CSL to GTR to E92 via PBMW Championship
 

Thought I'd share with you my little journey since selling the Cesil early last year. At that time, had an E36 M3 track car too.

Using some of the appreciation from the CSL (:blalalala:), I bought my second GTR. This one is a 2009 stage 4.25 from Litchfield, with pretty much everything you would want for it to be a full-blown monster. I've taken it to the Ring once and it was pretty devastating, save for the MPSS tyres. On proper rubber it would be a fair bit quicker. But...

...and I don't care what anyone else says, the GTR does do a bit too much of the driving for you. So it is now up for sale.

Also, this year has been my first year in the PBMW Championship. My mate and I traded our E36 M3 for two PBMW cars. We've had a right laugh and the racing has been fun, fair and almost outrageously cheap in relative terms. I highly recommend it and plan to do it again next season. After that, it may be the time to try the 330 Challenge.

To keep my kicks on the road, the GTR is being replaced by an E92 M3. My plan is to buy a circa 40k mile car, manual, with a good spec. I'll run it as a road car for a little while and gradually start to mod it, with a view to producing a poor man's GTS with a decent cage, but liveable on the road. If anyone has any experience of buying and running an E92, and (better yet) modding one, let me know.

In among all this, I obviously miss my CSL and wish I never sold it. :bigcry:

Agree the GTR is almost too good , I sold my 09 car to buy my last CSL .
Don't miss the GTR but miss the CSL although the 997 manual Turbo is awesome

Hi
What does the PBMW championship cost (ball park) ? Not counting the car
Thanks

good choice, i think andye30 runs a 318 in PBMW, he used to own a CSL

If you buy BMW Car magazine, my mate is doing monthly updates on his E92 M3 being transformed from standard car to a GTS beater :).

surely that's not very hard!

Halfords will sort of 80% of the changes and then just 40bhp needed

There's a bit more to it than that as you very well know :p ;).

So we have all got the latest suspension, brakes and tyres, at what point do you stop modding and get a decent instructor for the day who actually gets you a second or two quicker a lap, then saving another couple of grand on headers/camshafts.

How much quicker is he than you in the CSL when you are both in it?

Like what?

KW, Halfords wing, seats and a strip out.....barring the lovely motor there is nothing there that is not too hard to replicate. BMW did it in 4 weeks.

Yes, GTR is an amazing car but it is a quite unique experience when going quickly and really does take away a fair amount of the skill needed to operate a powerful car. So I'm looking forward to getting into the E92 and learning more about balance, etc. I agree that tuition is worth more than any mods.

Costs for PBMW have been incredibly reasonable, especially given that my racing has been consistent and the car has been reliable. I reckon on around £3k for entry fees, £1k for durables (discs, pads, tyres) and £1k for repairs. So £5k all in for a season. Realistically, I don't see that it can be done for much cheaper. The racing is relatively well-mannered, the guys are all decent and there is a good team spirit in the paddock.

Sourced a very reasonably priced alcon BBK for the E92 already. Be interested in anyone's view on this versus AP. I ran APs on my CSL and they were sublime.