E46 M3 vs 996 Carrera

[V8slayer]

What's the advantage of buying a Carrera? Other than the fact that it's a Porsche.

The 0-62 times and quarter mile times are very close. The M3 isn't even outperformed on the track. Both look great. Ok, the M3 has crap brakes but it's about $40,000 (Australian Dollars) cheaper. You can get some pretty good brakes for $40,000.

Plus the M3's interior is so much better.

Don't get me wrong, the Porsche is a great car. But is it's name alone worth all that extra cash or is there more to it than that?

[.mauri.]

The normal M3 is slightly slower than a normal Carrera... (manual trasmission talking)
in my opinion.
The csl M3 is nearly fast as a gt3.
The M3 is a camouflage supercar looking like a normal sedan\coupè the Carrera looks like a Carrera.

[MattyG]

Im kinda biased but Id take an M3 for all the reasons V8Slayer mentioned, I really don't see the $40K in that badge...

[DinanM3_S2]

The biggest problem with Porsche is that they look so good they can charge just about whatever they want for their cars. I love my E46 M3 more then any car I've ever owned. If your looking for a good track car, get a M3 and modify it. If you want looks or prestiege from your car, either will work, but a Porsche stands out more then a BMW.

PS. I didnt mind the M3's stock breaks... but Porsche's are the best in the world.

[christophv]

plus, BMW is a BMW.

I wouldn't buy one (maybe because I see embarrassing people and ginos cruising in 318s all day, looking so cool but paid like 1500€ for their shitty cars)

compared to Audi and Mercedes (Porsche and so on), BMW is a rattling plastic car. undistinguishable noises and everything seems to be loose.

[V8slayer]

What are you talking about?

The Porsche cabin is no where near as good as the M3.

Plastic? OK, a standard 3 series, I agree with you. But the M3, that depends on what you compare it to. An Aston Martin, or a Bently yeah, the luxury levels are very different. But the M3's interior looses NOTHING to Porsche, Merc or Audi.

I've test driven all of them and c'mon, none are that good. 2mm thick wood, fake chrome handles, plastic dash, and the M3 has the best leather of all of them (if you shell out an extra $1,500 for the Spirit Nappa leather seats).

As for undistinguishable noises, the inline 6 gives an insane howl. It's a great engine sound (especially at 8000rpm). Especially compared to the C32 AMG, which I struggled to hear.

[MITSU-EVO]

Originally Posted by V8slayer

What are you talking about?

The Porsche cabin is no where near as good as the M3.

Plastic? OK, a standard 3 series, I agree with you. But the M3, that depends on what you compare it to. An Aston Martin, or a Bently yeah, the luxury levels are very different. But the M3's interior looses NOTHING to Porsche, Merc or Audi.

I've test driven all of them and c'mon, none are that good. 2mm thick wood, fake chrome handles, plastic dash, and the M3 has the best leather of all of them (if you shell out an extra $1,500 for the Spirit Nappa leather seats).

As for undistinguishable noises, the inline 6 gives an insane howl. It's a great engine sound (especially at 8000rpm). Especially compared to the C32 AMG, which I struggled to hear.

I agree, one should not compare the interior of the M3 with that of an Aston , a Bentley, or a Rolls Royce.... It's a car of a different league, so I wouldn't consider M3 interior bad...However christophv is right about the Merc and Audi comparison if we base it on the standard 3-series. I would take the A4 over the 3-series any day...

[MITSU-EVO]

About the AMG, the performance is awesome but the sound is frustrating since one usually expects a battle cry from such a powerful car...

[crayzayjay]

Originally Posted by V8slayer

What's the advantage of buying a Carrera? Other than the fact that it's a Porsche.

The 0-62 times and quarter mile times are very close. The M3 isn't even outperformed on the track.

Whadayamean not outperformed on a track? I cant remember seeing evidence of an M3 beating a 996 around any track. The only times i have are for Bedford autodrome (evo)
M3 - 1:26.85
996 Carrera - 1.23.20

both on dry tracks. The 996 actually lapped faster than a 575M (with the Fiorano pack), VX220 Turbo and an Sti PPP.

Advantages over the M3? Better traction, brakes, steering feel, looks (subjective). They both have terrific engines but the 996 is just that little bit better in almost everything.

[flylwsi]

the m3 cabin is better than a 996?
at least the 996 doesn't look like an outdated 80's design that doesn't get adequately updated.

i personally dislike the bmw interior styling (all of it, all models)

[Demon_Mustang]

I guess if I was to spend the money to buy one of these cars I might care, but I've noticed that interior styline has never been an issue with me. The only time I found something on the inside of a car that turned me off was in the Mercedes SLR, how it has "SLR" in big huge chrome letters in the middle of the instrument panel, or dash, whatever. I mean, come on, I think someone that spent $390,000 on a car would already know what kind of car he is driving!

[DinanM3_S2]

What kind of car do all of you guys who claim BMW interiors arnt very good drive? BMWs, especially the newer ones have an incredibly nice setup. There is no drivers car in the world that I would take an interior of over BMW (except possibly Aston, but that doesnt count, you cant even buy a BMW for the base price of a DB7). Outdated 80's design? Come on

[crayzayjay]

Im a big fan of BMW interiors too. Ok so they're not big on flair, but it's a very classy affair, and everything faces the driver, which is a very nice feeling when you're driving.

[V8slayer]

Well in the 2002 performance car of the year from Motor magazine here in Aus, the M3 did a 1:41.56 compared to a 996 Carerra's 1:42.01. So almost no difference.

And I think the Porsche cabin is absolute crap. Especially considering how much you're paying.

[crayzayjay]

Originally Posted by V8slayer

Well in the 2002 performance car of the year from Motor magazine here in Aus, the M3 did a 1:41.56 compared to a 996 Carerra's 1:42.01. So almost no difference.

And I think the Porsche cabin is absolute crap. Especially considering how much you're paying.

The money's spent in the right place

and i dont think its that bad at all...