E30 Zone

Well I wont be back in an E30 again untill next year. (the next one will be a weekend toy) so I suppose I should start a thread on the 316's replacement.

Was dead set on going for the S1 turbo I had been looking into but in the end a spare of the moment decision guided me towards another Bmw this time an E46 M3.

A little about the car:

It's an E46 M3 Convertible 3.2 24v S54
Silver Grey
76k Miles
All the usual extras, Xenon's, Cruise control, iPod built in, bluetooth, sat nav ect..
Black Leather fully electric Heated seats
19" Csl Alloys

Car was put in for its MOT and service today and should be in to the valeters tomorrow so all being well should be ready for collection Wednesday or thuesday.

A few pics from the show room, Looking forward to picker her up

Cool car but those black wheel just look wrong.

Nice car Agree with the wheels, would be better in a lighter color. How Do E46 cabs handle compare to tin tops? I drove an E36 cab a fair amount and it was shocking. I thought the windscreen was going to come out!

looks nice but as above I'd get those wheels refurbed back to silver, will look a lot nicer.

Nice car Ben
Wheels look good on the Silver

pass seat booked

magpie wrote:pass seat booked

I think you will find its "shotgun"

Nice car Ben, me likey

Nice. Bet it shifts

Rav335uk wrote:Nice car Ben
Wheels look good on the Silver

thanks Rav I like the wheels on the silver they go well with the dark hood. they arent black they are a anthracite but t I think the pictures make them look darker than they are

magpie wrote:pass seat booked

Will be over Saturday depending on the weather

Duke137 wrote:

magpie wrote:pass seat booked

I think you will find its "shotgun"

Nice car Ben, me likey

capri_rob wrote:Nice. Bet it shifts

Thanks lads

had a nice lengthy test drive and took it for a blast down the A1 and I was impressed goes well

Lovely!!!

Well done mate!

I wouldn't be in a rush to chuck money at changing the colour of the wheels!

What year, and what money did it cost you?

How many owners was yours?

thats nice my sister recently bought a 330ci sport converts same colour theyre lovely cars the m3s though enjoy mate

Nice choice!

Wise choice to buy a manual instead of SMG!

bss325i wrote:Nice choice!

Wise choice to buy a manual instead of SMG!

thanks

i didnt want an SMG realy, a fella at work had one and the problems with it were the cause of him moving on to a merc SL55

I have driven the SMGII and to be honest it is great fun to drive. I never really used automatic mode though. I find driving slow in it boring. However, I think either Manual Gearbox or SMGII Gearbox is fun but SMGII is supposed to be the fastest over manual due to consistency of gear change quality/speed/throttle blipping/protection from over-revving the engine and there is a launch control programme in Manual S6.

Yes, SMG can be a major pain in the arse in reliability terms.

The S54 engine on the other hand is a gem and even more reliable than the M54 engines fitted to lesser E46's.

Have to agree about the wheels as well, gotta be silver.

pony wrote:I have driven the SMGII and to be honest it is great fun to drive. I never really used automatic mode though. I find driving slow in it boring. However, I think either Manual Gearbox or SMGII Gearbox is fun but SMGII is supposed to be the fastest over manual due to consistency of gear change quality/speed/throttle blipping/protection from over-revving the engine and there is a launch control programme in Manual S6.

Not driven one my self but was just put off by a friends experience with his.

bss325i wrote:Yes, SMG can be a major pain in the arse in reliability terms.

The S54 engine on the other hand is a gem and even more reliable than the M54 engines fitted to lesser E46's.

Have to agree about the wheels as well, gotta be silver.

thats good to know the S54s a decent Donk

looking at having a run down to Evolve to have a new full system and remap to freshen her up a little

MurphyE30 wrote:

pony wrote:I have driven the SMGII and to be honest it is great fun to drive. I never really used automatic mode though. I find driving slow in it boring. However, I think either Manual Gearbox or SMGII Gearbox is fun but SMGII is supposed to be the fastest over manual due to consistency of gear change quality/speed/throttle blipping/protection from over-revving the engine and there is a launch control programme in Manual S6.

Not driven one my self but was just put off by a friends experience with his.

bss325i wrote:Yes, SMG can be a major pain in the arse in reliability terms.

The S54 engine on the other hand is a gem and even more reliable than the M54 engines fitted to lesser E46's.

Have to agree about the wheels as well, gotta be silver.

thats good to know the S54s a decent Donk

looking at having a run down to Evolve to have a new full system and remap to freshen her up a little

The BMW S54B32 won the International Engine of the Year Awards in the 3 - 4 Litre catergory in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 beating the likes of Porsche 996 Carrera/Porsche 996 Turbo, Ferrari 360 Modena. In 2001 it won the many other awards too at the International Engine of the Year Awards.

Apparently SMGII if it goes wrong can be expensive. However, it is not at all difficult to drive.

Obviously this is your particular car but I think it looks good with either a set of new genuine BMW 18 inch wheels (better for ride quality) or if you really want to go all the way BMW 19 inch wheels.

The CSL wheels though nice they tend to be adorned by those more concerned with carbon BMW badges, M badges, smoking indicators, lowered suspension, tinted windows etc. You get what i mean.

S54's pretty good on fuel on a steady run I hear.

nice one mate the car looks