In the May issue of Roundel in "Tech Talk" there was an interesting article concerning the brakes on the new E46 M3 as being "downgraded".

In discussing the brakes that are standard on non-US M3s, the following comment was made by the Tech expert:

"For the life of me, I can't understand why BMW downgrades brakes on their U.S.-bound cars. The E46 M3 was shown all over the world with awesome two-piece cross-drilled rotors. What are we getting on the U.S.-spec E46 M3? Out-of-the-box 330i brakes-which by the way, are already warping on some 330i's. Time will tell, but we predict the new M3 will cook its front rotors on a regular and consistent basis." :(

Is anyone experiencing a warping problem with the new M3 like some 330i owners apparently have?

Bob ///M3

For some reason I would also like to downgrade the engine.

Sure the S54B32 is impressive for power and its 8,000rpm redline but it really lacks torque for city driving.
You can get a '95 M3, add the Euro intake kit with a good exhaust and its faster than the E46 M3.
Same thing can go with the S52.

Oh yeah, not sure if you all know but the S54 doesn't have hydraulic lifters. They went back to using rocker arms. Hydraulic lifters cannot maintain and/or go up to 8,000rpm fast and quickly. So this means that at every Inspection service, the valves need to be adjusted and so far only the BMW Service Dept. can do this because of the special tools that are required. What else is there.... oh yeah.. shorter piston skirts and connecting rods. Lets see... rocker arms, shorter piston skirts, shorter connecting rods.. sounds like Japanese Motorcycle Technology to me.

Its a true race engine though and beautiful body style. I can't wait though to take the E46 M3 class and take apart the engine.. woo hoo.

Haha! Nice reply Jon...and a respected reply too I might add...

I've also heard the driveability (torque) was lacking even with double VANOS. For any engine to peak at 8,000 rpms the low end must suffer some, similar to the S2000 Honda. Great for track but not for street!

I'm assuming the M3 uses solid lifters (with rocker arms) in lieu of hydraulic lifters; like the muscle car engines of the late 60's. They also had to be adjusted as well from time-to-time. Well, one thing for sure, no more tick, tick, tick from them losing oil...now it's a shhhrriiing, shhhrriiing sound which I always loved the sound of!

Bob ///M3

Bob,

I thought that it has solid lifters but my boss (shopforeman) who has taken the E46 M3 class told me it has no lifters... its just the cam lobe hitting the rocker arm and rocker arm hitting valve and valve opens. Thats all!

Since I dont have a technical book with me, I'm gonna steal my bosses M3 book and read more about it =)

Oh btw, I was surprised as well with the low torque output even with double vanos but I found out the 100BAR oil pressure system for the double vanos is there to maintain perfect cam timing due to its fast engine speed. Not sure how aggressive the cams are but even with true variable valve timing... alot of things must be taken care of since there's only 91-93 octane and 11.5:1 static compression. DOH!!!

In teresting about the rockers!

Very true about a lot that needs to be taken care in with the variable valve timing!

I look forward to hearing more about that engine AND hearing from owners too!

Thanks, as always for your input...

Bob ///M3

All this stuff about the E46 M3 or the European E36 M3 not having any torque and being not nice for city driving is just not true. Let's look at the figures:

US E36 M3: 236lbft @ 3800rpm
Euro E36 M3: 258lbft @ 3250rpm

E46 M3: 269lbft @ 5000rpm but it has 80% of that at just 2000rpm so thats 215lbft @ 2000rpm.

So - the Euro E36 3.2L M3 has more torque lower down than the US E36 M3 and the E46 M3 already has nearly as much torque as the US E36 M3 at only 2000rpm! 215lbft at 2000rpm rising to 269lbft at 5000rpm is not what I call short on torque.

Michael.

Agreeing with michaelab... doesn't the Euro E36 M3 produces more torque than US E36 M3 at any given rpm?? Assuming that the E46 M3 does a bit better than Euro E36... it should be at least as torquey as US E36 M3 if not better right??