The M3 CSL E46 could not exist if it were not a regular E46. BMW showed the new ‘3’ at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1998. The Germans emphasised that, when creating the next 3 Series, they wanted it to be both familiar and completely new. They reconciled these apparent contradictions in a clever way. On the one hand, they designed something that continued the style of its predecessor in a modern way; on the other, they spared no expense in ensuring that the E46 met the demands of the market at the time, the binding safety standards and pleasing customers’ taste.

A new iteration of the coupe was also shown at Geneva only a year later. Although the car looks like an E46 sedan, with the only exception of the rear doors, it is a vehicle with a completely fresh design. If the coupe were to be damaged while we were driving it, we would soon realise that the parts from the sedan would be of no use to us, except for the emblems, door handles and lights. The windscreen is of a completely different size, the roof is shorter and the doors use frameless glass. A car that is seemingly similar, yet so different.

We are, of course, most interested in the ‘Three’ with the ‘M’ badge. The M3 was unveiled in Geneva in the spring of 2000. Compared to its brothers, it was 20 mm wider. Also, the engineers modified a few of its exterior components, especially those responsible for aerodynamics. A 6-cylinder, 343-hp, 3.2-litre engine was tucked under the bonnet. Speed was traditionally limited to 250 km/h. When you buy an M3, you can always be sure that you will have an unconventional car in your garage. But BMW would not be itself if it did not raise the bar even for a vehicle which, as common sense indicates, nobody could further improve.

The car you see in the photos was purchased in 2021 in Germany. It is a vehicle that is as unusual as it is rare. If you have already started tallying up your savings and getting down to searching the classifieds, we need to cool your excitement. These cars are rarely offered for sale and even when they are, the price always knocks you off your feet. This is one of the few cars that does not come cheap. Of course, the amount of money you should expect to spend will not go up indefinitely. At some point the price skyrocketing will stop at a defined level, you can be sure of that. Just like the fact that it will still be at a level that is completely obscene.

Jeremy Clarkson called it the best BMW ever. So that the Top Gear cameras could record a test that best reflected the nature of the car, the team travelled to the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. Why there? There was only one reason: on the Isle of Man there are no speed limits on roads outside built-up areas. The BMW M3 CSL E46 is a firecracker. It will provide an adrenaline rush, but to the unskilful it can do severe harm.

The regular M3 is always fast, but who says it can’t be faster? In the preparation of the new CSL, they decided to do away with everything that is not essential for driving and that, by its presence, adds even one kilo to the weight of the car. Jeremy Clarkson said the boot liner was made of cardboard, which is not true. What is true, however, is that the designers took all pains to keep the final weight of the M3 CSL E46 as low as possible. Thus, in the 21st century, in the middle of Europe, they created a car without any radio, air conditioning and electrically adjustable seats to slim this BMW car down wherever possible. As a result, one seat here weighs only eighteen kilograms – standard sport seats from M3 over thirty. The roof and door trims are made of carbon, and the boot lid of plastic. The bonnet (with its characteristic bulge) is aluminium, and the rear window is thinner than standard. These and other measures reduced the weight of the car by approximately 100 kg. Under the bonnet it still had the 3.2 litre engine, but this time they squeezed not 343 but 355 hp out of it.

How does the E46 M3 CSL drive? This is one of those questions that you cannot be answered in a single word. You can try, but with the fear, almost certainly, that you will say nothing that reflects its actual performance. All you must do is think: how can a car drive that tops 100 km/h in the blink of an eye and whose engine sounds like a thoroughbred rally car? Your imagination will produce the answers. We guarantee that each of them is as good as incomplete. To get into the driver’s seat, in this case, is to find oneself once again in a reality where motoring abhors neither petrol nor loud engine noise.
Is anyone not willing to take a ride?