BMW M4 CSL (2022-2023) review – hardcore coupe doesn’t live up to the badge

Much was said about the BMW M4 CSL’s credentials to wear that particular badge despite a decent 100kg reduction in mass compared with the M4 Competition on which it was based. Indeed it was the first time that badge had been used in almost 20 years, the last time being the sublime M3 CSL of 2003. 

All the same, BMW’s M division did go to extraordinary lengths to create this car that marked its own 50th anniversary. Just 1000 were made, of which just 100 came to the UK priced from £128,820. That was getting on for a £50,000 premium over the M4 Competition.

BMW M4 CSL in detail

27

The headlines are a 39bhp boost to the 3-litre twin-turbocharged straight-six for a total of 542bhp at 6250rpm and 479lb ft from 2750 to 5950rpm. The CSL is limited to 190mph and covers 0-62mph in 3.7sec and 0-124mph in 10.6. 

It rides 8mm lower than an M4 Competition, there are helper springs front and rear for maximum control in extreme situations, greater camber at the front, and rose joints replace much of the rubber in the rear axle. The dampers were also retuned for this application with Comfort, Sport (configured for use on the Nordschleife) and Sport Plus modes. It goes almost without saying that the CSL was strictly rear-wheel drive.

Delve deeper and you discover that even the familiar, for example the superbly effective M Traction Control, was reconfigured. You still activate it by disabling DSC and levels 1 to 5 remain as on the M4 Competition (1 allowing the most slip, 5 the least). However, levels 6 to 10 are CSL-specific, tailored to optimise traction on a circuit in various conditions.

The engine bay features an extensive cast aluminium brace in the engine compartment to increase rigidity, and firmer engine and transmission mounts. It’s also notable that the CSL was no aero-monster despite a Nürburgring lap time of 7:15.677. An approach in keeping with the E46-generation M3 CSL, if not the original E9 CSL ‘Batmobile’ from 1973.

27

Stripping 100kg from an M4 Competition wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds. The big wins are easy. Removing the rear seats saves 21kg, for example. The CSL’s fixed bucket seats cut another 24kg and a reduction in sound insulation and a, lighter material where it remains deducts a further 15kg. The new wheels in combination with lighter damper struts and coil springs cut 21kg. 

Then you’re into carbonfibre for the bonnet and bootlid – complete with E46-inspired integrated spoiler – saving 11kg, the titanium silencer shaving 4kg, and another 4kg disappearing thanks to a lighter kidney grille, the deletion of rear floor mats and other little details changes. The carbonfibre centre console is 4kg lighter. Standard-fit carbon-ceramic brakes reduce unsprung and rotating mass and cut a substantial 14.3kg. 

Walk around the CSL, take a sit inside and whilst there’s none of the bare-bones racer feel of the original M3 GTS, there’s no question that the ambience is more focused, more special. Not a homologation car like the OG CSL or E30 M3 and not especially light even in the context of 2022 at 1625kg with fluids. It is nonetheless an exciting prospect.

BMW M4 CSL – Handling and performance

27

After weeks of warm and dry roads, our time with BMW’s would-be icon coincides with a fine mist of drizzle descending on a cold south Wales. Our CSL is fitted with versatile Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres rather than the unbelievably sticky and standard-fit Cup 2 Rs, which will be a great help in terms of clearing water but there’s no question the CSL will be fighting both the weather and a compromised set-up. There’s no way the full agility and response will be retained without those extreme tyres.

Even so, there’s an energy about this car that immediately differentiates it from the M4 Competition. You sense it when the straight-six starts but at first it’s very much an undercurrent rather than a raging torrent. There’s more volume but the CSL isn’t loud. It’s a step or two below a 911 GT3, for example, and it lacks the drama and clatter of a lightweight flywheel. 

It’s a CSL with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, of course. This particular car isn’t fitted with the fixed-back buckets, so even the driving position feels familiar. Only the lack of rear seats and the Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel really mark it out. The latter is a good few millimetres too fat, as usual.

That energy springs forth just as the wheels start to roll. The gearbox take-up is abrupt. So much so that it can stutter and lurch if you’re not assertive with the throttle. I’ve never experienced a full automatic with such an aggressive immediacy. The tension and intolerance of half-hearted inputs is familiar from the previous M4 GTS, which had a deeply mechanical feel to its M DCT ’box.

27

Channelling the divisive but wickedly focused GTS is no bad thing in my opinion. The CSL is pointedly not a GTS and is supposed to be more useable (hence the fitment of electronically adjustable dampers rather than a manually adjustable set-up) but any M4 that costs £130,000 needs to feel like a different animal to the base car. Those first few seconds are crucial.

There are more familiar GTS vibes as we nose quietly through a congested little town. The ride has the unmistakable feel of a car with rose joints. There’s more noise transmitted and the CSL shuffles over rapid-fire bumps. There’s no slack and it seems the dampers aren’t quite in their operating range yet, so the surface’s little imperfections can make the road feel corrugated. However, there’s no roll-cage to buzz and rattle and the CSL is definitely more mannered.

Above 30mph or so, the whole car seems to smooth out and there’s that delicious feeling of a stiff platform and expensive dampers combining to ruthless effect. The CSL’s gait is measured and accurate. Every ripple or divot makes it back to the driver but all the rough edges are knocked off. Information is delivered clearly and with poise. The CSL doesn’t appear to do ragged. In Comfort mode, I think it might ride better than the M4 Competition. 

There are some inescapables, though. With more noise, more attitude and the delicious sense of purpose bubbling away just beneath the surface, the sheer scale of the M4 CSL seems somehow more tangible than in the more refined M4 Competition. There’s just so much volume around you, and the vast space where the rear seats would normally sit makes the CSL feel like a bit of an echo chamber. It feels big on the road too, requiring effort not to thud catseyes and creating a sense of claustrophobia even as the roads start to open out and climb.

27

It’s not an exaggeration to say the BMW feels twice the size of a Porsche Cayman GT4 RS and hence you tend to think harder about unleashing the CSL. Rather than scratch from corner to corner or in between villages, light and agile and ever-ready, the BMW requires a bigger stage. The same would be true of, say, a Ferrari 812 Comp and I doubt I’d be complaining, but it does mean you spend quite a bit of time looking for the perfect road where in a smaller car you’d already be on it.

The E46 CSL has a fundamental ability to adapt to its surroundings and feels at home on bumpy single track, flowing B-road or the wide expanse of a circuit. I’m not sure the new car is quite so versatile. Or perhaps I should say the driver is less minded to get it really wound-up without the space to breathe.

Part of that is simply because the CSL is so outrageously fast. Low-rev response doesn’t feel quite as smooth and polished as an M4 Competition’s but I think part of that is due to the aggressive, sometimes almost uncouth way the gearbox locks up. However, once the engine is fully lit, the 3-litre straight-six is extraordinarily brawny and utterly relentless.

On roads glistening with moisture for the first time in weeks it’s an intimidating, puckering level of performance. And just when you relax, having marvelled at the way the CSL will dig itself out of corners without leaning into the traction control, you’ll hit a crest with, say, 5000rpm on the dial and the rears will spin up in a heartbeat. It’s a bit of a monster. Remember how, if you chose the original Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres on the E46 CSL, you had to sign a disclaimer saying you understood the potential for death and destruction in sub-optimal conditions? Maybe BMW should dig out that old Word doc and make 1000 copies…

27

As with all new M division models, there is a lot of configurability here and the various modes are worth exploring. There are pre-programmed modes, plus the ‘favourite’ type ones that you can call up with the M1 and M2 buttons. It’s a great system but arriving at your preferred settings could take some time. Luckily, the process is made very easy indeed. Simply hit the ‘Set up’ button next to the gear selector and the iDrive system brings up a full menu system listing all the configurable parameters. Now you can toggle between Comfort, Sport and, in certain cases, Sport Plus settings for each individual item and start to home in on your ultimate M4 CSL.

At this point people usually sagely say that what you want is everything else dialled up to maximum but the suspension on Comfort. Now insert a cliché about Lotus and we can all go home. It’s an approach that’s rarely true and in the case of the M4 CSL it couldn’t be more inaccurate. Here’s the thing. The CSL feels way, way too soft in Comfort mode once that engine starts to really hit. There’s too much performance and too much weight to control over lumps and bumps.

The helper springs might keep the main springs seated and functioning at all times but the CSL starts to feel oddly out of control as the road turns gnarly if you haven’t started to lock down the chassis. Sport mode is a considerable step up but, rather amazingly for a set-up tailored specifically for the Nürburgring Nordschleife, there’s still the odd moment of float where the body seems to be out of phase with wheels that are tracing the surface.

27

This is a shock not only because the M4 GTS was so nailed down in terms of body control but also after the almost spooky composure of the heavier M5 CS. On streaming wet, bumpy, narrow roads in Scotland, the big M5 just sucked up everything the road could throw at it and yet felt completely connected at all times. The ultimate confidence-builder. 

Yet here on the smoother sections the CSL just feels a tiny bit vague. Confusingly, as the road really starts to crumple and scrabble over the landscape, the overly supple feel evaporates and the CSL starts to feel harsh and lacking in suspension travel. Once again, I’m left wondering if I’ll find the CSL’s elusive sweet spot. I want a unique soundscape, too. It might be impossible to recreate the E46 CSL’s raucous intake roar but the new CSL needs something to set it apart. A few deep and meaningful thuds on the overrun isn’t enough.

Frustratingly, the sun only burns off the moisture right at the end of our time with the CSL and on roads nearer home that are less than ideal. Even so, the promise of the extensive upgrades begins to deliver. Front-end response is fantastic and there’s no question that the solidly mounted rear subframe and rose joints increase the feel zinging back through the steering and seat. On Cup 2 R tyres I’m sure it would be transformed still further. 

27

Yet the PS4Ss are great in one sense as they show the CSL’s strongest suit at lower speeds: balance. It may spring a surprise over big, sudden crests when the road is wet and cold, but even in Wales the CSL had shown lovely, progressive manners once loaded into a corner. Despite the sheer aggression of the engine and gearbox, the way it can be teased on and around the limit really is a time-honoured M division trait.

I really don’t want to hand back the key to the M4 CSL. Despite having covered hundreds of miles, I’m not sure I fully know the car’s ultimate potential. It can feel spaceship fast and beautifully adjustable one moment, but heavy and with stretched body control the next. It seems a little too supple on fast, smooth sections but then starts to unravel when things get really bumpy. 

Despite extremely fast, aggressive shifts, the automatic gearbox does feel slightly at odds with the car’s ethos in other areas. Much more so than it does in the M4 Competition. The CSL feels different to the sublime M2 and M5 CS models it followed, that’s for sure, but in this instance there’s a nagging feeling that it’s less than the sum of its considerable parts.

evo Car of the Year 2022 result – Peter Tomalin

27

‘Great things were expected of the M4 CSL, particularly after the brilliance of the M2 CS and M5 CS on two previous eCotys, and most of us could recall memorable drives when it all came together, but as Gallagher said, those moments were too fleeting to make it a contender.

‘Its engine is an absolute force of nature. Indeed, with so much torque that it would readily break traction in fourth gear over bumps, it never felt less than a handful. Which was fine if you were in the mood, but too often it was wild and wayward across roads the McLaren, Ferrari and GR86 took in their stride. Sutcliffe wondered how BMW could have got it so wrong, given that it had presumably been produced by the same people who gave us last year’s quite amazingly well-judged M5 CS.

‘‘Things improve if you stroke it along on its vast torque,’ said Bovingdon, ‘and the way it resists understeer is really impressive. The brakes, too. But should a CSL be a car you have to manage in this way? A car you actively don’t drive hard in just to make it flow?’

‘Meaden agreed. ‘Like the 4RS, the CSL’s fitness for the specific purpose of attacking smooth roads and/or racetracks is beyond question, but on too many UK roads it’s too full-on to be anywhere near its sweet spot.’ More fundamentally, whilst it actually felt surprisingly light, its physical size was a handicap. All agreed that an M2 would have been a much better fit for such an extreme treatment.’

BMW M4 CSL values and specs

27

While the BMW M4 CSL was expensive when new, costing £128,820, it was rare, with just 100 sold in the UK. There’s also the unmistakable allure of that badge, with the car to which it was last affixed now considered an all-time BMW M icon and a solid place to park your cash.

Today, M4 CSLs are priced between £85,000 and £100,000 – in other words, around what a new standard M4 costs – having depreciated more compared to its original price than the venerable M5 CS did. And no, none of the examples we found had covered many miles, the cheapest £86,000 car having covered less than 15,000.

Specs

Share this on TwitterShare this on FacebookEmailAdd as a preferred source on Google