Quote:
Originally Posted by speeder
E46 M3s fall into two distinct categories… All of them have one thing in common, they are overweight and not really sports cars. Other than that, they’re great.
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I think we can debate cars without crapping on others... The E46 M3 has a wonder of an engine with individual throttle bodies, easily bumperd to 400 hp and sounding like a screaming banshee... it makes more power than the original cayman S 3.4 with only a 3.2, and its throttle response and sound is out of this world. It's probably slightly less of a sports car than a Cayman S but it's a heck of a nice car for less $. The OP mentioned a base cayman, I'd argue that's hard to call on the sports car front. A base 987 is 245hp for 2965 lbs, vs 333hp for 3415 lbs. So the E46 actually has a much better lbs/hp ratio !!! I'd have a nice one over a base Cayman honestly, it's better built (once you weld the chassis, LOL, see below). The S54 motor was voted best engine of all time somewhere, I get why....The friend I sold my 987S told me several years ago the interior was falling apart and headliner falling on his head. The friend I sold my M3 to earlier said it was still as solid as ever.
For the record E46 M3s suffer from rod bearings, Vanos issues, and need chassis welding on the rear subframe mounts (all done for $2500). Caymans suffer from IMS, bore scoring, oil separators, and the interior melts away (headliner, door panels, radio button, controls). Cooling sucks on both, famously. Horses for courses, hard to compare a 4 seater front engine car to a central engine 2 seater. I've had both an E46 M3 and a Cayman 987S and it would be a close thing for me to choose between the 2 today (I'd pick the bimmer because I had enough of IMS issues, I's pick a 981 over an M3 though). Versus a *BASE* cayman though??? it's not even close, M3 anyday and twice on sunday. To 7400 rpm.