SVT Sinister

Right now i have an 2001 Ford Lightning and im thinking about stepping it up a couple of notches and getting a C55 or M3. Could you please tell me the pros and cons of these 2 cars. I know im on an benz web site but i would like to hear honest opinions. Thank You

Johnny

vraa

V8 > i6.

You have an American truck.. you should know that there is no replacement for displacement!

Bif powell

As much ink is spent on the issue, I always feel like they are completely different cars.

General consensus is the M3 is more of a driver's car. All Mercedes are going to be more luxury oriented and certainly performing nearly as well as the M3 in everything, but there's no drama, not a lot of feel, and the road is abstracted a bit. The S4 is a better comparison to the C55 I think. 4-doors and a V8. That said I think you can do some things to the C55 to make it handle as well as the M3, but the M3 has a better starting point if you're going to be doing suspension mods anyways.

The M3 is more like...I dunno, a CLK Coupe?...is that right?

Drive them all of course. Looking is half the fun. Very different cars though IMHO.

SteveL1

To me, it's 4 doors vs. 2 doors. If I could get away with only 2 doors, it would be M3 hands down. I love the look of the 3 series coupes, my wife drives a 330Ci, but the sedans are just boaring to me, even the new E90. The C55 is the best looking and perforning compact 4 door out there now, so take your pic......oh, and if you had not noticed, the pay load in either will be seriously lacking in comparison to the Lightning! Both are awsome cars!

FrankW

If you are only considering these two cars then most likely you don't mind driving an auto.

Then the question you gotta ask yourself, do you want a coupe or sedan? it's as simple as that as one can't offer the other.

2QUIK4U

This is obviously not the place to come if you want an unbiased answer, but I'll give you my opinion nonetheless.

I have had my C55 for nearly 4 months now and and could not be more happy with it. The car is the perfect balance in terms of sportiness and comfort. You could easily take the car on a longer road trip with 4 passengers w/o any complaints, and on the other hand, it outperforms many two door sports cars. This car is truly versatile.

On top of that, the styling (interior and exterior) is unique and beautiful. The CLK front-end on the C55 gives it a subtle yet aggressive look. The interior of the C55 is also very nice. The designers at AMG have definitely not overlooked any details and little things such as the contrast stitching on the seats as well as the perforated leather give the car a whole new element of style. I could go on and on, but you would be much better served paying a visit to your dealership and checking out the car your self, I think you will immediately understand what I am saying.

I think the key questions are: What is your driving style and will this be your daily driver?

If you are a driver that goes to autocross events or does a lot of weekend track driving and are looking for a car with somewhat of a racing pedigree, then I would suggest you go with the M3. However, if you do more city driving and and want straight line acceleration and low-end torque that will press you in the seat, then the C55 my be the better choice. That's not to say that the C55 doesn't handle well, but the M3 will definitely give you more of a raw and unrefined race-car feel.

Either way, both cars are excellent. You won't go wrong with either one. I could continue for hours comparing the two cars and explaining why I think that the C55 is ultimately a better choice. However, the best way for you to obviously gain conviction is to visit your local dealerships and test drive both vehicles. I can only say that I enjoy every moment I drive the C55 and the engineers at AMG have truly created an amazing machine. Good luck with the purchase.

Scoop55

Buy the damn C55 beast...unless

1) You prefer a 2-door coupe, and
2) you don't mind waiting a year or so for the E90 M3.

Don't settle for the E46. If you need the car right now, get the C55 AMG.

ClayJ

The M3 is more hard-edged and smaller. The C55 has it beat in just about every category of ownership unless you're planning on using the car at the track alot, or you're a manual transmission fanatic.

FrankW

Scoop, the W204 is less than a year away. The new C AMG should come the same time new M3 comes. Why not just tell him to wait for those two?

the M3 is 5 years old, but don't forget the C55 is also built on a 5 year old chassi.

BlackC230Coupe

Go for the M3..................







not

RawAMGpower

Well, from the dashboard back is a 5 year old chassis. The front end is only 3 years old and the interior is only 1 year old.

Humbucker87

I like the subtlety

Glasgow Gold

The point has been made in other threads here but the AMGs are more refined than the Ms, which can come in handy if you're not really trying to scare your passengers (think business lunch). I had one co-pilot tell me that the C32 was much less busy, jolting, intrusive and loud than the M3 ride he had recently suffered through.

cntlaw

I kind of support that C55 W203 is a much 'modern' car than the M3 E46.

The new generation of 3-series E90 was launched in April 2005. The replacement of E46 had started since. So E46 is now already a 9-month dated model. The outgoing W203 replacement will only start earliest Q1 2007. By that time, the E46 is already two years behind the E90, which it is a long long time enough to make a car look really dated. And, there must be plenty of E46 M3 in the preowned market by Q1 2007 as M3 E90 will launch in June this year. The residual value impact of the M3 E46 is therefore pretty obvious as the M3 E90 will be a new 400hp V8. Whereas, the C55 is already a V8!

There is no assurance that W204 will recieve a 6.3 litre AMG engine on Day-1. As I noted from the article of the Interview with AMG Boss, the C AMG is pretty borderline for some of the markets. So, it could mean, the 6.3 litre engine will go to the E, CLS, and CLK before the W204 receives one. We can't deny the possibility that, on day-1, W204 might only get the same 5.5 litre AMG engine with a 7G. The C55 will not get hit so quickly unless we hear some definite news on the W204 engine line-up. (At least, our local price of a brand new C55 has gone up 10% ever since I bought mine in 2004)

Vader13

Hands down M3 if you want to drive.
If you want to go fast and cruise in lux get the C55.

Bux

jpog

I traded an '05 M3 on a C55 a few months ago, and couldn't be happier. The M was simply unreliable, and both of my Benzes have been trouble-free. What everyone has stated though is true. The M is rougher around the edges, noisier, harsher in every way. The Benz is tons of power, still great handling, and luxury/refinement.

Good luck with your decision. By the way, moving from a Lighning, are you needing 2 additional seats? If so, the AMG gives you 4 doors. Much easier for hauling passengers. FWIW.

JPOG

FLYNAVY

well, the 203 C55 already has an extremely powerful V8, while the e46 only has the I6. Next generation M3 will have a much more powerful V8 too, and manual trans. Not sure if Scoop was referring to this, but those are the reasons why I would not settle for an e46 M at this point......

MJ1133

What do you want in the car?

mick1

Since you're a Ford guy, forget both the C55 and M3 and get the 475 hp 2007 Ford Shelby GT500

Scoop55

You got it.

MJ1133

But the e90 is just ugly...for this reason I will not be getting another M3

M6 here I come

JamE55

I'd go for a Viper!

desertsun

Simple

If you're under 30...buy the M3
I'm over (way over) 30

BlackC230Coupe

lol even better!