Polished 19″ Style 67 wheels wear Firestone Firehawk tires all around, and the ride height has been lowered using Fortune Auto 500 Series adjustable coilovers. E46 M3 components include a rear subframe, steering rack, front control arms with AKG 75D bushings, spindles, and wheel bearings while additional upgrades include AKG 90A rear trailing.
- Bmw E46 Coilovers
- E46 Touring Coilovers Shocks
- E46 Touring Coilovers Sport
- E46 M3 Coilovers
- E46 Fk Coilovers
- Stay tuned For more BMW e46 mods and tutorials.Where do I get my parts? Check out the link below for the best deals on bmw parts!
- BMW E46 3 Series HSD DualTech Coilovers - Shipping Damage Clearance Item - Fits BMW E36 M3, 318, 320, 325 - Coupe, Saloon, Touring, Compact Regular Price: £635.00.
E36
After the insane success of the E30, the E36 had some big shoes to fill in. Of course, BMW delivered and made the E36 the most luxurious and comfortable 3-series yet. The E36 was available in a coupe, sedan, convertible, and a wagon model. BMW also produced the “compact” model which never sold well in the US but sold amazingly elsewhere.
After the insane success of the E30 M3, BMW upped production a huge amount. Making the E36 M3 attainable to the average Joe.
E46
Just like the E36, the E46 had some fairly big shoes to fill in. BMW has always been good at out-doing themselves, and they did with the E46. Not only was it more luxurious, faster, and safer. But, it was only 100 lbs heavier. BMW used quite a few light weight materials and techniques to keep the weight of the E46 down.
Just like the E36 before it, the E46 was available as a coupe, sedan, convertible, and a wagon. However, the “compact” model was missing from the lineup.
E36 vs E46: Reliability/Strength
Once BMW started changing directions with the 3-series and making it more luxurious, it has lost some of its superb reliability. That said, the E36 is a fairly reliable vehicle, but not nearly as strong as the E30 before it.
Also Read: RB26 vs 2JZ: Which One is Actually Better?
The E46 shares many components with the E36, and as such, shares many of the reliable traits. But, with all the new luxury tech of the E46 chassis, the reliable isn’t as good as the E36.
E36 vs E46: Luxury
Now, this shouldn’t surprise you to much, but as cars get more advanced they also get much more luxurious. So when comparing the luxury features of the E36 vs E46 take into account the major age difference.
The E36 was already a massive leap from the E30 when it came to luxury features and overall comfort of the car. It had a more advanced suspension system and was designed to be a true entry level executive car. E36’s came with power everything, leather interior, and a pretty quite and smooth ride.
The E46 is for the most part a lot like the E36 on the inside. Things like power windows, power locks, and power seats are pretty standard on the E46. They both use really nice leather and pretty nice materials. But, the E46 feels nicer and more modern over all.
E36 vs E46: Price
While prices for E30’s have gone up huge amounts, the prices for E36’s and E46’s have gone down a ton. Prices for a nice E36 range from $3-5k, and prices for a nice E46 range from $5-7k. This is of course very dependent on where you live. Those prices were an average of many different listings in the Phoenix, Arizona region.
Some area’s in the US, E46’s can rise as high as $10k for a decent condition model. Thats insane!
Bmw E46 Coilovers
E36 vs E46: Maintenance Cost
This is where many people fear ever owning a BMW or any german car for that matter. Is a BMW more expensive to fix than a Honda? Yes. Is a BMW way nicer to drive than a Honda? Yes. Understand that you get what you pay for. BMW’s can be very complex and as such the technicians who work on them get paid a lot to understand how BMW’s work.
With that said, the E36 is dirt cheap to repair. This is because its mostly devoid of the complex system’s mentioned above. When BMW produced the E36 they were just getting focused on making the 3-series about luxury. So, it wasn’t filled with insane tech that can break easily.
Check Out: Is BMW is Still Beating Mercedes?
The E46 on the other hand is nearly 2x the cost per repair of the E46. This is because they are much more complex in and out. This makes them harder to work on, and thats going to cost more. The E46 is actually fairly close in repair cost to the E39 (5-series).
E36 vs E46: M3
As a fellow enthusiast, I’m sure this is the only part you are actually interested in. How does the E36 M3 stack up against the E46 M3? Well lets look at the stats.
E36 M3 (US Model)
HP: 240 hp
TQ: 225 lb-ft
Weight: 3,439
0-60: 5.6 seconds
E46 M3 (US Model)
HP: 343 hp
TQ: 262 lb-ft
Weight: 3,399
0-60: 5.1 seconds
As you can tell from the numbers, the E46 is WAY more powerful. The crazy part is that its larger in every way, and has more luxury features, but doesn’t weigh anymore than an E36 M3. This is because of all the light weighting that BMW put the E46 M3 under.
Also Read: E30 vs E36: Which One is Better and Why?
Put these two on any track anywhere in the world and the E46 M3 will outrun the E36 M3 like its sitting still.
E36 vs E46: Track Use
The E36 is a great platform to learn on. It’s very well balanced, and has lots of room to grow into. But, it is limited by its narrow fender wells. The E46 suspension and chassis setup is nearly identical to the E36’s chassis. But, the E46 weighs about 100 lbs more than the E36.
So, logic would tell you that the E36 would be better due to its weight advantage. But, the E46 is a stiffer chassis over all, has a much wider body and can fit much wider tires, and has way more power. The E36 is better if you are on a budget, but if you want the ultimate track car go with an E46.
E46 Touring Coilovers Shocks
Summary
E46 Touring Coilovers Sport
So, not only is the E46 more luxurious, but its also faster. Its faster in a straight line and a curvy road thanks to BMW’s light weighting. But, its about 2x more to purchase and repair an E46 than an E36.
If you have the money, an E46 is the better car wether you want a daily driver or a track car. But, if you are on a budget the E36 is defiantly a better car. Its much cheaper and easier to repair, its also cheaper to buy in the first place.
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On Saturday I finally had the time to set aside the day to fit the HSD’s to my e46. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but I encountered a few niggles along the way
I started at the rear, I suspected that might be easiest. In some ways it was, physically removal & fitting of the rears is very easy, but setting up the ride height & damper height caused some problems
In all of about 15 minutes the stock rear damper & stock spring was out on one side, here’s a comparison photo between the stock setup & the HSD setup
I then installed the upper wishbone reinforcement plate. I read that some people have had problems with the rear wishbone cracking after fitting coilovers due to coilovers having a smaller footprint on the wishbone. That sounded pretty bad to me, and I didn’t want to risk it.
However, once the HSD spring perch was installed, to be honest, I don’t think it was necessary. The base of the HSD spring perch is not that much smaller than the reinforcement plate. I left it in place anyway though!
Installing the spring & damper was dead easy. I also installed the bolt-in damper reinforcement plate on the turret
Then unfortunately, I didn’t take any more photos of any of the install at all. The fronts went OK, the pinch bolt holding the strut to the hub was VERY tight, but luckily it released eventually. I found the standard droplinks almost too short for the HSD struts which is completely the opposite of what I have read, and removing them from the old struts was also a nightmare.
Talking of droplinks, the front pair did indeed look a little tired, and I think I’ve damaged them a little bit removing & refitting them too, so I’ve ordered a new pair.
Anyway, what does the car look like? After A LOT of playing around, I got it approximately where I was happy. Although note that the car in these photos is loaded up with all my tools & a jack
E46 M3 Coilovers
The next day, with the tools, jack & any extra weight removed, I thought the back was slightly still too high, even though I was already maxed out with the spring perch collar & its locking collar right at the bottom. I removed the spring, then removed the locking collar completely, then wound down the spring perch collar to the base on its own. This resulted in the ride height I was looking for
I think that is just about perfect.
I then tried on my new wheels, which are the Style 216 BMW/BBS motorsport wheels. The rears are 18×8.5J ET37 (vs ET50 from the MV2 wheels). That’s a +13mm difference in offset which I knew would be quite tight
It looks almost perfect in that photo, but annoyingly the inner lip on the arch is rubbing on the wheel. I did some reading about this, and there seems to be seam-sealer added by BMW on the inner lip which means you cannot roll the lip flat until that has been removed. I haven’t tried to do this yet, but that is my next move.
E46 Fk Coilovers
However, that being said, I can’t wait to get them fitted now. The car looks fantastic on these new wheels. I’ll of course get the fronts fitted at the same time, which should have no problems with fitment at all