NISMO vs the gutless wonder!! 86

AestheticCM1

Mine was an e36, and a 328i not an M, so your comparison is different from mine, though that's inconsequential given the subjective nature of your statement. While I'll give it a nod for balance, exhaust note, and obviously engine smoothness and torque curve (with the melodious straight six, none of those were ever up for debate), power difference aside, it didn't corner even remotely close to the Z. It was easier to feel out the limits though, whereas that certainly takes time in the Z. Interior, meh, no different from touring other than the wood finishes and inferior HK stereo (moonroof was nice though). Having only test driven new 335s back when I was looking at the Z, I can't really give any meaningful feedback on them other than the fact that their footprints felt WAY too big, their body roll was noticeable, and there was some lag in the throttle. I also didn't appreciate the lack of that analog mpg counter at the bottom of the instrument cluster. Obviously the e46 didn't suffer from that shortcoming to the same degree, but even it was a pig compared to the e36 size wise.

To counter your point though, in Motortrend skid pad tests the e46 m3 had a lateral g rating of .86 whereas the Z (sport package) pulled .91-1.01, so with respect to cornering, your memory of the e46's cornering ability may be a bit hazy. Also, the e46 m3 was only a $45k car so the comparison seems fair enough.

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