Just a few pics and a little comparison after driving them both today.

Both look great in my opinion but that is a personal thing, some people hate the look of the coop and some people hate the look of BMWs.
The only thing I will add on the looks side of it is that the coop round my way is the only one around and because of that it does stand out and catch peoples attention, where as the M3 I have them pulling up next to me at the lights, driving behind me in traffic or im pulling up next to them in the petrol station, they are pretty popular . But then again they are popular for a reason!

They also both sound great! The coop has that fizz of the turbo, a little wastegate flutter and the 5 pot!
The M3 is very distinctive and raspy and higher up in the rev range hammer to the floor it is

The coop is definitely faster in a straight line and around a track I think it would be close as the M3 is PLANTED! But my coop has 100 more torques, 75 more bhp and weighs less too. Its more aggressive.

A few pics:
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g421/technics5/bmwandchelsea042-1.jpg
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g421/technics5/bmwandchelsea041.jpg
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g421/technics5/bmwandchelsea040.jpg
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g421/technics5/bmwandchelsea039.jpg
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g421/technics5/bmwandchelsea043.jpg

Very nice, technics

Stunning looking coop dude!

both great cars

Nice, now if you'd just got an exact colour match....

both lovely mate!! ive seen you in your coop around weybridge a few months back and it both sounded and looked amazing!!!

any luck with selling the coop?

Both look great; nice to see them together

It's amazing just how much the Coop is in a completely different league of stand-out distinctiveness compared to yet another plain old Bumm£r. Of course this will only get more so with time... for both cars.

Thanks for all the comments guys, I do love them both.

@ 20vt Alex, Yeah im always in Weybridge and live just next door in Walton. How come you were there?
No luck with the sale yet, rubbish time of year now too....

I live in slough, but work in chertsey, and was passing through weybridge one day when I saw you in the beast. Wasn't in my coop at the time, so didnt/couldnt give you a little wave or flash you!

Why don't you just keep it as a weekend car, and use the m3 as the daily run around?!?

Oh I see.

I would LOVE to do that but I cant afford to insure/run/maintain both cars and my girlfriend wouldnt allow it. Wish I could. : (

As above, both great cars - and for me the coupe doesn't look aged at all in comparison...

Good to see who wears the pants in your relationship.

Technics, having got your coop so sorted,.what made you suddenly want to change?

Why did you choose the M3 ?

Hi Sean,

I didnt suddenly want to change, I have wanted an M3 for many years, firstly the e36 and then the e46 but they were always out of my price range and I was probably abit young to afford the insurance/maintenance/fuel etc.

I have only ever owned Fiats, 2 of them were coops, one standard for 2 years, then this tuned Plus model for the last 4 years, it was just time to move on.
On top of all that my Dad has a Plus model with 518bhp so I can always keep my nose in that way too. I will always love the coops and Italian cars in general and I will still always be at AutoItalia events and so on.

The coop will be sorely missed, more than people probably imagine and ive said this before and ill say it again, I wish I could keep both but I really cant afford to do that.

Hum i think your getting rid of your coupe becaz of the misses told you to

Lol, she didnt want me to get rid of it,

But she did want me to stop spending money on tuning and although the car is perfect as it is, you know what its like with the tuning. She even said she will miss the coop too,

Its a lovley coupe but i no what its like one thing leads to another lol.

The BMW's are nice motors for the middle ground for performance and comfort.

And am sure biggnez has been told the same....

Exactly.

Don't be fooled into thinking there isn't a slippery modding slope for BMW's.

It's much, MUCH, bigger and steeper than the coupé one.

Hi,

I am considering buying an M3 next year, I have a standard VT6 at the moment, how do they compare in terms of acceleration & handling? what are the SMG gearbox's like to live with?

Thanks,

Lee.

Two good looking cars technics - loving the Plus on those rims (Azevs?).

@ Surfer17, I cant help you im afraid as my coop is not standard, its running 420 bhp and my M3 is a manual. But I would say an M3 will be quicker than a standard coop.

@ Roly, yes 18" Azev C. I love these alloys, beautiful on the coop and a straight fit too!

Thanks for the nice comments.