Just swapped my sti 7 for an m3 e46 today,can't believe the sound and throttle responce of the m3 and even managed 30mpg on the way home which is a lot better than i was getting in my sti.Has anyone else done the same, gone from a scooby to an m3.

 

Enjoy, but don't race a certain 260

 

Sounds like a good move

 

Have often fancied an M3 and would like one next maybe after the scoob however i dont know if i could trust myself with RWD in the wet. I havent owned a RWD car b4 so its probably just my paranoia and my crap driving ability. How have you got on in bad weather??

 

Days like today it is stuck - how I get to work in it tomorrow I don't know.

If you can get it out it is ace fun to drift in the snow

In the rain with traction on it is no problem at all, very confidence inspiring. If you had too much momentum you could bin it like any car.

 

You've been speaking to my bro then lol..

Only got it yesterday afternoon its a black manual 52 plate,the weather round here (notts) is dry so cannot comment yet what it is like in the rain,The throttle response in sport mode is great especaily when your used to the turbo winding up on the scooby.

 

Oh I beg to differ sir, I beg to differ...........

 

LOL.

Sport mode is too jerky unless the road is very smooth, otherwise it kangaroos.

 

There is no danger my S2000 is going anywhere today. At least with the above the most damage I can do is a few hundred pounds. Looks like your snow is deeper than ours accross the pond? I'm told its over 1ft in Glasgow

Never knew what colour your M3 was - like it

You keeping it or still having wet dreams about RSx and 911s, etc?

 

Yes, it is silver grey with virtually all the tarty extra options/toys

Just been out walking and it is deep enough that it comes to the top of the wellies Don't think I've seen snow like this before, being an English boy

 

Lol. Defo over a foot at Balloch now and still snowing a bit too!

Got the 16's on the scoob the now too, so i doubt the tyres would be much use in the snow.

 

LOL, with the Toyos? How is the car going now?

Kenny, tried a 996TT on Wednesday, see the thread I put up - needs mods to please me.

Think it will be an Evo next.

 

My boss whinges a lot about his M3, doesnt like the run flats and says it squirms too much in the wet compared to his Boxter S. Id quite like a coupe / non soft top, think they look tough in silver.

MB

 

Yer, still the Toyo's that were on the 16's. A bit.......smooth so they are.

Going well, but mapping isn't finished yet. Be done before the end of the month, hopefully. Otherwise, it show's you even at .5bar, how lovely an engine it is with the 20G. Builds so easily, but yet still very revvy. Something which i didn't expect.

I wouldn't have thought the Evo was a good idea, with the amount of miles you do, John? Servicing and fuel bill's, etc?

 

Yes I saw that - I don't feel qualified enough to comment on such a vehicle though but your report worries me. I know you have a similar taste in what makes a vehicle 'enjoyable' to myself and so far you've frightenend me away from having an M3 (unless its function is more as a family car) and I feared that you'd find the 911 to be equally lacking in 'something'.

I don't see anything replacing the S2000 anytime soon as I'm still really enjoying it but one day I know I'm going to want a lot more power and I think a modified MR340 might be the way to go based on your report on it. I really should blag a test drive in one tbh.

 

Snow turned out to be very slushy and too deep for the buggy to be enjoyable. Ran one tank of fuel through it (10 minutes) and packed her away. It's warmer inside anyway

 

M3 doesn't come with run flats though.

I only do about 10000 miles a year to/from/for work now. Averaging 23mpg on the M3, Evo would probably be about 20mpg and I think on the Bilsteins they are comfortable enough. If you don't do main dealer servicing it isn't much different to a Scooby, seems a Mitsubishi UK only thing to do 4500 mile AYC reservoir fluid change and changing the rear and centre diff oil is easily done at each oil change although that seems overkill. Having seen how it performs overall I think the running costs are fine.

Kenny, I think even a standard FQ340 would astonish you

The 996TT was nice, but just not enough after a tuned Scooby. And the luggage area was a joke, perhaps compared with a "supercar" it is good, but in the real world I would put up with a lot of the downsides to an AWD rally replica before something that heavy that has so little cabin/luggage space.

 

la-la-la-la-woo-woo-woo-la-la....

I'm not listening to you!! I can't afford scooby/evo running costs at 25,000 miles p/a.

 

The M3 looks great and sounds nice, Watch out for my evo though, All nice cars, just alittle rain here, The M3 in sport mode looks hard work on rubbish roads, seems to stop then come back on the power
Paul

John Banks, glad you remembered me, your right evos take some beating

 

Scoobytyson/John Banks
Went to cadwell yesturday, Part of the mlr trackday, saw two m3's on the track, handle well and sound good,I didn't have a go small tight track and hardly any run off areas,

 

Modified my bonnet to take a supercharger. The aerodynamics extend all the way to the back of the car but visibility is a bit limited.



Just look at the craftsmanship:

 

Ya big baby!

Bet you done that, when the missus wasn't looking!

 

I see what your saying about the Evo.

I can only go by what i've heard.

Dunno if i could buy a brand new Evo though, going back the secondhand prices in Autotrader this week!! 8 week old Evo......dropped 9.5k!!!!

 

Off to Autotrader...

 

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW...ch_full=SEARCH

Sorry 8.5k...but still an ONO.

 

The 320 is £30k though, import GT is about £23K.

The bottom of the barrel price for an 8 MR import is about £15K at 2 years old, so lost about £8K in 2 years, doesn't seem bad for a new car of that price.

 

True.

I seem to be getting more and more confused with the names they give the Evo's. Best Motoring tested an Evo(American version IIRC) and it blew the standard Evo away. I thought it was an MR, but it may have been something else similarly named. You could have got it confused with the FQ-400, but without the power. 340hp i'm sure.

 

MR GSR vs. MR RS

Nice review. Especially on the Gymkhana course.

 

john the model i would go for is the mr320 it really is good and i don't know why everyone talk's about the cost of running my 18k service was just 130 pound

 

M3 oil service is similar price but they are about three times the mileage between services though. But the BMWs break more, really need an extended warranty if older than 3 years (which has just got horrendously expensive and has an excess and exclusions), and the alternate services are £700-800 inspections every four years or approx 22000-30000 miles depending on use.