Though some will tell you BMW M has lost its way, a few things remain sacred - the CSL badge is one of them. Itโs been used twice in half a century, reserved only for the most special of two-door, six-cylinder, road racer BMWs. You wonโt find an original 70sโ CSL for less than ยฃ100k, and there arenโt many M3 CSLs left below six figures, either - both, as youโre probably aware, are very special cars.
So thereโs an awful lot riding on this M4 CSL, confirmed by BMW last week and previewed here ahead of a debut next week. BMW knows it, too; this video is presented by Jorg Weidinger, responsible for โFunctional Integration Driving Dynamicsโ in the new car. Heโs reverential about the E46 CSL, which the new car pays homage to with its kicked up bootlid, describing it as a car โwhich brought great emotion to all of us.โ
But this new CSL is going to be far more than an iconic badge and a snazzy new spoiler, which Jorg is only too happy to discuss. The M4 will be available with Michelin Cup 2 R tyres, typically the preserve of mid-engined exotics and a nice nod back to the M3, which was infamously launched with the original Cup tyres that didnโt much like inclement weather. No such issues this time around though, it seems, as the car is trundled around a road route on a grey day without drama. Maybe a British take on miserable weather might prove more testing.
Though road testing is inevitably a big part of the development programme - โin most cases the customers doesnโt have a race track on their doorstepโ - the Nurburgring assessment is the really exciting bit. The M3 nipped in under eight minutes 20 years ago, and the standard M4 has already proven fearsomely quick around the 13 miles. Weโve seen the CSL testing there, the additional aero is plain to see and any reduction in mass will surely pay dividends on circuit. Jorg adds in the video that this car is โsignificantly faster on the racetrack than anything weโve had beforeโ and that โwe will put the whole thing into practice in terms of a lap timeโ. Just in case this whole CSL project wasnโt exciting enough. How close to seven minutes might it get?