There are 4 types of csl’s
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- Fuel injection (LHD) 539 429 110 200 bhp
| In the early seventies, the European Touring-Car Championship title (ETC) was very hard to gain and most of the car manufacturers like BMW, Ford, Mercedes, Porsche etc… were doing their utmost for the title.
The only condition for a manufacturer to race a car, was to first produce a very low number of special cars (at least 1000) to satisfy the FIA rules (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile)… The green light was only given by the F.I.A once this special series was built and all the cars sold… This is the reason why Porsche built the Carrera RS 2.7 litre, Ford the Capri RS 2.6 litre and BMW the 3.0 CSL lightweight. 1265 units of the 3.0 CSL lightweight have been built between 1972-1975 by BMW and this unbeatable car won seven ETC titles : the 3.0 CSL definitely was the absolute winner of the 70’s. The main competitor in the battle for the ETC tittle was Ford and BMW had to really find a secret weapon to put all the chances on its side : under the management of Jochen Neerpasch the BMW Motorsport GmbH was created and the most efficient idea to really make the 3.0 CSL unbeatable was found ! A very impressive aerodynamic addenda was developed and the lap time on the old Nurburgring circuit extraordinarily improved: Hanns-Stuck drove immediately 7 seconds faster than his best laps!!! To satisfy the F.I.A rules, BMW had to build a minimum of 110 cars equipped with this enormous spoiler. A first batch of 110 cars was built in 1973 and a second batch of 57 cars was built as special order between 1974 and 1975. Due to their futuristic appearance (don’t forget we are speaking of cars built about 30 years ago!!!) those cars were baptised Batmobiles. The main difference between the first and the second batch of Batmobiles, is the rear wing itself. The Batmobiles of the first batch have a two-part rear wing and the Batmobiles of the last batch have a three part rear wing (with a central fin). There are 4 types of CSL’s:
Total units produced 1265. Some explanations about the different types now. For the first CSL type (carburettor CSL) BMW had not yet foreseen a special chassis number range and simply given a standard 3.0 litre CS chassis number. That is the reason why carburettor CSL’s chassis numbers are very difficult to find out ! Anyway I have all the chassis numbers of the cars and could give accurate information if necessary. The fuel injection (Right Hand Drive) CSL’s have all been produced for the English market and are a little bit more “luxurious“ as the standard CSL’s… The English CSL’s had power steering, power windows, climate control etc… The chassis numbers are ranging from 2285 001 to 2285 500. The fuel injection (Left Hand Drive) CSL’s have all been produced for the “rest of the world” market and most of them really stick to the initial “race car idea” i.e. no power steering, no power (front) windows , quick retaining pins to open the bonnet, fixed (rear) Plexiglas windows, plastic rear bumper, no front bumper , etc… etc… anything that could save weight was done !!!! The chassis numbers are ranging from 2275 001 to 2275 539. The particularity of the fuel injection Left Hand Drive CSL’s is that they are divided in two types of cars. From chassis number 2275 001 to 2275 429 all the cars have a 3.0 liter engine with 200 bhp. From chassis number 2275 430 to 2275 539 the cars have a 3.2 litre engine with 206 bhp and are Batmobiles (the first batch of 110 cars I was speaking about). The fuel injection (Left Hand Drive) CSL’S produced in 1974 - 1975 are the second batch of Batmobiles. All the cars have a 3.2 litre engine with 206 bhp The chassis numbers are ranging from 4355 001 to 4355 057. Most of the CSL had light alloy parts (aluminium doors, aluminium boot and bonnet) thin gauge fenders and BMW saved weight wherever it was possible to do it (only 36 AH battery, no front bumpers, very light black carpet, no anti-proof material, special bucket seats, etc… etc…) My car is one of the last 57 cars built, with chassis 4355 031. My car had 3 owners and the most extraordinary in the history of my car is that the first two owners are VIP’s ! First owner was Hanns-Joachim Stuck himself (!) Second owner was Christian Neureuther (a famous German ski athlete) It is an incredible story for me to own a car previously owned by H. Stuck himself… Everybody knows that HJ-Stuck became a star driving the CSL in the 70’s !!! The car has been full restored with only original / genuine BMW CSL lightweight parts. Some of them were very hard to locate, but it gave me the opportunity to visit Italy, Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany and some other European countries just to buy the correct missing part! I just drove it for the first time two weeks ago to the Nurburgring Oldtimer Grand-Prix where I met some other CSL Owners. We had a very nice time together and spoke very late in the night about those fabulous cars. Best Regards, Yannick BERNAT Tel. +33.3.88.13.70.49 (Oberhausbergen) Tel. +49.7851.935.147 (Kehl) Fax. +33.3.88.13.70.15 (Oberhausbergen) Fax. +49.7851.935.206 (Kehl) Mobile +49.172.74.70.295 (Kehl) eMail(1) yannick.bernat@elenac.com eMail(2) yannick.bernat@wanadoo.fr Download 18.9 Kb. Share with your friends:
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