| I live in the Seattle area and am considering the purchase of an E46 M3 coupe or convertible. I currently drive an Acura TL Type-S and am itching for my first BMW experience. I bought the sedan thinking it would be best having two small children but have found I rarely use the back seats - we always take the SUV when transporting the kids. The trunk room is nice though but I don't use it that often. I'm regretting not having stuck with a sports car although I am extremely happy with the TL. I've always owned Japanese sports cars with front wheel or all-wheel drive.
I have always wanted to own a rear-wheel drive sports car and/or a convertible. My budget is about $45K. It HAS to be a 4-seater. A used E46 M3 seems like it is hands down the best choice (although I'm considering a low mileage Supra Twin Turbo with a sport top too.) The Audi A4 Cabrio would be an option if it didn't have such a wimpy engine, the new S4 Cabrio is out of my price range and I'm not interested in having a gas guzzling 8 cylinder engine.
I'm really interested in hearing some comments from people who have either driven both E46 3 series Coupes and Convertibles, or have driven any convertible and live in the Northwest (San Francisco up to Vancouver BC) or other areas of the country that don't have really dry weather (maybe the Northeast?)
It seems like the best idea is to do like my father and have a small, less expensive roadster (like a Z3, Miata, 350Z, etc.) as a third car. However I have neither the budget nor do I like having money sunk into assets that I am not getting a lot of use out of.
I know the covertible is 300 pounds heavier but all test drive reports say this makes no significant difference in the driving pleasure. Heck, you could throw a cold air intake on it and reprogram the computer to burn Premium only and the extra horse power would probably bring the acceleration in line with the coupe (but what's a half second difference anyway.) I know the trunk space is small but it sounds like it is only really bad with the top down and I would consider the back seats additional "trunk space". My other concern is road noise. I'm an audiophile and like listing to loud music alot. Obviously the acoustics will suck with the top down but how does the noise compare with the top up to a coupe? Living in my area of the country, it seems like the coupe is the more practical decision being less expensive, larger trunk, and ligther/more rigid. I'm really itching though to see what owning a convertible is like. This is a large expenditure though and I want to make the best decision possible. An insights would be greatly appreciated. | 
