Discussion
Am I the only person that thinks this car is now hideously overpriced for what you actually get? I had one (53 plate) for a year in 2006-2007 and sold it for £32,000 in mid-07. I made around £500 on it.
I hear they are fetching £65,000 now and for me that is just absurd. One is on sale for £80,000.
I realise there are many fans of this car who will disagree, but I did not rate mine anywhere near as highly as some do.
The gearbox was crap, the brakes very poor for the sort of car it is, it had nothing in the way of any real shove below 6,000 rpm and one of the main selling points, it's light weight, isn't that light when you consider than almost all of them had the no-cost options ticked. So the 1385 kgs claimed weight was usually more like 1450.
£65,000? Jeezuz, give me a 2012 997 turbo; or perhaps a 2012 Cayman S and a 200 bhp Caterham for the track any day instead!
I hear they are fetching £65,000 now and for me that is just absurd. One is on sale for £80,000.
I realise there are many fans of this car who will disagree, but I did not rate mine anywhere near as highly as some do.
The gearbox was crap, the brakes very poor for the sort of car it is, it had nothing in the way of any real shove below 6,000 rpm and one of the main selling points, it's light weight, isn't that light when you consider than almost all of them had the no-cost options ticked. So the 1385 kgs claimed weight was usually more like 1450.
£65,000? Jeezuz, give me a 2012 997 turbo; or perhaps a 2012 Cayman S and a 200 bhp Caterham for the track any day instead!
A lot of cars with silly values have flaws. I guess it adds to character.
Part of the CSLs problem is there are a couple of 'specialist' dealers which get hold of the better examples and artificially boost the price.
EDIT: I say 'problem', but if you were the one who paid £30k for a car that's now worth £65k, I guess it's pretty sweet.
Part of the CSLs problem is there are a couple of 'specialist' dealers which get hold of the better examples and artificially boost the price.
EDIT: I say 'problem', but if you were the one who paid £30k for a car that's now worth £65k, I guess it's pretty sweet.
Edited by zeDuffMan on Monday 9th November 06:36
zeDuffMan said:
A lot of cars with silly values have flaws. I guess it adds to character.
Part of the CSLs problem is there are a couple of 'specialist' dealers which get hold of the better examples and artificially boost the price.
EDIT: I say 'problem', but if you were the one who paid £30k for a car that's now worth £65k, I guess it's pretty sweet.
Are they really worth £65k or £80k? I don't see them exactly flying off the shelves at those prices. Also E30 M3s seem to be sticking at around £30k. The market for these was never as hot as it was for Porsches and the like.Part of the CSLs problem is there are a couple of 'specialist' dealers which get hold of the better examples and artificially boost the price.
EDIT: I say 'problem', but if you were the one who paid £30k for a car that's now worth £65k, I guess it's pretty sweet.
Edited by zeDuffMan on Monday 9th November 06:36
Tuvra said:
I like them but I could never buy one at that kind of money. The list of cars I would have before it at that price level would probably be 40+ cars long.
Bloody right! It's only an E46 fgs. Had the car had a great gearbox, superb brakes, a less gutless engine and actually weighed 1385 kgs with air con and a basic sounds system, I would have rated it far higher.But one fetched £59,500 on PH recently and I can only assume it was bought hoping for further value rise. My £30,000 2013 M3 V8 is a far better car.
You can say this about a lot of cars. Why are prices of all generations of 911 GT3 going through the roof? Why is a 997 GT3 RS 4.0 worth £250k more than when it was new a few years ago?
Why does a 1960s Ferrari 250 GTO sell for £20m+ when a used £30k BMW M3 is a better car?
As others have already said,cars sell for whatever someone is prepared to pay for them and not for how good they are.
Why does a 1960s Ferrari 250 GTO sell for £20m+ when a used £30k BMW M3 is a better car?
As others have already said,cars sell for whatever someone is prepared to pay for them and not for how good they are.
CorvetteConvert said:
My £30,000 2013 M3 V8 is a far better car.
I would be interested to hear the thoughts you have on it as I remember the thread you did on the M4 and you agreed with me that the M4 would make a better daily than the V8 M3 would and that the V8 M3 is relatively torque light. Are the cars actually selling though?
It could be people who have stuck their cars on semi-permanent SOR, with an inflated price that they'll take if on the odd chance someone actually offers that much.
The market value, as is always the case, is what someone is actually willing to pay.
It could be people who have stuck their cars on semi-permanent SOR, with an inflated price that they'll take if on the odd chance someone actually offers that much.
The market value, as is always the case, is what someone is actually willing to pay.
Yes it has crap brakes, the SMG is an "acquired taste" and it's still fairly heavy but I think the engine is a masterpiece, the CSL has some very trick parts in what is in effect still a mass produced car, it sounds very special and yes BMW will probably never make another car like it.
HOWEVER are they worth £60k+, I really don' think so.
Much as with other modern classics like the NSX, E30 M3 or any other car from the 90's-00's which have shot up in value recently, they have moved beyond a place where the price reflects the merit and abilities of the car to one where it is more about speculation and how much they are worth as an investment asset. Unfortunately once a car reaches this point I start to loose interest rapidly. Based on merit alone, I wouldn't pay more than £35k tops for a CSL.
HOWEVER are they worth £60k+, I really don' think so.
Much as with other modern classics like the NSX, E30 M3 or any other car from the 90's-00's which have shot up in value recently, they have moved beyond a place where the price reflects the merit and abilities of the car to one where it is more about speculation and how much they are worth as an investment asset. Unfortunately once a car reaches this point I start to loose interest rapidly. Based on merit alone, I wouldn't pay more than £35k tops for a CSL.
Sold my CSL at the weekend as part of a bit of a car re-shuffle that's also seen my E30 Alpina go too, with only my Mini GP1 safe from the purge (a car I know the OP and myself share a liking for). Current values versus my own amount of use and cost of ownership had them done for unfortunately
However, don't let that detract from my opinion that, when driven under the correct circumstances, these are brilliant cars. Used hard over a deserted back road there is little at their current price-point that sounds and acts better. Never had a problem with the standard brakes on road myself (just uprated fluid), and to criticise them for being an E46 is missing both the point and a large part of the appeal too, as is complaining about the noise and nature of the S54 IMO
In saying that, some of these higher-end asking prices are now rivaling those of GT3s, but then low-mile CSLs won't get used so that probably doesn't matter too much to the buyers
However, don't let that detract from my opinion that, when driven under the correct circumstances, these are brilliant cars. Used hard over a deserted back road there is little at their current price-point that sounds and acts better. Never had a problem with the standard brakes on road myself (just uprated fluid), and to criticise them for being an E46 is missing both the point and a large part of the appeal too, as is complaining about the noise and nature of the S54 IMO
In saying that, some of these higher-end asking prices are now rivaling those of GT3s, but then low-mile CSLs won't get used so that probably doesn't matter too much to the buyers
V8A*ndy said:
Dannbodge said:
If I had £65k to spend on one I'd happily do it.
I'd pay that certainly but it would need to be in some nick at that money.I do think they are worth it.
A vastly under valued modern classic for quite some time.
CooperS said:
Thats nice to know but mind telling us why?
Why not. I like them and if I was ever in the situation where I could happily spend 65k on a car then why shouldn't it be that one.
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