19 Oct 06
Coupes are strange beasts. Less practical than the four-door saloon they are often based on, it is so easy to make one that is a tepid compromise. BMWs have the additional challenge of needing to be aspirational and, ideally, iconic. The previous generation, designated E36, had certainly done that, so it was going to be a hard act to follow.
The E46 Coupe arrived in the UK in 1999, a year after the saloon, and for a while it looked like BMW had been over-cautious, not something the styling department could be accused of more recently.
All BMW was doing, though, was producing a finely engineered and fantastically capable sporting car. The more you studied its fine lines the more you came to appreciate the fine detailing and subtle sculpture.
If anyone is crass enough to mention that a 3-Series Coupe is simply a saloon with a couple of doors missing, they could not be more wrong. The bodyshells are unique, as the Coupe's windscreen has a much steeper rake and the doors are larger and elegantly frameless. Indeed the only parts shared with the saloon are the side repeaters and the BMW badges.
