only one thing to say..you cant compare the E46 M3 to the AMGs that were being built back then. Today, AMGs are much faster and have much bigger motors then back then. So that isnt a fair comparison!
I dunno, I never owned an E46 M3 but I drove my buddys very often and I didnt love it the way I love my E93. It wasnt all that fast to me, and it sounded like you were dragging a bunch of empty pop cans behind you!