Looking to buy a CSL, anyone know this car?

[$w!ft]

Hi guys,

I will hopefully be a CSL owner by next weekend if I find the right car. (I am based in Bristrol+London area)

So far today I have looked at a CSL from a BMW dealership which was very expensive (£33k, 27k miles) but they had another CSL with with registration HY04LEG, 2004 model with 28,000 miles and 7 owners (!! ?) which looked more interesting. It also had STAGE 2 Thorney with milltek exhaust, not sure whether this is a good or bad thing.

Was wondering, do any of you know this car or have owned this car in the past?

Was also thinking of taking a look at Nick Johnson Motor Co. has anyone heard of them?

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

$w!ft.

[SIEN]

Wait.. the BMW dealership is selling you a car with Thorney remap and a miltek? ... And keeping the approved used warranty?

Re: Nick Johnson... only heard bad things about a few scrappy cars they have... not sure about the others they have in stock though.


Hi guys,

I will hopefully be a CSL owner by next weekend if I find the right car. (I am based in Bristrol+London area)

So far today I have looked at a CSL from a BMW dealership which was very expensive (£33k, 27k miles) but they had another CSL with with registration HY04LEG, 2004 model with 28,000 miles and 7 owners (!! ?) which looked more interesting. It also had STAGE 2 Thorney with milltek exhaust, not sure whether this is a good or bad thing.

Was wondering, do any of you know this car or have owned this car in the past?

Was also thinking of taking a look at Nick Johnson Motor Co. has anyone heard of them?

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

$w!ft.

[$w!ft]

Well I guess so, I mean BMW approved is not gonna sell a car without warranty... Havent had a chance to look at the Remapped one in person yet though.

Thats bad about Nick Johnson, they do have 4 cars for sale atm which dont look bad!

[SIEN]

Well I guess so, I mean BMW approved is not gonna sell a car without warranty... Havent had a chance to look at the Remapped one in person yet though.

Thats bad about Nick Johnson, they do have 4 cars for sale atm which dont look bad!

I'm no expert by any means, just been in the same situation recently while looking and that seems to be the general concensus of those I asked the same question to.

Regarding BMW warranty, from my recent dealings with BMW it's quite clear that any modifications whatsoever to the factory car will invalidate the warranty... I would make tripley if not quadruply sure that their car will come with warranty (otherwise, why the hell would you pay the premium!).

[shimmy]

hold on a sec

ive not seen many bad things about Nick Johnson tbh. A couple of people over the last few years have a had a go but then more have had ago about BMW dealers tbh

i would say (i dont know Nick) that he is a dealer who specialises in CSLs and as with BMW i guess his prices are a little stronger than private sales as he buys cheap and sells with a premium i guess to make his money. Lets not forget that Nick and BMW dealers help keep prices firm for us private sellers in this strange CSL market.

I would say take a look at them and check the history and if one suits then take it, It will have a BMW warranty or Nick i guess gives a warranty as well.

ALSO my experience on BMW with the CSL warranty has been superb. Most if not all dealers understand that the CSL is a track weapon in lots of cases and generally BMw and dealers honour warranty claims unless there is a clear link between the cause and a modification. Indeed i dont think a fuss iis made at most dealers about mods for the CSL even if you have a linked claim

[SIEN]

As I said, you guys know more than me about it, I'm just going on (mostly private PM's) I've received about those specifics.

At least 2 people responded privately on this forum and pistonheads regarding Nicks cars. As he usually has quite a lot for sale I guess there's always going to be a few dodgy one's.

As regards to the warranty situation, again just going on what people have said via PM. Personally I would ask my local dealer first how they feel about doing warranty work if I tuned the car. Many handle their customer services differently and I'm sure if you got one like Shimmy mentions there wouldn't be a problem.

hold on a sec

ive not seen many bad things about Nick Johnson tbh. A couple of people over the last few years have a had a go but then more have had ago about BMW dealers tbh

i would say (i dont know Nick) that he is a dealer who specialises in CSLs and as with BMW i guess his prices are a little stronger than private sales as he buys cheap and sells with a premium i guess to make his money. Lets not forget that Nick and BMW dealers help keep prices firm for us private sellers in this strange CSL market.

I would say take a look at them and check the history and if one suits then take it, It will have a BMW warranty or Nick i guess gives a warranty as well.

ALSO my experience on BMW with the CSL warranty has been superb. Most if not all dealers understand that the CSL is a track weapon in lots of cases and generally BMw and dealers honour warranty claims unless there is a clear link between the cause and a modification. Indeed i dont think a fuss iis made at most dealers about mods for the CSL even if you have a linked claim

[shimmy]

where are you in the UK?

[glendog74]

Agree with Shimmy:

I have seen a fair few CSLs with track mods sold through the BMW AUC network. Usually they are a BBK or suspension mods.

I have a positive experience of Nick Johnson as a seller. He knew a lot about the cars (rather more than BMW salesmen...) and also provided a superb test drive where i could test the car 'properly' without a raised eyebrow when i pressed the go faster pedal! :supz:

Nick's cars can be hit or miss - much like the used car market in general. He has good cars and not quite so good cars. They are priced accordingly, although in general he prices slightly on the high side imho. He's there to make a little money on a sale of course, can't blame him for that.

I bought my car privately in the end - from a fellow enthusiast. Best way to buy for a genuine, well priced car with loads of background knowledge. Buy with a warranty though ;)

[AlexGTT]

I agree with Shimmy and Rob. Nick is not such a bad guy but be prepared not to see a normal dealer appearance as he's selling from his home. It's a good way to see several CSL's at one place.

[derek]

I cannot comment on how good or bad Nick is but one of this cars he is selling is accident damged car as i done an rac inspection on it and it was confimed by the previous owner. It was on sale at the time at a bmw garage. Moral of post do your homework wherever you buy a car, check out the history with the previous owners

[SIEN]

Sounds like the kind of thing I heard Derek.

Maybe he's got a few duff cars and the rest are OK then... either way selling a damaged repair and not advertising that is not good (I'm taking it he's not advertising it as such?)

[englebert]

Going to Nick Johnson's is a good way of comparing cars, but i wouldn't pay over the odds for of his cars that aren't prepared for sale like an AUC car.

I almost bought a very cheap NSX of another dealer, but decided it was too rough. Later, i saw Nick had bought it and was charging many thousands more for the same car with no work done... fair play to him, he must be a god salesman.

[Pacman]

With regard to Nick, I bought my CSL from him, reg BM04 CSl with 14k miles and many people on the forum know how good it was, I recently sold it to a collector.

As others have said he doesn't have a showroom and the cars are not well presented. When I bought mine and went to collect it I had to change all 4 wheels, clean the windscreen etc.

Also, Nick will probably get you to put the BMW warranty on the car, ie deduct the money from the price, thats what I did and it was not a problem.

I would definitely go visit him and as mentioned he will give you a good test drive!

[SIEN]

Don't understand, why would you then pay a premium for buying from a 'shop'?

With regard to Nick, I bought my CSL from him, reg BM04 CSl with 14k miles and many people on the forum know how good it was, I recently sold it to a collector.

As others have said he doesn't have a showroom and the cars are not well presented. When I bought mine and went to collect it I had to change all 4 wheels, clean the windscreen etc.

Also, Nick will probably get you to put the BMW warranty on the car, ie deduct the money from the price, thats what I did and it was not a problem.

I would definitely go visit him and as mentioned he will give you a good test drive!

[Pacman]

Never said anything about a premium.

Just saying its worth while visiting him to see a selection CSL's in one place.

[SIEN]

Never said anything about a premium.

Just saying its worth while visiting him to see a selection CSL's in one place.

Ah sorry, everyone else has mentioned paying a premium for his cars, just figured you had to.

[cslsuperfan]

Totally agree with pacman,

i bought a 10K 04 plate off nick J in 2007 and despite being on the higher end price wise he had 5 SG's to view and his test drives are exactly that.
Not a word from him in the passenger seat!!!!!

[Johnnywb]

I had a look at the two cars i think you're talking about, one being a grey one with the Thorney Stage 2 and the other being a black one. I too thought that the grey one was very good value, but it looked quite scrappy next to the black one and a quick search of the reg number on here showed it had a lot of owners and had been sold at auction not long ago.

I didn't look too much at the black one, as i'm looking for a grey one!

Not reasons to write it off, but it didn't leave me with a warm rosy feeling! Having seen a couple since, i think there's better cars, albeit they're a bit more expensive.