The 2008 BMW M3 will appear any day now. It'll have a 414-horsepower V8 engine, a carbon-fiber roof and more high-tech electronics than your nearest Circuit City. It's the start of something big.

It's also the end of something. We're saying good-bye to the E46 M3, the tightly shaped coupe with the inline-6. No other car has meant so much to guys who really care about cars and fast driving.

Our favorite E46 is the BMW M3 Competition Package. It's the ultimate M3 — all-mechanical, pre-Bangle, and as completely German as the historic Augustiner Biergarten in Munich. More than just a fast car, this last, best edition of the E46 still is the purest taste of BMW we've ever had.

It's the car the 2008 BMW M3 has to live up to.

Cont...

A Last Hurrah

As it turned out, the Competition Package proved to be the last hurrah for the E46 M3. After the 2006 version came to the U.S, soon information and spy videos of the 2008 BMW M3 with its high-revving V8 engine were making the rounds.

Yet for us, the E46 M3 really represents what BMW means. Its tight three-box shape captures the classic BMW look that began with the BMW 2002. Its normally aspirated engine has real personality, and it invites you to experience its power. Everything about the car is keenly mechanical, and there's almost no hint of any electronic frippery to distort the driving experience. For all its purity, this M3 can be driven comfortably every day.

The E46 M3 has been part of a unique time at BMW, an era when the company's vehicles set the standard in every category. From the 740i to the X5, every BMW has proved incredibly memorable — the crisp power, the rigorously engineered suspension, the comprehensive instrumentation and even the carefully tailored interior. Even today, these vehicles define the way we think about everything on wheels. Now we are all BMW enthusiasts.

All we have to say is, the 2008 BMW M3 has a lot to live up to.

Full Article and Video:

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

M

She will be missed won't she... the understated yet brillaint design... the driving characteristic... the beautiful interior (E90 what happened?) and the overall feeling of immortality

then there is the engine!!!

E90-93 M3 - good luck

E46 RIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, gotta agree with all that. Great looking car in a classic sort of way, and the performance benchmark in its segment for so long.

Too bad it didn't come in 4 doors for us family guys.....

Unfortunate passing. I loved the E46 since the day it was released and still do - I cannot say the same for the E90/E93 3er.