E46 M3 - Upgrade to 19" CSL alloys???
Discussion
Having bought into the M3 brotherhood earlier this year, I'm currently running the 19" OEM's but they're looking a bit tatty.
They're only suffering with a few areas of minor curbing but the finish is showing a lot of lacquer peel, especially around the centre caps and around the entire lip of both fronts. I'm keen to get it back looking fresh so have to decide between getting these mirror polished 19's reconditioned or go for the CSL look.
I expect this is a pretty common dilemma, especially as the CSL alloys look so good!
I am of the mindset though of keeping things original and hate the culture of trying to make cars look like a variant that they aren't, which does deter me from upgrading to the CSLs slightly.
My options, as far as I can tell (other than leave them as the are) are a) Have the current 19's reconditioned b) buy a set of CSL replicas c) buy OEM CSL's
Option A
Having researched this a bit, it seems I can't get them done back up to "as new" due to the lacquering. I would have to get them stripped, tidied up and then mirror polished again but it isn't possible to get the re-lacquering done on this finish. I've read that they can be sealed of protected in some way but not lacquered. Any advice on this would be much appreciated..!
Option B
There are lots of different CSL reps on the interweb - where is best to get them from for the nearest to OEM look? Should I be looking for 8J or 8.5J fronts? Anything to look out for or avoid?
Option C
Although somewhere around twice the price of the replicas, having genuine BMW/BBS does have a big appeal to me. I've heard they're difficult to source and you need to have a CSL or at least supply your CSL VIN to be able to buy from BMW. Is this true?
Any information would be much appreciated!
JsyM3
They're only suffering with a few areas of minor curbing but the finish is showing a lot of lacquer peel, especially around the centre caps and around the entire lip of both fronts. I'm keen to get it back looking fresh so have to decide between getting these mirror polished 19's reconditioned or go for the CSL look.
I expect this is a pretty common dilemma, especially as the CSL alloys look so good!
I am of the mindset though of keeping things original and hate the culture of trying to make cars look like a variant that they aren't, which does deter me from upgrading to the CSLs slightly.
My options, as far as I can tell (other than leave them as the are) are a) Have the current 19's reconditioned b) buy a set of CSL replicas c) buy OEM CSL's
Option A
Having researched this a bit, it seems I can't get them done back up to "as new" due to the lacquering. I would have to get them stripped, tidied up and then mirror polished again but it isn't possible to get the re-lacquering done on this finish. I've read that they can be sealed of protected in some way but not lacquered. Any advice on this would be much appreciated..!
Option B
There are lots of different CSL reps on the interweb - where is best to get them from for the nearest to OEM look? Should I be looking for 8J or 8.5J fronts? Anything to look out for or avoid?
Option C
Although somewhere around twice the price of the replicas, having genuine BMW/BBS does have a big appeal to me. I've heard they're difficult to source and you need to have a CSL or at least supply your CSL VIN to be able to buy from BMW. Is this true?
Any information would be much appreciated!
JsyM3
I had genuine csl's on mine I bought them new from thorney Motorsport £1250 seems to ring a bell (6 yrs ago)
My original 19's had white worm in various spots, however a friend who also had a silver m3 had his done in shadow chrome (same finish as the standard 18's) and they looked fantastic! A lot cheaper than diamond cut and lot more durable.
My original 19's had white worm in various spots, however a friend who also had a silver m3 had his done in shadow chrome (same finish as the standard 18's) and they looked fantastic! A lot cheaper than diamond cut and lot more durable.
The more I think about it, the more keen I am to go for CSL reps for summer tyres and keep the standard 19's for winter tyres without getting them re-conditioned.
Can't really justify spending in excess of a tonne to get OEM CSL's right now, especially as I'll be all-in for around £2k once I've got some fresh Michelin PSS on them.
Any advice on where to get the best (nearest to OEM) looking reps?
Seems I should be looking to spend around £500-600 based on what's in the PH classifieds.
Can't really justify spending in excess of a tonne to get OEM CSL's right now, especially as I'll be all-in for around £2k once I've got some fresh Michelin PSS on them.
Any advice on where to get the best (nearest to OEM) looking reps?
Seems I should be looking to spend around £500-600 based on what's in the PH classifieds.
Froomee said:
They can be had new for £1600ish + tyres 
Hopefully this isn't a stupid question but do you have to buy the genuine CSLs through a main dealer or can you buy from someone further up the chain, cutting out the middle man and his extra bit of price mark-up??I've also read you can only buy them if you own a CSL and need to supply the VIN... Is this true?!
Look on M3 cutters as they come up fairly often in good condition with tyres for far cheaper.
Or somewhere like Simpsons (google Simpson BMW) have them for £1600+Vat but I'm sure you could negotiate and there was a place that was around £1550 all in but can't remember where.
I opted for a set of BBS CH's (19's) off of cutters with decent tyres all round for £950 (although I have a Z4M the wheels for an M3 are ideal fitment).
Or somewhere like Simpsons (google Simpson BMW) have them for £1600+Vat but I'm sure you could negotiate and there was a place that was around £1550 all in but can't remember where.
I opted for a set of BBS CH's (19's) off of cutters with decent tyres all round for £950
(although I have a Z4M the wheels for an M3 are ideal fitment).I know that Simpsons have a used set of CSL's for sale. Well at least they did a few weeks ago...
Personally I appreciate your point about not wanting to try and make the car look like something it's not. However, in the presence of a real CSL you are in no doubt that car is quite a lot more than some different wheels over a standard M3. If you think you will prefer the look of the CSLs on your car(which tbh I doubt many would blame you) then go for it. If you decide to go down that road then personally for a number of reasons I would get hold of a set of real ones rather than reps, though that's just me. As I understand it there is quite a lot of labour involved in retaining the standard diamond cut 19" finish, it's not an easy job.
Don't forget also that the OEM CSL rims will reduce your unsprung mass, which is potentially a good thing. They also run a different tyre profile and width to the 19" diamond cut. The front's are 8.5" as apposed to 8" and the set up all round is (F)235/35 (R)265/30 IIRC
Personally I appreciate your point about not wanting to try and make the car look like something it's not. However, in the presence of a real CSL you are in no doubt that car is quite a lot more than some different wheels over a standard M3. If you think you will prefer the look of the CSLs on your car(which tbh I doubt many would blame you) then go for it. If you decide to go down that road then personally for a number of reasons I would get hold of a set of real ones rather than reps, though that's just me. As I understand it there is quite a lot of labour involved in retaining the standard diamond cut 19" finish, it's not an easy job.
Don't forget also that the OEM CSL rims will reduce your unsprung mass, which is potentially a good thing. They also run a different tyre profile and width to the 19" diamond cut. The front's are 8.5" as apposed to 8" and the set up all round is (F)235/35 (R)265/30 IIRC
Edited by MOTK on Friday 4th April 02:48
MOTK said:
I know that Simpsons have a used set of CSL's for sale. Well at least they did a few weeks ago...
If you decide to go down that road then personally for a number of reasons I would get hold of a set of real ones rather than reps, though that's just me.
Care to share your "number of reasons" with me/us?If you decide to go down that road then personally for a number of reasons I would get hold of a set of real ones rather than reps, though that's just me.
Edited by MOTK on Friday 4th April 02:48
I would prefer to stay with genuine BMW everything and get the real CSL's but unless there are some genuine advantages to doing so, I can't really justify spending 3 times the money on them (ie. £500 for reps vs £1,600 for OEM). If I can wait and get hold of a used set then maybe that is the solution I'm looking for. I could probably convince myself that up to £1,000 is worth it to get genuine ones.
I'm not going to be tracking the car at all so "performance" gains aren't on my wishlist - It's just an aesthetics thing for me and having my current less than A1 condition 19's, I'm at that point where I need to decide between forking out for a refurb or taking the opportunity to (in my eyes and those of the majority) improve the look of the car by upgrading to the CSL look (I suppose technically it's upgrading to the CS look, albeit with a 8.5J front instead of the 8J front of the CS).
I appreciate the standard M3 is quite a different beast to the CSL so I'm not going to be fooling anyone, or even trying to for that matter.
I went through the same dilemma with my E46 M3.
You should get in touch with a guy called Julian at Turriff Tyres. They are based in Scotland, but have a huge national mail order business. He will ship anywhere. http://www.turrifftyres.co.uk/
These replicas are the best I can find. They are ultimately indistiguishable from the real CSL wheels unless you look at the stamp on the rear inside of the wheel. They are extremely good value for money too.
If you would like to see pics of them on my car etc. then PM me.
Hope this helps.
You should get in touch with a guy called Julian at Turriff Tyres. They are based in Scotland, but have a huge national mail order business. He will ship anywhere. http://www.turrifftyres.co.uk/
These replicas are the best I can find. They are ultimately indistiguishable from the real CSL wheels unless you look at the stamp on the rear inside of the wheel. They are extremely good value for money too.
If you would like to see pics of them on my car etc. then PM me.
Hope this helps.
JsyM3 said:
Care to share your "number of reasons" with me/us?
Some I'm sure will disagree with me but the primary reason would be safety for me. Then additional weight (not relevant to you I see), and then the fact that I know they are copies even if no one else can tell the difference.As I said, this is just my opinion.
I am in a similar position, my 19 inch wheels are looking ok from a distance, but I know they are not perfect..
From what I understand re-cutting them and re-lacquering is possible, but I hear of issues about the durability of the new finish and whilst I like the CSL wheels, I think they don't look as nice vs the Diamond Cut 19's.
I am starting to wonder if I follow what a few guys have done on M3Cutters, strip all the lacquer off and polish them....
From what I understand re-cutting them and re-lacquering is possible, but I hear of issues about the durability of the new finish and whilst I like the CSL wheels, I think they don't look as nice vs the Diamond Cut 19's.
I am starting to wonder if I follow what a few guys have done on M3Cutters, strip all the lacquer off and polish them....
MOTK said:
Some I'm sure will disagree with me but the primary reason would be safety for me.
Are replica CSL's considered unsafe?! - Surely, as long as you're buying from a proper trading company then their products must be tested etc to be road worthy. Maybe (purely speculating here!) they're not up to track punishment and don't have the tolerences of genuine CSL's - Is that what you're getting at??JsyM3 said:
MOTK said:
Some I'm sure will disagree with me but the primary reason would be safety for me.
Are replica CSL's considered unsafe?! - Surely, as long as you're buying from a proper trading company then their products must be tested etc to be road worthy. Maybe (purely speculating here!) they're not up to track punishment and don't have the tolerences of genuine CSL's - Is that what you're getting at??I'm planning to pull the trigger on a shiny new set of CSL reps from CMWheels (see PH classifieds) at the weekend...
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