Sell Everything You Own And Buy This V10 Manual E46 BMW M3
Have you seen E46 M3 CSL prices lately? They are - unless you already own one - downright depressing. Just one is listed for sale on Autotrader currently, and it’ll set you back £69,990. And that’s not the most expensive I’ve seen: there’s even one for £100,000 knocking around.
If you want a very special E46 M3 but can’t stretch to that, let me present a solution: the M3 you see here. And while it looks like any other E46 M3 from the outside, as you’ll see from the next image, it has something rather special under the bonnet.
Yep, it’s the S85 5.0-litre V10 from an E60 M5. Better yet, it’s been hooked up to the six-speed manual gearbox from an E9x M3.
We’re looking at the M5’s 500bhp output in a car that weighs around 300kg less. This, ladies and gents, is going to be a very quick car. And it shouldn’t be quite as nose-heavy as you’d imagine: despite displacing an extra 1800cc, the S85 V10 weighs just 25kg more than the stock M3’s S54 straight-six.
The price for all this? £30,000, which - when you consider the amount of work that conversion will have required - doesn’t seem so bad.
Can you think of a better BMW engine swap than this? Let us know in the comments!
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Me gusta!
Change that E46 to a E92.
Like this? (E91, but close enough!)
THANK YOU!
I might go for a E90, but that is just me having a 4door fetish
Anyway the E9x seems to be a way better fit for the V10 and it will not be such massive increase in weight on the front wheels
i would take an e30 visually
Want!!
#builtnotbought
no
“despite displacing an extra 1800cc, the S85 V10 weighs just 25kg more than the stock M3’s S54 straight-six.”
There we have it. No will you children stop hating on the V10 for being “too nose heavy”.
I’m just waiting for someone to not bother reading the article and go straight to the comments to say ‘OMG NOSE HEAVY’
How about this one? V10 too and that m3 csl color
Have you seen the 1 Series Hatch with the same V10?
You can’t possibly mean 1 series looks better than E46… 1 series were always one of the ugliest in pack.
now thats a 1-series if im right, but with a V10.. oh man.
So he took a good m3, and made it a lot less reliable and the fact that you can own this ticking timebomb is a GOOD thing.
I’ll admit, reliability and big bills would be a concern (and I suspect that’s the reason the builder is selling up), but the idea of a V10 E46 might just be worth the risk and financial heartache…
MUCH WANT
Oooof.