E30 Zone

I have owned the E30 M3 Evo for about 8 years and am thinking to moving on to the E46 M3 but am in two minds about it.

Is it worth it?
How good is the E46?
Any problems with the E46?
Would you swap one for the other?

Any help or advice given is greatly appreciated

Do it! pretty sure you won't regret it e46 is a fantastic piece of kit from the same mold as the e30. Just quicker and more comfortable!

E30 will hold its value and will be more fun to drive.
E46 goo daily driver and fast but to many electronics

E30 is a great car no doubt.

The E46 is simply devastating. Do it!

Go and test drive an e46 M3. That will help you make your mind up.

maxfield sums it up reasonably well.

They're more posers cars IMO, overweight even in CSL guise (which is the only one I've been in).

You'd need to try one out for a few weeks really to see if you like it. 8 years is a long time.

In my opinion, eight years is a long time, but your E30 M3 will hold its price, the 2001 E46 M3's can be bought for as cheap as Ԛ£20,000 (not a cabrio) some places less if you search hard, so in a year or two will be probably worth the same as a well looked after E30 M3. Ok its a newer ride, but mass production of vehicles has destroyed the cars that are meant to be the daddys, you see E46 M3's every half an hour, (well i do in london anyway) and you see E30 M3's like once in a while, and when you do everyone looks, as its a classic, so i would say, take some of that money and do up the E30 M3 (if there is anything to be done), and keep it.

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of months "baby-sitting" my dads E46 M3. It is, without doubt the better car of the two under discussion. It's very fast and useable, sounds awesome, looks great in the right colour and will go sideways all day with the TC switched off. Like all modern BMWs, its beautifully made, has a wonderful handling balance and isn't stupidly expensive to run when compared to its wouldbe alternatives. I managed 25mpg average and I don't spare the horses on the open road. I liked it so much I started to get ideas about trading in my 330Ci - I was quoted Ԛ£800 fully comp and I'm still the wrong side of 30 for most insurers.

However, the E46 M3 is a double edged sword as although itÔš's a much better car than the E30 and the E36 versions and is a hoot full stop, it has its drawbacks.

First being that you will lose your licence (and or the whole car) at the drop of a hat if your self control is not titanium reinforced.

Second, while to a bimmer fan it is a special car, most of the time it feels like any other E46. In daily driving it actually feels a bit "thinner" than the 330Ci in its delivery. It only starts working at licence shredding velocity - use all the revs in the first four gears on your average back road and you'll be way past the 120mph mark. The car needs work to be enjoyed, which is fine for most of us keen drivers but less impressive where babylon are concerned.

Third (and less of a problem for the truly hardcore enthusiast in my opinion) is the image of modern bimmers and the frequency with which you see them being driven by wannabes, who only care about image. Depending on you view, E46s classsy or common; they are a little on the heavy side (they never feel it from behind the wheel in my opinion) and have a few too many creature comforts to be "proper" drivers cars.

The E30 suffers none of these problems. Ok, even the most recent examples are getting on a bit and LHD occasionally limits your overtaking options but its just as much fun for a lot less money. I've driven several M3s and only one was an E30. Guess which one I rember most vividly? Plus, wit the E30 you have racing pedigree and street cachet that even the E46 CSL doesn't have. In an ideal world, you'd take the newer for the daily driver and keep the E30 for high days and holidays. Or Tuesdays and Thursdays

I say take the test drive and weigh these things up. Your preference is the only thing that really matters in the end

Can you send mesome details andpics of your e30 m3 plz.

Personally the e46 is way to common now. Get a m3 csl or an audi rs4.

Iv driven a few e46 M3's, there is no way in hell i would swap my E30 for one. Dont get me wrong, id like to have one but not at the expense of the e30 m3 which, for me is still the better car for out and out fun.

If you can, keep the e30 as a weekend car and save up a bit longer for the e46, that way you can have the best of both. Iv lost count of the number of people who sell an e30 M3 and end up buying another one months later.

i had an audi s4, which i wreckon is on par with the e46 yes fast comfatable but lost Ԛ£18000 over a year and half, m3 e30 had it 7 years got no intension ever of parting with far to much fun to drive love it

Thanks for all your comments they have been greatfully received and fully taken on board.

My misses wants me to get rid of it as she cannot get on terms with it. My son (12) begs me to keep it and I am really torn about leting it go myself. The natural progression would be to jump to the E46 for all its modern comforts but I would miss my e30 and I am of the opinion that I would eventually end up getting another one anyway as m3ben 05 said.

The good thing is my car is in good condition done only 90k miles bodywork good, interior good and have an agreed five figure insurance policy / cover. It cetainly turns heads when I take it out and have covered only 1,800 miles this past year and it sounds sweat stil after all these years.

I am really going to have to think hard over what I do next in an ideal world I keep it and get the E46 but the misses is pregnant and wants to get rid of my other car (Golf Conv) and her car (Saxo VTS) and get an X5 so the budget is only going to go so far but not as far as both.

Thanks for your help I will test drive it and maybe I will end up staying with what I know and love rather than change.

Listen to your son he's right

Just run both and see which you prefer
Its not like you're going to get much of the E46 with the proceeds from the E30 are you?

if i was ever in your position(which im sure i wont be )i know which one id choose,and it wouldnt be the e30

An X5, for the love of god WHY!?

Keep the E30, E46 values are starting to tumble, and I reckon they will even more so with the doubling of BMW warranty costs to Ԛ£1868 per annum + Ԛ£250 excess per claim. Then in a while the the E90 M3 will be along and the prices will drop even more.

Get something else as a daily runaround

Go to your local Land Rover dealer and lease a Freelander for 18mths. With the new model on the way a specced up TD4 can be had for just over Ԛ£200 a month, which is dirt cheap for an 06 car....