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Ciao everyone, here it's Marchettino and today we test a real piece of history of BMW!

It's a great emotion being behind the wheel one of the most iconic M3 as defined by many and it's already a classic to me,

I need to thank my friends at Dog Garage for letting me drive it - make sure to follow them on Instagram!

This car's already a classic because compared to the current BMW M cars, this is another planet.

It's the last real analog M3, the last M3 to fit this amazing 6-inline N/A engine

and it's a car that offers lots of emotions, look at the road I'm driving through today!

It's a car nearly 2 decades old and maybe this time starts to show up on the design of this car

but overall it's still a very beautiful and pleasant shape to look at and what about the configuration,

Topas Blau with grey interior, CSL wheels and the icing on the cake, the manual gearbox!

As you know I have an M3 E92, I got into the M world since about 1 year and half and during this time I started to appreciate the M products very much

and this is a car I've been waiting to test since a long time.

Being here in this mountain road today is a fabulous experience, I've been having fun since a few hours around these corners.

Compared to my M3, this is an even more analog and raw experience and this engine is a masterpiece.

The N/A inline-six engine in front of me develops 343hp and 365nm of torque.

To be honest, many M3 E46 owners say these figures claimed by BMW ain't real, it produces slighty less power but with a sound like this..

who cares!

Hearing it from the outside and the noise of the airbox.. mamma mia!

Another music compared to my V8, but what a music!

And being used to my V8 which is a truly amazing engine with a lot more power and torque,

I was a bit worried to feel this engine not powerful enough but I was wrong,

because it has such a linear and powerful power delivery and it gives its best above 5000rpm!

This metallic sound is such a pleasure to hear even if compared to the current twin-turbo M3, this is simply another music!

Compared to my E92, the E46 is a whopping 88kg lighter but it's impressive because even if it's lighter than mine, it's 50kg heavier than the current M3.

In the E46 I like that it has the right size, it's compact and balanced

I don't even feel the weight while moving around these corners because it's so perfectly balanced with a remarkable chassis

it makes you dance through these corners and smash the throttle with a great ease.

Like many told me, it's true! The strong point of this car is not just the engine, but the chassis!

Compared to my V8, out the corners and hairpins you're more clean, on my E92 you just need to slighty touch the throttle with the TC off and you're sideways,

here you have to be more aggressive!

The great thing to have an engine with the right power is that you can have fun and use it properly

resulting very predictable even when you feel the rear starts to slide, you feel if perfectly through the steering wheel which is extremely communicative.

What a manual gearbox!

These tires are basically semislicks, on this damp tarmac you have good fun!

When this car

when this car reached a very low market value, about 15.000€

it was very popular among drift lovers, in fact to buy one of these second hand the problem is to find a good one

because this is the perfect car for those who want to play and be stupid like I do!

In the recent years the value of this car has grown, it keeps growing.

This one I'm driving has 146.000km which for being about 15 years old it's not that much

but they're starting to get expensive and for exemplars with these kilometers they're around 25.000€,

for exemplars with less than 100.000km the prices are huge!

It's still affordable and I'm seriously thinking about it, damn it I'm really considering it!

Compared to mine you feel the lesser weight especially on the front, when you get into the corners it feels more communicative and reactive.

The M3 E92 is a very brutal and aggressive M, it's a sort of european muscle car whereas this is perfect to me.

Very balanced!

I can drift it with such ease!

In terms of chassis, this car is incredible. It's the definition of " fun on 4 wheels "!

I think an M3 F80 is definitely faster around this road but

in terms of sensations and emotions this is another planet!

Yesterday I read after the M3 F80 and M4, BMW won't be making any more M cars with a manual gearbox, one more reason to be already a classic to me

and in terms of value, it's a car that still has lots to offer!

One more reason to consider to buy one!

343hp may not sound impressive for today's standard but in terms of performance it's still tough,

0 to 100kph in 5,1s and a top speed electronically limited to 250kph but as I said

driving today a car like this, it's more about performance but here you put in the first place the sensations and emotions

and these are things that today's cars struggle to offer!

Listen at its shout the more I rev it, mamma mia!

How do you expect to make the hairpins with an M3?!

It's fabulous, overall I think it balanced, manageable, usable,

in comparison my M3 E92 is more rough like a muscle car behaviour that I like because it's very aggressive to drive whereas this one

has a cleaner and faster behaviour and it's amazing, obviously you just have to exaggerate with the throttle and you're sideways!

Behind the wheel of this car I was afraid to be left disappointed because I love my E92,

it's fabulous, very powerful and by getting onboard this E46 I thought I would have find it a " minus "

but overall damn it, what a surprise!

I'm willed to swap my E92 with an E46 and keep the same smile on my face!

The more we go on and more I realize the cars get even more powerful

there's this endless hunt for more power and make it more performing but they also become more digital and less engaging

I realize cars like this are cars to have, yeah in other words you have to have them!

I'm not surprised that day after day they become more sought after valuable on the market.

Just think about the new M4, compared to this one it's like 2-3 times faster, it's exaggerately powerful but

it wasn't even close to offer me the emotions this little jewel is offering me!

Driving an M3 E46 for my first time gave me the same emotions and excitement I had when I went to Germany to test the yellow M3 E92 that then I bought!

I wait for your opinion - swapping my E92 for an E46? I don't know, I'm thinking about it.

Anyway, make sure to Like the video if you enjoy it, subscribe to my YouTube channel for more

thanks again to my friends at Dog Garage letting me test it and as always thanks for watching, ciao!