YS53 YHY Anyone know this car?

[911-32]

Hi!

Introducing myself as a very serious CSL buyer. I am looking at this car - YS53 YHY - as a trade on another car I am selling. Does anyone know it?

It's SG, 72k miles and sits on red AP Racing brakes on all corners and KW v3s. I have had an inspection at Sycamore BMW by the service manager who is knowledgeable around CSLs.

The CSL has been on my shortlist of cars to own for a while now, so I am very much looking forward to joining the club.

Thank you!

[Mike RT4]

Not one I have seen before.

[911-32]

It’s only 2 owners and it’s been in a stored collection for part of that time so it was likely not seen out and about much. Its all BMW service history, but it has a time gap in the history whilst stored. The last owner spent a fair bit getting it running right after storage which is very helpful. A couple of sensor issues and inoperative intake flap have been fixed last week and I wait on written confirmation re the subframe, then should be all good to proceed.

Feeling very excited. I have never owned or even driven any e46, being a serial Porsche owner up till now.

[911-32]

I now have the print out of all work completed by BMW and it shows 170hours of boot floor replacement in 2014, so just about 5,000 miles ago, together with current inspection showing all clear.

So I think that means I am joining the community tomorrow afternoon!

[Mike RT4]

Congratulations :thumbs:.

Depending which era of Porsche you are used to, the balance of the CSL will be a bit of a revelation. The E46 is the sweet spot of BMW M-cars (even Chris Harris says so :blalalala: ) and the CSL is that same chassis turned up to 11 :supz:.

You will find the SMG a bit boring for the road (no heel and toeing to keep you occupied at sensible speeds), but take it on track and it feels much more involving and suddenly everything about the car makes sense (after-all, that is what BMW built the car for in the first place).

If the car has the OEM Cups on, be careful in cold and wet conditions - if not, you really need to try some tyres of that ilk at some point in the car's time with you (the Cup 2s aren't quite as good as the Cup 1s, but will bring the chassis to life compared to normal road tyres).

Any questions, feel free to post - everyone on here will be ready and willing to help :beer:.

[911-32]

Thank you Mike.

I am used to 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s Porsches and will still have a lightly modified 05 Boxster S alongside. After much experimentation I think NA cars from the 00s are my home.

Looking forward to all the experiences with a CSL. It’s on MP4S tyres but in Taller/skinnier M3 sizes (225/255x19) rather than CSL sizes so they will be changed before next summer for correct size 4S or similar like ContiCS6 perhaps.

[Trawler]

Congratulations in advance.
As Mike says get cups put on. Even on country roads you can feel a difference.
Have fun learning how to get the best out of the SMG in various driving conditions. If it's starts to feel like you are getting slurring/slip you are driving like miss daisy.

[DazBlackCSL]

Congrats on your new purchase, you will love the CSL ownership experience, and welcome to the forum :thumbs:

[911-32]

Thanks all. I am home safe and sound. On roads close to home that were largely dry and which I know well, it all came together. Goes pretty well when you wind it up.

I kind of get all the SMG comments - positive and negative. At this early stage if I was to be bold, I might suggest that the frustration is at least in part due to the fact that you really have to concentrate to get the best from SMG. If you don’t put the effort in, it can feel a bit shit. Initial thought though is that I like it.

Re Cups - don’t know about that. Having had a very racey 911 on Cup1s and 888s, I found I preferred road tyres. I tend to do long euro trips rather than track days, so I am biased to road use.

[Trawler]

Thanks all. I am home safe and sound. On roads close to home that were largely dry and which I know well, it all came together. Goes pretty well when you wind it up. :thumbs::thumbs:



I kind of get all the SMG comments - positive and negative. At this early stage if I was to be bold, I might suggest that the frustration is at least in part due to the fact that you really have to concentrate to get the best from SMG. If you don’t put the effort in, it can feel a bit shit. Initial thought though is that I like it.

You have hit it on the head. Takes concentration & how one uses the throttle during the change makes a difference. Needs also set to a fast change.


Re Cups - don’t know about that. Having had a very racey 911 on Cup1s and 888s, I found I preferred road tyres. I tend to do long euro trips rather than track days, so I am biased to road use.

Long euro trips I will use Michelin sport as I don't need the stress of driving a long distance in the rain on cups. Funnily enough the Mrs knows enough about tyres & as soon as it rains I get ear ache when running cups :hahaha:

[Trawler]

Thanks all. I am home safe and sound. On roads close to home that were largely dry and which I know well, it all came together. Goes pretty well when you wind it up.

I kind of get all the SMG comments - positive and negative. At this early stage if I was to be bold, I might suggest that the frustration is at least in part due to the fact that you really have to concentrate to get the best from SMG. If you don’t put the effort in, it can feel a bit shit. Initial thought though is that I like it.

Re Cups - don’t know about that. Having had a very racey 911 on Cup1s and 888s, I found I preferred road tyres. I tend to do long euro trips rather than track days, so I am biased to road use.

Still not good at this posting lark. :bigcry:
Left a comment on your first two paragraphs in previous post.

[DarrenR]

Looking forward to hearing more on how you’re finding it! This was my first experience of SMG and although it took quite a bit of getting used to (I came from an E92 M3 with DCT) I’ve now got the hang of how to get the best from it, a csl just wouldn’t be the same without having it.

Now, get it cleaned, dried, polished and wrapped up in the garage for winter

[911-32]

Just to show it really is mine. I have been out and about this morning in the cold running errands and just generally mooching about and having fun. Its already growing on me.





Horrible grainy photos, but now its raining and we have all seen CSLs before. His 987 friend is lightly modified to a CS or CSL type recipe and while different is kind of similar as well. Not as punchy being 70hp down and similar weight, but delivers a pretty balanced, analogue, "noughties" drive just like the CSL.

I have a growing list of Qs I will post later, nothing earth shattering but maybe I can pick the collective knowledge of the register and avoid any newbie mistakes.

[911-32]

Questions playing on my mind -

1. My tyres are the wrong size being 225/40 and 255/35 4S Michies. I have 4mm at the back and 6mm at the front. They seem to work ok, so I think I just burn another mm or two on the rear and replace for next summer. Any huge objections to using the skinny M3 size tyre for now? And for road use, is there anything worth thinking about other than 4Ss? Like the Contisport6, for example? If I went Cup2s - not much more expensive, so tempting - realistically, how long do they last on the road? Its quite possible I take the CSL on a 3000+ mile trip next summer, so that's a factor. I am using Kumho PS91s on the 987 as I couldn't get Michies in the right size and needed tyres urgently for a trip and they are surprisingly decent in a close-to-Supersport-but-softer kind of way. And I have Supersports on another car and over the years used PZeroCs, Cup1s, 888s D98Js and SO2s on 911s. So those are my reference points.

2. I am still not totally convinced on how to drive the SMG. I had one ex-owner message me to say never lift on upshifts. I read other stuff in other places. I know its not one size fits all. It seems mechanically unpleasant to "no lift" at light acceleration and mid revs. But kind of ok at really high revs. Advice?

3. Bluetooth phone and music. I want a non-invasive solution to work with the basic business radio/cd. Seems like a Parrot type solution professionally fitted would be the answer. Anyone have experience with that? I don't want to try and get a modern bells and whistles set up, just basic music streaming and hands free.

4. The car feels solid and stiff, but still well damped and not crashie at all on the horrid roads round here. Its described as being fast road set up, so I am going to have to investigate that in due course. As it feels decent, I am not in a hurry, but will look to hunt down fast road alignment settings and KW V3 settings. Its much stiffer and newer feeling (bush firmness/lack of play) than the 987 despite also being on coilovers and being 20k miles newer. Thoughts on set up?

A couple of other random thoughts. The brakes are awesome. Front pads are yellow, the rears aren't. Whatever they are, they work better than the 987 with CL race pads running over bigger front discs. Ignoring a bit of wear inside (and the expensive carbon bits are all lovely, just other bits have some light wear and tear), the car feels like new thru the primary control surfaces. Very together and very nice underneath me. Can't say I feel very confident just yet to push really hard, but the traction control has caught my deliberate provocation so far, so the safety net feels reassuring.

Last thought - I read the seats are Pole Positions, but these are not the same as the PPs I had for about 12 years in one of my old 911s. The shell might be the same, but the base padding is much thicker making the sides lower and less supportive, but also easier to enter. Padding feels quite different, making the seat feel quite different. Its also a fraction to high in the car and too upright. Not so far off that I feel like I must "fix" it, but not immediately feeling"right". It's close enough that I forget about it when I am driving. The top of the backrest padding in my car feels a little prominent and gave me a little backache after about 2.5 hrs, so I may be looking to add a little padding somewhere to fix that. Just a teething problem though - I have re-padded every race seat I have owned except one pair of Sparcos that was right from the start.

Enough rambling. I should really use the search button a bit.

Edit - hmm, looks like I need to resize the photos rather than link to Imgur...

[kziaa77]

Congrats.

Such an addictive car...and Raw.

Keeper.

Some say that lifting may cause clutch slur even if it is a smoother experience..