{"id":40512,"date":"2023-01-16T12:54:56","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=40512"},"modified":"2023-01-16T12:54:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:54:56","slug":"could-this-e46-m3-convertible-be-your-cheap-entry-into-the-e46-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=40512","title":{"rendered":"Could This E46 M3 Convertible Be Your Cheap Entry Into the E46 Club?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every BMW fan would love to own an E46 M3<\/a>. It\u2019s often regarded as the best driving BMW of all time and is regularly used as a measuring stick for newer M cars. However, there\u2019s one specific spec of E46 M3 that most fans would rather avoid\u2014the E46 M3 Convertible with an SMG gearbox. Because of its lack of popularity among fans, the drop-top automatic M3 is often quite cheap, as this one for sale on Bring a Trailer<\/a>\u00a0seems to be. So could it be your cheap thrills sports car or is it just not worth it?<\/p>\n

This 2004 BMW M3 Convertible is a good car but it\u2019s in the least desirable spec possible. E46 Convertibles<\/a> of all kinds were all kind of floppy, even with the extra structural bracing the M3 version had. That lack of chassis rigidity meant that it felt sloppy to drive when compared to the coupe. However, it was still fun if you weren\u2019t looking to absolutely mob it on a track. If you accept that it\u2019s not as sharp or as capable as the coupe, you\u2019ll have a great time.<\/p>\n

What really holds this car back is its SMG gearbox. The Sequential Automated Gearbox was a six-speed, single-clutch, automated manual that was frustrating to drive at best when it debuted. Now, nearly 20 years later, when we have rapid-fire dual-clutch transmissions and brilliant eight-speed autos, the SMG seems like a nightmare to use. But even still, if you can work around its shortcomings and figure out how to live with it, you\u2019ll still have an M3 with an astonishing engine and fantastic steering.<\/p>\n

And this one might be cheap. With 87,000 miles on the odometer, some enthusiasts might be worried about repair bills. However, the current bid (at the time of writing this) is $8,000. That\u2019s pennies for an E46 M3, considering nicely sorted coupes will fetch six-figures. And this one seems to be in nice shape, with a clean exterior and interior.<\/p>\n

Obviously, the current bid will go up over the course of the next four days, before the auction ends. However, it\u2019s still likely to be well under what nice coupes sell for. So this one might be the cheapest, high-quality E46 M3 you\u2019ll be able to buy for some time. Does that make it worth the investment? Check it out.<\/p>\n

[Source: Bring a Trailer]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every BMW fan would love to own an E46 M3. It\u2019s often regarded as the best driving BMW of all time and is regularly used as a measuring stick for newer M cars. However, there\u2019s one specific spec of E46 M3 that most fans would rather avoid\u2014the E46 M3 Convertible with an SMG gearbox. Because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":40513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}