There is a Very wrong fact in the video: cars are only getting bigger because of REGULATIONS. they have to be safer in crashes, be more aerodynamic and efficient therefore and of course there is comfort features that everbody wants. All of that is responsible for the ever growing size
It definitely doesn't get enough love for what it is. Fairly reliable compared to the later generations and also the chassis and the drive train are lovely.
Unfortunately you will struggle to find one that hasn’t been dogged, not to mention e46 wasn’t that reliable. I had 3 of them and they all had problems. I really don’t understand why people think German cars are reliable. They are nothing but trouble, disgusting to work on and expensive to maintain. Never again
@@NoelG-IRE I've had 4 E46, no problems at all. One of them I owned for 3 years and the only things I had was the solenoid valves and the usual stuff like brakes. It all depends on which car you buy, if you look into the history of the cars and actually manage to get a proper good one, you will have a lovely car.
@ I don’t agree mate. They are notorious for rear springs snapping and subframes cracking. All 3 of mine had this issue. I did rod bearings on 2 of them also. Your comment on getting a clean one is the problem. Unless you are buying relatively new ones with less than 100k you’re gonna struggle. You might be ok for a few years, but getting one now is going to be very difficult and even if you do find one, it’s going to be expensive. It’s crazy to me that anyone would want to buy an old one today. I don’t bother with any German cars anymore. Have had Mercs, VW’s and Audis too and I realised that German efficiency and reliability is absolute BS. The Japanese are the only people left on this planet that know how to make reliable vehicles.
The E46 BMW, Audi A5 coupe, and Aston Martin DBS (2012) were some of the most elegant/beautiful cars made, given their simplicity.. had '02 330Ci, white, red inside
That E46 is absolutely timeless. Also, While the sensors and cameras are very useful, the buzzers do create anxiety. You still have loads of clearance a lot of the time while they're going off as if you're about to hit something.
@technom3598 it's about noticing the little things that stack up. Most people don't realize that and wonder where the slight discomfort is coming from
That's just not true. Everything in life is always a trend. Cars have always followed one another to have all the features, to be the biggest and the best in its sector. I will agree that newer cars are going too far but it's not a new thing
Car journalists: "Why are cars growing?! I don't get it!!!" Also car journalists: "I'm 190cm tall and I don't fit comfortably behind myself in [city car]. [A slightly larger city car] is thus better." Sorry, Matt, but you guys are at least partially to blame.
It's worse than that, he's constantly saying wider is more practical when new models come out, I'm left shouting at my phone "drive it through a multistory Mat and park next to a range rover"
@@Parrotdise290 Bullcrap, no technologies mandate 2,10m wide fat ass cars and security doesn't ether, if is because stupid people feel more save if the doors are thicker, that it is 90% just hollow doesn't matter. Also yes journalists are a big part of the issue, when you look back at times where more car tests where made by state media, issues like repair ability, cost and some basic standards where more in focus, now where it is just car company sponsored stuff, these things are no longer in focus and the cars get worse.
No matter how big a new car is, almost every car journalist bleats about the rear space. They should be condemned to sit in the back of the original Fiat 500.
I do think motoring journalists have a part in the blame, when they’re marking down cars like a Mazda MX5 because it doesn’t have back seats and saying small cars like a mini don’t have a big enough boot you can’t really complain when the brands start fattening up their cars to get better reviews. I’ve recently downsized from an Octavia VRS estate to an Up GTI and it was the best decision I made, it’s so easy to place absolutely everywhere
I just got a z4 instead of 4 Series convertible cause no need for 4 seats and wanted the smaller thing. It feels small but is actually 5cm wider than my f31 😂
Exactly the reason. There is a space category for each car. But due to all these reviews. Makers are forced to make them big. How do you expect a corsa to be as comfy as an astra?
My parents house was built in 1968 and has a single garage. When we were kids it was perfectly adequate for most family cars like Escort, Marina etc, but now virtually nothing will fit even with the mirrors folded. Last time my mother changed her car she ended up with a Ford Fusion because it was about the only car that fit, and even that barely got through the door frame.
Same with my parents' driveway. It quite comfortably fit a bunch of 90s and 2000s cars, like the first generation Mazda 6 and an Alfa Romeo 159. But check the width of any modern car and it'll be a struggle.
@@throtttlebody speaking of the CSL the old "batmobile" one was 68.1 inches wide with its lairy 70s bodykit, we all thought was pretty bonkers. the new CSL is 75.6 inches wide
Well aren't the automotive journalists part of the problem? I've seen so many reviews of new cars and if they are the same size as their ancestors or even smaller most of the reviewers complain. Becoming bigger on the other hand is considered positive because "more headroom", "more legspace" or "more comfort".
They always complain about 350L of boot space not being enough, and how do you add more? Make the car bigger, of course. People nowadays are just weird.
Exactly. "Tons of knee room, loads of headroom, space in the back for three adults, plenty of boot space". Well...this the price we have to pay for all of that.
@@cody6550You do not need a bigger car to get more boot space. A Volvo 960 has 100 liters of boot space more compared to a range rover while being 24 cm thinner, 20cm shorter and 46cm less tall, all while being considerably safer for everyone around it. The reason for the increase in size is, as stated in the video, profit.
I just got abarth 695, it is just over 1 tonne and tiny and I'm quite a big guy lol, I hated them untill I drove it, small light with 180hp with brembo brakes and koni suspension, it's actually so much fun to drive and with monza exhaust sounds amazing. On small UK back roads it makes so much sense, I have not missed a larger car
Enjoy and yes, I like the 500 also the newer MINI's until some years ago. Keep in mind the originals were really small and so much fun. I have had 2 Fiat 500. One '74 RR turned into Abarth. Being stopped by police driving on the old Brennero Road to Italy. Only so they can admire my car.
Something interesting that Matt may want to look into along these lines is the height of the front of the vehicle. My son was seriously injured when he was knocked down by a VW Golf Mk6. He went up over the bonnet and smashed the windscreen with his head. We're grateful he's still alive. That's because the Golf hit his legs and deflected him upwards. Had he been hit by an SUV he would have gone under the car and would no longer be here. Large SUVs are way more dangerous to pedestrians and are the cause of far more fatalities as a result of their shape. Something SUV buyers may want to bear in mind, particularly if they've kids.
Fortnine did a video about the size of the front of the cars a few months ago, and it is wild to think that some of them are purely for esthetic choices
Adore that E46, Mat. This is your best video yet - no showboating, just lovely journo facts. Rotherhithe tunnel next to me in Limehouse. Kindest regards, Chris.
BMW parking sensors already show red when you still have like 30cm of space to the sides. Makes it more stressful than necessary. That's also why the emergency parking brake doesn't let you reverse into tight garages or parking lots. That's why I have it disabled on my 3 series.
And so we suffer because people behind a computer screen, who are devoid of practical awareness design our cars to stop us doing what we want them to do. Why do we still buy them again?
Not only is everything getting unreasonably large, it doesnt make anyone more safe. Your safety shouldnt come down to whether or not you can afford a huge brand new SUV. Its also incredibly hilarious that they are considered more safe when they handle worse than most pick ups, have longer braking distances, overly high chance of rolling over, crashes with anything similar size or larger always results in more of the energy being transferred to the passengers because i know I know this will be a shocker for most but, theres going to be more kinetic energy with larger vehicles and that kinetic energy has to go somewhere. So far my favorite misconception is still the interior space, unless its an extended wheelbase, most of the time any regular wagon/estate has more usable cargo space while also having better driving dynamics.
You do know that all kinetic energy doesn't just magically transfer to the occupants right? Rapid acceleration in the opposite vector(or rapid deceleration, for lay people) is what hurts you. If you go 40mph in a 10,000lbs truck or you go 40mph in a 2000lbs car, and you get in a head on collision with each respective similar vehicle, you're still experiencing your mass(body weight) multiplied by your velocity(vehicle/your body speed) divided by duration of acceleration in the opposite vector(how long it takes for you to to decelerate from 40mph to zero). The longer it takes you to stop, the less immediate and violent forces are placed on your body. Vehicle size doesn't affect that unless your larger vehicle takes longer to come to a stop because it's plowing over the little prius that gets stopped even faster. Rollover is a legitimate risk, I'll give you that, stopping distances are so incredibly variable by all types/sizes/brands of vehicle that it's a pointless metric; plenty of new fullsize SUVs stop just as fast as a cheap economy car, or the tens of millions of older/poorly maintained used vehicles.
Tip for parallel parking - angle your mirror down so you can see your rear wheel. Remember that the car pivots around the rear wheels so once that’s fairly close to the kerb, you can pull the front in and the rear wheel will barely have moved.
I wish I could do that on my car, but due to it's round, wide body, there's a blindspot below the fender keeping me from seeing the rear wheel, no matter how I set the mirror.
This is why the first M2 is going to be considered another classic. It was the perfect size and performance ratio. Then BMW made it bigger and fatter and bigger and fatter. Now it's pointless and you may as well just buy an M4.
This is EXACTLY why my wife and I decided to put vertical doors on our C8 Corvette. The doors are a good foot thick before you even start to get an opening to get into the car. It's my daily driver and going to Walmart etc. used to be a pain. Now it's very easy! More car companies need to consider vertical doors if they are going to keep making bigger cars.
In my hometown Stuttgart, Germany there are some 40 year old parking garages and if you drive a SUV or modern family sedan, don't even try to park there, it is gonna end in tears.
Oh it's way worse in Spain. I drive an average sized BMW 330 and it didn't fit in the parking garages down there. Stuttgart parking is really easy compared to Barcelona.
also - Londons dumb old designs arent a great sample size, that last lane should have a path on one side, and be cut wider with the bollads changed/removed
Tell me about it, brand new A6 wagon, carpark in Koln (right at the entry of the xmas market and my hotel), CURBED WHEEL But it's the same in every historical European city tbf, even the newer parkings are designed like ass so curbing is usually the least of your worries 🙃EDIT: Also, a lot of the driving assist crap makes stuff so much worse, if you show me red, let me assume I'm 5cm away from something NOT 50...
I'm glad someone talked about it. This trend is awful. This (and other stuff) makes me want to keep my E46 for a long time. They're all big now. Yesterday there was a new 120 next to my E46 coupe and the 120 seems bigger, that's ridiculous. Great video btw!
Firstly, as a e46 owner, what a beautiful looking e46 M3 here, very good, clean condition. I wish BMW make as beautiful cars as e46. Absolutly timeless design. Secondly, I have not seen any petrolhead youtuber who talked about this subject but you before. You are clearly a real petrolhead, that is why I watch your contents. I think It will be a serious problem for cities. the problems you having experiences with e46, are not that big. you won't scare after you get used the car. It is not that wide car. But the new M4, with that width, that obviously doesn't fit in every street, It is clearly a wide car like most of the new cars. every car journalists don't talk about this.
15:42 Theres actually research showing mutually heavier cars increase danger for both occupants, because more mass = more energy which wont be proportionally accounted for in each crumple zone. Not to mention making accidents themselves less avoidable
Matt, you are part of the reason as a journalist promoting bigger cars. How many times have you been critical of excessive width in reviews? Very few, if any.
Great vid. One of the most stressful videos I think I've watched. I've gone blue in the face from holding my breath so many times. I've got the new M4 as well and it's a nightmare, even with all the sensors and cameras. Combination of width and it's much harder to judge the corners. Plus the fact I've got a rather expensive carbon fibre splitter which sticks out at the corners as well. There are just carparks I won't even go into now due to the stress. You pretty much nailed what it's like trying to get out the thing when you're parked next to someone as well. But still love it.
bigger vehicles are also a huge safety issue for pedestrians, the ones with zero protections against the 2 ton metal boxes we drive around. that's a big part of the reason speed limits are getting lower. "not just bikes" has a great video on it. sidenote, man those wheel arches on that e46 got me slurring my words
People seem overly obsessed with huge wheels and tiny tires. You wouldn't need to be so obsessed with curbing on a 3" curb if you had rims an inch smaller and more sidewall. The ride would be more comfortable too. Put your track wheels and tires on if you go to a track.
i wonder if normal person would get much different lap times with different height tyres... some tracks like nurburgring might be more forgiving with more cushioning
That e46 is drop dead gorgeous, and it’ll be worth far more than the M4 in the coming years. I cannot believe you didn’t drop to neutral and rev them at least once in the tunnel, missed opportunity Mathew!
@@Nnn30055 you get to pay more if you drive _any_ car with high emissions. Old or new doesn't matter (at least not in my country). And generally older cars are cheaper with insurance so it most likely balances out anyways. Also it's a good incentive to drive people towards newer and safer cars.
As someone who rides a motorbike, it’s now much more difficult to filter through traffic and impossible to see across suvs, which makes it harder to see what the traffic ahead is doing. Also, when driving an suv it’s very difficult to see small objects that are close to the vehicle(like kids…)
I noticed the increased car width way back in 1992 when I bought a new Citroën ZX. I Had to manually fold the door mirrors in to park the car in my garage. Something I didn't need to do with the previous Citroën BX. Although it was a tight fit compared to the car it replaced which was a VW Passat GL5 estate which had room to spare between the mirrors. Had I still lived there I think by now I would have built a new garage or just used it for storage like 99% of the population.
This is why ive gone from a mazda 6 which is nearly 5m long to a vw up gti which is under 3.6m! I love how compact the vw is and i can easily zip through town now 😂
That first carpark you have there actually looks pretty decently spaced. I've faced some horrors here in Germany. In Hanover I literally had to fold in the side mirrors in order to get through the gate.
It's is a bit ridiculous. When I had a Kia EV6 I was taking it down narrow Devon lanes and it really was tight. The body was so wide it was catching all the undergrowth and left me with slight scratches in the paintwork at the end of lease. Luckily they polished out.
Don't forget problems with car transporters, you still have to fit in specified height and length and still carry same numbers of cars like 10 years ago.
A 3.5t recovery has become useless. Most weigh 2200kg+.. only allows you to carry a car weighing 1.2t max to be safe you want to be closer to 1t as you'll need to pick up the broken down vehicle's driver too
Wouldn’t the transporters get bigger too? Ripple effect. If the car gets bigger then everything related should get bigger too. Obviously roads and parking spaces are the exception because of cost and space prohibitions.
@@mrdiamonde easier said than done. you said it yourself. Ripple effect gonna be too expensive compared to the profit. Width of car transporter also has limits. Too wide gonna take more than 1 lane and too dangerous. You ever think about shipping containers? They're already standardized all over the world same with the container trucks, ships, cranes, etc
@ they made bigger ships to haul more containers WA TOP has a video on that good stuff. More stuff is shipped by rail than trucks as well. Cars are not growing that big that they can’t fit in car transporters anyways. This video isn’t about the biggest suv getting bigger. He is comparing and m3 to an m4. Not a suburban to a bigger suburban . The m4 is still smaller than the suburban. So the sky isn’t falling chicken little. Nice try though.
Also don't get the stupid alloy wheels with no real sidewall on the tire. There is so much less worry when you can touch a curb without causing damage.
They're not stupid, it's better to scratch the rims than to damage the sidewall and later get a tire blowout on the highway! 💁 Rims can be fixed if the scratches bother you too much
Or, just design curbs that are less hostile to car wheels of ANY size and material. Instead of a 90° cliff, maybe make the curbs 70 or 75° angle so that the tire can take all the brunt of the contact no matter how big the wheel is?
@@TheFlyingClutchman The annoying thing I have found with Land Rovers / Range Rovers, living in the country, is that they all waft around in the middle of the road. They think that because they are in a big wide tank, that they paid extra to use my side of the road. I've nearly crashed a fair few times in 2024 because a RR has pushed me out into grass verges by refusing to stay on their own side. At least 5 series drivers tend to be a bit more aware and slow down to allow us to both manoeuvre safely.
@1993j I think the difference there is crap drivers. BMW drivers are often enthusiasts that know their cars better. If anything, a RR is actually easier to drive on tight B roads because it's basically a square, and from your high up driving position you can easily see the corners of the car making it easier to place on tight roads than something like a 5 series. So it's just down the demographic that drives RRs more than the cars themselves
@@davidsam9510 the problem is that the RS6 Wagon is the same footprint (length and width) as an X5. Height is irrelevant when it comes to maneuver ability and parking.
I drove my new Mustang into Cambridge (first mistake) and attempted to park it in a multi-story car park (second mistake). It took 3 point turns to get it up the ramps. The amount of scuffs, scrapes and bits of plastic on the walls and floor highlight the amount of damage people had done to their cars.
My garage is quite old but on the old Punto parking was a breeze. When I got a new car, first thing I checked was length and width - definitely took out the Focus. Ended up getting a Golf and it's still quite tricky to park. When I gave guests with SUVs they just give up and park on the street. My neighbour doesn't even use his garage anymore ... he needed assistance to fit his Octavia every time.
9:42 Hate to be that guy, but maybe folding the side mirrors would've helped a little as Mat already had someone in front of the car to guide it into the lift.
I mean, we can nitpick but that M4 is almost the same length as a 2012-2020 Lexus GS. And it's WIDER. That's just stupid, it's supposed to be a sports car for fuck's sake...
In the 1980’s my company had offices in Edinburgh’s New Town and London. One of the senior London guys hated flying and trains, so every time he visited the Edinburgh office, he drove north in his Roy's Royce. The office had a garage accessed by a car-lift that was just too small so he drove into the lift, pushed the grill with the front bumper enough to allow the grill behind him to close. He then shuffled back, squeezing the grills at both end - just enough to allow the lift to lower him to car-park level. Same palaver on the way out. Bonkers ! Don’t know if they’ve changed the lift since then. I hope so, it was pretty narrow too, I doubt if much would fit in it now.
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YES.👍.
What up
buy, sell, car wow
this is HQ content. greetings from italy
There is a Very wrong fact in the video: cars are only getting bigger because of REGULATIONS. they have to be safer in crashes, be more aerodynamic and efficient therefore and of course there is comfort features that everbody wants. All of that is responsible for the ever growing size
That E46 is gorgeous.
Its ugly af
@@Said__L opinion
MY GOD YES
@@iamfake9329 🥹🥵
@@Codiest1 Cool👍
The E46 really is ageing beautifully. What a gorgeous car
Great car..
It definitely doesn't get enough love for what it is. Fairly reliable compared to the later generations and also the chassis and the drive train are lovely.
I´m not a BMW fan, but the 46 has those nice classic lines. The new on is only bignose.
Last real BMW
@@seanb9698nah e9X's were more than fine too, really drops off after that... aswell as the E60 M5, that shit was goooooood
All I learned was how much I want an e46 M3.
Yep ❤❤
Unfortunately you will struggle to find one that hasn’t been dogged, not to mention e46 wasn’t that reliable. I had 3 of them and they all had problems. I really don’t understand why people think German cars are reliable. They are nothing but trouble, disgusting to work on and expensive to maintain. Never again
@@NoelG-IRE I've had 4 E46, no problems at all. One of them I owned for 3 years and the only things I had was the solenoid valves and the usual stuff like brakes. It all depends on which car you buy, if you look into the history of the cars and actually manage to get a proper good one, you will have a lovely car.
Need to import to Japan or move to germany
@ I don’t agree mate. They are notorious for rear springs snapping and subframes cracking. All 3 of mine had this issue. I did rod bearings on 2 of them also. Your comment on getting a clean one is the problem. Unless you are buying relatively new ones with less than 100k you’re gonna struggle. You might be ok for a few years, but getting one now is going to be very difficult and even if you do find one, it’s going to be expensive. It’s crazy to me that anyone would want to buy an old one today. I don’t bother with any German cars anymore. Have had Mercs, VW’s and Audis too and I realised that German efficiency and reliability is absolute BS. The Japanese are the only people left on this planet that know how to make reliable vehicles.
The E46 BMW, Audi A5 coupe, and Aston Martin DBS (2012) were some of the most elegant/beautiful cars made, given their simplicity.. had '02 330Ci, white, red inside
Wow, what a spec, alpine white is rare, one of my e46s is an alpine white 323i saloon!
Agree, but I'd add Alfa Romeo 159/Brera to that list.
I'm really enjoying carwow's documentary-style videos; they're a welcome change from the usual car reviews and drag races.
Reminds old Top Gear which is very nice
That E46 is absolutely timeless.
Also, While the sensors and cameras are very useful, the buzzers do create anxiety. You still have loads of clearance a lot of the time while they're going off as if you're about to hit something.
For sure that..
Anxiety? Relax
@technom3598 it's about noticing the little things that stack up. Most people don't realize that and wonder where the slight discomfort is coming from
@@technom3598 although that word is a bit strong there are certainly negative effects that drain you since they suck up attention.
No it’s not, looks aged
The more time goes on. The more my love for cars fades. Everything now is a trend. Back then things were a passion.
You're just getting old
That's just not true. Everything in life is always a trend. Cars have always followed one another to have all the features, to be the biggest and the best in its sector. I will agree that newer cars are going too far but it's not a new thing
True, your perception of things is changing with age
its not just cars.. its everything.. we lost passion
And what about the ridiculously over complicated touch screens, removal of real buttons and the relentless beeping and alarms?
Man, the E46 M3 (with CSL wheels) is really the epitome and perfection of BMW car design.
For sure❤
They were apec arc8 wheels, but yes csl style in design
Car journalists: "Why are cars growing?! I don't get it!!!"
Also car journalists: "I'm 190cm tall and I don't fit comfortably behind myself in [city car]. [A slightly larger city car] is thus better."
Sorry, Matt, but you guys are at least partially to blame.
It's worse than that, he's constantly saying wider is more practical when new models come out, I'm left shouting at my phone "drive it through a multistory Mat and park next to a range rover"
i mean, im 194cm and i happily drive my mk4 golf gti no issues fitting in there.
It's about new mandatory technologies and security, not really because of some journalists...
@@Parrotdise290
Bullcrap, no technologies mandate 2,10m wide fat ass cars and security doesn't ether, if is because stupid people feel more save if the doors are thicker, that it is 90% just hollow doesn't matter.
Also yes journalists are a big part of the issue, when you look back at times where more car tests where made by state media, issues like repair ability, cost and some basic standards where more in focus, now where it is just car company sponsored stuff, these things are no longer in focus and the cars get worse.
No matter how big a new car is, almost every car journalist bleats about the rear space. They should be condemned to sit in the back of the original Fiat 500.
Oh, that E46!!!
It hasn't aged at all, looks like it was made this month.
Absolutely stunning!
Definitely not but it is beautiful
I disagree, it looks like a car from the early 2000s. Still gorgeous though.
Don't forget that the M3 in the video is a WIDE old car! It's insane the inflation
Was just about to say this. I remember when it was new, used that wide stance looked amazing.
Reminds me that BMW's best days are behind us 😥. What a car that E46 is/was...Simple, light and beautiful.
It's a good looking car but it is neither simple nor light. Comparing a rhino to an elephant doesn't prove that rhinos are small.
New m3 touring is pretty sick
Forgot to mention how troublesome it was.
Should've titled it "Fat shaming new cars" 😂
LoL
Yes I agree with that 👍👍
😂😂😂😂
Adil Watson
Can’t do that, some absolute whale will comment on it accusing Matt of fat shaming people and being a nonce
God the E46 looks insanely pretty especially against that new g80
i love how most comments are about how beautiful the e46 is, completely off from the video topic
i want a 330ci too, i wanna make it as a baby M3
I do think motoring journalists have a part in the blame, when they’re marking down cars like a Mazda MX5 because it doesn’t have back seats and saying small cars like a mini don’t have a big enough boot you can’t really complain when the brands start fattening up their cars to get better reviews. I’ve recently downsized from an Octavia VRS estate to an Up GTI and it was the best decision I made, it’s so easy to place absolutely everywhere
That’s what I keep saying. Most car reviewers are like: “This small car is small !!!! How terrible !!!!!”
It’s ridiculous.
Good point
I just got a z4 instead of 4 Series convertible cause no need for 4 seats and wanted the smaller thing. It feels small but is actually 5cm wider than my f31 😂
Cant carry family in it though, or shopping 😅
Exactly the reason. There is a space category for each car. But due to all these reviews. Makers are forced to make them big. How do you expect a corsa to be as comfy as an astra?
My parents house was built in 1968 and has a single garage. When we were kids it was perfectly adequate for most family cars like Escort, Marina etc, but now virtually nothing will fit even with the mirrors folded. Last time my mother changed her car she ended up with a Ford Fusion because it was about the only car that fit, and even that barely got through the door frame.
Same with my parents' driveway. It quite comfortably fit a bunch of 90s and 2000s cars, like the first generation Mazda 6 and an Alfa Romeo 159. But check the width of any modern car and it'll be a struggle.
Does the UK get the Kia Picanto? It's under 1600mm wide and does fit 4 adults.
Absolutely. My garage is useless.
I remember cars my parents had in the 80s had and the doors on those cars were like 2 inches thick. Now car doors are like 1 foot in thickness.
My garage wouldn't even fit my 90s saloon.
I've got a Morris Minor and 3 motorbikes in there instead!
I agree, cars are way too heavy now, even the "lightweight" sport/supercars are too heavy
Even the M4 CSL or the new 3.0 CSL with "LIGHTWEIGHT" expensive materials are still weights 1.6 tons.
@@throtttlebody yeah
BMW tried their best but still heavy and not light enough to call it CSL
@@throtttlebody speaking of the CSL the old "batmobile" one was 68.1 inches wide with its lairy 70s bodykit, we all thought was pretty bonkers. the new CSL is 75.6 inches wide
@@throtttlebodyeven heavier also than Land Rover Stormer and Delta Integrale Evolutione 1991.😅
@@Searly255FPV GT 2004, an Australian car even has lighter weight than 2024 M4 CSL.
E46 looks so much better… ppl telling they got used to the grill… its just fcking ugly
I like how the E46 says YAY on the number plate.
It's just happy to be there.
That E46 just aged like fine wine 🍷🍷🥂
Beautiful car..❤
Well aren't the automotive journalists part of the problem? I've seen so many reviews of new cars and if they are the same size as their ancestors or even smaller most of the reviewers complain. Becoming bigger on the other hand is considered positive because "more headroom", "more legspace" or "more comfort".
They always complain about 350L of boot space not being enough, and how do you add more? Make the car bigger, of course. People nowadays are just weird.
Exactly!
Agree. Drives me crazy. The reviewers are absolutely devoted to getting rid of fun, more efficient, smaller vehicles.
Exactly. "Tons of knee room, loads of headroom, space in the back for three adults, plenty of boot space". Well...this the price we have to pay for all of that.
@@cody6550You do not need a bigger car to get more boot space. A Volvo 960 has 100 liters of boot space more compared to a range rover while being 24 cm thinner, 20cm shorter and 46cm less tall, all while being considerably safer for everyone around it. The reason for the increase in size is, as stated in the video, profit.
I just got abarth 695, it is just over 1 tonne and tiny and I'm quite a big guy lol, I hated them untill I drove it, small light with 180hp with brembo brakes and koni suspension, it's actually so much fun to drive and with monza exhaust sounds amazing. On small UK back roads it makes so much sense, I have not missed a larger car
Enjoy and yes, I like the 500 also the newer MINI's until some years ago. Keep in mind the originals were really small and so much fun. I have had 2 Fiat 500. One '74 RR turned into Abarth. Being stopped by police driving on the old Brennero Road to Italy. Only so they can admire my car.
Nice one - I’ve just picked up an Audi S1 for the same reason. Great for London’s roads 👍🏼
Something interesting that Matt may want to look into along these lines is the height of the front of the vehicle. My son was seriously injured when he was knocked down by a VW Golf Mk6. He went up over the bonnet and smashed the windscreen with his head. We're grateful he's still alive. That's because the Golf hit his legs and deflected him upwards. Had he been hit by an SUV he would have gone under the car and would no longer be here. Large SUVs are way more dangerous to pedestrians and are the cause of far more fatalities as a result of their shape. Something SUV buyers may want to bear in mind, particularly if they've kids.
But why would they care? They have their giant SUV isolation luxury carriage that they can roll around in while the plebeians outside don't matter.
Fortnine did a video about the size of the front of the cars a few months ago, and it is wild to think that some of them are purely for esthetic choices
Adore that E46, Mat. This is your best video yet - no showboating, just lovely journo facts. Rotherhithe tunnel next to me in Limehouse. Kindest regards, Chris.
That e46 is so clean. BMW lost its touch with styling
Correct..
BMW should revert it to old car styling in 2027.
I’ll take that beautiful E46 M3 any day over the M4.
Legendary e46..
BMW parking sensors already show red when you still have like 30cm of space to the sides. Makes it more stressful than necessary. That's also why the emergency parking brake doesn't let you reverse into tight garages or parking lots. That's why I have it disabled on my 3 series.
And so we suffer because people behind a computer screen, who are devoid of practical awareness design our cars to stop us doing what we want them to do. Why do we still buy them again?
Not only is everything getting unreasonably large, it doesnt make anyone more safe. Your safety shouldnt come down to whether or not you can afford a huge brand new SUV. Its also incredibly hilarious that they are considered more safe when they handle worse than most pick ups, have longer braking distances, overly high chance of rolling over, crashes with anything similar size or larger always results in more of the energy being transferred to the passengers because i know I know this will be a shocker for most but, theres going to be more kinetic energy with larger vehicles and that kinetic energy has to go somewhere. So far my favorite misconception is still the interior space, unless its an extended wheelbase, most of the time any regular wagon/estate has more usable cargo space while also having better driving dynamics.
You do know that all kinetic energy doesn't just magically transfer to the occupants right? Rapid acceleration in the opposite vector(or rapid deceleration, for lay people) is what hurts you. If you go 40mph in a 10,000lbs truck or you go 40mph in a 2000lbs car, and you get in a head on collision with each respective similar vehicle, you're still experiencing your mass(body weight) multiplied by your velocity(vehicle/your body speed) divided by duration of acceleration in the opposite vector(how long it takes for you to to decelerate from 40mph to zero).
The longer it takes you to stop, the less immediate and violent forces are placed on your body. Vehicle size doesn't affect that unless your larger vehicle takes longer to come to a stop because it's plowing over the little prius that gets stopped even faster.
Rollover is a legitimate risk, I'll give you that, stopping distances are so incredibly variable by all types/sizes/brands of vehicle that it's a pointless metric; plenty of new fullsize SUVs stop just as fast as a cheap economy car, or the tens of millions of older/poorly maintained used vehicles.
Small cars are usually roomier inside than big cars.
The make the most of their usable space
This is why I love Costco parking stalls. They make the lines between cars at least a foot wide for extra space.
You can take Costco out of America but you can't take America out of Costco
Man! That E46 is a stunner.. so stylish.
True that..
Tip for parallel parking - angle your mirror down so you can see your rear wheel. Remember that the car pivots around the rear wheels so once that’s fairly close to the kerb, you can pull the front in and the rear wheel will barely have moved.
Amen
Switched from a Transit Connect to an Opel Corsa, which is way lower. Can't see the right rear wheel from the mirror :(
with a few simple tricks like this parking without cameras is pretty easy. Even with a camera i still find myself checking my mirrors pretty often.
@theagentsmith you can buy a circular mini mirror to see the ground mate 😊
I wish I could do that on my car, but due to it's round, wide body, there's a blindspot below the fender keeping me from seeing the rear wheel, no matter how I set the mirror.
This is why the first M2 is going to be considered another classic. It was the perfect size and performance ratio. Then BMW made it bigger and fatter and bigger and fatter. Now it's pointless and you may as well just buy an M4.
Exactly, and it looks so much better than the new M2. The last generation M2 CS will keep increasing its value as it gets older
The M2 Competition was basically the follow-up of the E46 M3.
Still, the first M2 was also way to heavy. 1M is the only true E46 M3 follow up
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This is EXACTLY why my wife and I decided to put vertical doors on our C8 Corvette. The doors are a good foot thick before you even start to get an opening to get into the car. It's my daily driver and going to Walmart etc. used to be a pain. Now it's very easy! More car companies need to consider vertical doors if they are going to keep making bigger cars.
E46 is peak BMW
People will restomod it soon i suppose
Beautiful...
Stunning old bmw really shows how fugly the new one is
The grille, OMG, wouldn't be seen dead on it.🤮
I got a 2023 RS5 Vorsprung coupe instead purely because of the looks. I'd always wanted an M4 but this new design...yuk, just couldn't do it.
@ the new M5 is even uglier somehow
In my hometown Stuttgart, Germany there are some 40 year old parking garages and if you drive a SUV or modern family sedan, don't even try to park there, it is gonna end in tears.
Stuttgart 25
Oh it's way worse in Spain. I drive an average sized BMW 330 and it didn't fit in the parking garages down there. Stuttgart parking is really easy compared to Barcelona.
also - Londons dumb old designs arent a great sample size, that last lane should have a path on one side, and be cut wider with the bollads changed/removed
@@yournemesis192 oh yeah that’s true. Dénia has a devious inner city parking garage as well.
Tell me about it, brand new A6 wagon, carpark in Koln (right at the entry of the xmas market and my hotel), CURBED WHEEL But it's the same in every historical European city tbf, even the newer parkings are designed like ass so curbing is usually the least of your worries 🙃EDIT: Also, a lot of the driving assist crap makes stuff so much worse, if you show me red, let me assume I'm 5cm away from something NOT 50...
I'm glad someone talked about it.
This trend is awful.
This (and other stuff) makes me want to keep my E46 for a long time.
They're all big now. Yesterday there was a new 120 next to my E46 coupe and the 120 seems bigger, that's ridiculous.
Great video btw!
Firstly, as a e46 owner, what a beautiful looking e46 M3 here, very good, clean condition. I wish BMW make as beautiful cars as e46. Absolutly timeless design.
Secondly, I have not seen any petrolhead youtuber who talked about this subject but you before. You are clearly a real petrolhead, that is why I watch your contents.
I think It will be a serious problem for cities. the problems you having experiences with e46, are not that big. you won't scare after you get used the car. It is not that wide car. But the new M4, with that width, that obviously doesn't fit in every street, It is clearly a wide car like most of the new cars. every car journalists don't talk about this.
That E46 is absolutely stunning. Got to be one of the best investment pieces at the moment, can only see them going up
15:42 Theres actually research showing mutually heavier cars increase danger for both occupants, because more mass = more energy which wont be proportionally accounted for in each crumple zone. Not to mention making accidents themselves less avoidable
Matt, you are part of the reason as a journalist promoting bigger cars. How many times have you been critical of excessive width in reviews? Very few, if any.
More isn't always better
Great vid. One of the most stressful videos I think I've watched. I've gone blue in the face from holding my breath so many times.
I've got the new M4 as well and it's a nightmare, even with all the sensors and cameras. Combination of width and it's much harder to judge the corners. Plus the fact I've got a rather expensive carbon fibre splitter which sticks out at the corners as well.
There are just carparks I won't even go into now due to the stress.
You pretty much nailed what it's like trying to get out the thing when you're parked next to someone as well.
But still love it.
bigger vehicles are also a huge safety issue for pedestrians, the ones with zero protections against the 2 ton metal boxes we drive around. that's a big part of the reason speed limits are getting lower. "not just bikes" has a great video on it.
sidenote, man those wheel arches on that e46 got me slurring my words
People seem overly obsessed with huge wheels and tiny tires. You wouldn't need to be so obsessed with curbing on a 3" curb if you had rims an inch smaller and more sidewall. The ride would be more comfortable too. Put your track wheels and tires on if you go to a track.
Not to mention you get a better ride with a taller sidewall
i wonder if normal person would get much different lap times with different height tyres... some tracks like nurburgring might be more forgiving with more cushioning
M2 is todays M3. M3 is M5 and M5 is new M7.
Size wise agree forsure
Harris said this in his M5 video 😮
I have the new M7 and it's more like a M9
@@maximuswong3092 no such thing as an M7
C class nowadays looks like a decade old S class 😢
E46 has more character and more BMW than the new overpriced m decoration.
For sure..
For sure..❤
The BBS rims on that E46.... Perfect! Still a dream car today.
That e46 is drop dead gorgeous, and it’ll be worth far more than the M4 in the coming years. I cannot believe you didn’t drop to neutral and rev them at least once in the tunnel, missed opportunity Mathew!
That E46 is a magnificent looking machine. The newer car is obviously bigger but you can't deny its performance and safety credentials.
It is proven that the safer cars become, the more dangerously people drive.
@@peterpan6821still road fatalities keep going down
Exactly, everyone bashing technology but today’s cars are clearly more comfy and safe then older cars.
@@Alex1988itnot to mention how we get penalised for driving older cars with higher emissions
@@Nnn30055 you get to pay more if you drive _any_ car with high emissions. Old or new doesn't matter (at least not in my country). And generally older cars are cheaper with insurance so it most likely balances out anyways. Also it's a good incentive to drive people towards newer and safer cars.
As someone who rides a motorbike, it’s now much more difficult to filter through traffic and impossible to see across suvs, which makes it harder to see what the traffic ahead is doing. Also, when driving an suv it’s very difficult to see small objects that are close to the vehicle(like kids…)
Current BMWs score a haul - fat, ugly, stupid touchscreen controls and fake engine noises - no wonder car manufacturers are in such a mess…
Stuff for the sake of stuff. Never thought cars would end up so shitty.
I noticed the increased car width way back in 1992 when I bought a new Citroën ZX. I Had to manually fold the door mirrors in to park the car in my garage. Something I didn't need to do with the previous Citroën BX. Although it was a tight fit compared to the car it replaced which was a VW Passat GL5 estate which had room to spare between the mirrors. Had I still lived there I think by now I would have built a new garage or just used it for storage like 99% of the population.
E46 is just pure timeless.
E46 is absolutely timeless ❤. Someone playing an 80s keyboard in the back of the M4?
Beautiful car...
@@GordBulgarin681 Do you plan on responding to every single comment?
E46 looks sick 🔥🔥🥵🥵🥵🥵
Crazy beautiful.. ❤
@@GordBulgarin681 💯
7:27 YT subtitles say "[Music]" while it's only the M3 engine sound. YT knows something;)
You're right 😂
😂😂😂
Oh my God, that E46 is beautiful
E46 is much nicer than the new car. Lets talk about why the new one is so ugly
The E46 frightening the Merc enough to set off its car alarm matches the personalities of each of those cars.
I have been saying this for ages. So cathartic to see this video.
oh man, that e46 is soooo beautiful.
Sure that..
This is why ive gone from a mazda 6 which is nearly 5m long to a vw up gti which is under 3.6m! I love how compact the vw is and i can easily zip through town now 😂
Yet another in love with the E46 - I've raced several of them and they make fantastic stripped out race/track cars - I'll have one again for sure!
That first carpark you have there actually looks pretty decently spaced. I've faced some horrors here in Germany. In Hanover I literally had to fold in the side mirrors in order to get through the gate.
God that E46 is gorgeous
Beautiful 💟
❤❤❤
"some things haven't" 🤣🤣🤣
I listen this video with earphones on and that old beemer sounds great
Matt you are like a diamond for carwow
0:23 you make me want to watch all the video 😂
It's is a bit ridiculous. When I had a Kia EV6 I was taking it down narrow Devon lanes and it really was tight. The body was so wide it was catching all the undergrowth and left me with slight scratches in the paintwork at the end of lease. Luckily they polished out.
It’s probably on PCP, so it’s not really yours is it - thus no problem….
Don't forget problems with car transporters, you still have to fit in specified height and length and still carry same numbers of cars like 10 years ago.
And containers
A 3.5t recovery has become useless. Most weigh 2200kg+.. only allows you to carry a car weighing 1.2t max to be safe you want to be closer to 1t as you'll need to pick up the broken down vehicle's driver too
Wouldn’t the transporters get bigger too? Ripple effect. If the car gets bigger then everything related should get bigger too. Obviously roads and parking spaces are the exception because of cost and space prohibitions.
@@mrdiamonde easier said than done. you said it yourself. Ripple effect gonna be too expensive compared to the profit. Width of car transporter also has limits. Too wide gonna take more than 1 lane and too dangerous.
You ever think about shipping containers? They're already standardized all over the world same with the container trucks, ships, cranes, etc
@ they made bigger ships to haul more containers WA TOP has a video on that good stuff. More stuff is shipped by rail than trucks as well. Cars are not growing that big that they can’t fit in car transporters anyways. This video isn’t about the biggest suv getting bigger. He is comparing and m3 to an m4. Not a suburban to a bigger suburban . The m4 is still smaller than the suburban. So the sky isn’t falling chicken little. Nice try though.
that E46 is one of the best looking cars ever made..
True that
Absolutely true
Sheesh that e46 reminded me of what bmw use to be like, beautiful….
That E46 looks so good in front of the new BMW
Okay that E46 is a thing of beauty and I am not a BMW fan
❤❤
Many still love the old E46 and E92 specs.
Also don't get the stupid alloy wheels with no real sidewall on the tire. There is so much less worry when you can touch a curb without causing damage.
small wheels on big cars look like a gym bro who skips leg day.
Agree! I run 19” wheels on my E63s. I cannot stand the 20” wheels. I favour the additional sidewall and better ride quality.
@@the.mikeyy Just have more tyre and less alloy.
They're not stupid, it's better to scratch the rims than to damage the sidewall and later get a tire blowout on the highway! 💁
Rims can be fixed if the scratches bother you too much
Or, just design curbs that are less hostile to car wheels of ANY size and material. Instead of a 90° cliff, maybe make the curbs 70 or 75° angle so that the tire can take all the brunt of the contact no matter how big the wheel is?
I'm in love with e46 please 🙏 🥺 mat don't crush it
Beautiful..
So basically? The newer the car, the more angry you get driving it…. And the E46 is such a timeless beauty
E46 has to be one of the pinnacle cars of its and even now with its design deffo my dream car for sure and a hawk eye impreza
Those Land Rovers they are so big they park on pavements blocking disabled bays
Actually not as big as you might think. A BMW 5 series is the same length as a RR Sport and only 10cm shorter than the big RR
@@TheFlyingClutchman The annoying thing I have found with Land Rovers / Range Rovers, living in the country, is that they all waft around in the middle of the road. They think that because they are in a big wide tank, that they paid extra to use my side of the road. I've nearly crashed a fair few times in 2024 because a RR has pushed me out into grass verges by refusing to stay on their own side. At least 5 series drivers tend to be a bit more aware and slow down to allow us to both manoeuvre safely.
well thats just a load of shit
@1993j I think the difference there is crap drivers. BMW drivers are often enthusiasts that know their cars better. If anything, a RR is actually easier to drive on tight B roads because it's basically a square, and from your high up driving position you can easily see the corners of the car making it easier to place on tight roads than something like a 5 series. So it's just down the demographic that drives RRs more than the cars themselves
Those e46 rear lights still look like the Ministry of Sound logo to me.
0:12 That's me struggling every single day 😮💨🥴
Was almost boutta say it aint as stressful in an old m3 but yeee i take it all back that shits gorgeous and very valuable
E46 is the top tier design from BMW
The new M5 and RS6 are two of the main culprits. I'm not a fan. The previous were so slim and sleek, it's a shame
Rs6 is a wagon man at least it’s better than the suvs
@davidsam9510 the 2022 Rs6 Wagon is way bigger than the 2016 wagon. A wagon can still be bigger than a sedan without being fat like the new rs6
@@davidsam9510 the problem is that the RS6 Wagon is the same footprint (length and width) as an X5. Height is irrelevant when it comes to maneuver ability and parking.
@@ArcticPrimal it’s probably because the eu is forcing these rules
The old RS6 also looks much better, more subtle. The new one tries too hard to be aggressive
Can't go over how beautiful that e46 is.
A lot of cars are around 1.9 m wide, whereas most used to be around 1.7m wide; wider doors and airbags..
I drove my new Mustang into Cambridge (first mistake) and attempted to park it in a multi-story car park (second mistake). It took 3 point turns to get it up the ramps. The amount of scuffs, scrapes and bits of plastic on the walls and floor highlight the amount of damage people had done to their cars.
My garage is quite old but on the old Punto parking was a breeze. When I got a new car, first thing I checked was length and width - definitely took out the Focus. Ended up getting a Golf and it's still quite tricky to park. When I gave guests with SUVs they just give up and park on the street.
My neighbour doesn't even use his garage anymore ... he needed assistance to fit his Octavia every time.
9:42 Hate to be that guy, but maybe folding the side mirrors would've helped a little as Mat already had someone in front of the car to guide it into the lift.
Should’ve reversed in
The idea is to do it alone ..
I mean, we can nitpick but that M4 is almost the same length as a 2012-2020 Lexus GS. And it's WIDER. That's just stupid, it's supposed to be a sports car for fuck's sake...
E46 M3 best looking BMW ever built
The 850 CSI don't looks ugly to mee too ❣️😅
But from the 3 series I agreed ❕👍🏼
@@Ramsi-Berlinmy joint favorite bmw with the e46 too, e39, e38, e46 and the old series were peak bmw in my opinion
Confirmed...❤
Fx-M looking perfect💎
E46 any day
💟
I like this documentary style video!
11:32 that damn shot look so good straight out from a cut scene of game 😮😮😮❤
What a car the e46 m3 is. Peak M car era
For sure.
What a beautiful car the E46 is!
12:18 "Someone driving a wide Vehicle like a Van"... passes a Van with no problem at all... "See like this car" ... drives past a SUV
In the 1980’s my company had offices in Edinburgh’s New Town and London. One of the senior London guys hated flying and trains, so every time he visited the Edinburgh office, he drove north in his Roy's Royce.
The office had a garage accessed by a car-lift that was just too small so he drove into the lift, pushed the grill with the front bumper enough to allow the grill behind him to close. He then shuffled back, squeezing the grills at both end - just enough to allow the lift to lower him to car-park level. Same palaver on the way out. Bonkers !
Don’t know if they’ve changed the lift since then. I hope so, it was pretty narrow too, I doubt if much would fit in it now.