dangerous brain Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 I don't see many E46 M3's at all if any.... but then again the same goes for Supras. I think it's one of those misleading things like the number of Mondeo 220's sold last year is actually less than the number of DB9's (according to top gear). There are a whole load of BMW 3 series around. Think I'll have to test drive one to see what it's like. I'm amazed at the 300+ bhp from a 3.2 litre NA Ah right now I don't know a lot about the marks of M3 as I clearly display here I assumed as the supra is getting on a bit the mark is the one before the one being talked about here. That is the one that top gear tested against the supra and possibly the most copied by its subordinates vehicle ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURT Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 It's a front engined car, the engine sits in front of the driver for gods sake! I'm not going to argue about the weight distribution as BMW got that spot on. Before I decided to go for a Supra I looked at a couple of E36 M3's, nice cars but bland and starting to look dated IMHO. i know it is.. i havent said it isnt.... i said it is almost a mid engine car!!! do you know what mid engine means?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyb10supra Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Just read this whole thread......I personally find burts comments very interesting considering he has owned both, and the supra he had was highly modified so certainly not shy of power Interesting reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Matt_C Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 i know it is.. i havent said it isnt.... i said it is almost a mid engine car!!! do you know what mid engine means?? Yes...... "mid-mounted engine describes the placement of an automobile engine between the centreline of the rear and front axles" For my money the M3 is a front engined car, saying that "it is almost a mid engined car" is misleading. It is a very well designed front engined car with near 50/50 weight distribution thanks to the engine been mounted further back relative to the centre line of the front axel than most other front engine cars. A lot of people would class a mid-engined car as a car where the engine sits just behind the driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Burt, your M3 ... is it the semi-auto one or the manual one ? If it's the semi-auto one .. what do yout think of it ? I really like the idea of the semi-auto box. That you can up/down shift without taking your foot off the throttle - when playing. Your just stick in D - for general pottering around. Also, can you comment on the auto electronic diff ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazboy Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Burt, your M3 ... is it the semi-auto one or the manual one ? If it's the semi-auto one .. what do yout think of it ? I really like the idea of the semi-auto box. That you can up/down shift without taking your foot off the throttle - when playing. Your just stick in D - for general pottering around. Also, can you comment on the auto electronic diff ? The E46 SMG boxes are horrid- if a manual was £22k & a SMG was £17k, I'd still buy the manual as the smg is that horrible. Hard to describe the sensation but it's a bit like someone over-revs, then slips the clutch while someone on the back seat kicks the back of the seat as hard as they could. Ruins the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 The E46 SMG boxes are horrid Hmm. Admittedly, I've not driven the E46 - so I can't comment either in agreement or disagreement. But that's contrary to what I've heard. Guess - I'd need to drive the an SMG car myself to see what's its really like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazboy Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Hmm. Admittedly, I've not driven the E46 - so I can't comment either in agreement or disagreement. But that's contrary to what I've heard. Guess - I'd need to drive the an SMG car myself to see what's its really like. I was a passenger in the E46. The CSL smg boxes are better, and the V10 M5/M6 smg's are awesome from what I've heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 The E46 M3 SMG gearbox is a manual gearbox with a clutch just like the manual version. The ONLY diffrerence between the 2 is that the SMG has an automated clutch and shift system. For reference the SMG gearbox in the normal M3 is exact the same as the M3 CSL bar software updates but they can also be jerky too if you don't drive them properly. You NEED to learn to drive them, Yes they can be jerky and that applies to the M5 and M6 but just like a manual gearbox if you lift of slightly between changes they are as smooth as a auto. It is exact the same as if you where to flat shift in a normal manual, Keep your gas pedal planted and snap through the gears, I bet its jerky to everyone in the car but the driver. When flat shifting In a SMG I personaly would be hard pushed to manualy shift faster. If you want it smooth it can be. If you want it neck snapping it can be too. Don't believe the Clarkson hype, you do have to learn to drive the smg instead of it driving you To be honest, I found mine harsh at 1st then I learnt how to drive it and it was smooooooth as an normal auto SMG is a bit of an love it or hate it. Just like auto and manual on here. TBH I think SMG is fantastic and is very flexible offering manual and auto in one. But there are people that like to have a stick in their hand and do the work, fair play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 You NEED to learn to drive them, Yes they can be jerky and that applies to the M5 and M6 but just like a manual gearbox if you lift of slightly between changes they are as smooth as a auto. According to Tiff as well 2:30 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 According to Tiff as well 2:30 mins Amazing what happens when you learn how to use something compared to just getting thrown the keys and turning on the cameras eh Jezza Someone should have told him the non self canceling indicators are one touch instead of ye olde lever motion:d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul ashton Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Mp3's,common as muck,everyone's got one these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mas Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Mp3's,common as muck,everyone's got one these days. yeah you right, I got a 20GB one and hardly got ANY songs in it cos I just dont use it much due to being busy with my supra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURT Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Yes...... "mid-mounted engine describes the placement of an automobile engine between the centreline of the rear and front axles" For my money the M3 is a front engined car, saying that "it is almost a mid engined car" is misleading. It is a very well designed front engined car with near 50/50 weight distribution thanks to the engine been mounted further back relative to the centre line of the front axel than most other front engine cars. A lot of people would class a mid-engined car as a car where the engine sits just behind the driver. ok,, so if the the engine sits between the front anfd rear axle it is therefore a mid enginer car.... thankyou.... i did not say the M3 was mid engined i was stating that to get 50/50 wieght distribution the engine has to be as close to the centre of the car as possible, and thats how they have done it.. the engine is only just past the front axle so it s ALMOST mid engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 It's amazing how much of the engine is behind the front axle on the E46, get a rough idea from this http://www.linquist.net/gallery2/d/50238-2/cleanengine.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURT Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Burt, your M3 ... is it the semi-auto one or the manual one ? If it's the semi-auto one .. what do yout think of it ? I really like the idea of the semi-auto box. That you can up/down shift without taking your foot off the throttle - when playing. Your just stick in D - for general pottering around. Also, can you comment on the auto electronic diff ? yes matey its the smg model.. it is absolutey amazing!!!! there is alot of hype about it being horrible to drive and very jerky.. but as mig has already said,,, you need more than five mins in it to learn how to drive it.... once you get used to it... it becomes a serious weapon, when just driving normally you just lift of the throttle ever so slighlty and the gear change is silky smooth.. but when you are hooning it in spastic mode with the traction off and using the paddles the car becomes like a real world Grand turismo on PS2.. as for the diff not totally sure how it works its magic, but if you were to compare it to the TRD diff.. it would amaze you still.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 it is absolutey amazing!!!! Ah nice one mate! What's the price difference between the SMG's & Manuals ? If I could afford it I'd have the SMG one. But I can't Unless I win something on the lottery or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURT Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 tbh matey.. there isnt much difference... if you do some looking fella,,, you can find the smg for the same price as manual:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURT Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 It's amazing how much of the engine is behind the front axle on the E46, get a rough idea from this [qimg]http://www.unofficialbmw.com/images/e46/e46-3.gif[/qimg] [qimg]http://www.linquist.net/gallery2/d/50238-2/cleanengine.jpg[/qimg] nice one todd... that cleared that one up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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