Throwback Thursday: the M3 Drifting Granny

That was the epitome of the E46 platform and it’s still highly regarded today as one of the best M3s ever made. Heck, even the extremely pretentious Jeremy Clarkson clearly said he liked it. If that’s not enough, we don’t know what is.

Sure, the regular M3 was pretty good too but the CSL was on a different level. Developed to be as light as possible, the Coupe Sport Leichbau was a limited run model built in only 1,400 units and it was never officially imported into the US.

With a kerb weight of 1,385 kg (3,053 lbs), the CSL was light on its feet and had an upgraded version of the S54 engine under the bonnet that made 360 HP and 370 Nm (273 lb-ft) of torque due to a bigger air intake, new camshafts and a refreshed exhaust manifold.

Shedding weight is not as easy as you might think either. It has to be shed from the right places. In the case of the CSL, BMW made it 110 kg (240 lbs) lighter than the regular model by removing some of the sound insulation, the electric seats, navigation system and many others. The roof, for example, was replaced with a CFRP one. Yes, the exact same material used today on the i3, i8 and new M3 and M4, only it was back in 2004.

The suspension was also improved, with racing springs and new dampers while the steering ratio makes it even more responsive. Other changes were done throughout the car but to go through all of them would take days and nobody has that kind of time anymore.

Anyhow, today we stumbled upon this old video that was quite popular back in the day. It was used to promote the character and feel of the old E46 M3 when it was still in production. Some of you might even remember it. Sure, that grandma probably didn’t do those donuts but what this short clip suggests goes needs no further explanation. Enjoy!

PS: we know that's not a CSL but we couldn't talk about the M3 without mentioning its most hardcore version.