Think you got it backwards -- the 3.2l E36 M3 euro motor is what is NOT dissapointing, pulling off 321hp. The previous euro e36 m3 3.0l motor I believe got 286hp. I believe our North American E36 M3 motors got 240 in both 3.0 ODBI and 3.2 ODBII configurations.

The differences between the Euro e46 M3 S54 motor and our NA E46 M3 S54 motor are widely known, not inside info anymore . Thankfully it is mostly the same thing as our NA S54, though our cats are done differently as you mentioned and are closer up to the engine and inside the headers, yielding the 333hp rating for our S54 and 343hp rating for the euro S54. Software of course will be different as well. This is easily remedied of course by running aftermarket headers and aftermarket software, though tip of the line headers (supersprint stepped) are well over $2000... if I do anything in the future it'll just be with ebay headers

If you still think I'm incorrect with my statements about the e36 m3 3.2l motor, please email the admin of this site and tell him to correct it -- BMW M Registry - FAQ E36 M3 3.0 and BMW M Registry - FAQ E36 M3 3.2. I have never owned any BMW other than the e46 m3 so I don't have any personal experience to go on, just what I've read and researched.