Hemisport's E46 M3 Vert and New Daily Driver

[Crash]

Major congrats! Looks like a clean car, and I love the color combo, in particular, the cinnamon interior. Something different than black leather, and still very classy. Carbon black is really nice too; another one of those great colors that give off different hues in different lights and different situations. 👍

Enjoy the convertible, it'll be real nice in the summer.

Congrats, just remember that you've got like 90bhp more than your E36 so be careful.

Yes, but now with traction control and stability control as well.

 

[Hayden]

She's gorgeous!
Here's to trouble free motoring!

 

[Legro]

Looks great. That colour combination fits very well for the E46 M3.

 

[hemisport15]

Woah..... Shes pretty ! Congrats Bro!

Thanks!

Congratulations! It looks amazing! I would adore having an E46 M3. A convertible is even better!
How much did you pay for it?

I highly recommend getting one, coupe or convertible. And it looks even better in person!

My father used to have one in that exact color combo, but with the SMG gearbox. That's a trip down memory lane right there.

Was it a coupe or convertible? I think this combination is especially flattering for the hard top.

A 6-speed convertible. Now that's uncommon. Enjoy her in good health. 👍

Thank you! It was was a little tough finding a 6 speed in my price range since the SMGs go for much cheaper. I can't wait to pick it up.

Congrats, just remember that you've got like 90bhp more than your E36 so be careful.

Thanks! And don't worry, I'll definitely be taking it easy for a while.

Major congrats! Looks like a clean car, and I love the color combo, in particular, the cinnamon interior. Something different than black leather, and still very classy. Carbon black is really nice too; another one of those great colors that give off different hues in different lights and different situations. 👍

Enjoy the convertible, it'll be real nice in the summer.



Yes, but now with traction control and stability control as well.

Thank you! I tried my best to stay away from grey and black leather because I wanted something different. And I can't wait to finally put the top down. Hopefully the warm weather gets here sooner.

She's gorgeous!
Here's to trouble free motoring!

Thanks!

Looks great. That colour combination fits very well for the E46 M3.

Thank you, it's definitely different!

 

[motortrend]

When you said blue I thought you meant LSB, but Carbon Black is even better, congrats! Interior looks absolutely mint, looks like a sub 50K miler. Hope you enjoy it for years to come and it doesn't give you any issues. Exhaust sounds really nice, none of that crazy rasp some E46 M3s get.

 

[Clark]

Exhaust sounds really nice, none of that crazy rasp some E46 M3s get.

Sounds a lot like the N52 with the BMW Performance exhaust.

 

[hemisport15]

When you said blue I thought you meant LSB, but Carbon Black is even better, congrats! Interior looks absolutely mint, looks like a sub 50K miler. Hope you enjoy it for years to come and it doesn't give you any issues. Exhaust sounds really nice, none of that crazy rasp some E46 M3s get.

Thanks! That's the only video I was able to find that sounded remotely like close to what I was hearing in person. I think it could be a little louder (might add a rasp terminator at some point) but it's very classy.

 

[eiriksmil]

Here's to crash free motoring!

Fixed..
Just kidding, you came up hard man.. Love the color combo.

 

[Ibonibo]

Looks beautiful.
Good choice on a manual. SMG Grumpy smiley say no -.-

The colour is gorgeous

Have a lot of fun with it. And with the ESP, a nasty rear axle should stay grounded. Cold deformation free rides for you now

Also we want MOAR pics

 

[hemisport15]

Fixed..
Just kidding, you came up hard man.. Love the color combo.

That's the plan haha and thank you.

Looks beautiful.
Good choice on a manual. SMG Grumpy smiley say no -.-

The colour is gorgeous

Have a lot of fun with it. And with the ESP, a nasty rear axle should stay grounded. Cold deformation free rides for you now

Also we want MOAR pics

Thanks! I pretty much ruled out the SMG from the beginning because I just love the manual so much. The pics will start coming in on Monday when I pick the car up from the dealer!

In other news I unfortunately can't use my old ZHP knob with this car so I'm going to give it to my friend (he actually spotted me the $12 I needed to buy off a guy haha). So it will be returning to him and I'm deciding between these two knobs...

A new 6 speed ZHP

or the BMW Performance shift knob

The performance shift knob weighs ~6.3 ounces compared to the 5.4 of the ZHP knob and is even shorter in height. The aluminum trim will also match my interior and the alcantara shift boot that I have as well.

 

[Ronald6]

Out of context I like the ZHP better. For your car the BMW Performance is better, much better.

 

[Cano]

Oooo, awesome new car. I love those wheels.

 

[Kitten]

ZHP looks so much cleaner imo.

 

[motortrend]

I'd go F10 M5 because weighted and illuminated.

 

[Blackbird.]

Grats on the new car hemisport! 👍

 

[hemisport15]

Out of context I like the ZHP better. For your car the BMW Performance is better, much better.

Thanks for the input! I thought I was settled on the performance knob, but the more I think about it the tougher it gets.

Oooo, awesome new car. I love those wheels.

Thanks! I didn't really like the 19's until I finally saw them in person.

ZHP looks so much cleaner imo.

True, which is one of the reasons why I'm leaning towards getting another one.

I'd go F10 M5 because weighted and illuminated.

This is reason number two for why I might go with the ZHP knob. I don't really want to lose the illumination.

Grats on the new car hemisport! 👍

Thank you!

I can't wait to pick it up tomorrow. I'll do my best to get some of my own pictures for everyone.

 

[Crash]

So it will be returning to him and I'm deciding between these two knobs...

F10 M5.

A new 6 speed ZHP

Even photographed in an E39.


Anyways, the ZHP knob isn't lighted from factory. You either have to DIY retrofit the LED light, or you have to buy one from a third party that's modded the knob.

F10 M5 knob is both lighted and is weighted ZHP style as well, though it's I think weighted 0.3 ounces lighter than the traditional ZHP knob.

 

[hemisport15]

F10 M5.



Even photographed in an E39.


Anyways, the ZHP knob isn't lighted from factory. You either have to DIY retrofit the LED light, or you have to buy one from a third party that's modded the knob.

F10 M5 knob is both lighted and is weighted ZHP style as well, though it's I think weighted 0.3 ounces lighter than the traditional ZHP knob.

I just refer to it as the ZHP knob because the look the same. I wasn't aware that there is a slight weight difference though. I'm going to see how I like the stock knob and after this week I'll make my decision.

 

[homeforsummer]

Neat car 👍 My personal preference is for the coupe, but it ain't my car so my opinion on that counts for nought! I'm sure you'll enjoy it and there's nothing quite like dropping the roof.

 

[hemisport15]

Neat car 👍 My personal preference is for the coupe, but it ain't my car so my opinion on that counts for nought! I'm sure you'll enjoy it and there's nothing quite like dropping the roof.

Thanks! It's starting to warm up around here, but of course it's going to be rainy every day. I also got home from the dealership a little late last night so I didn't have any chances to get some good pics. Hopefully I'll be able to tonight and you guys can finally see it!

 

[hemisport15]

Sorry for all of the delays, but the weather is ruining everything. Here are the best pics I can give you right now.

The day I brought the car home, you can kind of see the blue hue in the paint.

And when the sun is gone the paint goes back to black.

I really didn't edit these pics, but I the top one came out extremely blue. More detailed pics to come later!

EDIT: Here are a few more pics that I took today with the top down.

I didn't get to drive around with the top down because there were way too many puddles on the road. If it's not one thing keeping me from fully enjoying the car, it's something else

 

[hemisport15]

Hey guys, I don't have many updates because I haven't been able to do much other than drive the car. I've enjoyed it a lot so far even though the driving experience is quite different. But I'm getting the mod bug again like I did with the E36 and now it's time to start tinkering! So, I'm currently in the process of acquiring some catless headers and a Euro section 1. For those that don't know, the U.S. spec cars have cats placed in the header, helping produce the trademark rasp and restricting exhaust flow. The new headers will free that up slightly, but I won't be going catless (this is where the section one comes in) so power gains will not be as noticeable. I'm also toying with the idea of selling the Dinan muffler depending on how it all sounds... Only if I can get my hands on the other stuff though. And if I don't like the resulting sound, I'm going to buy Status Gruppe's SCZA muffler.

That would then make the car sound like this...



Not overpoweringly loud, but a great tone and just enough rasp. Hopefully it all works out. And here is a bonus pic for fun!

 

[hemisport15]

Headers and section 1 have been purchased!

The headers look a little rough in that pic, but everything looks good and I shouldn't have any issues with them.

Unfortunately I have to wait until at least next Sunday to have everything put on. I found a video of an M3 with a Dinan muffler and a similar header/cat design. And after hearing it, I might stick with my current muffler after all.



I really recommend headphones if you want to get an accurate idea.

 

[KudosM4]

Really nice Ride! I went through the same situation. I owned a 428i but was forced off the road by a drunk driver, all in all, the car was wrecked and I was in hospital. But I've owned an M3 E92 for a few years now. (Had it as well as 428i) and I needed a bigger car. So I bought an RS6 estate, which was 8 grand. And today, I got rid of it. Which left me with my only car. This car, I had traded my E92 for. And so.far, it's been totally worth it.. A Yas Marina Blue M4 Coupe...

 

[hemisport15]

Time for another random update. First I'll start with the M3. I recently got a new GoPro Hero4 and I decided to test it out on some exhaust videos. I took the case off for the first one, but I left it one for the one video which is why it's so quiet.


You need to turn the volume up for this one though...


I really need to get a mic to better capture the sound but that should give you a general idea of what it sounds like. I'm still considering getting a new muffler next spring or summer.

And in more important news... I bought a new daily/winter vehicle!

It's a one owner 2002 325xi with 91,000 miles! I had to give up looking for a truck or suv due to my price range (and I know that sounds weird considering what I bought) and a lack of choices. Being from PA, which loves to over salt the roads (ie my accident last February) so everything in my price range was rusty and everything clean I just couldn't afford. Anyway, I stumbled into this thing while I was looking at a Toyota 4Runner at a very shady used car dealer. A few days later I bought it for $5,400! I'm leaving out a ton of details right now and I'll get into the some other time, but I'll just say that it runs great and I'm loving the rare color combo. It doesn't have all the options my M3 has but it does have heated seats!

I'll get some more pics after I get home Monday and give it a good cleaning.

 

[hemisport15]

Double post

 

[Crash]

Congrats and nice color combo! The heated seats are probably the most important comfort feature for the winter after functional heating. Is the car in pretty good nick? Do you have to do much to it to get it all ready for winter?

 

[eiriksmil]

OMG tan/black on white is so sexy..

 

[hemisport15]

Congrats and nice color combo! The heated seats are probably the most important comfort feature for the winter after functional heating. Is the car in pretty good nick? Do you have to do much to it to get it all ready for winter?

Thanks and yes, the car is in fantastic shape! It just needs a new wiper motor and maybe a set of tires, but other than that this thing is ready to go.

OMG tan/black on white is so sexy..

I love it. From what I was told it's pretty hard to find this combo so I guess I got really lucky!

 

[-Fred-]

My father used to own an M3 in the exact same color scheme, but his had the awful SMG transmission. Not too many cars around with the brown/orange interior.