CSL addictive ? + roads ?
Discussion
Right its is the middle of the night and i've been for a b road hoon, to remind myself why i love cars and empty roads. I'm slightly pumped on adrenaline and torn between writing this or going sleep, so my apologies if this isn't the good piece of literature or a flawless piece of spelling/grammer exercise. Just want to convey why i like my car alot and in general driving. If i sound a bit over enthusiastic good, im trying to convey how i feel ! Its a bit long but i'll make a video one day soon!
For some mental reason, maybe it was the boredom, maybe its the insomnia, maybe it was the Lucozade alert i drank, whatever it was i decided today at around 3:20 am to get to re aqaint myself properly with my CSL.
The temperature outside is something like 1.0c, so already i know the Michelin cups are going to be close to useless and require alot of caution. Its eearliy quite inside the house as i grab my car keys, its so quite outside im having to shut the house doors slowly as to not to disturb anyone ( bit retarded as the CSL has a full supersprint ).
Im outside, i Unlock the car and you can hear the familiar hum/SMG pump noise.
For about 4 seconds i just stare at the car, taking in the lines, well what i can in the dark as the cold hits me. It is a great looking thing.
Open the light door ( well for a german car it is ) Get into the seat, slam the door shut , forgetting its a bit tight in there( a big lad you see ) put the key in the ignition some beeps and wait a few seconds and just grip the wheel, scan the cockpit admire the C/F doorcards and nod thats its all there (like it was going to change or vanish), push myself furthur into the bucket, god it feels good, a magic rug of the alcantara steering wheel ( to call the genie of M power ).
Start the thing, key turned, starter catches.... f
k ME how loud ? Don't remember it being this loud, the car erupts into life, im waving my hands at the rev counter/ wheel to turn the volume down( obviously it isn't going to work what was i thinking ), and now the SMG pump has started the full whine noise, clock reads 3:34am.
Best thing is to get out of the driveway and of the road quickly before some neighbour decides to have a friendly chat .
Totally forgot the drone/noise the car gives at 2000rpm when its cold, you can feel it through your body and its unbearably loud ! The noise is bouncing over and around parked cars and walls all i can do is repeatdly say sorry to no one in paticular till i get to the bottom of the road.
while cold the car is hiccuping slightly below 3000rpm and the noise is ridiculous,the drone is on full volume , blow your head off loud, pop your ears.
As the car starts to warm up, i take an A road to take me to a good b road (b6047).
The SMG setting is in 3 and sport is off.
Along the a-road i get upto just under 3000rpm in 6th which might be ...... on the speedo. Drive along the road for about 10 minutes under 3000 rpm and turn off onto a side road leading to the B road.
As i make my way to the B road i begin to remember/recall how loud the car is, how much detail the steering wheel collects from the front wheels and how much your bum/body is being barraged with info from the rear wheels to the seat. How the body seems to glide over rought bumps and undulations the faster you go. Also forgot that the BMW xenon lights are brilliant in the night, illuminatting a good distance ahead, enough for me to stop in at the current warming up pace.
for some reason i haven't even driven the car in anger and yet i seem to be smiling and feeling chuffed, all is good.
As the temp gets round to the good side, i read the outside temp, 0.5c the car says, a little open window confirms its facking cold.
Right onto the side road now, front windows an inch down, rears fully opened, smg switched upto 5 (DSC is on) and sport on (very important that) and a straight beckons, 2 gear and all this warm up business goes out the window, hands clenching the steering wheel the pedal is depressed with a heavy shove, nothing occurs just some rise of revs a little jerk and and the silly little DSC light flashes, confirming that the nanny will not let me play.
I decide a 2 second prod of the M track mode is in order and we are starting to head in the right direction, driving nirvana.
Still the revs are being cut but atleast its deploying some of the power to the road, the electronics are trying to win a losing battle of grip with the cups and damp tarmac.
Now try in second gear a bit gentler still with the throttle, M track still engaged, the back end twitches slighty under load, your are pushed back slighty in your seat, you concentrate to where the lights are pointing and then the NOISE comes that machine gun sound of air being battered into the engine and fired out through the exhaust, 1st time i hear it, i back off about 5000rpms and shuffle in my seat to get a bit more upright ( like you can slouch in a bucket ) and start to press the throttle again, similar experience but this time i've hit the right paddle to go up.
That Noise takes over everything, its an unbeliveable noise, the stock exhaust gives the Intake noise a sharp crisp, WAIL like a Wasp going mental x 1000 and the air being hit so hard its like 100's of ball bearings are bouncing into the intake all in one go and they are hitting the back of the air intake !
With the Supersprint full system being able to dispel more exhaust gases, the intake can suck in more air, the noise is like millions of ball bearings + a few charging elephants and tigers snorting/grunting a war cry to raise the dead. unbelievably great engine noise, up there with a 360 cs on full chat or a GT3 RS.
back on point, I am aware of some speed, and concentrating on the grey damp tarmac and greenery which is being illuminated in a whitey bluey light and pressing the throttle very quickly but smoothly.
My focus seems to be on the Fierce machine gunning air intake sound as it builds into a whaling scream of straight six being pushed to the call of duty, and insanly loud gas's being thrown out the rear end, you can feel the push the engine is giving to the rear wheels, I can just remember the needle hitting somewhere past 6000rpm and thinking this is crazy ,surely it can't pull any harder. As the needle swings round to its enemy the limiter i feel a surge in shove/power as if the engine is going ballistic, im being thrown down this damp tarmac road as if im about to jump into some white bright hyperspace !
I can feel the engine taking over, its giving all its power and energy and all i can do is to keep it within the confines of the grey road and white lines on either side. I concentrating only on the road ahead and that intake sound
Im aware of a corner coming up, a stab of the brakes and the speed decreases rapidly the APs absorbing speed , a downshift is thrown in and the snort that the intake makes me nearly jump into the roof, so Sharp, so quick like its an animal grunting wildly at the thought of being caged / leashed to slow down. Throttle down a bit abruptly and the car steps out but nothing M track and a little hand shuffle cant fix.
Again that noise of the intake, the noise bouncing of the landscape and scenery going past and the road ahead being concentrated on by the lights and myself. Every chance i get i slow right down and get into second and go up through the gears chaning at around 5000, just to hear that noise, The feeling of just an empty road, a great car and your concentration is hard to describe, its part excitement, fear and awe.
Get to the end of the road, i decide it was so good, i'll turn around and do it again. Im aware of my hands being slighlty sweaty and my heartbeat, beating like a drum.
Im also aware of a stupid grin plastered on my face and looking back through the rear view mirror to see that the road is still there !
A quick glance at the surroundings, i am in the middle of nowwhere with no-one, nothing around me for, its so serene and stunning, you can see the city lights glittering in the background but all around is dead.
Right turn the bavarian beast around with the thoughts of the noise and the road dispatched going around my head.
This time for the road M track is switched off, DSC is switched off, im going on this road alone with only my feet, arms and god (if there is one).
1st gear rolling, second gear engaged and foot to the floor, WOAH , the cups lose the battle to grip with the damp tarmac, the car is a good 30 degrees from the direction i am supposed to be going ! try again smoother, get to above 5000rpm and again the wheels give up grip, slam the paddle into thrid and grip is regained for a millisecond for them to start spinning again !!!
Something in side of me says, respect this car, the power, the road and the tyres or you could be as the americans say... DEADED.
Right leave back into third and use a delicate throttle.
Now i've got a problem its all well nannying the throttle and hearing the straight six, spinning to its climax but you don't get that NOISE of air being slaughtered !( you should have understood by now !!)
Getting into the groove of thing now, i think i am understanding/feeling what the car and tyres want to do and what i must do to stop it trying to put me into the scenary, like some sort of statue.
Second and thrid is all i use on the way back down, the cars feels alive, like the four wheels are tip toing on the point of adhesion, the body adjusting very quickly to what is happening with the suspension, but the most stand out thing i can remember is the pure murderous savagery of the engine, its like its a angry beast spitting/barking/tearing at the horizon, like the engine wants to creates it own path in front.
Its making the car accelerate so hard out of corners and on the straights near the rev limit its ballistic, everytime the needle goes above 7000 i feel like backing off, its going way to nutty, i cannot imagine going any faster than this, surely a GT3 RS/ Scud must be a reaper on wheels brining you closer to satan.
The gearbox is absolute class you never worry about a misshift and all that power is being utalised fully ( as can be in the damp/cold on cups and me average non talented driver ) by that SMG II and M diff.
at this point all my energy is being used to focus on the road and getting my inputs on the wheel and throttle correct, any lapse and the consequences involved would make your stomach churn.
I get back to the main A road, (uppingham), i stop near a gravel area for a minute or two just to gather my thoughts and recall what happened.
My heart is pounding and all i can hear is that intake noise and incredble wail of the engine bouncing around in my head, i have no idea what time it is or how fast i just covered the road the main point i can recall is the way the back end likes to dance coming out of corners when power is deployed and some how my hands actually working to keep it facing in the right direction !( I think i understand now when they say M cars oversteer well).
I recall just saying muttering something to the car ( wierd st i know ) and turning back around to do it all again, i do get to the B road and have fun on that road too, both directions (b6047).
A look at the cars clock says its 4:15am, time does fly and all that, it feels like i've only been driving 15 minutes, i feel on a high, adrenaline pumping, heart beating, heavy breathing and sweat on my hands and forehead,.... On the way back i switch off Sport, put the gear setting from 5 to 2 and open the 2 front windows fully. Totally forgetting about the cold.
The noise this car makes when fully warmed is totaly grin inducingly moronic, its a drone under 3000rpm. Its such a deep deep bellowing base, you can feel your internal organs being jiggled about. The cars bouncing everywhere at 30/40mph forgot how stiff it was. As i drive i put the main heater on full and cruise along recalling what just happened over the last half and hour, as i come to a traffic light im aware of a very high pitched sqealing noise when pressing the brakes, that'l be the brakes then fully warmed up too.
Turn onto the main road leading to my house and im loving the drone from the exhaust and the car spitting as i come of throttle, the grin still on my face and i feel totally relaxed. As i get to my house i let off the throttle and roll it into the drive .
I sit in the car, smile like the joker, and tapping the wheel recounting the drive. I switch of and get out the car, walk towards the house , before i open the house door, i turn around and look at my car, god it looks better than ever, give it an appreciattive nod and lock the car.
M3 CSL its facking addictive, the first sound of that intake flap opening and you want more and more of it ! a awesome car very underrated
+ the roads at night absolutly sublime,
put the two together and its motoring at its best.
i need to get to sleep, i've been typing over an hour, please no spam about driving like a tool/ speeding etc.
For some mental reason, maybe it was the boredom, maybe its the insomnia, maybe it was the Lucozade alert i drank, whatever it was i decided today at around 3:20 am to get to re aqaint myself properly with my CSL.
The temperature outside is something like 1.0c, so already i know the Michelin cups are going to be close to useless and require alot of caution. Its eearliy quite inside the house as i grab my car keys, its so quite outside im having to shut the house doors slowly as to not to disturb anyone ( bit retarded as the CSL has a full supersprint ).
Im outside, i Unlock the car and you can hear the familiar hum/SMG pump noise.
For about 4 seconds i just stare at the car, taking in the lines, well what i can in the dark as the cold hits me. It is a great looking thing.
Open the light door ( well for a german car it is ) Get into the seat, slam the door shut , forgetting its a bit tight in there( a big lad you see ) put the key in the ignition some beeps and wait a few seconds and just grip the wheel, scan the cockpit admire the C/F doorcards and nod thats its all there (like it was going to change or vanish), push myself furthur into the bucket, god it feels good, a magic rug of the alcantara steering wheel ( to call the genie of M power ).
Start the thing, key turned, starter catches.... f
k ME how loud ? Don't remember it being this loud, the car erupts into life, im waving my hands at the rev counter/ wheel to turn the volume down( obviously it isn't going to work what was i thinking ), and now the SMG pump has started the full whine noise, clock reads 3:34am. Best thing is to get out of the driveway and of the road quickly before some neighbour decides to have a friendly chat .
Totally forgot the drone/noise the car gives at 2000rpm when its cold, you can feel it through your body and its unbearably loud ! The noise is bouncing over and around parked cars and walls all i can do is repeatdly say sorry to no one in paticular till i get to the bottom of the road.
while cold the car is hiccuping slightly below 3000rpm and the noise is ridiculous,the drone is on full volume , blow your head off loud, pop your ears.
As the car starts to warm up, i take an A road to take me to a good b road (b6047).
The SMG setting is in 3 and sport is off.
Along the a-road i get upto just under 3000rpm in 6th which might be ...... on the speedo. Drive along the road for about 10 minutes under 3000 rpm and turn off onto a side road leading to the B road.
As i make my way to the B road i begin to remember/recall how loud the car is, how much detail the steering wheel collects from the front wheels and how much your bum/body is being barraged with info from the rear wheels to the seat. How the body seems to glide over rought bumps and undulations the faster you go. Also forgot that the BMW xenon lights are brilliant in the night, illuminatting a good distance ahead, enough for me to stop in at the current warming up pace.
for some reason i haven't even driven the car in anger and yet i seem to be smiling and feeling chuffed, all is good.
As the temp gets round to the good side, i read the outside temp, 0.5c the car says, a little open window confirms its facking cold.
Right onto the side road now, front windows an inch down, rears fully opened, smg switched upto 5 (DSC is on) and sport on (very important that) and a straight beckons, 2 gear and all this warm up business goes out the window, hands clenching the steering wheel the pedal is depressed with a heavy shove, nothing occurs just some rise of revs a little jerk and and the silly little DSC light flashes, confirming that the nanny will not let me play.
I decide a 2 second prod of the M track mode is in order and we are starting to head in the right direction, driving nirvana.
Still the revs are being cut but atleast its deploying some of the power to the road, the electronics are trying to win a losing battle of grip with the cups and damp tarmac.
Now try in second gear a bit gentler still with the throttle, M track still engaged, the back end twitches slighty under load, your are pushed back slighty in your seat, you concentrate to where the lights are pointing and then the NOISE comes that machine gun sound of air being battered into the engine and fired out through the exhaust, 1st time i hear it, i back off about 5000rpms and shuffle in my seat to get a bit more upright ( like you can slouch in a bucket ) and start to press the throttle again, similar experience but this time i've hit the right paddle to go up.
That Noise takes over everything, its an unbeliveable noise, the stock exhaust gives the Intake noise a sharp crisp, WAIL like a Wasp going mental x 1000 and the air being hit so hard its like 100's of ball bearings are bouncing into the intake all in one go and they are hitting the back of the air intake !
With the Supersprint full system being able to dispel more exhaust gases, the intake can suck in more air, the noise is like millions of ball bearings + a few charging elephants and tigers snorting/grunting a war cry to raise the dead. unbelievably great engine noise, up there with a 360 cs on full chat or a GT3 RS.
back on point, I am aware of some speed, and concentrating on the grey damp tarmac and greenery which is being illuminated in a whitey bluey light and pressing the throttle very quickly but smoothly.
My focus seems to be on the Fierce machine gunning air intake sound as it builds into a whaling scream of straight six being pushed to the call of duty, and insanly loud gas's being thrown out the rear end, you can feel the push the engine is giving to the rear wheels, I can just remember the needle hitting somewhere past 6000rpm and thinking this is crazy ,surely it can't pull any harder. As the needle swings round to its enemy the limiter i feel a surge in shove/power as if the engine is going ballistic, im being thrown down this damp tarmac road as if im about to jump into some white bright hyperspace !
I can feel the engine taking over, its giving all its power and energy and all i can do is to keep it within the confines of the grey road and white lines on either side. I concentrating only on the road ahead and that intake sound
Im aware of a corner coming up, a stab of the brakes and the speed decreases rapidly the APs absorbing speed , a downshift is thrown in and the snort that the intake makes me nearly jump into the roof, so Sharp, so quick like its an animal grunting wildly at the thought of being caged / leashed to slow down. Throttle down a bit abruptly and the car steps out but nothing M track and a little hand shuffle cant fix.
Again that noise of the intake, the noise bouncing of the landscape and scenery going past and the road ahead being concentrated on by the lights and myself. Every chance i get i slow right down and get into second and go up through the gears chaning at around 5000, just to hear that noise, The feeling of just an empty road, a great car and your concentration is hard to describe, its part excitement, fear and awe.
Get to the end of the road, i decide it was so good, i'll turn around and do it again. Im aware of my hands being slighlty sweaty and my heartbeat, beating like a drum.
Im also aware of a stupid grin plastered on my face and looking back through the rear view mirror to see that the road is still there !
A quick glance at the surroundings, i am in the middle of nowwhere with no-one, nothing around me for, its so serene and stunning, you can see the city lights glittering in the background but all around is dead.
Right turn the bavarian beast around with the thoughts of the noise and the road dispatched going around my head.
This time for the road M track is switched off, DSC is switched off, im going on this road alone with only my feet, arms and god (if there is one).
1st gear rolling, second gear engaged and foot to the floor, WOAH , the cups lose the battle to grip with the damp tarmac, the car is a good 30 degrees from the direction i am supposed to be going ! try again smoother, get to above 5000rpm and again the wheels give up grip, slam the paddle into thrid and grip is regained for a millisecond for them to start spinning again !!!
Something in side of me says, respect this car, the power, the road and the tyres or you could be as the americans say... DEADED.
Right leave back into third and use a delicate throttle.
Now i've got a problem its all well nannying the throttle and hearing the straight six, spinning to its climax but you don't get that NOISE of air being slaughtered !( you should have understood by now !!)
Getting into the groove of thing now, i think i am understanding/feeling what the car and tyres want to do and what i must do to stop it trying to put me into the scenary, like some sort of statue.
Second and thrid is all i use on the way back down, the cars feels alive, like the four wheels are tip toing on the point of adhesion, the body adjusting very quickly to what is happening with the suspension, but the most stand out thing i can remember is the pure murderous savagery of the engine, its like its a angry beast spitting/barking/tearing at the horizon, like the engine wants to creates it own path in front.
Its making the car accelerate so hard out of corners and on the straights near the rev limit its ballistic, everytime the needle goes above 7000 i feel like backing off, its going way to nutty, i cannot imagine going any faster than this, surely a GT3 RS/ Scud must be a reaper on wheels brining you closer to satan.
The gearbox is absolute class you never worry about a misshift and all that power is being utalised fully ( as can be in the damp/cold on cups and me average non talented driver ) by that SMG II and M diff.
at this point all my energy is being used to focus on the road and getting my inputs on the wheel and throttle correct, any lapse and the consequences involved would make your stomach churn.
I get back to the main A road, (uppingham), i stop near a gravel area for a minute or two just to gather my thoughts and recall what happened.
My heart is pounding and all i can hear is that intake noise and incredble wail of the engine bouncing around in my head, i have no idea what time it is or how fast i just covered the road the main point i can recall is the way the back end likes to dance coming out of corners when power is deployed and some how my hands actually working to keep it facing in the right direction !( I think i understand now when they say M cars oversteer well).
I recall just saying muttering something to the car ( wierd s
t i know ) and turning back around to do it all again, i do get to the B road and have fun on that road too, both directions (b6047).A look at the cars clock says its 4:15am, time does fly and all that, it feels like i've only been driving 15 minutes, i feel on a high, adrenaline pumping, heart beating, heavy breathing and sweat on my hands and forehead,.... On the way back i switch off Sport, put the gear setting from 5 to 2 and open the 2 front windows fully. Totally forgetting about the cold.
The noise this car makes when fully warmed is totaly grin inducingly moronic, its a drone under 3000rpm. Its such a deep deep bellowing base, you can feel your internal organs being jiggled about. The cars bouncing everywhere at 30/40mph forgot how stiff it was. As i drive i put the main heater on full and cruise along recalling what just happened over the last half and hour, as i come to a traffic light im aware of a very high pitched sqealing noise when pressing the brakes, that'l be the brakes then fully warmed up too.
Turn onto the main road leading to my house and im loving the drone from the exhaust and the car spitting as i come of throttle, the grin still on my face and i feel totally relaxed. As i get to my house i let off the throttle and roll it into the drive .
I sit in the car, smile like the joker, and tapping the wheel recounting the drive. I switch of and get out the car, walk towards the house , before i open the house door, i turn around and look at my car, god it looks better than ever, give it an appreciattive nod and lock the car.
M3 CSL its facking addictive, the first sound of that intake flap opening and you want more and more of it ! a awesome car very underrated
+ the roads at night absolutly sublime,
put the two together and its motoring at its best.
i need to get to sleep, i've been typing over an hour, please no spam about driving like a tool/ speeding etc.
Great write up mate, and great idea!!! Just like Clarkson and his CLK Black piece, just go for a 4am drive to get reconected with your car.
Have been meaning to do this myself but was waiting for the weather to improve.
Good on you for doing it, and sharing it with us.
Have been meaning to do this myself but was waiting for the weather to improve.
Good on you for doing it, and sharing it with us.
Edited by e46acs on Sunday 1st February 15:07
good work fella ! 
Great write up and agreed, something I have to do soon. I've been neglecting mine the last 6 months since using it to carry fence building tools, decorating equipment and other random bits of stuff. Good thing about any M3 in fact, can be used as sole car, no need for runaround.
I need to give her a good clean, and a spine tingling blast around some B-Roads in the middle of the night. Since its been sat in my garage for the best part of 3 months and seen a sponge once, I think she deserves it.
I need to give her a good clean, and a spine tingling blast around some B-Roads in the middle of the night. Since its been sat in my garage for the best part of 3 months and seen a sponge once, I think she deserves it.
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