German Car Zone

Regarding Porsche vs. BMW ... BMW isn't on the same image level with Porsche. Porsche is still considered more luxury than BMW, and even more sporty than BMW. Porsche is all about sports cars, not sporty cars like BMW. That's the difference.

Regarding CSL ... Yes, I would also like to see a CSL model as a halo car. Much more than some exotic super car.

But just like M3 CSL ... there were a few hundreds of them , and that's it. Extremely expensive cars. Collectors grabbed them, and the cars are sitting in their garages. Hardly a car available for broader base of driving enthusiasts. So, you want the car to be developed just for the sake of it?

Because a CSL for €40k is just a wet dream.

My 2 cents.

You are mostly correct about the CSL, but let me explain my opinion further.

You have writen lately that modern BMWs have become/ are becoming softer, because customers want so. I guess that this means there are more customers that want a softer BMW, than customers that want a harder BMW.

Why not satisfy both? Make normal BMWs soft, yet sporty enough to retain the brand image, and make also an even more sporty version of the normal 1,3 and 5 series, let's say named "si". For example there could be 320i and 320si, for those who want the same package, but not that soft.

On the other hand, seeing it from BMWs point of view, this could mean that BMW marketing is forcing some customers to opt for the sport suspension package. Those customers, though, wouldn't opt (pay extra money) if the car wasn't that soft, yet with the same driving dynamics.

I drive a Volvo, because I want something soft. But there are days, that I wish my daily drive is a bit more fun, a bit more sport oriented, a bit more hard. I want the car to be one step towards sport, not half.

Then again, why not keep the same sporty character of eg. the E46 and add better quality materials and more luxury? This way, you can achieve even better your goal. Keep the core BMW values, and add more luxury to them.

IMO, by making the normal car series softer, it becomes very dangerous, to loose the sport essence, the BMW's core value.

I know that I am not very clear, but we get tons of new info the last days, and I have many thoughts to sort out in my head.

From what I have heard there were about 1,400 of them made and many, many have been used very hard on track (some cars have even died on track) and as a daily driver or second car. Just look at the classifides, there are many cars with 60,000+ kms on the clock. Now, that is not your typical collectors item sitting in a garage.



I think a CSL at the same price as the last one would be good enough. Based on the 1-series, of course.

I just wanted to add that I don't think the CSL should be marginalized just because BMW will not make another.

But you now buy a used one for around €50,000. And the car never was 'extremely expensive'. CLK DTM AMG is extremely expensive. Twice as much as the CSL was when new

BMW E92 M3 CSL is very much needed right now. Period.

The M3 CSL was about €85k when presented. For that you got a Porsche GT3 beater for the price of a base Carerra. That can never be regarded as expensive.

I don't know why Eni mentioned €40k, no one would ever believe a new CSL would cost that little.

^ Exactly. It only is an expensive car for people who think it's a regular 3er coupé.
It's like the Nissan GTR vs a Porsche 911 Turbo; the performance for half the price.

I would really like to know what kind of margin BMW had on those almost 1,400 cars that were sold. It can't have been much, but then again, this was a very special car and it drew a lot of attention in the media at the time.

^ Yep, the M3 CSL will forever be remembered. E92 M3 too, but in a probably not so good way; 'fat heavy V8 M3'

The CSL was the best M3 ever. IMO the E92 M3 radiates absolutely no passion.
Regards

Andreas