Is there an m-texture CSL out there?

[stephen]

Yes, the max fuzzy ZHP interior is rare but awesome. Been searching for a low mileage 6spd 330ci Imola on Alcantara (incl. steering wheel) coupe for years. It's sad that people couldn't be bothered to wash their hands regularly pre rona days and therefore BMW replaced the alcantara with leather due to complaints in later production years.

Alcantara doesn’t belong on steering wheels and I’ll die on that hill. It does look really sharp when clean though.

[liam821]

Alcantara doesn’t belong on steering wheels and I’ll die on that hill. It does look really sharp when clean though.

I adore an Alcantara steering wheel, and just playing devil's advocate, if you keep your hands clean and regularly clean the steering wheel isn't a big deal to keep clean. However, I do think of them as a wear item and end up replacing them every 3 years or so because they end up not looking as nice as they used to. A Coby rewrap is a few hundred bucks and you can't beat that new new.

[jet_dogg]

Just like anything else you have to stay on top of the cleaning regimen, not sure why this is hard to understand. Leather wheels look like they're lathered in crisco after three years if not properly cared for.

These are the same people who talk about black car maintenance but are washing their cars using one bucket, a garden hose and a sponge once every three months. If you take the time to learn proper maintenance it's not an issue.

[stephen]

Fair points. My sweaty palms and alcantara don't get along well. Leather and alcantara both wear, but I'd much rather have shiny leather over crusty alcantara.

[bmw]

I think it must come down to body chemistry. My ZHP came with the alcantara wheel and I put 30K miles on it and it looked brand new. The only maintenance I did was to give it a once over with the damp microfiber drying towel after I washed the car each time.

54k miles, pic from the guy I sold it to:


On the other hand you can see people look like they chewed on theirs after much less miles.

[Obioban]

I've never actually worn out an alcantara steering wheel, but I only run one in the coupe-- which sees the least DD miles of the fleet. If I had only one car, I wouldn't run it-- they seem to get gross by 100,000 miles regardless of hand washing/cleaning, whereas leather can be kept nice.

[Obioban]

When the M3 coupe was my only car, there was a period where I ran a hybrid wheel-- leather where hands rest by default, alcantara where you shift to when driving hard.



... though I never really like how it looked as much as the BMW individual wheel I had before it:

[heinzboehmer]

Well it's definitely m texture:



There's also some other differences. Steering wheel trim (which maybe means the car has an MK20), radio delete panel, airbox bungs, etc.



And yes, the car in the magazine is an early prototype.



I also thought this quote was great:

[Thoglan]

heinzboehmer steel grey too.

[heinzboehmer]

Yep, definitely looks like steel grey

[jet_dogg]

One of my favorite ever features of the csl was the dials for the hvac combined with radio blanking panel.

[Tbonem3]

CSL began while steelgrey was the grey paint option. Silvergrey wasn't until a bit later, so makes sense.

One of my favorite ever features of the csl was the dials for the hvac

Calm down Jared