New member introduction PME46 - Steel Grey E46 M3

Hello every one

Just thought i'd make my first post a formal introduction to the forum.

My name's Phil and i'm from North QLD. Picked up my E46 just before Christmas and have been loving it for the past month. I spent around 6 months looking into exactly what I wanted and finally came across one that ticked all the boxes for me so snatched it up as quickly as I could.

She is a 2003 Steel Grey M3 with Imola Red interior. Overall the condition is excellent and she looks and drives like a new car. Still basically standard other than a DICE Ipod integration, tinted windows, updated LED tail lights, aftermarket angel eyes (soon to be upgraded to LED) and gloss black kidney grills (not fitted in the photos).

Looking forward to being an active member on these forums.

Any way, here is a couple of photos.

Thanks guys.

Very nice! I love how fresh SG M3s look!

What are your plans for it?

Congrats and welcome!
Very nice color combo right there.

welcome and clean car! woodgrain trim? haven't seen that in a while.

That interior
Welcome

Thanks for the kind words guys

The woodgrain isn't a love of mine so it will probably be changed. My father has a E92 335i and it also originally had woodgrain when it was purchased so we upgraded it to the BMW Performance carbon fibre interior and it looks really good so I might do something similar down the track. I quite like the OEM brushed aluminium for the E46 aswell so either of the two.

As far as plans go I at the moment want to restore it to as close to new condition as I can and upgrade a few cosmetic items. I started off by detailing the car for a week when I first bought it to bring the paint up to new and next I want to replace the typical "high wear" items on the interior (sunglasses holder, handbrake console etc.) and a few other small things. I like the look of the half painted carbon CSL style diffusers for the rear so that will probably be the next thing I buy.

The angel eyes that were put in by the previous owner are still the old cathode tube style so I'll put some of the LED ones in there. Some aftermarket wheels with a nice offset will be on the cards soon aswell to give it a nicer overall stance.

My friend lent me his ESS tuning direct flash uploader so I will hit up ESS soon for one of their flash tunes just to get a little more out of her.

But yeah nothing crazy on the plans for now, but knowing what I'm like that may change down the track haha.

Originally Posted by PME46

Thanks for the kind words guys

The woodgrain isn't a love of mine so it will probably be changed. My father has a E92 335i

Nice M3 mate, cool interior.

Have you spent much time in the E92 335i ? what did you think of it and how does it compare to your M3 ?

Cheers

Hey mate

Nice photos, and very very clean M3!

Welcome

Love SG colour! welcome mate

Love the SG/IR combo. Great to see another Imola Red interior member! Nice car mate

I've got the brushed aluminum with my IR and I think it's a good combo, definitely change the woodgrain

Looks fabulous - you're on the right track ... Enjoy ur BMW experience

Welcome! everything is perfect except for the woodgrain haha! very nice regardless

Welcome, your m3 looks just like mine except mine doesn't have a metal roof :p

Brushed aluminium is the best combo with the red, though the light Gary CF might look good.

Welcome

I think the wood looks good (and would have been an expensive option). Whether it suits the red leather on the seats though is probably an aqcuired taste

Gorgeous car, I would prefer the brushed aluminium trim as opposed to woodgrain though, I think it would look a lot more cleaner and sleek.

Good to see another clean unmolested example of a M3 Keep it that way! Look into a Euro Tray for your center console replacement

Originally Posted by kb1

Welcome, your m3 looks just like mine except mine doesn't have a metal roof :p

I thought you had done a carbon CSL roof until I saw you had a convertible

Originally Posted by MJ80

Nice M3 mate, cool interior.

Have you spent much time in the E92 335i ? what did you think of it and how does it compare to your M3 ?

Cheers

I've driven the 335i quite a bit actually, but not since i've gotten the M3 so will need to drive it again to have a better comparison.

Dad's is the M Sport with the DCT and I love the gearbox in that. Compared to the SMG box it is obviously much smoother and much faster with the twin clutches. Having said that though I like the "raw" feel of the SMG and how brutal it is on full throttle.

Overall though I find both cars to be very similar as a road car. On the track I think the E46 would really come alive though. The E46 M3 feels much more like a track car with great feedback for the driver. I've thrown the car around quite a bit and feel like I havn't once taken the car anywhere near its limit. Not to take anything away from the 335i though. I would love to drive an E92 M3 to compare all three though

Originally Posted by Hazey82

Good to see another clean unmolested example of a M3 Keep it that way! Look into a Euro Tray for your center console replacement

Yep definetely need to get a replacement tray as mine is broken haha. Will replace all of the centre to make it look new again.

Thanks again for all the nice comments guys.

Nice!! Welcome Phil

In for pics of the yam