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The BMW M4 CSL is finally here. The lightweight, high-powered coupe is the company's latest M offering that arrives just as BMW celebrates 50 years of its iconic performance brand. The new M4 CSL is an exclusive model, with BMW planning to produce just 1,000 examples for the entire world. The coupe receives improvements over the M4 Competition, making it the fastest series-production BMW ever to lap the Nürburgring's Nordschleife circuit. It took the M4 CSL just 7:20.2 to complete a lap. Stylistically, the BMW's visual enhancements are all about performance, and at the front, that means BMW optimized the design for maximum cooling potential and generating downforce. The new M4 features high- and low-temperature cooling circuits to ensure the car's various components maintain their optimal operating temperatures during street and track driving. The BMW M4 CSL uses the brand's twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine. It produces 543 horsepower (404 kilowatts), a 40-hp increase over the M4 Competition. The engine pumps out 479 pound-feet (649 Newton-meters) of torque available from 2,750 to 5,950 rpm. BMW also cranked up boost pressure from 24.7 psi in the Competition to 30.5 psi in the new CSL. BMW routes the CSL's power to the rear wheels through its eight-speed M Steptronic transmission with Drivelogic. Tapping the carbon-fiber paddle shifters behind the steering wheel engages the gearbox's manual mode, allowing drivers to execute multiple downshifts to the lowest available gear. The gearbox also won't force upshifts when in manual mode and the car's accelerating. BMW says the M4 CSL will hit 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 3.6 seconds. It needs just 10.5 seconds to hit 120 mph (193 kph). BMW electronically limits its top speed to 191 mph (307 kph). BMW went to great lengths to reduce the CLS's weight, eliminating 240 pounds (108.8 kilograms) and giving the coupe a 3,640-lbs (1,605-kg) curb weight. BMW's weight loss program included cutting the rear seats (46 lbs), switching to lightweight sound insulation (33 lbs), using interior and exterior carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) components (24 lbs), and installing a titanium rear silencer (9 lbs). The CSL's standard M Carbon ceramic brakes eliminated another 31.5 pounds, while BMW's extensive use of CFRP for the hood and trunk reduced the coupe's weight by another 3 lbs and 15 lbs, respectively. BMW shaved another 8 pounds from various components such as the kidney grille, rear lights, floor mats, and automatic climate control system. Using carbon fiber for the center console cut about 9 lbs, though one of the most significant cuts came from BMW installing M Carbon full bucket seats, which dropped another 53 lbs from the car. Inside the M4 CLS, you'll find just two lightweight seats, but they are no ordinary BMW seats. BMW exclusively designed the M Carbon full bucket seats with track driving in mind. They lack lumbar support, power adjustability, and heating. However, BMW will offer heated M Carbon bucket seats with complete power-adjustability as a no-cost option if the standard seats are a bit too extreme. The M Carbon full bucket seats, trimmed in black Merino leather with red Alcantara inserts, feature pronounced side bolsters, and they come with a fixed-angle backrest. If you want to adjust the height, you'll need a workshop and the use of a three-stage screw linkage. Thankfully, drivers can make fore and aft adjustments with a manual lever at the front edge of the seat. The lack of rear seats makes space for two helmet storage compartments. BMW also used CFRP for the double-bubble roof, which helped reduce the car's overall curb weight and lowered the car's center of gravity. That's a big win for its handling. The company also stiffened the car's engine and transmission mounts while installing a specially developed strut brace that connects the two spring strut towers with the front end. Underneath, BMW installed a model-specific suspension that lowers the ride height by 0.3 inches compared to the M4 Competition. BMW designed many suspension parts specifically for the CSL, such as the anti-roll bars, wheel camber settings, and dampers. Stopping power comes from six-piston, fixed-caliper 15.7-inch front brakes, and single-piston, floating-caliper 15.0-inch rears. BMW offers two pedal-feel settings for drivers. Those brakes sit inside staggered 21- and 22-inch matte-black light-alloy M wheels that BMW wraps in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. The 2023 BMW M4 CSL will have a starting price of $140,895 (that includes the $995 destination charge). Production begins this July.

This piece of news is pretty interesting if you're a BMW M3 enthusiast. The people at Sport Auto magazine in Germany had recently published (in their September issue) their lap time results for their run around the Nurburgring and Hockenheim circuit for the BMW M3 GTS. The M3 GTS is a limited to 99 units Uber-M3 specified with bright orange paintwork, a half roll cage instead of rear seats, bespoke suspension and a 444bhp 4.4liter V8 instead of the usual 414bhp 4.0liter V8. The 99 people who bought the car coughed up $170,000 for what is considered to be the ultimate M3 that anyone could buy in this day and age. Anyway, the Sport Auto people managed to make the M3 GTS lap the 'Ring with a time of 7minutes 48seconds. This 'unofficial' time is only 2seconds slower than a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera and a second slower than the mighty Ferrari 599GTB. It is however faster than a Porsche 911 Carrera S with full ceramic brakes, dual clutch gearbox, sport chrono plus kit and sticky Michelin Cup tires. Pretty impressive until you notice that the 2003-04 E46 M3 CSL (pictured below)lapped the same circuit in about 7minutes 50 seconds. They also tested the M3 GTS at Hockenheim, which is a a normal few kilometers long circuit unlike the epic 20 over kilometers long Nurburgring. Here, they found out that the M3 GTS does a lap time of 1minute 12.5seconds, which is only a second faster than the M3 CSL. What we now can tell is that for $170,000, you get a car that is only a second or two faster than a car that is $70,000 cheaper. It also tells us that after 5 years of tuning and so called progress, the latest and most ultimate M3 is only 2 seconds faster than the older car. 444bhp over 360bhp and about 1,660kg over 1,385kg. When you get down to the details, the power to weight ratio of the GTS is 267bhp/ton compared to 264bhp per ton. So the extra power has been negated by the weight in the GTS. The one or two seconds gained must have been from handling improvements instead of actual power gain over the older car. Whatever it is, the $70,000 extra that someone had to fork out over the older car isn't that justified. So much for actual progress, it seems the older car could still be the best M3 ever made. So if anyone is interested in getting the ultimate M3, the E46 M3 CSL could still be the one to get. Source and main pic:bimmerpost/m3post via jalopnik