Should I buy an E46 M3 and convert it to CSL Spec VOTE by liking my appropriate comment below... BTW Check if your car was damaged with a 10% discount with Car Vertical here: www.carvertical.com/gb/landing/v3?a=watson&b=38b26e3a&voucher=watson Or just head to Car Vertical at a later date and use the Watson10 discount code!
"Hydraulic steering is the automotive equivalent of unprotected sex, because you just feel so much!" That's one of the all time great automotive quotes.
🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷👏🏻, This M3 is just magnificent. Love the way it looks. For most BMW fans, the E46 M3 CSL is the crown jewel in the brand's performance car history. Not only was it one of the best looking cars BMW ever made but, it was potentially the most thrilling to drive till this date...
e46 é muito show , tenho uma M3 que da pena de dirigir todo dia .. dai peguei uma 330i pro dia a dia . seria lindo se a bmw imitasse a volkswagen com a e46 do itamar em 2024 🤣
I owned two 3-series from this era and although nowhere near this level of performance, they were truly superb. BMW should dust off the body-panel moulds/die’s (?) and produce a 2020’s version. Perhaps also an electric-model? Looked beautiful - and drove even more so. I loved them. What a fool to let them go.
Great idea (I own a E46 convertible), but you'd never get them crash tested and approved today - there's a reason why modern (production, not concept) cars don't look as sleek anymore and it's not because designers got worse or bored :-/
@@th3orist the auto box was dreadful in almost every situation, but tbf it worked when you were fully on it and added to the event. If I were to drive it back to back with my current pdk car it would no doubt feel even worse.
I've sold BMW's for more than 7 years and this car was and still is the ultimate state of the art of BMW's engineering. Not by just it's agility and speed but the handling and feeling of it. Period.
I have had the privilege to be a passenger in one and agree with you 100 fold ! E46 chassis was just superb and that CSL was and to a certain degree still is the prince of the castle of the BMW stable.
Love the video Matt. The CSL is my favourite car of all time. (The SMG gearbox could do with a software update though as it would make it alot smoother on upshifts). The car to do your build on is the E46 M3 CS, as from stock its already closer to the CSL but ALOT cheaper.
@@dougie8010 every time.you modulate you loose time time and momentum. I know you do in a full manual but hats offset by the satisfaction if changing gears which you don't get with an SMG. Modulating is just the best way to deal with a bad situation
@@Brozay401 I disagree, only due to what I have personally experienced. Last time I changed gears whilst doing a wheelie on my cbr600rr, for both smoothness and mechanical sympathy, I lightened the throttle ever so minutely. Same with driving my e61 M5, I always lighten the throttpe ever so gently for the split second I shift. MUCH smoother. Instead of trying to make a gearbox fit ones desired narrative. One should either choose the correct gearbox in the beginning or learn to use the given gearbox in the correct fashion. Same with manuals. I see folks wrenching them around like they have an inferiority complex and need to show who is the boss.
@@dougie8010 I don't ride bikes but I've had 3 E60 bmw's and the gearbox was terrible in all of them. Each to his own but mine is definitely a smooth changing gearbox or manual
One of the nicest things about the smg tranny is how it engages gear when you unlock the car from outside. It's as if the car wakes up and tells you ok, lets get it done.
I used to have a leather steering wheel and I had an alcantara put on it. The only difference that it made was, I didn’t burn my hands like the leather one did. When the car was left in the sun for a long time. And the speed. I’m sorry to say Matte, made absolutely no difference 🤣
I`ll never forget the first time I saw and heard one of these majestic beasts for the first time... An Opel Owners Club vs VW Owners Club high speed day at a banked oval track called Gerotek in Pretoria, South Africa in 2003. There had been a few E46 M3`s doing runs and as always it was cool to watch, then a CSL pulled onto the start line, gave it some revs and then launched, i`ve still never heard a more beautiful and tortured sounding wail/scream come from an engine at full tilt...I still stop and drool like an idiot when I see a CSL in the metal...
So nice to hear the SMG get some love. The people that complain about it have never lived with one. If it was so terrible then why did the top-tier e46 M3 CSL use it and not a stick? I tested a stick and SMG when I was in the market for an M3. Got the SMG and haven't regretted my choice after 8 years.
The E46 is BMW at their very best. I think since the E range of cars BMW has never really been the same; they started cost cutting and the styling gradually got worse until we’ve ended up with some of the abominations in their current line up. As a BMW fan and owner it’s enough to break your heart. Still, worldwide at least, they’re supposedly selling more cars than ever, so what’s bad for our eyeballs seeming is good for the company’s bottom line. Edit: and yes Matt, do your take on the CSL.
I had the original E46 M3 and as a daily I was a bit underwhelmed. You have to rev out to get the power from the engine, and on a daily commute it’s a bit demanding, it wants to be driven. It doesn’t ‘feel’ as fast as it is. I think a toy or collectible the CSL is cool and has its own unique character for sure, something that’s hard to find these days. IMHO as a mere mortal (rather than wealthy collector) there are better choices.
@@magnustan841 Yes possibly. I’d had a Porsche Boxster S and this has a terrific engine, torquey and grunty at the low end with interesting washing machine sounds, strong in the mid-range with a rasp and proper yowly at the top end. The M3 just sounded flat and mechanical, and unsatisfyingly raspy in the mid-range, almost as if someone had turned the bass down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not comparing a Boxster S and an M3. They are quite different. I’m just saying after all the fan boy hype about the M3, I expected it to be a similar experience to the Boxster S, for which the general marketplace love seemed to be met by the actual car. I only had the M3 for a year. By a bizarre set of circumstances BMW had to buy it back from me (they’d forgotten to do the 1,200 mile service ergo the car wasn’t warrantied but had been sold to me as a warrantied approved used). Seeing as they gave me more or less what I paid for it, ironically it was one of the best cars I’ve ever had - financially.
Good review of what makes the CSL (Coupe Sport Leichtbau) special. The CSL is my inspiration for my M Coupe (Z3) build. Hopefully close to 100kg saved with the various CF parts I have to go on. The E46 M3 is a design classic for me and never tire of seeing one.
The manual conversion is an interesting one….a certain Mr Catchpole was very complementary about it as was a chap I’d spoken to who had done it to his, although there are others who love it and it’s really part of the experience.
Matt hits the key points on the CSL. Can just change to pf pads to improve the braking if you don't want bbk. She is still in the stable, but contemplating switch to a 458 for future appreciation
As a kid I always hated that exhaust noise. There was 3 that I can remember in my village. But as an adult, seeing them on track, nothing handles like them. Mad car.
Duuuuude!!!!!!!! You are killing me with this car, this is my absolute favourite car since I was like 10 hahaha I am 32 now LOL I also want to get one of these soon just a normal e46 M3 though CSL is way out of my budget
Can't agree more this is the best M Beemer ever. This car is awesome in so many ways. It's also the prettiest. A true driving experience for REAL car lovers.
The thing about the downshifts is that the CSL has revmatching from the factory. The normal m3 did not and it makes a big diffrence on the SMG. Its often why people say the smg feels slugish.
E46 M3 was the favourite BMW l owned, the 6 cylinder engine is still the best sounding and the exhaust had that unique rasp. CSL seems to dial that up to 10.
@@gregs8685 Go to "Old Colonel Cars Know all, and look at the one for sale on the site. E46 built at BMW with MANUEL gearbox "1000% TRUE" Know your facts before you make yourself look stupid.
