Hello all, and Potential purchase......

[AlexGTT]

Agree with Rob. Exterior stone chips, etc. are perfectly normal but my car is 65k miles and has none of the wear you saw. It's lovely inside and there's nothing new or replaced either.

Unless very attractively priced I'd look again. There will be better ones out there.

[E46CSL]

A

Unless very attractively priced I'd look again. There will be better ones out there.

+ 1.. Often it's better long term to up the budget a bit and get a well sorted car that does not need any work doing to it.

[E30M3SE]

Yes, this is pretty much the decision that was made after seeing the car........... it is not the 1.

Just back from looking at a black one in Potters Bar, same sort of mileage, interior much better same about the rest of it.

[Matt_csl]

My CSL is up for sale if you are interested, if i click donate then i can post details in the 'Trading' section...

[E46CSL]

My CSL is up for sale if you are interested

Nice car:thumbs:

[E30M3SE]

My CSL is up for sale if you are interested, if i click donate then i can post details in the 'Trading' section...

Does look like a lovely car, it is a shame you are not looking for a E90 335d as a px.

There is an advert going live for the 335d later today, hopefully it will sell quickly then we may be in touch.

[Matt_csl]

My CSL is up for sale if you are interested, if i click donate then i can post details in the 'Trading' section...

Ok no probs, how do I donate ? Was wondering how to advertise the car here !

[funtime]

Ok no probs, how do I donate ? Was wondering how to advertise the car here !

Top of the screen, green Donate button

Lazy option

[Matt_csl]

Top of the screen, green Donate button

Lazy option

Have you just put that there ??!!

[funtime]

Have you just put that there ??!!

What do you mean? I'm not a mod so I can't do anything other than post! :hahaha:

[Great Pretender]

An update for those interested....

Hello chap :beer:

As others have said, the car sounds poorly cared for. Either that or it's hiding many more miles than the odo indicates. I was once rather concerned to learn that the speedo sensor can simply be unplugged from the back of the diff which on a mileage sensitive car like the CSL is an option some scumbags might take...

Either way, wear to the extent you describe is not acceptable when there are plenty other similar mileage cars around for your budget. My car has done approx 1k less than the CSL you went to see and the interior displays no signs of wear whatsoever other than to the wheel rim, which is to be expected. Albeit not to the point that it's wearing through to the foam padding! Again this makes me suspicious that the car's 'lost' some miles somewhere, if you see what I mean.

Obvious signs of paint are a concern also. Naturally I would anticipate some paint on a7/8 yr old car, but I'd expect this to be done properly. Cheap repairs would make me worry about anything else that's been skimped on...

As for the drive; well the car should feel as solid as a rock at speed. The pulling under braking is definitely not normal.

What tyres is it wearing? This is always a give-away as to the mentality/pocket of the previous owner or seller. IME the car drives so much better on the Cup tyres and the only substitute I'd accept is the PS2 frankly.

Anyway, enough of me rambling on.

As has been said also, it sounds like this car isn't for you. Personally, I think you should look to buy one privately as at least you'll get an inclination as to how the car is treated by the owner, rather than some slick salesman who will tell you all the BS he can to get whatever lump of turd he's mistakenly bought off his forecourt! Sorry, I'm getting cynical in my old age.

Either that or find one in the AUC network like I did and pay for the peace of mind of a years comprehensive warranty and knowing that the car's been properly prepared. Given their nature, these cars take a lot of punishment and bits tend to wear out around this age/mileage. Mine had £4k worth of prep work for example, just to sort things like damp rear shocks, new rear box and other bits and bobs. I'd not normally advise this, but I find BMW's AUC scheme to be pretty good.

Horses for courses I guess. Make sure you see a few though.

[E30M3SE]

..Another Potential Purchase.

Toying with going to see the 55.5k mile SG that Nick Johnson has for sale,



anyone been to see it already or know anything about it??

TIA

PM if you wish.


:thumbs:

[danp]

In a word... YES
BMW E46 M cars, CSL included either have Climate Control or NON C/C or Manual A/C, manual ventilation only, maily on CSL only as I'm yet to see a regular E46 M3 without C.C.
I hope this makes sense :thumbs: and WELCOME to the fold :beer:

The above is clear as mud to me ;-)

On a CSL surely it's either:

1. Climate Control (computer controlled air con)
2. Normal heating/cooling (i.e. no air con - lets call this "manual ventialtion".. the system you used to get in a boggo 316i)

You seem to list 4 options? (CC, non CC, manual a/c, manual ventilation) ... not even sure what option 2 is? (non CC)

[mattCSLnut]

The above is clear as mud to me ;-)

Let me re literate... just for you :hahaha:

There are 3 air ventilation options on all BMW E46s except the CSL which only had 2 air ventilation options

1) Normal heating/cooling system without C.C. or A/C (i.e. no Air Con of any kind... think CSL without any Air Conditioning :thumbs: or poverty speck 316i 4 door :clown:

2) Manual Air Con with manual ventilation (never an option on the CSL but was available on run out model E46 badged as ES ( instead of SE or SPORT) and some Police speck E46s

3) Climate Control ... as per E46 SE, SPORT speck and CSLs with Air Con :thumbs:

I hope this clears the mud :hahaha: