You are right the the E46 doesn't have the feel of the E36 3 series cars. But this is *not* inherent to the E46 chasis, which is in fact superior to that of the E36. It is due to the way BMW "tuned" the suspension and steering. I'm sure that on the M3 the suspension geometry will be optimized for performance and will show just how good a platform the E46 truly is. That was probably done early in the cars design and the only thing left to refine is the motor.