeping this long though, cars often don't quite live up to the high praise you once remembered, you remember the good bits and forget the negatives until you get back in one!

I know if I got back in an M after being spoilt with turbo torque I'd find it a little frustrating on a daily basis. I always found by the time I was having any real fun I'd have to back off again as I'd be in licence losing territory.
In the right conditions, at the right time, theses things are just incredible, unfortunately I just found these occasions few and far between in the UK, no real fault of the car at all!

Enjoy for the few months you have if though mate lovely spec.

 

[-Rob]

Love this car, great spec too! I had an Aegean blue and a mora purple lined up but couldn't sell my Abarth in time.

How do you find the SMG?

Not sure I could settle for a "boring" interior in one of these and that lotus white interior looks fantastic!

 

[Poopensharten]

Just realised the sat nav only takes you to Aberdeen lol.

 

[Ali]

Beautiful colour! Least you've bought a real ///M this time...

 

[philmots]

Like that, Dave

White leather is pretty cool.

 

[Richyy182]

Lovely car Dave!

Is it wrong to say I still miss the Yellow 106GTI ?

 

[Russ_16v]

Lovely Davy boy! (How you been? Not seen you in a while!)

Oh I can get lots of aftermarket bits for M cars (including eibach obviously ) - come to me first!

 

[Rawhide]

I used to have an M3 individual with very similar colours. The Nav can be upgraded for the DVD based unit quite cheaply secondhand and it's a big improvement. Still not to modern standard but much better than that one.

 

[Ray Gin]

Looks great! As I said before - the nav, although crap, freshens up the interior so much.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Love the colour combo.

Interior looks superb!

Thanks!! Ever since i was 17 ive wanted a blue(ish) car with a white leather interior, finally managed it with this.
A darn site better than the Calibra 2.0 8v that first made me love the combo as well 😂

I can't see you keeping this long though, cars often don't quite live up to the high praise you once remembered, you remember the good bits and forget the negatives until you get back in one!

I know if I got back in an M after being spoilt with turbo torque I'd find it a little frustrating on a daily basis. I always found by the time I was having any real fun I'd have to back off again as I'd be in licence losing territory.

Strangely, i much prefer this one to the last M3!!! As daft as it sounds, coming from me of all people, but for a day to day driver, around town etc, the SMG is a lot better than the manual ever was, certainly less like driving a rocket powered truck!! Full auto mode is pretty pants, but in manual mode, if you drive it just like a manual car (but without your left leg pumping the clutch), its perfectly smooth, i also like still being involved in the gearchange process, ie rev matching/heal & toe, im not even sure i want the CSL rev match now, i like doing it myself!! With DSC off, in S6, with Sport Mode on, the thing is rampant, shift lights glowing as you approach 8k rpm, my god, what a car! What a car!

Re: point 2, yes, the M135i gave you a big boosted shove at lower speeds, but i didnt like the delivery, the tyres didnt really know what to do with it, so i can understand why the newer M3/M4 arent getting the rave reviews that the NA ones did previously ...

Not sure I could settle for a "boring" interior in one of these and that lotus white interior looks fantastic!

Ah, you bought that one, i pondered that myself (it was very well priced imho), but decided i wanted an SMG instead!! Lovely looking car though, such an unusual colour combo!!

Lovely car Dave!
Is it wrong to say I still miss the Yellow 106GTI ?

You & me both!! My first proper hot hatch, epic car that!!

Lovely Davy boy! (How you been? Not seen you in a while!)

Oh I can get lots of aftermarket bits for M cars (including eibach obviously ) - come to me first! :wink:

Im good thanks Russ, noticed that you got married! Congrats!
Eibachs might happen at some point (when the OEM's snap), but the only thing i really want is a CSL airbox tbh ...

More pics please. Show off that colour, looks insane!!!

Gave it a quick clean yesterday, so here you go, colour is impossible to capture on an iPhone lol...

 

[Rob]

Very nice. If you weren't a million miles away I'd happily take some pictures. Need a reason to dust the camera off. If we get any nice weather coming up could rendezvous somewhere central and I'll bring the bike down?

 

[Brookie.]

Only just seen this. Love it Dave!

Would look even better on some silver CSLs

 

[Matt W]

Stunning!
So refreshing not seeing a badman spec one!

 

[JackD]

Looks great mate, I agree that they could do with a touch more noise - am tempted to get either sports cats or a decat.

Are the LEDs going on? Think they suit it, wasn't sure at first but seeing standard ones definitely made mine up.

Won't be long until eibachs then if you're waiting for a snapped spring!

 

[Cookie]

Glad to hear you have succumbed to the SMG darkside

 

[182Trophy]

@Sir_Dave how do you heel-toe/rev match without a clutch?

 

[Sir_Dave]

Very nice. If you weren't a million miles away I'd happily take some pictures. Need a reason to dust the camera off. If we get any nice weather coming up could rendezvous somewhere central and I'll bring the bike down?

Might be an idea at some point, although in the Spring would probably be better, think it needs machine polishing before proper photos are taken, is a little swirly, & that wont be done for a loooooong time lol ... Sarah's TT needs doing as well tbh, one too many Romanianwashes. Bike? You upgraded that Honda moped thing you had then?

Would look even better on some silver CSLs :wink:

If it was silver grey, yes, it would look like Scutch's CSL'alike (just without the cr4ppy spacerz lol), this will stay looking like a normal M3 though, i genuinely prefer the look. This does nothing for me, especially with that awful black grille!! Badmanz.

Stunning!
So refreshing not seeing a badman spec one!

Ha ha, thanks!!

Looks great mate, I agree that they could do with a touch more noise - am tempted to get either sports cats or a decat.
Are the LEDs going on? Think they suit it, wasn't sure at first but seeing standard ones definitely made mine up.
Won't be long until eibachs then if you're waiting for a snapped spring!

I know what you mean noise wise, although luckily i have a sunroof, so simply drive around with that open all the time!! Makes a big difference, but can close it when i want a bit more quiet, unlike a decat/louder exhaust etc. Im too old for that now lol. But yes, LED's are currently in the boot, will be buying the appropriate leads from Cotswold BMW when i buy a new steering coupler, then they'll be going on. Need to put the coding software put on my netbook as well though, as i only have INPA on it at the moment. Had 2 new springs (& all the bushes) done when the subframe was changed, so hopefully they'll last a little while, although you know what BMW springs are like 😂

Glad to hear you have succumbed to the SMG darkside

I love it!! How is yours doing at the moment? Judging by your avatar, not so well lol ...

@Sir_Dave how do you heel-toe/rev match without a clutch?

It still has a clutch, its just operated by the car instead of my foot. Essentially, when its changing gear/the clutch is in, the number on the dash display flashes, so you just blip the throttle just before it engages, as per a manual car. Also, as i only use speed setting S5, i've got pretty used to the time its takes for it to change gear, so it comes as second nature now. This is only during normal day to day bumbling about btw, to smooth the changes, when "on it" and/or in S6, it seems to blip itself anyways.

 

[Brookie.]

If it was silver grey, yes, it would look like Scutch's CSL'alike (just without the cr4ppy spacerz lol), this will stay looking like a normal M3 though, i genuinely prefer the look. This does nothing for me, especially with that awful black grille!! Badmanz.

Grill, no. Wheels :hearteyes:.

Makes it look less dated IMO. Still a lovely car though.

 

[JackD]

CSLs are definitely the Turinis of the BMW world. Saying that, I had Turinis and now have CSLs! I do think they look best, followed by shadow chrome oem 18s.

You know you want to! That's with eibachs as well.

Yeah I have sunroof too, I either use that or the rear 1/4 windows to regulate sound as well, just need an airbox now and I'll never shut the windows!

 

[Cookie]

@Sir_Dave - it was doing alright, then it popped some lights on on a test drive after the starter motor was replaced. Noticed the power steering cap had come off (and nestled just behind it thank f**k)
Its not popped any more lights in the last few times wife has driven it, so fingers crossed its alright now
Avatar is from June when it got towed away to the garage. It was probably also the starter then, but a new battery kept it going for 2 months

 

[Rob]

Might be an idea at some point, although in the Spring would probably be better, think it needs machine polishing before proper photos are taken, is a little swirly, & that wont be done for a loooooong time lol ... Sarah's TT needs doing as well tbh, one too many Romanianwashes. Bike? You upgraded that Honda moped thing you had then?

A decent photo will hide all those, don't worry

As for the bike, yeah come a long way since the little Honda, I've still got that and am going to nut and bolt restore it as it's worth a few quid.

But for now, I've got a Ducati monster (photo in avatar)