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Nick Heidfeld's Rare BMW 3.0 CSL Heads to Auction in Zurich
A 553bhp BMW 3.0 CSL, once owned by former Formula 1 driver Nick Heidfeld and showing just 216 miles, will be offered at Broad Arrow's Zurich sale on 7 November with an estimate of up to CHF 1.2 million.
By Charlotte Redford · 4 min read
A rare BMW 3.0 CSL formerly owned by the Formula 1 driver Nick Heidfeld is to be offered at auction in Switzerland, with the car expected to command a seven-figure sum. The coupe, chassis number 28 of the 50 built, will cross the block at Broad Arrow's Zurich sale on 7 November at The Dolder Grand, where the auction house estimates it will fetch between CHF 900,000 and CHF 1.2 million.
The car's appeal rests on a combination of extreme rarity, negligible use and a famous first owner. It has covered just 216 miles from new, meaning it has spent far more of its life in storage than on the road, and the auction listing describes it as a highly original example. Heidfeld, who raced in Formula 1 from 2000 to 2011 and drove for BMW Sauber during the team's most successful period, previously owned the car, adding a direct link between the machine and the manufacturer's motorsport history.
BMW built the modern 3.0 CSL as a celebration of 50 years of its M division and as a tribute to the original E9-based coupe that established the division's racing credentials in the 1970s. Based on the M4 CSL, the car received extensive bespoke bodywork to give it a distinct appearance. All 50 examples were finished to an identical retro-flavoured specification in Alpine White with the familiar M stripes, an oversized rear wing, gold wheels and yellow daytime running lights. Carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic was used for numerous body components, reinforcing the car's motorsport-inspired character.
Under the bonnet sits a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-six producing 553 horsepower. That output represents a modest increase over the M4 CSL, but it is sufficient to make the 3.0 CSL the most powerful six-cylinder, petrol-only BMW in history. The transmission is arguably the more significant detail for enthusiasts: rather than an automatic, the car uses a six-speed manual gearbox sending power exclusively to the rear wheels, a combination that gives it the title of the most powerful three-pedal BMW ever built.
That old-school mechanical formula — a high-output straight-six, a manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive — sets the 3.0 CSL apart at a time when automatic transmissions and electrification dominate the performance car market. It is a specification likely to appeal to well-funded collectors who value driving engagement as much as outright speed.
The sale includes several items that distinguish this example further. Alongside the car, the buyer will receive an owner's book numbered 28/50, a 1:18-scale model, original documentation and a design sketch signed by the BMW designer Viktor Bär. Such accompanying material is often decisive in auctions of limited-run modern classics, where provenance and completeness can separate one example from another.
The result in Zurich will also serve as a test of the market for ultra-low-mileage modern collectibles. With only 216 miles recorded, the car has effectively been preserved rather than used, and its next owner will face a familiar choice: keep it stored in a climate-controlled garage as an investment-grade asset, or take advantage of the manual gearbox and drive it as BMW M intended. Given the mileage accumulated so far, preservation appears the more probable outcome.
The 3.0 CSL's status as one of the rarest M cars of recent years underpins the estimate. Limited to a run of 50, it sits at the intersection of BMW's heritage and its modern engineering, referencing the original Batmobile of the 1970s while employing contemporary materials and turbocharged power. For collectors, the combination of a famous former owner, delivery mileage and a numbered place in a tiny production run makes this a notably complete proposition when it reaches the auction block in November.
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