Banbury based BMW performance car specialist, Everything M3s, celebrates the launch of its manual gearbox conversion kits for the E46 model M3 CSL with a short film that has been endorsed by leading supercar expert James Cottingham of DK Engineering.
Revered by collectors and drivers worldwide, the rare E46 BMW M3 CSL is considered to be one of the best roadgoing cars of all time, although for many it has a shortcoming with its early form of paddleshift gearbox, known as DSG.
For those used to more recent performance cars, this often-harsh gearbox could spoil the driving pleasure of an otherwise great car, until conversion specialist Everything M3s engineered its own solution to the problem.
Supercar expert James Cottingham commented: “While the E46 M3 CSL is the ultimate road car, the SMG system just doesn’t work as well as modern systems do. The BMW manual gearbox is tried and tested, and Everything M3s has a done a fabulous job of converting the transmission for manual use.”
Sold as a complete fitted kit, the manual conversion replaces the electrohydraulic element of the gearbox with a traditional clutch pedal and gear stick arrangement using 180 genuine all-BMW parts.
In a process which takes just a matter of days, the gearbox is removed from the vehicle, a self-centering shifting mechanism is added, a new clutch and flywheel are fitted and finally the engine management system is recoded for a manual transmission.
Protecting the originality of the limited-edition M3 CSL to retain its values is key, so the entire process is reversible and all parts can be retained with the vehicle to ensure a complete return to a factory state at any time in the future.
Everything M3s is the brainchild of ex-Formula 1 mechanic and engineer, Darragh Doyle, who enjoyed a love of the BMW M3 from childhood. Having left Formula 1, he set up Everything M3s to specialise in the restoration, servicing, tuning and enhancement of these vehicles. A devotee of the rare CSL edition, he was frustrated with the lack of a manual gearbox option.
Darragh said: “While we appreciate every iteration of M3, I was annoyed that the CSL – in my opinion the best of the best – never had a manual gearbox, so I decided to engineer my own. It is easier to live with in traffic and around town, while giving total control on a racetrack. A manual M3 CSL is the car that BMW should have always built.”
