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The E46 BMW M3 is at a tipping point where examples are getting inexpensive enough that the second, third or fourth generation of owners is able to pick them up and modify them. Buying a modified car cuts a tremendous amount of labor and money off the price if you like the mods, but you’re also buying a car that you know has been used – perhaps hard – by what’s likely a non-original owner in a car with no more warranty. There are a lot of modified E46s out there to choose from, so today I took two blue examples that modded in different directions for a comparison. Which is the one to buy?
During a trip to Germany in 2008, I stopped by the BMW Zentrum in Munich to check out the wares on the showroom floor and indulge in some of their collection from years past. One of the cars on display was an Inka Orange 2002tii. This was my favorite color for a 2002. It really captured the essence of the period in question and gave this car a cheerful appearance. This 2002tii for sale outside of New York City is not quite as pristine an example as the BMW restored car I saw in Munich, but with a 5-speed manual gearbox and some nice leather Recaro seats, you’ll be ready for some long-distance cruising in no time.
Atlantis Blue. It’s probably a color that at least one person – probably many – at BMW hate. Why? Well, it was the color that was involved with perhaps one of the biggest PR mistakes in the automotive world in 2013. It was in that year that a BMW enthusiast had saved up to finally special order a new M3 from BMW’s Individual program in the shade. However, somewhere along the way the order was translated incorrectly and the M3 was produced in the Individual shade of Atlantic Blue. Predictably, the enthusiast (who, incidentally, had flown to Germany for European delivery of his prized M3) was immediately not pleased that the presented M3 was in the wrong shade. Complicating the matter was that BMW had ended the E92 production line, so no new M3s could be built to replace the incorrectly-colored car. The fora lit up with punters on both sides flinging insults at this enthusiast and each other; perhaps it was a perfect example of a first-world problem as some claimed, but personally I don’t think I would have accepted the car, either.
Regardless of your opinion on the outcome of the situation, the story instantly popped into my head when I saw this 1976 2002 that was repainted in the shade the above described buyer wanted – the beautiful shade of Atlantis Blue, which replaced the car’s original Fjord Blue:
Over the years, we’ve gained a lot of fans here at GCFSB, some of whom are specialty dealerships focuses on the cars we know and love. One such dealer is Sun Valley Auto Club in Idaho, whose inventory is always chock full of interesting finds. Our reader, Max, over at Sun Valley Auto Club recently purchased a 2002 Audi S8 that we featured last year. He was kind enough to check in with us and share his enthusiasm for this Audi and his buying experience.
Each time we feature a Saab here on GCFSB, it’s always a mixed bag of comments. You have the diehard fans who won’t drive anything but. Then there are folks who will rattle off a number of alternative options, complaining about torque steer and the inconvenient fact that you are driving around in an orphan marque. Then you have the usual “this isn’t German†quip. Whatever the case may be, we like the products our Nordic neighbors have to offer.
Saab was about to release a new and very pretty 9-5 SportCombi before the company had the rug pulled out from it in 2011. A handful of pre-production models were built which landed in the hands of a few private owners. However, we’ll always have the first generation 9-5 SportCombi. This one for sale in Florida might not be the snazziest of 9-5s in white over tan leather with the automatic, but rarely do you see them this nice and so lightly used.
