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If I had to pick the best M car of all time, it would be the E46 M3 Competition with a manual. I believe it was the pinnacle of the normally aspirated BMWs with the right blend of power, weight, styling, handling, sound and the je ne sais quoi. It is a beautiful machine that that still looks timeless and beautiful, makes great sound and is the perfect size. The 1M is special because it was the last of the M cars that still had some of its attributes and gives you more power and torque but the torque comes at the cost of throttle response and linearity that the E46 M3 had.
The 1M can be more fun than the E46 M3 and faster and there will never be complete agreement but I feel that if you polled all BMW fans and assigned points to each M car they picked, even if the E46 came in 2nd, so many people would have it 2nd that on points it would be the winner.
I still prefer the 1M myself slightly to the E46 because of the subjective side that the 1M was a labor of love by BMW M guys to build one last pure M car. This tips the scales for me in that respect but if it were not for that subjective part, then the E46 M3 Competition Manual is tops for me. Not the CSL because despite being the best at everything else, they ruined it with the SMG.
That's my 2 cents worth.
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