The M4 CSL is one of the most driver-focused road cars ever to come from BMW’s M Division. But for drivers who also need to consider passengers, the CSL now has a brother, the M3 CS. That missing ‘L’ stands for ‘Light,’ and it’s true the CS does weigh more than its CSL sibling for reasons we’ll get into shortly. But this is no watered down CSL. Instead, it repurposes many of the same ingredients, including its 543 hp engine, to offer something with a different character that actually accelerates to 97 km/h 0.4 seconds faster than the coupe and costs US$ 21,200 less.
Most obviously, the US$ 118,700 (plus US$ 995
dest.) CS is based on the the M3 sedan rather the M4 coupe. And that fact
doesn’t only make getting into the back seats easier, it makes it possible.
Part of the BMW diet program package that helped the CSL earn the ‘L’ in its
‘Competition, Sport, Lightweight’ name involved stripping out the back seats.
But the M3 CS retains its rear bench and so can seat four in comfort and five
at a pinch, because it really is a bench and not two individual rear seats like
on its M5 CS big brother.
And that’s not the only interior
difference between the pair. Both CS and CSL get the same carbon-shell bucket
seats in the front (this time with an illuminated CS logo) and an
Alcantara-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel with carbon detailing and carbon
shift paddles. But while the M4 CSL retained BMW’s old-style separate digital
instrument cluster and infotainment displays, the M3 CS gets the latest curved
iDrive screen that was announced for the rest of the 3-Series lineup last
September. Though it’s technically made up of two separate screens, the
one-piece glass surface makes it look like one giant display and gives the CS a
much more modern look.
The other key difference between the pair
is in the driveline. Though based on the all-wheel drive M4 Competition, the M4
CSL delivers its power to the rear wheels alone, something normally only open
to buyers of the base M4. The M3 CS, however, retains its all-wheel drive
transmission and active rear differential, meaning it should offer additional
practicality beyond simply giving you more seats than a CSL. But as with the
regular M3 and M4 Competition, that transmission can be configured as rear-wheel
drive with a couple of button taps. The CS’s engine is the same 3.0-liter
twin-turbo inline six found in the CLS, which is just a warmed-through version
of the S58 3.0-liter motor in the 503 hp M3 and M4 Competition. More
turbo boost helps lift power in the CS and CSL to 543 hp at 6,250 rpm,
though the 650 Nm torque figure is unchanged from the regular
Competition’s inline six.
Each of those horses has to work a little
harder in the CS than the CLS because there’s more mass to move. Both cars save
weight over their Competition donors by using carbon for the hood, seats and
details like the air intake, mirror caps, rear diffuser and spoiler and
swapping the steel exhaust for an 3.6 kg slighter titanium one. But the
M4 CSL, which went further with a carbon trunk, dropped a massive, and
much-needed, 109 kg to arrive at a total curb weight of 1,651 kg. The M3 CS sheds a mere 34 kg and tips the scales at 1,776 kg. You can lay most of the blame for that with the sedan’s
all-wheel drive system, but it’s not all bad news. The xDrive transmission’s
extra dig off the line means it gets to 97 kmh in only 3.2 seconds,
versus 3.8 seconds for the lighter, but two-wheel drive CSL coupe, and 3.4
seconds for a stock M3 Competition xDrive.
The CSL wins the top speed war, stomping
on to 307 km/h while the CS can only manage an electronically limited 303 km/h, and the lighter coupe would be quicker around a track. But
the sedan gains enough of the same M Division chassis upgrades to ensure it
won’t feel out of its depth on a circuit. A cast aluminium strut brace keeps
the shock towers playing the same tune, there are changes to the camber angle,
adaptive dampers, anti-roll bars and steering setup, and the 19-in front and
20-in rear wheels borrowed form the CSL come standard with track-ready Michelin
Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber as standard. Buyers can choose gold or black for those
wheels and wrap them in more road-biased hoops if they prefer, or they can head
even further down the performance rabbit hole by specifying the optional carbon
ceramic brake package.
Also optional is a BMW Individual Frozen
Solid White metallic paint that’s only available on the M3 CS, though with its
red-highlighted grille, carbon hood valleys and exterior trim, and yellow
daytime running lights again borrowed from the CLS, no one is going to confuse
your limited edition CS for a regular M3 Competition whatever color you go for.
As for how limited it will be, we don’t yet know. BMW made 1,000 M4 CSLs, but
hasn’t confirmed how many CSs will be produced, or how many of those will be
coming to North America once U.S.-spec cars start rolling down the line in
March. Put it this way: they’re not going to hang about, either in the
showroom, or on the street.
