- We're doing it ladies and gentlemen.
And no, this is not April Fools', okay?
Today, we thought, what better way to celebrate
and kick-off the month where you question
if it's really worth, really actually living in Wisconsin.
(strong wind howling)
So, to take our minds off the negative 10 degree weather
and instead talk about too cool things like cars,
Halo references,
maybe a few fact that I can still nail an actual Gmom rush
like it was yesterday.
(kissing)
I'm just so good at it.
Today we're talking about a car that is likely
the most popular car out there today
in the automotive enthusiastic community.
The car that was on the front
of the best racing video games ever made.
Mid-2000s, fight me.
The car that has likely every now and then
been every mid 20-year-old's dream car
when they were 16.
I'm Alex.
Alex.FI on Instagram.
And today we're going to be talking
about the car you all wanted
(car engine revving)
more than probably any other car
in this entire series.
(car tires spinning)
The BMW
E46.
(hip hop music)
(car tires spinning)
Intro's a banger.
And, if you're just jumping into this channel, hello!
Don't forget to subscribe
so we can keep making bangin' videos like this
and don't worry the commitment is very low.
You just have to press the button.
(yelling in foreign language)
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Hit the bell and then you're just good.
It won't end like your high school crush.
And, if you're looking for after market wheels,
tires, or suspension,
be sure to check out fitmentindustries.com
for your newly acquired E46 or otherwise.
We also have a gallery
so that you don't end up with bunk fitment.
We can actually get you stuff that looks pretty good.
The BMW E46 was the fourth generation,
three series BMW that was produced from 1998 to 2006.
And was the continuation of the most unprecedented
success story out there when it came
to the purest automotive community of the M3.
We'll get to that.
The car was initially a design collaboration
between a man named Chris Bangle,
Erik Goplen, we had DesignworksUSA,
Wolfgang Ziebart.
It started all the way back in 1993,
and the car would be a body style
that would be put through
about nine million different teams,
test groups, divisions.
It even went through it's own design freeze
for a good 30 months to ensure
that the generation three series would be
inherently successful.
Well, because the three series is
like the king of the Eurocar platform.
It's like the car of cars when it came to European cars.
This was the BMW's bread and butter
and they couldn't afford to mess it up
like when you accidentally leave Ramen
in for the water too long,
and then it gets sticky and gross and soft
and you're sad because then you gotta do it all over again.
Good news, though.
They're only like 25 cents.
We all make mistakes.
The car would be released to the public in 1997,
and some lucky consumers would even snag theirs
maybe a little bit early.
It was like kinda a big marketing ploy
to try and get some of the cars out there
to build hype on the new generation.
And they would offer it in your typical sedan,
or saloon, coupe, convertible,
and even a bad boy station wagon.
Which is the best platform ever made.
It would come in your typical BMW fashion
of nine million trim models and engine sizes.
With everything from your inline-four
that made a 114 horsepower,
to an inline-six so it eventually pump out 333 beautiful,
beautiful ponies. (horse neighing)
But, we'll get to that, okay?
The biggest thing that BMW wanted to do
with this generation was to make a car that would again,
hit a very broad market.
Everything from your daily driver
to your typical automotive enthusiast.
That was the goal.
Sell everything, everywhere.
So that's exactly what they ended up doing.
They made the car lightweight.
They made it fun.
It was sporty designed.
It was also capable at the same time.
It's like, what is this?
A trunk?
Good gas mileage?
Decent interior?
What?
And on top of that, looking back,
most of the cars from the early 2000s
are tough to look at these days.
Look at 'em!
But the E46 for just some thing is just good, all right.
It's like maybe the soft little headlights,
the little undercuts make it look a little tired.
But, the design company it's like,
you did good there, Bud,
because they look pretty good.
It was 70% more rigid than its E36 predecessor
and more aluminum to fix unsprung mass issues
meant it was a decently spirited car.
Their initial rear-wheel-drive layout maintained
a 50/50 weight distribution,
which made going to the grocery store even more exciting.
To edge the technology along a little bit more,
the E46 would also be one of the first BMWs
with the main sport automatic SMG transmission
and the can-bus system that made integration
to the engine's diagnostic and technological systems
that much easier.
Just means that you can look at stuff.
It's easier to look at stuff, all right.
Truth be told, this car was like a combination
of everything and it was all almost perfect.
But then, then they made it sweeter.
Even sweeter.
And it was (bleep) beautiful.
2000 came along, and BMW thanked everyone for surviving
the Y2K for bringing back the M3.
Ye haw. (country music playing)
Okay.
This thing was perfection on four wheels.
It came available in the 3.2 liter, S54 M tuned engine,
which had a beautiful red line of 8,000 RPM.
8K, baby.
8K of screaming inline power.
Pair that with their six-speed manual
and it was a magnificent match in heaven.
There was automatic manual transmission too,
but we won't really talk about that.
BMW would make 85,000 of these things,
which made it the most successful M run to date.
And while it still carried some resemblance
of the other E46's,
there's a few things that set it apart
that just further frame this M generation
as one of the most iconic ones out there.
You know it because it was on most wanted.
The M3, the GTR with the blue and the silver
and it was (bleep) sweet and it was awesome.
Cross and his ass, they can go
kiss my ass, all right.
They pretty much called it the ultimate driving machine
and it was pure emotion.
How emotional is that statement?
But the 3.2 liter, it made the car incredible.
It had like 333 or 343 peak horsepower.
It made eight Engine of the Year Awards.
We won't forget about the diff that kept everything
magical underneath the car because that's what it did.
And honestly, the M3 E46 is likely the reason
most people know this generation so well
'cause it was their dream car.
The CSL was an additional trim that was a lightened M3,
but due to it's rarity and expensiveness,
we won't really chat too much about it.
It's 110 pounds lighter though,
which is pretty much,
that's a whole person.
They pretty much cut out an entire person of weight.
But, history class is over. (sword slicing)
We're not here to, you know,
help you win Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,
even though that would be sweet.
But, you want to own a BMW E46?
Well, set down the Nurburgring tshirt
and grab your favorite IPA,
because we're about to jump into this thing.
Owning an E46 isn't actually all that bad.
Because so many were made
maintaining and finding them is pretty easy.
Now, because there are so many,
there are some absolute trash ones out there
that you'll need to be staying away from
because that's just how the world works, Buddy.
That's just how the cookie crumbles.
Because these cars were also a Jack of all trades,
it's also extremely important
that if you go into looking at one,
that you know who owned it and for what purpose.
Especially the M3.
Because so many were made, the range of quality
goes all the way from trash to not trash.
These cars were fun to drive so people drove 'em like that.
But just because they were successful
doesn't mean they weren't imperfect
when it came to ownership.
The SMG's had countless issues throughout it's life
to the point that most would just recommend
trying to find a manual over anything else for any E46.
Also, just like any typical classic BMW
those water pumps just, they don't like to live.
Just don't like it.
They don't wanna.
It's iconic for them to fail at about 100K a mile,
so check that out.
330s are likely the best bang for your buck.
E46 with the 328 being a little light on power
and a little weaker in reliability.
So we'd recommend that you stay in the 330 range
and if you're buying a 330 before 2003,
check that rear subframe
and make sure it's been repaired because if it hasn't,
it will crack due to too much torque when they brought
it into the United States of America.
From a modification point-of-view,
E46s are a blast because there's just so much you can do.
Even with the off meta bolt pattern,
most E46s stick to rotiform wheels.
Like the RSC is probably one of the most popular ones
on that platform
or any other mesh-style wheel.
Like a BBS RS, or even an LM.
Which you can get at fitmentindustries.com.
Yokohama tires, common.
Coilovers can go from anywhere from KW to BC,
but there's tons of applications
that you can pretty much find anything at any price
on this car.
Like any suspension company is going to make it for this car
Fitmentindustries.com (coughs)
A little arrow and exhaust goes a long way with these cars
and if you keep the maintenance there,
you'll have a fun car for under 10K.
Which isn't that bad, at all.
Especially when you're looking
into modifying a BMW.
Like you can't normally put those two together.
Now, for the M3,
those cars are still a banger to own and drive.
But some can be a little worn,
especially in the mid-100,000 mile range.
Be careful and know that you're buying
a 20-year-old sports car, Bud,
because they won't be perfect.
Stay away from an SMG if you don't truly want
to deal with the headache of it.
Or, if you just like to play life on legendary.
In that case, just go nuts.
The six independent throttle bodies make
this car scream with a proper intake and exhaust,
which you just have to get.
After 2003, they did a facelift
which was very moderate, very little, very soft.
Just a little bits here and there.
And it was perfect, okay?
You can see where these prices jump up after the 2003 model.
The E46 M3 is one of the top best cars you can buy
for the driving experience and modification platform.
It's the car to buy for under 20K
and the community for BMW is huge.
But most of those fans sit in this generation BMW
and that's for good reason.
They are a car that both non-M and M can get around
and tons of people can jump in to one
without much money or without much hurdle.
They've aged pretty well.
And they continue to be a car at car shows
and out across events alike.
If you can save a few extra pennies though for the M3,
you probably won't be disappointed.
I promise.
But what do you think about the E46?
Drop your thoughts below
and of course if you're looking for after market wheels,
tires, or suspension,
be sure to hit us up at fitmentindustries.com
for your E46 build or otherwise, all right.
It's also neat because we'll tell you what fits
because we've seen it too much lately.
We gotta fix the whole bunk fitment thing that's going on.
Anyway, I'm Allen from Fitment Industries.
We hope you enjoyed this.
Let us know what car you'd like us to talk about next
and for the four people that have asked it
for the last 74 episodes,
thanks.
We'll see you later.
Peace.