2003 BMW E46 M3

Coupe

VIN#: JR24389

ENGINE 3.2-liter S54B32 inline six-cylinder

OUTPUT 333 hp @ 7900 rpm, 262 lb-ft @ 4900 rpm

TRANSMISSION 6-speed Getrag manual

CURB WEIGHT 3394 lbs

TOP SPEED 155 mph

BUILD DATE  July 2003

COLOR  Dakar Yellow

OWNER  Jamie Millhiser

OWNED SINCE  2008

LOCATION  Richmond, Virginia

Many things pass from fathers to sons, but a love for M3s is a blessing. Just ask Jamie Millhiser. Millhiser got the M3 bug from his dad but also two M3s. An E36 came first, then this striking Dakar Yellow E46. He still owns both.

“I have a lot of memories of doing events with my dad in the car… Memories from when he owned it, from when I owned it,” Millhiser says. “To this day, [he and I] still take the cars to events together.”

If those memories make Milhiser’s E46 irreplaceable to him, the car’s iconic paint makes it irresistible to onlookers. The color, Dakar Yellow, was most notably found on the E36 3-Series, though other models also draped themselves in that dusty electric yellow. Regardless of platform, Dakar is a rare color; Millhiser believes just 67 such E46 M3s were built.

Dakar wasn’t a standard E46 shade—with that model, the color came courtesy of BMW’s Individual program, which allows owners to custom-order things like seat embroidery or paint-to-sample bodywork. And while the Individual process is now well-known, it was once more of a whisper in the North American market, a secret handshake for those in the know. 

“Not many Individual [E46s] were ordered in America,” Millhiser says. “It was very common in Europe and other parts of the world. Funny enough, the process wasn’t that hard. We walked into the dealer and said, ‘This is what we want,’ and we ordered it. Back then it wasn’t expensive either.
It was $2,000, which was a little bit more than selecting 18 inch wheels.”

While his car’s pale shade of highlighter ensures it will stand out in any parking lot, the E46 M3 in general is equally dear to Millhiser, whatever the paint color.

“I think the E46 really captures the history and lineage of the M brand,” Millhiser says. “Between engine and handling, it’s got that perfect balance. It’s everything I want a car to be.”