M3 CSL and M5

[outnumbered]

Minor and somewhat dull update. It was service time for the M5. The car was asking for an oil and brake fluid change, but from the inspection, it also had a screw in a rear tyre and the rear discs were on the limit. Fortunately MDifficult had thrown in a set of new OE rear discs with the car, so I dropped them over to Grosvenors, and only had to pay for fitting and pads.

I got home and took off the rear wheel to find the tiniest ever screw about 1cm from the sidewall. I reckoned it couldn't have gone deep enough to puncture the carcass, so just pulled it out, and luckily I was right.

[outnumbered]

We went over to the Sundown event at the Classic Motor Hub near Bibury yesterday evening in the CSL. A lovely relaxed atmosphere and some spectacular vehicles on show. For once, the most expensive cars weren't in the showroom ! There were some nice empty roads on the way back, so it was nice to give the car a bit of a blast.

I saw this driving in, and thought "Oh, nice Ferrari". Turns out it's a 250 SWB GT, which apparently can go for getting on for $10Million.



I'm also partial to Alpinas, this B9 3.5 looked immaculate throughout...

Edited by outnumbered on Thursday 24th August 10:25

[outnumbered]

Service time again for the CSL. It needed an MOT plus Inspection 1, so it went in to Grosvenor's and I was very pleased to be presented with a bill for £360 at the end of the day. Unfortunately this was obviously too low for an Insp1, and turned out to be because they'd forgotten to do the valve clearances .

So it had to go back a week later for the valve clearance check, and I'd also noticed it needed a brake fluid change, and they kindly did that for free as compo for having to go back again.

It didn't need any shims, and with the ludicrous price of all the gaskets (getting on for £300 quid) plus labour, it's proved to be rather an expensive check. I guess I can understand why lots of people don't bother, since needing a shim change is supposedly quite rare.

[helix402]

outnumbered said:

Service time again for the CSL. It needed an MOT plus Inspection 1, so it went in to Grosvenor's and I was very pleased to be presented with a bill for £360 at the end of the day. Unfortunately this was obviously too low for an Insp1, and turned out to be because they'd forgotten to do the valve clearances .

So it had to go back a week later for the valve clearance check, and I'd also noticed it needed a brake fluid change, and they kindly did that for free as compo for having to go back again.

It didn't need any shims, and with the ludicrous price of all the gaskets (getting on for £300 quid) plus labour, it's proved to be rather an expensive check. I guess I can understand why lots of people don't bother, since needing a shim change is supposedly quite rare.

When I used to work on M3s I’d often find at the first valve clearance check there might be a change. As you say it was rarer on subsequent checks.

[JakeT]

Should you be interested, your old M3 is on the market. £30k.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023112843...

[outnumbered]

JakeT said:

Should you be interested, your old M3 is on the market. £30k.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023112843...

I knew he'd sold it to a dealer in Ireland, but interesting to see the advert. Hard to know if that's a good price or not, the last owner spent a lot of money on it, think it was almost a ground up rebuild, and a full repaint. OTOH, it's not quite an E36 any more, so how does that affect the value ? I think it's probably a bit expensive, even though he spent a lot, you don't always make back your investment in these things...

[JakeT]

Agreed, would I pay £30k? If it was a standard car that was all there, because there’s plenty of cars out there for S54 kicks.

[CKY]

JakeT said:

Should you be interested, your old M3 is on the market. £30k.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023112843...

A lot of money for someone's custom build that won't suit everyone's tastes. I think if I were putting good money in to an E36 M3 it would have to be low-mileage and original, Nick Johnson's place @ Abingdon had a lovely Fern Green late car with around 30k miles when I was in there a couple of years ago, was cheaper than this S54 hotrod too. Trouble is IMO a standard E36 M3 isn't the best car in the world to drive quickly, so do you buy something immaculate and standard, or pay more for something that will be better to drive but probably ultimately worth less..?

[outnumbered]

Coming back from a short holiday last week, this happened.



Still going well, although it said it wanted the battery charging this morning, so I wonder if that's the first sign of a bill on the way.

[MDifficult]

outnumbered said:

Coming back from a short holiday last week, this happened.



Still going well, although it said it wanted the battery charging this morning, so I wonder if that's the first sign of a bill on the way.

That's outstanding! So pleased it's still motoring on relentlessly.

On the battery... they have a habit of moaning a bit after periods of intense cold. But chuck it on a conditioner (on AGM setting) for a day or two to give it a nice strong charge and it should be right as rain when the weather warms up a bit.