Jay Kay knows a thing or two about cars. He’s been a Munich Legends customers since his early days with Jamiroquai, and a lifelong BMW fan – his first car was a 1602. Jay got in touch in late 2009, having just acquired a 3.0 csl, surprisingly, his first one. The E9 coupe was feeling a little sorry for itself, wearing black and with a fair amount of rust, with badly fitting panels and a wrecked interior.

Jay was very specific about what he wanted from the car, looks-wise. Polaris silver, no stripes. 16” alloys, wing mounted wind-splitters. Lightweight black rear bumper, no front bumper, and the additional lower valence. The stance had to be spot on – no drooping rear axle. Spacers were tried and removed, and tried again until just the right amount of rear lift had been achieved.

Once stripped, the bare shell was sent away for chemical dipping at one of the few remaining facilities in the UK. Meanwhile the interior was fully reupholstered, re-carpeted and the wood lovingly restored by one of our cabinet makers. The Mota-lita steering wheel was replaced by a three spoke drilled original, to complete the interior make-over.

Once the car was painted rebuilt, Jay decided to replace the original 4-speed gearbox with a 5-speed Getrag dogleg (from an E12 535i) and uprate the cams. Finally, a customised stereo system was installed and the finishing touch of two front sports headrests was added.

The end result was a delighted Jay, and a very proud restoration team. Jay’s Polaris CSL certainly looked unmistakably individual, but with (we think) exactly the right balance or originality and style.