A mid-lifecycle update starting with March of 2003 (2003.5) model years included several new standard features, the most notable being LED taillights. Clean, low mileage, 6-speed manual examples in rare colors and options carry the highest premiums, but public opinion has begun to turn in favor of SMG M3s. The service information bulletin (SI B) covering this replaced the faulty rod bearings with updated units. The 2001, 2002, and early 2003 model years had a rod bearing recall that was remedied by mid-2003. Even today, a well-driven E46 M3 can hold its own against much more powerful and modern performance cars.

The M3 also got exclusive suspension, brakes, and wheels that gave it formidable performance. A pull to its screaming 8000-RPM redline is a smile-evoking experience that is only made better by the communicative and composed E46 chassis. The S54 won multiple engineering awards upon its release and, at the time, it produced the highest horsepower-per-liter for a normally aspirated production engine. At the heart of the E46 M3 was the 333-horsepower S54B32 engine, an evolution of an architecture that reaches back to the original M535i and M1. The E46 generation M3 was the last of a legacy of normally aspirated, inline 6-cylinder M cars that defined the marque for a generation. Interior: Imola Red Leather Interior (N5IM)

Transmission: 6-Speed Automated Manual Gearbox (SMG)Įxterior color: Titanium Silver Metallic (354)

Bme e46 m3 specs