e36 M3/4/5 vs e46 330i Sedan

[oliseyevets]

Hey guys I'm purchasing a car in the next month and i been doing a lot of (all day, everyday at work) comparing different e36 and e46 models to see which one would be the best for my goals and I need some help.

I started out really wanting a e36 m3 and comparing it to the 328i to see of it was worth the money; its sure is.

I have a son so I need a 4 door car and as it turns out the e36 m3 sedan is the same size (length, wheelbase) as the coupe, and I think it looks better anyway so I seemed to make my mind up on the m3/4/5. Is the e46 coupe and sedan similar sizes as well? What about a non m3 car compared to m3 (width, height)?

Just yesterday my buddy purchased a 02 325 5 speed and he let me drive it. It was so smooth and the seats are so comfortable. The first car o drove was a e46 and i remember how smooth the acceleration was. Compared to a 92 325 with 200+k on it that I used to own the car seemed to drive tenfold better.

So today at work I started looking at e46 m3 sedan clones and they look wonderful but I hate clones. The stock e46 sedans looks terrible, and a lot of money would be involved to look legitimate. And The real deal is so much better anyway.

The only threads I read comparing the 2 were from 2009 when the e46 was fairly new.

I have a budget of about 5k

I need something thats comfortable to drive daily bit something you can whip around on the weekends without having to worry too much about breaking stuff. I plan to do very frequent maintenance and hopefully be able to hand the car off to my son when he can drive.

I love the timeless designs of the e36 so im leaning towards that and its an M car.

Would love feedback from owners of either one! Thanks guys



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[BimmerBreaker]

The E46 coupe and sedan are basically tha same exact size, roof size might be a bit different but they are the same chassis so overall dimensions wont be very different. E46 M3's are wider and small differences in length due to bumpers. E36 M3's are basically the same

Kind of wierd comparing the dimensions so much though. There are a million other more important factors.

For $5k I'd get an E36 328i sedan. An m3 at that price will probably need work. So either take the money you'd spend on immediate maintenance of a $5k M3 and buy a nicer M3 up front or buy a decent 328i sedan E36 or E46.

[QtheGenius]

you can probably find a descent e46 328i for that price range. They are getting old enough, but they look so much better than the e36, especially the non-m e36.

[smellmypipe]

I would buy a decent e46 325i or 323i. E46 m3 are much much more comfortable than e36 m3. E36 m3 have stiff suspension, very uncomfortable vader seats, and it has almost no room in the back. For 5k You will not find an m3 that You will be able to pass down to Your son, because it is gonna fall apart in 5 years. Really nice e36 m3 cost about 11k. Save up some money and buy some decent BMW

[oliseyevets]

Thanks guys, probably gonna lean towards a low milage e36 328i sedan. If a right deal comes up for an e46 then who knows. I'm just a personal fan of the e36 square lines over the e46, but the newer 3 is very comfortable for sure.