CSL again on BaT

Drew Gregg

Drew Gregg

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911R has a nice driving video.

bringatrailer.com

1973 BMW 3.0 CSL

Bid for the chance to own a 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #267,225.
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Shift distance from 1st to 2nd must be a short shift kit when you see the start video.
 
Tyler said:
I’m around and happy to answer any questions about my car.
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It looks like a short shift kit when the shift lever is put through the gears. Do you know the details of whose kit was installed and how it was adjusted? Thanks, Drew
 
Drew - You indicate in your signature that you have a UUC short shift kit in your car. As I recall, you can set the height of the shifter with that kit, which shortens up the throw but requires more effort. Back when I was doing mods on my 540i6, I spent a bunch of time looking at alternative BMW shifters, but that was about the time UUC was just getting started. What's wrong with the UUC setup you have now?


Shift Levers.jpg
 
Drew Gregg said:
It looks like a short shift kit when the shift lever is put through the gears. Do you know the details of whose kit was installed and how it was adjusted? Thanks, Drew
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Drew, the car has the original shifter with refreshed gearbox mounts, shifter bushings, etc. which tightened things up considerably.
- Tyler
 
Hey Don...I see what you are saying w/ the airdam/splitters/yellow lights but to me that is all "bug on the windscreen" stuff. Easily fixable at minimal cost compared to the overall picture. That's not 10's of thousands of dollar in value kind of stuff. Someone in the comments, Shelby something or other, made a great point - "Crazy that 73 911RS lightweights are $1.5M and 3.0 CSL UL languish at $300-350k."

For this to only go to $150K and tferrer's for $92K seems crazy to me, almost in my reach. I never thought I'd be able to say that about a CSL. The vintage car market, like any other market is sometimes hard to explain or more importantly, "hard to predict."
 
so 2 nice Inka CSL at 150k this fall. one sold, one RNM. with bat1 + bat2 selling for 300k to 350k ... way down from 500 to 600k a few years ago. at the same time we see excellent 3.0cs / csi selling for 100k to 150k. i know that these cars aren't apples to apples comparisons ... but i know the condition of these high value CS / CSi might be higher than some of the CSL up for sale. my point is the market is strange.
 
Nachtycoupe said:
Hey Don...I see what you are saying w/ the airdam/splitters/yellow lights but to me that is all "bug on the windscreen" stuff. Easily fixable at minimal cost compared to the overall picture. That's not 10's of thousands of dollar in value kind of stuff. Someone in the comments, Shelby something or other, made a great point - "Crazy that 73 911RS lightweights are $1.5M and 3.0 CSL UL languish at $300-350k."

For this to only go to $150K and tferrer's for $92K seems crazy to me, almost in my reach. I never thought I'd be able to say that about a CSL. The vintage car market, like any other market is sometimes hard to explain or more importantly, "hard to predict."
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Everybody and their brother wants a Porsche, the rare ones are just more of the same and they figure they'll never lose any money on it so the prices just go up... It takes someone with taste to want a E9 and that's a more limited audience. Just say'n...
 
Older BMWs, including our E9s, have a limited audience; auctions are not their domain, and the very best sell privately to a knowledgeable audience.

I know of a Bat that recently sold for $650k and one that sold for $300k. Another sold a few years ago for $850k and everything in between.

Forgive me for saying this, but the "general" audience for the lightweight is not as large as the 2.7RS or as knowledgeable; yes there are a few CSL experts amongst us here, but not much more beyond.

I guarantee you, go back 10 -15 years, and these same conversations happened: "Why is a CSL 1/4 - 1/3rd of a 2.7RS?". Then, around Covid time and just before, our CSLs became 1/2 of a 2.7 RS of equivalent condition and spec.

Unfortunately, the market got exhausted on the supply and demand curve; suddenly everybody was selling their E9s and CSLs and dealers jumped on the bandwagon, the supply has overtaken the demand for now.

Today, the youngsters want E30, E46, etc, the very best E9s will always do well, but the gap between a great E9 and a 2.7RS will always be there, just supply/demand of each at particular times will it be 1/3 - 1/4 or 1/2 ? At times any of these......... but equivalent - I think not - believe me, I wish it were not the case.
 
The E9 CSL (& bat) and the Carrera RS 2.7 bear the silent weight of ancestral sins. Do not judge them for what they are, but for the shadows cast by their parents over the next 50 years.

911 is more than a brand in Porsche or the VW group. It is a religion! And despite 50+ years of corporate gymnastics, re-organizations, downsizing, "new" strategy, consultants, VW clueless managers, etc. they have done a fantastic job and protected the product. Today's 911 looks like the old 911. They continue to invest in motorsports and are actually successful. You can pretty much get any part you want for your classic Porsche. I know since I own quite a few.

BMW on the other hand has done a horrible job in protecting the brand. They continue to want to be everything to everybody to survice. Now a mass production car, with often (common) components purchased from suppliers. Yes, they still do a decent job in the sense of vehicle dynamics, but some models are nothing more than a rental car. Is a 5000lb M5 really a descendent of the original M5? The "M" brand is meaningless. IMHO the spiral started with the Bangle Butt. And the E39M5 was the last BMW I ever bought and still the best sedan I have ever owned.

E9 CSL to me is one of the most beautiful cars ever.

PS: I own a 73 (really a 74) RS 2.7 (now 2.85L weighs 2000lbs) in the rare Irish green which took me 22+ years to retore is an incredibly fun car to drive, but not as beautiful as an E9 CSL.
 
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@Nachtycoupe, @rsporsche, @ElGrecko, @BMW Pete, @CamayroZ You guys have made great points. It’s a strange market, there are generational preferences, and Porsche has done a better job than BMW with their brand management and new car design.

As a not-so-young owner of an E46 M3 and 996 GT3, I believe all of that, but am still amazed to see where CSL values sit today given its motorsport history, driveability, build quality and beauty. But tastes are cyclical and I think the CSL will one day be back in the sun.

If anyone is interested to discuss owning this lovely example, you know where to find me.

Tyler
 
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