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Not a fan either, some in the video sound better then others, but overall don't really like the noise. Intake noise with a csl airbox however...!
Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...
- Thread starter mrk
- Start date
Videos only really tell half the story, I'm sure they all sound much better in person but the stock is just the sweetest sound IMO. All those millions of £ spent in R&D to get the E46 M3 to sound the way it does and people go and cut up or replace the exhaust! Bonkers I tell you.
I am contemplating that carbon airbox though!
Edit*
Maybe not, the Evolve carbon box was £500 something on pre-order last I saw, now it's way more, way way more
I am contemplating that carbon airbox though!
Edit*
Maybe not, the Evolve carbon box was £500 something on pre-order last I saw, now it's way more, way way more
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Soldato
I knew they would jack the price of that evolve box up what a joke!
They look great together. But which one sounds the best?
It was a maybe tweak anyway but the price jacking up is the nail in the coffin tbh so I will just keep as is. The rag top makes the sound enter the cabin much more than the coupe anyway so it sounds really sweet.
Going by the PH discussion on getting a CSL sound from a non CSL (link) - Seems the only proper way is to get a CSL
- Everything else will be simply throwing money at a non CSL for no reason and then the faff of putting it back to stock if you get rid of the car and selling them on etc.It was a maybe tweak anyway but the price jacking up is the nail in the coffin tbh so I will just keep as is. The rag top makes the sound enter the cabin much more than the coupe anyway so it sounds really sweet.
Going by the PH discussion on getting a CSL sound from a non CSL (link) - Seems the only proper way is to get a CSL
All you need is the CSL air box shirley?
That is only a (large) portion of the sound. The rest comes from the exhaust, lack of sound deadening under the floor panels (for inside the cabin sounds) and the ECU map which changes throttle calibration, raises the redline a bit and some other stuff.
If you went for a drive in a CSL, and then straight after in a "normal" M3 with a CSL air box you would really struggle to tell any difference except for the lack of sound deadening. The GSR air box with a couple of mods sounds almost as good.
You need the CSL air box and CSL mid-pipe, you then have the sound.
I might own an E46 M3 but seriously the E9x M3 has a far superior exhaust note, trying to say an E46 sounds better with an exhaust than an E9x with the simple exhaust mod are deluded.
The E46 has a very unique noise, it is very raspy and as some said sounds like a load of angry bees in a tin on the exhaust note, so a bit marmite.
An E9x with the stock exhaust mod sounds wonderful from the exhaust.
The E46 only sounds better on induction side and only when fitted with a CSL carbon air box.
They sound the same on induction side, some CSL owners put an ITG panel filter in the CSL air box which changes the sound again.
To get the whole CSL sound, you need the CSL mid-pipe which drastically changes the exhaust note, even more exotic rasp. These are 90% of the sound.
The cats and headers only effect the noise slightly and most just fit de-cats now as they give proven gains. Headers/manifolds effect the noise hardly at all, don't flow any better and only save about 1.5-2kg as marginally thinner material.
Of course but would you not agree that it's literally throwing money to improve an already good sound? And then there's the case of potential resale value (I know I've said I have little desire to sell this car down the line but I'd like to keep things minimal in terms of under bonnet mods if I can). All the thousands spent and it won't put a dent into the sale price years down the line to someone looking for a close to mint motor, so you'd want to ideally fit back the stock components and sell the CSL components, unless the buyer you sell the car to is specifically after the whole setup fitted anyway.
I'm all for making things nicer but £1000+ for just sound and whatever the small HP bump might be doesn't seem a wise move to me. £500 for the Evolve pre-order deal was brilliant, I had it in mind to do that, just never thought they'd jack it up to over £1000 in the end :/
I'd rather put that money aside and spend it in years to come on a full respray once scratches and stone chips accumulate and get annoying!
I think with the convertible I've gotten the good side of both worlds. I've got the brunt of the sound in the cabin by nature of the car anyway, and on the road it sounds great too. Granted it's not CSL great but it definitely stands out and to my ears is the most pleasing and "analogue" sounding vs other generations/other cars, if that makes sense.
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Soldato
Soldato
I really like the sound of my M3, but my girlfriend prefers the sound of my old 330ci/335.
However the engine in the E46 M3 makes it sound and feel like a racey, free revving engine. It suits the car completely and I certainly wouldn't be paying anyone to change that noise. Not to mention that changing exhausts can cause all sorts of annoying acoustics in the cabin, because aftermarket exhausts simply do not get the same amount of attention to detail as factory stuff. I do wish though that the E46 M3 would come with a bit more induction noise (without having to pay £1800 for a carbon airbox). I was considering the Evolve Carbon Fibre Eventuri bolt on induction kit and CAI which is getting a lot of good reviews and gives a slight increase in induction noise at a mere £600 (gulp).
Undoubtedly though, the E92 sounds better. Its a different type of noise to the E46, and suits the larger size of the E92, but a 4.0l V8 isn't going to be beaten on sound by much.
It really doesn't in real life. Videos always make things sound different. IRL it sounds really, really nice.
However the engine in the E46 M3 makes it sound and feel like a racey, free revving engine. It suits the car completely and I certainly wouldn't be paying anyone to change that noise. Not to mention that changing exhausts can cause all sorts of annoying acoustics in the cabin, because aftermarket exhausts simply do not get the same amount of attention to detail as factory stuff. I do wish though that the E46 M3 would come with a bit more induction noise (without having to pay £1800 for a carbon airbox). I was considering the Evolve Carbon Fibre Eventuri bolt on induction kit and CAI which is getting a lot of good reviews and gives a slight increase in induction noise at a mere £600 (gulp).
Undoubtedly though, the E92 sounds better. Its a different type of noise to the E46, and suits the larger size of the E92, but a 4.0l V8 isn't going to be beaten on sound by much.
Sounds like a saxo with a bean can exhaust to me.
It really doesn't in real life. Videos always make things sound different. IRL it sounds really, really nice.
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Soldato
I love the sound of the E92, but the E46 has always sounded pretty bad to my ears. I'm considering an E46 M3 convertible as my next car and it's not a deal breaker, but if I did get one I'd definitely look at doing something to improve the noise.
Soldato
I have heard one from the outside IRL, sounded pretty much the same as the ones in that video...quieter if anything.
Maybe I just don't get the hype around the E46. Then again the only one I've ever been in was a old 320d taxi.
I did already say I prefer the S54 to the S65. The S65 needs an upgraded exhaust, it sounds so plain without one. Personally I think spending any money on a N/A engine is a waste because the gains are minimal, unless its a remap, air filter and exhaust combination.
Oh there's no disagreement there, I was just on about dumping 4 figure cash for just making the sound go from really nice to really really nice
Do you have an Aston Martin peps?!
High rollers the lot of you 
Soldato
Love the e46 m3 sound. Wish my 330 sounded like that.