E46 M3 vs S550

[mustang_guy]

You are the LEAST credible source I have ever seen even attempt to present your facts. I mean come'on are people still using "kid" and calling people they don't know uneducated? lmao If for some reason you are discriminating against younger population and calling them names and saying they're unintelligent then you are much more ignorant than I even thought in the first place. My post wasn't an assumption, they were examples excuse me next time I will include proper example notification for you less fortunate. Mr. 141 good number btw!

If you want to act like a kid, ill call you one. You clearly assumed/implied im biased. Get off it.

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[JSWM3]

I've owned both, they are two very different cars. Out of the box the M3 left an impression, an impression that I didn't leave the Ford dealership with last month and I love my s550. The e46 M3 had always been the benchmark car for basically any factory mid-sized rear wheel drive car available on the market and still is 16 years later (see Matt Farah's $25k challenge). The majority of people that have any thought on comparison will want to talk about power, handling, reliability. That realistically makes up for about 20% of what makes the car what it is/was. The s54 is a great motor, the car is incredibly well balanced and will be as reliable as you want it to be. None of that really speaks much about what it's like to drive or live with the car. The car felt tailored to me. The seating position, steering position, pedal distance, everything was as close to perfect as it gets. Power is there but you work up to it, it's linear all the way up to the limiter not peaky or grunty down low, it's just there. Turn in is sharp and direct, no drama. The ride is stiff, the steering is heavy as is the clutch compared to say an e90/e92. If you get in one today it will feel old, partly because well.. it is. It was designed in the late 90's as a high performance touring car at the very end of the DTM era. It wasn't the most powerful, it didn't have luxuries comparable to the competion and not nearly as much technology as it was given credit for. But it still ended up being a huge success. It was a straight to the point, no nonsense and sensible "enthusiasts choice" if you owned one and the prick who just passed me in the right lane if you didn't.

At the end of the day I'd still take my s550 over a comparably clean example of an e46 M3. I wish it felt a bit tighter and not quite as aloof at it's limits (even with the performance pack) and I wish the seating position was lower but all in all Ford has come such a long way with this car that it's hard to discount anything with all considered. I sold my e46 some time ago but still own an e36 M3 as it gave me everything I wanted out of the e46 but was more more feasible as a second car for weekends, autocross etc. If you are torn between the two pickup a base GT PP and put some money aside for an e30 or e36 to play with.