BMW E46 M3 CSL review with 0-60mph test!
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00:00This is the E46 M3 CSL, and in my opinion, it is the best car BMW's M division has ever created.
00:08Now, in this video, I'm going to explain to you why, and by the end of it, you will agree with me.
00:12I guarantee it.
00:17One of the key things that makes this generation of M3 so special is its fabulous S54 3.2-litre naturally aspirated straight-six engine.
00:25Now, in the normal M3, it produces 340 horsepower, but here in the CSL, you have 360 horsepower, and it produces it at 7,900 rpm.
00:36Yes, this engine likes to rev, and you do have to rev it to get the most out of it,
00:39because peak torque of 370 Nm doesn't come in until 4,900 rpm.
00:46As for performance, well, BMW says this car will do 0-60 in 4.6 seconds,
00:50but I'll find out what it does in reality when I launch it a little later on in the video.
00:54Top speed, that's limited to 155 mph, unless the buyer went into a BMW dealership and produced a racing licence,
01:02and then their dealers stripped the car so it could do the full 174 mph.
01:08Now, BMW made some changes to this engine over the normal M3 to get that extra power out of it,
01:12so it's got revised camshafts, reprogrammed ECU, you've also got a slightly different exhaust on it,
01:17and one of the key additions, this gorgeous carbon-fibre air intake system.
01:23It not only looks lovely, it makes the car emit an incredible sound as well.
01:28Let's experience this engine, then.
01:41Oh, my God.
01:43Oh, it loves to rev, and it makes an incredible noise.
01:50It's all about the induction, listen.
01:53Oh!
01:56That carbon-fibre airbox!
02:03The throttle response of this engine, being naturally aspirated, is just incredible.
02:11This is... I think it's my second favourite BMW M engine.
02:15The first is the E60's V10, but then there's straight-six in this car with that airbox.
02:22Oh!
02:25It's just a skid point!
02:29Oh-ho-ho!
02:32Oh, it did some speed.
02:33Oh, I think I need to lie down now.
02:38Believe it or not, this old car does have a soft limiter,
02:41but it doesn't reduce your pleasure when you're revving it at a standstill,
02:45because it's more of a semi than a softy,
02:49because the limiter is at 6,000 rpm,
02:52and this is what the car sounds like when you rev it while stationary from its exhaust.
03:06The M3 CSL was only available with BMW's SMG2 automatic gearbox.
03:10It's actually a manual gearbox, but you have a robot controlling the clutch and the gear changes.
03:15So, for the CSL version of the M3, they actually altered the software slightly for faster changes,
03:20and apparently it can change gears in 80 milliseconds,
03:23and you, the driver, can alter the ferocity of the changes by pressing this button here
03:27to make them more aggressive or less aggressive.
03:29Bizarrely, you can only unlock the 80-millisecond shifts
03:33if you disable the stability control, then you get an extra setting for the gearbox speed.
03:38I won't be bothering to do that today,
03:39because I don't want the stability control off on such an expensive car.
03:42And anyway, it doesn't make that much difference.
03:45A lot of people say that this SMG gearbox ruined this car,
03:47so it should be a manual.
03:50And do you know what? When I drove the E60 M5,
03:54the SMG in that did ruin the experience somewhat.
03:57In this, though, it seems to complement the car.
04:00It can be brutal. If I accelerate now, fast, change up,
04:03you get like a Joel when it changes gear,
04:06which sort of does add to the experience, makes it feel really motorsporty.
04:11But if you want it smooth, all you have to do is lift off the accelerator
04:16when it's changing gear, which is like when you're doing a manual.
04:19After all, this is a robotised manual.
04:22You know, if you're expecting dual-clutch smoothness,
04:25you're not getting it, because there's not two clutches, there's just one.
04:29And then, when you get into a rhythm with it, it's fine, it's smooth.
04:32And it adds to your involvement with the car.
04:35Now, some people have actually switched out the SMG gearbox
04:38and paid a load of money to convert their M3 CSLs to manual.
04:42That is a bad idea.
04:44I'm sure it's not going to help the values,
04:46and I don't think it's going to necessarily help the driving experience.
04:49In fact, it will remove part of what makes the M3 CSL's driving experience unique.
04:56Facts. I tell you what, it's also facts.
04:58There's nothing wrong with a downshift.
05:00Look, it's great.
05:02Oh, yeah, off we go again.
05:05See, smooth change, fine.
05:09Another key upgrade on this car compared to the normal M3 is given away by its name,
05:13CSL, which stands for Competition Sport Lightweight.
05:17This was the first ever BMW M car to feature a carbon-fibre roof.
05:22It reduced the weight by seven kilos, which may not sound like much,
05:26but it's kilograms which are high up in the car,
05:28so having the carbon-fibre roof really improves the centre of gravity.
05:31But there's loads of other weight-saving measures on this car,
05:34including a lightweight boot floor.
05:36You've got lighter rear window glass. You've got an aluminium bonnet.
05:40There's various carbon-fibre bits inside, such as carbon-fibre door cards,
05:44carbon-fibre centre tunnel, and lightweight fibre glass seats.
05:47Also, the car came as standard without any air conditioning or a stereo,
05:51though, thankfully, this car has had them put back in.
05:53Overall, the weight-saving is 110 kilos compared to the normal M3.
05:58This thing weighs in at 1,385 kilograms, which is really impressive.
06:03Back in the day, the M3 CSL came on Michelin Cup tyres,
06:07and in all but ideal conditions, they made the car rather skittish.
06:11In fact, BMW actually warned buyers about that very fact.
06:15This particular car, though, is now wearing Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres,
06:19which are a much better tyre.
06:20As for the brakes, the normal E46 M3 had 325mm discs up front,
06:25whereas the CSL had upgraded 345mm discs,
06:29while at the back, the rear caliper had a larger diameter piston.
06:33My least favourite part of this car has to be the brakes.
06:36They're all right at first, feel fine, seem to stop the car okay,
06:40but after some spirited driving on a twisty road, you start to smell them.
06:45You get off that smell of brakes overheating, because they overheat so quickly.
06:49And if you're going to take this thing on track,
06:51you'll just rinse out the brakes in a couple of laps.
06:53They are that bad.
06:54I don't know what BMW were thinking, fitting such crap brakes to such a great car.
06:58Now, one modification that people do is fit AP racing brakes,
07:01and if I own this car, that is a mod I would definitely do.
07:04It needs upgraded brakes, really does.
07:07Anyway, let's see how they perform when you need to make an emergency stop.
07:12I'm going to brake this car from 60 miles an hour for an emergency stop.
07:15Here we go.
07:20Oh, 33 metres.
07:22That's actually pretty good.
07:23However, you wouldn't be able to do that many times
07:25before the distance starts to increase as the brakes fade.
07:28The M3 CSR was the second CSR model BMW made.
07:32The first was the famous Batmobile, which was released in 1972.
07:36Then in 2003, this came along,
07:39three years after the introduction of the E46 M3.
07:43As you can see from this plaque here,
07:45422 were sold in the UK, of a total of 1,383 worldwide.
07:52The starting price of this car was £57,000,
07:55which was £17,000 more than a normal E46 M3 back in the day,
07:59and people were like, what's going on?
08:01This is just absolute madness.
08:02But those who bought them made a wise investment.
08:06A normal one of these will set you back around £70,000.
08:09A low-mileage, high-quality example,
08:11you're looking at well over £100,000, which is nuts.
08:15Compare that to a normal E46 M3 with decent mileage.
08:18That's about £20,000.
08:20Now, if you're thinking about buying one of these,
08:21or any used car for that matter,
08:22check out my friends at CarVertical
08:24and use the discount code WATTSAND10 for 10% off.
08:28With CarVertical, you can do all the usual history checks,
08:30such as make sure the car's not been stolen,
08:32that it's not been written off,
08:33that it doesn't have outstanding finance.
08:35You can also vouch the mileage as well.
08:37But another cool feature is that sometimes you can see
08:39damaged repair photos of a car you're thinking of buying,
08:42say if it's been damaged and the repairer has actually
08:45uploaded some photos of the repair they've done.
08:48For instance, this particular car looks absolutely fine.
08:51You would never know that actually once it had been
08:54in an accident because here are the damaged photos
08:57for it before it was repaired.
09:00Now, I don't know about you, but if I knew a car looked
09:03like that, I wouldn't be thinking about buying it.
09:05Now, if you want to check out CarVertical,
09:07I'll put a link in the description of this video
09:09and the pinned comment.
09:10Anyway, let's get on with this video.
09:12BMW did some serious chassis upgrades
09:14for the CSL version of the E46 M3.
09:17So you've got uprated dampers, uprated springs.
09:19In fact, the front springs were slightly shorter,
09:21which reduced the ride height.
09:22There's also fatter anti-roll bars,
09:24stiffer suspension bushings,
09:26and the rear suspension has aluminium links.
09:28Also, the car had increased camber on the wheels
09:31for more cornering grip.
09:32And the track is one centimetre wider than the standard
09:35E46 M3, though I think that's to do with the fact
09:37the wheels are fatter.
09:39The car also got a faster steering rack,
09:41three turns lock to lock, as opposed to the normal car's
09:433.2 turns lock to lock.
09:47Let's see what this M3 CSL is like to drive
09:49on a twisty road.
09:53It just feels so right.
09:54The suspension deals with bumps and imperfections
09:57really well, yet keeps the body completely flat
10:00through the bends.
10:03Got all those revs to play with.
10:05And accelerating out of a corner, the diff
10:07just does its job.
10:08You can feel it just putting the power down so very well.
10:12Oh, my God.
10:13This is an absolute blast.
10:17It's so well-balanced.
10:18It's so easy to drive quickly.
10:19And you feel so much of what is going on beneath you
10:22through these brilliant sports seats, which just keep
10:24you pinned in place, and through the steering,
10:29hydraulically-assisted steering.
10:31I'll tell you what.
10:32It's the automotive equivalent of unprotected sex,
10:35because you just feel so much.
10:37Oh, gosh.
10:39You forget, you know, modern electrically-powered steering
10:42systems, they seem quite good.
10:44But when you go back to something like this,
10:46you realize what you're missing.
10:52This is one of the most fun cars I've ever driven.
10:54I want one so badly.
10:58So good.
11:00It's got a lot of power.
11:01It's got a lot of grip.
11:02It's got a lot of grip.
11:03It's got a lot of grip.
11:04It's got a lot of grip.
11:06It's unbelievably good.
11:12To put the CSL's capability into context,
11:14it did 7 minutes, 50 seconds round the Nürburgring,
11:17which is quicker even than a Mk8 VW Golf.
11:21And that's a more modern car.
11:22It's got four-wheel drive rather than being
11:24rear-wheel drive like this.
11:25Also, the Golf's got a clever rear differential
11:27than this car.
11:28And it's got turbocharged torque.
11:29Now, if you're wondering why I didn't get kicked
11:31for mentioning the Nürburgring, that's
11:33because this is a Matt Watson Cars video,
11:35not a Carwow video.
11:36And to make sure you don't miss any videos
11:38on this channel, subscribe now and hit the
11:40bell icon to turn your notifications on.
11:42Don't worry, I'm not leaving Carwow.
11:43The CSL has some key styling upgrades
11:45over the normal E46 M3.
11:47Here at the front, you have a carbon-fibre splitter.
11:50So be careful when you're going over speed humps
11:52in town.
11:53And another difference is this hole here
11:56in the front bumper, which feeds air
11:58into that carbon-fibre intake.
12:00At the side, the CSL gets 19-inch alloy wheels
12:03instead of the standard car's 18-inches.
12:05Also, the wheel arches are slightly more pronounced.
12:08There's a CSL badge here on the grille
12:11and, of course, the carbon-fibre roof.
12:14Though, this bit of trim seems to be coming loose
12:16on this particular car.
12:18This wasn't me, BMW press office.
12:20It wasn't me.
12:21I think your guys might need to fix that.
12:23Finally, then, at the back, you've got a carbon-fibre
12:25diffuser and, combined with the front splitter,
12:27the CSL has 50% more downforce
12:29than the standard E46 M3.
12:31It also has an integrated bootlid spoiler
12:33like this ducktail effect rather than the stuck-on one
12:35that you get on the normal car.
12:37And to top it all off, you've got your CSL badging here.
12:40On the inside, the key upgrades for the CSL
12:42include an Alcantara steering wheel.
12:44Now, some owners re-trim them in leather
12:46because leather is harder wearing.
12:48Why not just re-trim it in Alcantara
12:50once that gets a bit grubby or wears thin?
12:52After all, an Alcantara steering wheel
12:55automatically makes a car feel faster.
12:57The steering wheel also has this nice stitching on it here.
12:59You've got your M badge, then you've got your M dials,
13:01grey background, really clear to read.
13:03And I like the fact that, as the engine's warming up,
13:05you get these lights that gradually go out.
13:07You get a feature similar to that on modern M cars.
13:09Then you've got the carbon-fibre door cards,
13:11carbon-fibre centre console here,
13:13and my favourite bit,
13:15these wonderful bucket seats.
13:17They are absolutely awesome.
13:19Also, you get CSL on the kick plates.
13:21Then, there are two buttons of note.
13:23The sport button down there
13:25that makes the throttle response a bit more snappy.
13:28And then this button here on the steering wheel,
13:30it's the only button actually,
13:32it's nice and close to the steering wheel,
13:34that makes the stability control go into a track setting
13:36so it doesn't interfere quite so much.
13:38Other than that, it's just like a normal E46 3 Series,
13:40which is pretty good quality
13:42and a nice, simple driver-focused design.
13:44Rear passengers get to enjoy
13:46a bit of CSL-iness as well.
13:48Look, you've got carbon-fibre extending
13:50all the way back here,
13:52the grippy Alcantara on the seats as well,
13:54which is handy if the driver's getting carried away
13:57Though, if you start to feel carsick,
13:59you can actually open the rear windows,
14:01which is quite unusual on a coupe,
14:03and I love the way they open, watch this.
14:08How cool is that?
14:10Headroom's good as well,
14:12and because the front seats are very thin,
14:14knee room's good too.
14:16What's not so good, though, is this.
14:18If you want to get in now,
14:20they only move forward that much.
14:22It's quite hard to squeeze through that gap.
14:25To get into the CSL's boot,
14:27you either have to press a button in the cabin
14:29or use the key,
14:31because there is no actual manual handle release.
14:33The boot capacity, though, is pretty decent.
14:35410 litres, and the opening's nice and wide.
14:37Plus, you can fold down the rear seats
14:39if you need to carry longer items.
14:41It's very practical, this car.
14:43There's absolutely no excuse.
14:45Not to buy one.
14:47There's one thing that surprised me
14:49about the M3 CSL,
14:51is how easy it would be to live with it
14:53as a daily driver.
14:55I thought it'd just be too much of a pain,
14:57but, no, it's fine.
14:59If you're cruising 60 miles an hour,
15:01it's not too noisy.
15:03You don't get too much tyre noise.
15:05There's not much wind noise.
15:07The engine is just pulling over 2,000 rpm.
15:09It's reasonably relaxed.
15:11Also, these seats, they're comfy
15:13over longer journeys.
15:15I could daily this car.
15:17If I owned one, I wouldn't daily it, though,
15:19because the more miles you put on it,
15:21that doesn't mean I wouldn't drive it, though.
15:23I don't get people who buy cars like this
15:25and they never drive them.
15:27They just use them as an asset.
15:29Put your money in the stock market instead.
15:31If you're lucky enough to afford a car like this,
15:33you should absolutely 100% drive it.
15:35It'll still go up in value.
15:37Actually, disclaimer,
15:39the value of the investment
15:41may go down as well as up.
15:43You can't always predict the classic car market.
15:47If you're watching this video thinking,
15:49oh, do you know what?
15:51I quite fancy myself an E46 M3 CSL
15:53or just a normal E46 M3.
15:55There are three major problems to look out for.
15:57The first is if you're looking at the SMG version
15:59and it's popping into neutral,
16:01it could be the pump
16:03for the automatic gearbox failing.
16:05That's expensive to fix.
16:07Then there's the bolts which hold on the vanos system.
16:09Now, they can fail.
16:11They're cheap to replace, but if they do fail
16:13and you don't notice it, it can knacker the engine,
16:15which is a shame because the engine's actually
16:17not that strong.
16:19Then there's the boot floor, which can crack,
16:21and that is actually really expensive to fix as well.
16:23So make sure you do your homework.
16:25Now, if you are thinking about buying one of these
16:27or any used car for that matter,
16:29check out my friends at CarVertical
16:31and use the discount code WATSON10.
16:33The link is in the description or the pinned comment.
16:35Anyway, seeing as we've been talking about reliability and stuff,
16:37it's time for me now to launch the sh** out of this car.
16:39Okay, let's see how quick this car is
16:41from 0 to 60 miles an hour.
16:43BMW says it will take 4.6 seconds,
16:45but what will my specialist timing gear say?
16:47Now, I'm not going to put it into launch control mode
16:49because this is BMW Press Office's
16:51heritage fleet vehicle.
16:53I don't want to knacker the clutch.
16:55So I'm just going to roll on. Let's do it.
16:59Oh, good pickup.
17:01Oh, decent gear change.
17:03There we go.
17:05Wow. 0 to 60.
17:074.86 seconds.
17:09Without launch control.
17:11That's really impressive.
17:13That car is quick.
17:19So then we come to the end of the video
17:21and the question is, have I convinced you
17:23that this is the best M car
17:25BMW has ever made?
17:27Of course I have.
17:29I love this car so much, actually,
17:31that I really want one in my life.
17:33Unfortunately, I don't have enough spare funds
17:35to buy an original one of these.
17:37So I've got a bit of a plan.
17:39How about if I bought a normal E46 M3
17:41and build it to CSL it?
17:43Now, if enough of you said that's a good idea in the comments below,
17:45I'll get and build
17:47a budget M3 CSL.
17:49So make sure you subscribe to this channel
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17:59Thanks for watching.