Hi guys,

I'm new to the forum and new to Mini's too. I've been driving a fully-loaded silver on red M3 for about 3 years now and although I love the car to death, but I can't afford the darn thing anymore! So I've always thought of the Mini as the M3's baby brother so logically I want to get one to replace the M3.

I have millions of questions and I've learned a lot already by browsing through this website. I guess my first question would be what you guys think about the comparison of the two cars and what do you think the Mini is better at. One thing that shocks me is that it seems like Mini's can be fitted with pretty much every option and feature that my M3 has (besides 333hp!)

So what do you guys think? Anybody else driven or owned an E46 M3?

 

Never driven a BMW - don't much like the looks ...
But the big plus of a MINI is handling (apart from cuteness!)
I would see the big big negative for you as the power loss. Even if you upgrade the MINI, you aren't going to get the straight line power that you are used to - is that important?

 

The MINI should be lighter, though, so maybe your hp/lb (or W/kg) won't be that much worse? Especially if you can swing a JCW kit or go for some aftermarket mods (pulley reduction, etc.). When it comes to acceleration, torque is what you should be looking at anyways...

 

I did the same thing when I moved to Hawaii (from California) in 2003 - sold my two year old TiAg E46 M3 and bought a PureAg MCS. Do I regret selling the M3 - yes. Do I regret buying the MINI - no. I should've kept the M3 and bought the MINI too. I thought there wasn't enough road for the M3 in Hawaii but I was wrong as there are many (M3s) here.

As GBMINI said, my main reason for missing the M3 is power. No matter what you do to the MINI, you won't have the power of the M3. I miss it so much that I am eyeing the upcoming M Coupe; however, I will not sell my MINI this time (learned my lesson already ). On the other hand, not sure if I'd go all nuts at the track (Super Lap, Time Attack, etc.) with an M3, like I do with my MINI - the MINI is so easy to handle!

If you try to compare the M3 and MINI you may not be happy (for various reasons); however, if you just enjoy your MINI, you'll be all smiles.

 

Thanx for the replies guys. Yes, the power of the M3 will be missed greatly. But when I really think about it, I only get to unleash its power once in a while...the drag strip is one place and on the track is another. But realistically, living in Los Angeles, I never truly get those RPM's up without endangering everybody around me. Driving the Mini, even in just a straight line, may actually be more fun than the M3 because I can push it a little bit more without hitting 100mph in like 10 seconds. Does that make sense?

As for the styling of the M3 versus the Mini, the M3 is definitely a looker! The factory 19's on the M3 are the nicest rims I have ever seen and every other piece of the car is like a work of art IMHO. The Mini is also good looking and cute too...I especially like all the options and color combos although it can be a bit overwhelming at times.

I'm happy the Mini has most of the features that BMW's have, but I see that some people have Nav's in their Mini, but it's not there on the Mini website which I don't understand...

Also, do you guys know how the lateral acceleration numbers compare between these two cars?