New CSL Owner

[hoshy]

Hi all,

I took the plunge a few weeks ago and bought my first CSL.

Previously I've had:

a cars not worthy of metion...
318i (E30, first RWD :D)
318iS (E30, later supercharged)
325tds (E36, runabout while rebuilding engine on 318iS)
M3 Evo (E36, favourite all-round car, ever, despite being a major E30 fan)
316ti (E36, mega-miles cheapo runabout)
M3 CSL - black, circa 80K miles.

Early thoughts on the CSL... :119::119::119: but really, it's too noisy and due to SMG not being perfectly fettled I can't say I'm in love with... yet.

I live in Germany so I get to stretch its legs on a regular basis and the speed at which it hits 250kph makes the Evo look like a childs toy. It's stunning and as soon as the weather gets better I'll be heading to the ring (only an hour and a half away :))

So - hello everybody. Just thougt I'd say hi as I'm about to post some questions about getting the SMG/clutch as close to perfect as possible.

Cheers,
Ashley.

[Bounce]

Welcome to the register Ashley,you will fall in love with it in time.:smt023:smt023

[grumps]

Dito! and how lucky living so close to the holy grail:bigcry:

[rstoughy]

Welcome onboard :beer::beer:
Dont worry about the SMG, think most had a period like that upon purchase, I know I did. Took me a few months to get into it but wouldnt change it now. Love it!!

[Mark CSL]

Welcome :beer:

It takes me a day to get over to the ring you lucky sod :blalalala:

[derek]

Welcome enjoy your Csl !!!

[shimmy]

Ashley, spring is here and that drivers window will be open, the open autobahn and the air box.........love will come.

The secret of the CSL is he air box and the high rev gear changes, just superb for £20k

I'm spending more and more time over the next 10 weeks in Bonn so. Might pop over and watch you take a spin around green hell.

[hoshy]

Thanks for the welcome, folks. Shimmy - if you're about for a stop by the ring then just drop me a PM.

The noise is a weird thing I reckon. It's pretty much got the same all or nothing ethos as the rest of the car - sub 4/5k, bag of nails, above 5k, sweeter than man was intended to experience.

70-100mph in 6th is an unpleasant experience at best, but auto-blip it down to 3rd and floor it with sport on, and it's symphony.

As for the SMG, I gave it a good drive around town, back-roads and bahn this evening and it's getting better. SMG Reset and a few flat-shifts in S6 have definitaly improved the pull away and light load changes so I'm happy with that. S5, sport off, seems to be the way forward, for gentle and spirited driving. There's also a bit of drivetrain slack that I'm hoping can be fixed up without toooo much cost - maybe a diff at the worst. Hope it's not any of the cracked subframe issues I've read about.

Got a little holiday down to north Italy in two weeks, will run her over the alps and take a quick trip to the Stelvio pass - pics will follow :)

Thanks again.

[KamalRostov]

Congratulations on your new ride...

[cslgirl]

Hi Ashley, welcome to the forum and congrats on your CSL purchase :)

[Roland]

Got a little holiday down to north Italy in two weeks, will run her over the alps and take a quick trip to the Stelvio pass - pics will follow :)


Welcome Ashley :thumbs:

sorry, Stelvio is closed around this time of the year.

greets from Munich
Roland

[hoshy]

Hi Roland,

Greetings from Frankfurt. Are you a local to Muenchen or an expat like me? I'm toying with the idea of moving down that way sometime this year.

Seems you're right about Stelvio, sham but not to worry. There's always next time :)

Incidentally do you know if there are any well respected BMW independants in Germany? I want the car to have a complete healthcheck by somebody that knows CSLs, not sure if local dealer can be trusted.

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Welcome Ashley, you will become addicted to the CSL and this forum :thumbs:

[Roland]

Hi Ashley,

I'm local. There are some ///M authorized Dealers here in germany, what doesn't mean they have a mechanic that konws anything about a CSL. So far i only found one here in Munich.
At the ring i know one how knows definitely a lot about CSL. Sent PM.
Whenever you come down to munich just let me know.

greets
Roland

[hoshy]

Thanks Roland. I am down that way every so often for work. I will give you a shout.

[Levente]

Congrats to your CSL Ash. I live in München too. drop me pm if you come

[DuncanR]

wELCOME aSHLEY

[hoshy]

Thank again everybody. So, some updates...

It's growing on me, alot. I've been spending more time with the DSC off and as I'm running Supersports, it's more exploitable than I expected. Though when barreling down the bahn at 140 plus the DSC stays firmly on, particulary for when you get the unexpected bump or two - have seen the friendly DSC light beaming up at me that he's just saved my arse once or twice - DSC car is a new experience and I'm not enitrely sure I like it that much. I was quite happy in my M3 Evo where the right foot did all the work. Now I know I can turn the DSC off but I'd feel a right ol' tosser if I damaged somebody or something with it off - at least when the car doens't have it as standard you know where you are. At least once I've had DSC off round the backroads and caught myself later at the limiter with it still turned off :-/

Not made it to the track yet as need to get a few things sorted. Took it for its TuV (German MOT) today and was pleasntly surprised that there were only three items that came up:

Fog light need to be on other side
Tyre had sidewall damage
Leaking diff

So that brings me to a new question :)

I would have expected the fog lights to be on both sides, I think mine has the LED lights, and I've not taken them out yet to poke around, does anybody know if I need some coding work to enable it, or if the fogs are a classic incandescent lamp and one just needs replacement?

As for the the other two points - tyre being replaced tomorrow or weekend depending on availability, and the diff, I've been in contact with the guy Roland recommended (thanks!), hope to get that sorted ASAP.

S6 + redline == happy hoshy :)

Cheers,
Ashley

[glendog74]

Glad you're enjoying the CSL more - congrats! :-D

[hoshy]

Quick update:

For the fog light I need a new module from BMW - 20 EUR and I'll run one addtional power wire myself. Result.

In my efforts to find a diff ASAP that doesn't leak (or clunk) I stumbled across a local CSL dealer / VLN racer / all-round BMW enthusiast, owns 19 E30 M3s and lives 20 minutes away :) - said chap offered me a complete Schnitzer 3.91 diff with only (apparently) 5k KM on it. 2000 EUR fitted with p/x for the old unit. Seems reasonable so I've taken him up on it.

As I'm limited to 250kph anyway there's no harm in getting there a bit faster :D

Anybody else running a 3.91 diff?

[AlexGTT]

A few have tried that diff. Do a thread search to find details.

Glad your getting used to the CSL. Just remember to keep the foot in on up-shifts and the SMG will stay sharp as a pin.:)

[hoshy]

Thanks Alex,

I'm having real trouble keeping the foot on for upshifts. If I'm hammering it then no problem but for town driving it seems a lot less clunky if I time a lift-off just right.

I give it the odd smg double-paddle reset and S6 flat-shifts which is supposed to help but in truth I don't really know what's good and bad for these cars. Need to get in another at some point - or at least back in my mate's regular SMG E46 M3.

[Porter]

Thanks Alex,

I'm having real trouble keeping the foot on for upshifts. If I'm hammering it then no problem but for town driving it seems a lot less clunky if I time a lift-off just right.

I give it the odd smg double-paddle reset and S6 flat-shifts which is supposed to help but in truth I don't really know what's good and bad for these cars. Need to get in another at some point - or at least back in my mate's regular SMG E46 M3.

I lift for shifts, even when pressing on - it somehow seems more mechanically sympathetic. It certainly feels smoother.

That said, I don't lift all the way, just to part-throttle.

Enjoy the car and finding out all its quirks.

[shimmy]

ONeill says I do to :banghead:

[Bounce]

ONeill says I do to :banghead:I can't believe your a lifter Shim.:hahaha:

[shimmy]

I can't believe your a lifter Shim.:hahaha:

Now that's quite funny for you Bounce. Our London humour must be rubbing off as normally you only joke about Manglewurzels

[Porter]

I can't believe your a lifter Shim.:hahaha:

:hahaha: