In the market for a CSL

[don52b]

Hi All, what a great resource this is. I have been looking through these threads for ages but never registered. Anyway I currently have a laguna seca e46 m3 - yeah guess its a bit lairy but the colour has really grown on me. I am looking to trade up to a CSL. The car would be a daily in so much as I drive 4 miles to work. I am looking for something useable and with average mileage but not really over the 70k mark. I have 126k on my m3 and it still feels tight and sharp. Such a great car but not a CSL. If anyone is looking to move on from there CSL please let me know. Otherwise I will just continue to enjoy posts on here and look through the forum. Hopefully contribute once I have a CSL. Thank you.

[Yanto]

Welcome Don - you could do a lot worse than this one

http://www.cslregister.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10334

Good luck :thumbs:

[don52b]

Thanks Yanto - yeah I have seen Mark's CSL - I am looking for something a little less pristine and more used. I would feel bad about pounding down the m40 with a car in that kind of condition. Each stone chip would hurt.

[Yanto]

£21k / 120k mile on ph.

How about the car at nick Johnson ?

[chrisburns]

Hey Don, welcome to the gang. What do you plan on doing with your current M3 ?

[cslsuperfan]

Thanks Yanto - yeah I have seen Mark's CSL - I am looking for something a little less pristine and more used. I would feel bad about pounding down the m40 with a car in that kind of condition. Each stone chip would hurt.


NJ must be a stones throw from you in Abingdon.....he gets the odd higher mileage example in....he always offers a drive too!!

[glendog74]

Welcome Don :thumbs:

[don52b]

Hi All and thank you for the welcome.

Chris - well at the moment I am just using my m3 as normal - I think I will at some point sell it or chop it in for a CSL if someone wants to trade down. It has a full rear chassis floor rebuild under goodwill from BMW main agents and they did a great job. And it has been faultless.

I did go and see Nick and he was great - he is also looking for something that may come up that suites my requirements.

I was also thinking along the porsche 996 turbo route ? Does anyone on here have any feelings on this car or driven them ?

[0836whimper]

Hi Don

That's what I did, move from a M3 to CSL. Good luck with not immediately handing over your wallet after the first test-drive !

Not sure about a 4 mile commute to work though, seriously it won't warm up it that time and it would make me wince a bit using it for that.

Cheers

Mark

[don52b]

Hi Mark - I have an old e12 m535i that I do the commute in as well as my mountain bike. The e12 is so (c)rusty and lived in but it gets me to work in the summers. I actually really liked the seats in the CSL they keep you quite upright - no slouching......

[Steve B]

[quote=0836whimper;145364]Good luck with not immediately handing over your wallet after the first test-drive !/quote]


Exactly what I did lol :whistle:

[martin770]

Hi All and thank you for the welcome.

Chris - well at the moment I am just using my m3 as normal - I think I will at some point sell it or chop it in for a CSL if someone wants to trade down. It has a full rear chassis floor rebuild under goodwill from BMW main agents and they did a great job. And it has been faultless.

I did go and see Nick and he was great - he is also looking for something that may come up that suites my requirements.

I was also thinking along the porsche 996 turbo route ? Does anyone on here have any feelings on this car or driven them ?
I was between a 996 turbo and CSL for ages, Test drove them both and just enjoyed the whole CSL experience :drool:
Then it was confirmed on my first track day when i blew the doors of a 996 turbo.......Never looked back :hahaha:

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Thanks Yanto - yeah I have seen Mark's CSL - I am looking for something a little less pristine and more used. I would feel bad about pounding down the m40 with a car in that kind of condition. Each stone chip would hurt.
It is a nice car don't worry about the stone chips, mine was in top condition when I brought it, did two days at Circuit de Bretagne my mate went half off if front of me a covered my car in stones, but itis what they are made for. :thumbs:

[Ben]

e12 M535i?? that's even rarer than a CSL. Tell us more please!

[Neil M]

Hi Don and welcome to the mad house, 4 mile commute! in a CSL! you've got to be kidding?
6/12 months of that and you'll be fitting a new engine, 10 mile minimum got to have time to warm up and start breathing, before it's switched off again.
You'd certainly go through some batteries.:hahaha:

Carry on with the bike in the interest of ecology, it would compensate for the rest of us. If you want one then by all means buy one, just please don't do the commute in it!:thumbs:

[KPNUTZ]

Simple solution to that Neil, take the CSL (long) route to work and back, possibly setting off that bit earlier when the roads are clear ;)

[don52b]

These CSL's seem to be less prone to mistreatment and modification other than driving them hard - I found it really hard to find a decent m3 whereas I suppose in a way a CSL if it has the basics right and isn't accident damaged then it will probably require less searching...but rarer. How many did all of you look at before you decided on the one you have and what was it that put your off buying the ones you turned down ?

The e12 is something I found locally it really is in a state in terms of paint work and non structural rust but its cool, it passed its MOT and is good mechanically. I just love that deep chin spoiler and the shark nose.

Also what is the deal with the boot floor - do these also crack and are BMW a little bit more sympathetic in putting it right as it is a bit of m power history ?

[Neil M]

Hi Don in answer to you question, I viewed 3, I was beginning to suffer from Questoritice with them all merging into one, before mine came along, this was 12 months ago when there were cars to be viewed, back in the day when NJ had 4 or 5 examples down on farm, for sale.

I was determined not to rush into buying, so I set a fixed criteria; low in terms of owners, moderate mileage preferably under 50K, but paramount was an impeccable service history.

Then after almost 12 months of looking my patience was rewarded and I had the privilege of repatriating an originally Northern example back to where it belonged.

The Boot Floor issue is symptomatic of all e46's, not just the CSL however as we rarely discuss the more mundane M's, it does tend to come up quite often as an issue.
The CSL being more of a Hard Core drivers car, it does tend to get it's legs stretched from time to time especially if going sideways, lateral 'G' is a great inducement for stress fractures.
BMW's extended warranty takes care of most of these unforeseen happenings.

[0836whimper]

How many did all of you look at before you decided on the one you have and what was it that put your off buying the ones you turned down ?

The main reason you might look at fewer CSL's than most cars is the numbers are so low. Especially now. I did a bit of searching, but one came up from an owner on here - so enthusiast owner - with a great (searchable on here) history and stack of recent warranty work, all wheels refurbed, spotless interior and right price (mileage based mainly). I also had to factor the opportunity cost of not buying it and then not being able to take it on an upcoming two week French road trip (worth a lot !!!). Don't let some track days put you off, it is what they are for and most are under warranty.
A test drive tends to seal the deal and I..ahem...bought the first one I looked at... :)

Also what is the deal with the boot floor - do these also crack and are BMW a little bit more sympathetic in putting it right as it is a bit of m power history ?

I would either want to see evidence that it's been fixed, or recently been inspected by a tech who knows their stuff (most take them to Gareth of Elms BMW, Cambridge) and given the all clear. The dealer down the road not used to looking might not find any issues. Nearly all are fixed FOC under warranty/goodwill by BMW, like mine.

[sjb]

If you have some mechanical knowledge (which it's obvious you do) anyway then that takes a major chunk out of the worry. And as others have said they are appearing to be getting thinner on the ground at the moment.... sometimes you've got to sacrifice one or two things to get your dream otherwise you do run the risk of missing the boat.......

I wouldn't worry about going for the first one you see either, I am another one that did just that! in my opinion I had to make sure I didn't miss the boat as even only back at the beginning of the year it was obvious they were going to start appreciating in price and desirability. You have to weigh a few things up, in my opinion it was only a case of mine maybe being a tad overpriced (back then!) but I got a nice chunk knocked off anyway :beer:

Don't miss that boat :-D:-D

[don52b]

Thanks for the advice guys - makes sense. What do you all run as a winter car ? I can't imagine the CSL experience in the snow and ice is a calming one ? Would you put winters on your car and run it or store it over the winter ?

Does anyone take their CSL to Mark Purcell here in Oxford he looks after my car and has been very good. Or are most of you taking to main agents ?

Elms seems to be getting really good press. What are you paying for insp 1 and insp 2 ?

One last thing - can the boot take the same load as a standard m3 I heard the boot floor is made of a different material ?

D

[0836whimper]

Yes it's true, the boot floor is made from cardboard not much thicker than a cereal packet, so you can't really use it for shopping or anything. I think Jeremy Clarkson may have been the first to point this out.

But...some CSL's have the rare wheels made from magnesium so it's not all bad news. Only some sellers have these though.

:wink:

(none of the above is true...)

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Put what ever you want in the boot mine gets loaded with tyre, jack,tools and luggage with the other tyres on the back seat for track days. :thumbs: