We revisit the brilliant BMW M3 CSL, the lightweight 2003 classic that’s rocketing in value
Imagine for a moment you’re in an upmarket restaurant and the conversation is flowing as readily as the red wine. You finish your starter and main, then summon the willpower to skip dessert. But you’re presented with a bill for the full three courses, plus a hefty service charge.
That was BMW’s sales pitch for the 2003 M3 CSL: a stripped-out special that did without air conditioning, sound deadening, electric seats and even a radio, but cost £58,000 – a whopping £20,000 extra.
Can less be more? The market certainly thinks so. Today, the Coupe Sports Lightweight is worth around five times what you’ll pay for a standard M3.
Paul Michaels of Hexagon Classics in North Finchley, a BMW dealer for 46 years, says, “CSL values shot up 20 per cent in eight months. You’ll pay £40-50,000 for one with high miles, but the very best examples are nudging £100,000.”
But why? Well, the M3 CSL may have defaulted on dessert, but its main course is pretty meaty. Power is upped from 343hp to 360hp, while a carbon fibre roof panel and spoilers help trim 110kg from the kerb weight. It also boasts a stiffer chassis, quicker steering and beefed-up brakes. Here, perhaps, is a car to deliver on BMW’s “ultimate driving machine” promise.
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Damp February roads aren’t the natural habitat of the hardcore road racer, but this 37,500-mile CSL – currently offered at Hexagon Classics for £69,995 – doesn’t intimidate on first acquaintance. Firm ride, cosseting fibreglass bucket seats and clunky SMG semi-auto gearbox aside, it feels very much like a regular BMW 3 Series. Hell, the first owner even paid to have the air-con and radio put back in.
Inside the lightweight classic BMW
All that changes once I reach an open road. Unleash the 3.2-litre straight-six and the car explodes forwards with startling ferocity, its ’box banging brutally through the gears as the needle kisses the 8,000rpm redline. And the noise – the noise! – is stupendous. The CSL’s bespoke carbon fibre manifold roars like a German Touring Car blasting from the pitlane. It’s a shot of super unleaded for the senses.
The über-M3 is no slouch in the corners either. Its steering is wonderfully communicative and the suspension, which feels jittery around town, becomes more supple as speed increases. There’s very little body-roll and the whole car feels taut and tied-down, not unlike a Porsche 911 GT3. That said, there’s no doubt slip could easily overcome grip if you provoked it. It would be a riot on-track.
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Very few of the 1,400 M3 CSLs built – 422 in right-hand drive – see track action any more. Rising values have seen to that. Nonetheless, it’s important to inspect potential purchases carefully.
“Prices are up,” says Michaels, “but it still isn’t economical to spend large sums restoring them. You could throw a lot of money at a bad CSL. Originality is key, and service history is vital.”
Is it five times as much fun as a normal M3, though? No, in fact, the standard E46 (2000-2006) M3 is something of of a performance bargain, with prices from just £6,000. But the harder, faster CSL remains one of the most viscerally exciting cars I’ve driven – one that transforms every journey into an event and leaves you yearning for more.
With values of the most desirable M Power BMWs following Porsches into the stratosphere, now is the time to buy an M3 CSL. The only question is, how may puddings will you have to forgo to afford one?