THE E46 M3CSL.EXPENSIVEWHENNEW.ACAR
with nobasis in motorsport, with a gearbox that was far
fromloved evenat the time, let alone now, and brakes that
were hopelessfor the track work it was presumably aimed
at. Oh, and original Michelin Pilot Sport Cups that required
a disclaimer before you drove the car in the wet. Byjust
about any measure it gave secondbest to a 996.2 GT3. But
now?Don’t you just really want one, for so manyobvious
and oft-repeatedreasons?
The samemight besaid of the E92 M3GTS: a decent
car, but a lotof money for a V8M3and, well,
wouldn’t you haveboughta 997 GT3 asa
track car? And yetwhenwedrove one inevo
263 it seemedfabulous – bespoke, brimming
withfeeland character, let alone actual
ability. You’ll pay a highprice toown one
today, but I’d love to allthe same.
The questionis, what are the chances of the
F32 M4CS, and its four-door M3CSbrother,
repeating the samecycle?BMW’s modern-
eraspecials, unliketheir counterparts from
Weissach, have usually taken a long while to
beappreciated. The best current-gen M3/M 4
is easily the 2018model year car in CompetitionPackage
form. It’s a great all-rounder, and evennear the end of its
productionlife still beats or equals the opposition. Thereis
noway the CSis worth nearly £30,000more, whatever its
abilities. Would you really pay ninety grand (basic) for a
4-series? Meneither.
FUTUREICONS
BMW M3/M4 CS
At454bhpit has just 10bhpmore, and while it revs out
with a tinybit more vigour, you haveto knowboth it and
the CompetitionPackageintimately to tell the difference.
It doesn’t help that manya tuning fi rmwill upthe power
of a standard car to far in excess of that, and whatever the
durability of those engines afterwards, it does rather steal
the CS’s thunder.
It may alsohavelightweight doorcards, a carbonfi bre
bonnet and a pared-backcentreconsole, but the weight
savingis only 32kg, and ona machine that weighsnearly
1600kgthat’s hardlyprofound.It’s notas
thoughyou can order it withthe manual
transmission, either, and moreover, a good
dealof its additional performance simply
comes fromthe fi tment of Michelin Cup 2 tyres,
which, I might add, are hopelessonthis car
whenthe conditions are cold and wet.
But here’s the thing. Onthe right road, the CS
is fantastic. It does everything the CompPack
doesbut steers better, feels moreconnected.
It derives its throaty roar from a proper
sports exhaust, and does without the horrible
augmented noise in the cabin: now the straight-
six really sings, despite being turbocharged. It’s rare, too,
and while you might baulk at spendingallthat money on
a new one, the lure of factory carbonpanels is undeniable
allthe same. With the next M3and M4being four-wheel
drive, and inevitably more refi ned, I wonder how we’ll view
the CSin ten years’ time?
‘THELURE
OFFACTORY
CARBONFIBRE
PANELSIS
UNDENIABLE’
A CS is hard to justify now, but watch this space, saysAdam Towler