FrankW

one of my best bud from college has a 02 SMGII coupe fully loaded with kwv2 and gruppeM ti exhaust. I drove it several time. The kwv2 made the car better than stock in ride comfort, but I still could not stand how it rode over rough pavement which is 80% of what we have here in SoCal. We usually take my car on longer drives. as with my 00 328ci BMW has always been more fun at the limit because of the more communicative chassi. for the gadget since he's car is fully loaded as well I personally feels that BMW Nav is somewhat better in design and has more function, but as oppose to many people I feel the Comand is easier to use. I love how the M3 drives when you are in the going fast mode because it's more communicative and then with the SMG downshift rev matching I love how the engine sounds raw and more mechanical. It's something you won't experience with the AMGs. AMGs however will give you something that you can't find in M cars as well.

fit and finish wise you can tell that MB spent more time getting each panel and trim lined up. quality wise they are a wash IMO. I was once at the crossroad between the M3 and the C32 and I found myself going with praticality.

if comes to the E92 M3 and the w204 C63 AMG...i think i have to shoot myself before making a choice again.

sadly a lot of the M3 buyers today bought the M3 simply because of trend and think M3 is the best thing in the world.

Slater126

Well, I had an E36 M3, so I can compare that. On the whole, the M3 was more edgy and racer like as compared to the C32. Sportier to summarize it. The C32 is smoother, quieter and more luxurious in feel. The C32 is also of course faster. Obviously, the thing I miss most about the M3 is the manual transmission. BMW makes great manuals and an, while the C32 has a good automatic, a slushbox in a performance car will always dillute the driving experience to a degree.

I imagine most of these comparisons would be similar as an E46 v. C32 comparison. Overall, two very good, but different, performance cars.

Lagunatic

Search through the forum for some of my previous posts regarding my experience with the M3.

In short, I had a 2003 M3 SMG for about 1.5 years. Difficult to compare with the C32, two different cars. As with most luxo cars, the M3 had its share of issues (tranny probs, rear-diff noises, weather stipping and sunroof issues, the dreaded engine recall issue, etc etc). I made the switch (feel like an Apple ad) to the C32 because it is WAY more practical than the M3 but still has monster power and great performance. I can fit my three kids in the back seat easily and my wife can drive the car without any of the SMG tranny invoked Tourette's Syndrome. The C32 is a total sleeper and I love it even with all its little querks and issues. My '02 C32 is creaping up there in age but I see myself holding on to it for many more years.