BMW M3 CSL & BMW 535d Touring
£50,000 & sub £25,000 PERFECT FOR: anyone with a pulse and up to two kids
So if you’re looking for more value-for-money in your Bimmer-bang-for-buck, how about harking back for a special edition BMW instead of looking forward? Yep, it’s time to haul out that perennial favourite, the awesome E46 BMW M3 CSL. You’ll find that nice examples are brushing the £70k mark (’03/’04, obviously, with varying mileages between 25k–45k miles), which makes you cough when you think that the car listed at £31,995 back in 2003, but there are still CSLs out there for sub-50. Yes, they do typically have more on the clock, but a well-looked-after example with 60k–80k miles isn’t a financial deathtrap, as long as it’s been looked after. With 355bhp from one of the nicest straight-sixes we’ve ever driven, it’s a bit of a peach. Yes, the 7,900rpm naturally aspirated redline is a thing of joy, no matter which way you cut it. No, it’s not quite as fast as an M2 CS, hitting 62mph in about five seconds, but it’s not slow, and the SMG paddlebox is fine. Just take a look at all the usual stuff; the carbon should be present and correct (the composite roof needs to be unmarked, obviously), there’s an aluminium bonnet, so make sure that’s not dinged, and the wheels should be the standard lightweight aluminium originals, preferably the optional 19s.
But hang on a minute. Even if you bought a nice, mid-range CSL from the reasonable end of the spectrum for high days and track days, you’ll still have a bit of cash left from the M2 CS £75k pot. So how about shelling out for a pre-owned 5 Touring as well? You can pick up a lovely late 2016 535d Touring with less than 60k miles for about £20k. That’s 313bhp and a glut of lovely torque. There is a tidal wave of fairly lovely 520d M-Sport Tourings out there: 12k-ish miles, 18 or 19 ’plate, automatic, all for under £25 grand.
Our choice? A nice E46 M3 CSL for around £50,000, a looked-after 530d xDrive Touring on a ’17 reg for £20,000 and save up the five grand for a Brian James twin-axle Sprint trailer. Makes the M2 CS opposite look more than a little bit expensive in comparison.