TBH, I went from a BMW (E39 5 series) to the civic, and noticed a big change in noise, you could wisper at 90 in the 5 and here it you have to shout at 90 in the civ
Although you'll find the Civic a lot more fun, the E46 IMHO (only driven the Coupe/convertable) is a bit stodgy on the overall feel, and I much prefered the E36 to it
Tom