Sitting in a British parking garage is a gorgeous BMW M3 CSL and while the history of the car is being debated online, what’s obvious is that this BMW has not had the life it should have.
News about the car recently resurfaced online through a series of stories shared and reshared across social media. The story goes that the original owner of the car collected it in Reading, UK on August 4, 2004, and proceeded to drive it 37 miles (59 km) to an underground parking garage in London where it has been sitting ever since. However, this appears to be a piece of creative storytelling.
Watch: Could A Manual-Swapped E46 CSL Be The Best M3 BMW Never Made?
Online reports available for the car suggest that it has approximately 16,000 km (10,000 miles) on the clock and has had multiple owners over the years. One Instagrammer who says he has access to the ‘BMW Kasio’ search system claims its last known odometer reading was over 23,000 km (~14,000 miles). A search of the license plate does note that it has unpaid tax since March 2006 so it could have been sitting since around that date. What isn’t being disputed is the fact that the M3 CSL has been sitting in this parking garage for a very long time and shows no signs of being saved.
Recent images taken of the car show that two of its wheels have been clamped and that it is caked in a thick layer of dirt and dust. At least one of the wheels has been scuffed and the rear bumper has taken a hit, perhaps from someone else in the parking garage. Scratches are also visible on the driver’s side wing mirror.
What does the future hold for the car? It’s hard to say but with prices of M3 CSL models on the rise, it’s possible that the current owner may decide now is the right time to restore it and sell it. Or maybe they’ll start driving it like it was designed to be driven.
