The M3 that started it all.
The car:
2003 E46 M3 Imola RedS54 CSL flash
6 speed manual
The story:
Although I had always been interested in BMW's, I'd never actually owned one. In fact I actually used to think that there was nothing special about them because there was just so many around, it was like the car world was flooded with BMWs - ever since I was a kid. That is until I bought this car.
At the time, I had freshly come out of Porsche ownership, and a good buddy of mine was a mad keen BMW fan. We both liked to do track days, and so I was now on the hunt for my ultimate track day machine. This particular car caught my eye first because of its threatening stance, and second......well because red cars go faster! (Imola Red is like BMWs version of Porsche's Guards Red; and it gets me every time)
The car came to us already pretty well setup from its previous owner. It was running BC Gold adjustable's, with adjustable top hats in the front, with hard race camber arms in the rear. It was already a factory 6 speed, so some might consider that pretty rare as most came with the SMG transmission. It was fitted with a short shift kit to further enhance the manual shifting ready for track work.
Wheels were a lightweight Apex ARC8 in 18"x10" square setup, They really set the car off in a dark gunmetal against the imola red, and being a square setup in 18" gave us heaps of opportunities to really dial in a good track setup.
Other tasteful modifications were the Hamann style front carbon fibre lip, carbon fibre rear diffuser, a track spec Agency Power titanium exhaust and we binned the factory (slippery) leather front seats for a pair of Sparco Evo2's on recaro adjustable rails with harnesses.
The last modification was the brakes; E46 M3's are continually bagged for their under braked setup from factory and we experienced this first hand - after melting numerous brake pad compounds and a continual battle with dull feeling brakes on the track, we bit the billet and secured a set of Porsche 996 calipers. We paired the front set with CSL 2 piece rotors from ECS Tuning and RS19 Pagid pads. The rears got the same treatment with new OEM discs and Pagid pads. This setup was completed with stainless steel braided brake lines front & rear with ATE gold (typ 200) fluid pumped to all four calipers.
That about rounded out the modifications for the car, over the next 12 months we proceeded to test suspension settings and tyre brands. We ended up selling the car with a set of Zestino Gredge 07RS tyres as without a doubt these tyres were the best value for money tyre we tested. Dunlop, Michelin and Toyo were all on the list, but if you are looking for a 'dollar vs seconds' tyre you cant go past the Zestino semi slick.
Of course so much fun was had with this car that it truly was the car that started the BMW fanboy buzz for us and we haven't yet looked back! And as far as the design brief; BWW consumables are so much cheaper than Porsche parts and so for a track day specific warrior you absolutely cannot go past an e46 M3.......and the sounds of that S54 6 cylinder on full song is music to any enthusiasts ears!
