So in this other thread the question was posed if the E46 M3 looked dated or not. As you can imagine the opinions varied.

Thread is here: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...d.php?t=136777

Then Zach (his screenname) and I started a friendly debate regarding the e46 M3 vs the e92 M3.

I offered the fact that a 30K mile e46 M3 is about 27K + 20K for an installed HPF stg 1 turbo gets you 750 hp. Versus 70K for 415hp e92 M3.

So let's have a poll. Which do you want?

750 hp e46 M3 for 47K

OR

415 hp E92 M3 for 70K

 

which do i want for what purpose?

daily driver, under factory warranty for 4 years, new... e92

gobs of horsepower, no need for warranty/not a daily driver... e46

 

to be honest...i dont see the need for that much hp on the street (turbo'd e46 m3) unless you want it for bragging rights.

pros of the e92

1) better suited year round as a daily driver (what the m3s are meant for)
2)warranty-bmw dealer being close by to stand by the product (hopefully! so long as it doesnt turn into the initial rod bearing denial of bmw)
3) even with 415 hp, youre not going to use it all on the street

on the other hand (cons of the e92)

1) i dont think its worth 70K-i drive the hell out of one and it was good but wasnt anything 'special' or monumental to me.
2) the car is going to depreciate like crazy-i believe as of today, 2 yr residual (or is it 3 yr?) is 51%

 

750 E46 M3 is retarded. brakes are not up to snuff, the chassis ain't either and we all know about the subframe issue. it's a glorified krautrocket.

get all the power u want from the factory.

 

I chose E92. Not into modded cars.

 

well im young and would have to say the E46 HPF

but when you factor in a few things
-tires
-brakes
-subframe
-maintenance on a turboed s54
-tickets

i think i would have to say the E92 after all that

 

E92.

The E46 would be a pain in the *** ... sooner or later.

 

Not trying to sway opinions either way, but couldn't all the problems mentioned easily be solved for much less the 23K spread between the two cars.

Remember guys I am including price as a major component.

 

Thats horrible.If I was a baller I would take the E92 but since Im an average young guy who spends too much on cars well Ill go with the E46. Plus with the 23K I can still buy a brand new GTI, WRX or something else for winter. For some guys here its not a problem but I rather have more than less and slowly build a nice car stable. Plus here we have probably the worst roads in the world and weather is bad half of the year. But 51% thats horrible.

 

I voted E92 (full warranty), but I'd look for one in the 55k range!

 

I managed to put 60K in 2.5 years on my E46 with minimal problems besides 2 replaced downpipes. I was all stock. With that said though, i would never buy one out of warranty. They simply cost too much to fix. Ive seen alot fo E92's sitting stagnant on the dealer lots, imo i believe this is because they are just too high priced. But...I dont think there is anything better then the BMW warranties. And with the fact that the E46 engine was a very highly stressed engine to start, I could only imagine the amount of problems that straight 6 would come up wiht haveing 750hp squeezed out of it. My vote is for the E92. The mods will come for that one not long down the road...

 

OK then add $5k to the price. The gist of the comparison is still the same.

 

I was wondering the same thing and forgot to comment on it. Considering my 03 SMG with 96K on the clock got a payout of 30G's when i totalled it back in november. Ive seen E46's up in and near the 40's still.

 

A simple search on cars.com will get you numerous hits on 02's and 03's

For 28K-32K with about 30K on the clock.

 

Ahh..i was just speaking from my personal experience. Im sure the price must have dropped with all the 08's now sitting on dealer lots.... Again...after almost getting charged $2300 from the dealer to replace my downpipes because they kept sending the CEL off...(and that was twice that it happened, luckily the "parts warranty" was still in place when the second set failed) I stick by my plan of never owning a bmw without a warranty