The M3 CS and M4 CSL are two of the most exciting cars to appear in BMW M’s lineup in recent years, but their arrival left the door open for another car that would combine the best bits of both and in 2024, BMW will build that car.
Unfortunately, we’re not talking about a super-lightweight M3 CSL sedan with a manual transmission, but the M4 CS BMW is building still sounds pretty cool to us. The Bavarian automaker confirmed the existence of the M4 CS coupe in September, and this month we’ve caught it being put through its paces at the Nurburgring.
Essentially an M3 CS with a two-door body, the new hot M4 will feature BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system and eight-speed automatic transmission, rather than rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual, like the CSL. The M4 CS will almost certainly share the same S58 turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six seen in the other pair, which makes 542 hp (549 PS), up from 503 hp (510 PS) in the stock M3 and M4 Competition. And it’ll get the same 19-inch front and 20-inch rear cross-spoke wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber, a cast aluminum strut brace and changes to the camber angle, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bars, and steering setup.
BMW M focused hard on weight-saving measures when building the M4 CSL, a 50th birthday present to itself and us, but it didn’t go quite as extreme with the M3 CS, and the same will apply to the M4 CS. So expect a carbon hood, seats, intake, mirror caps, and rear diffuser, combined with a conventional steel trunk lid and a rear bench instead of the CSL’s carbon trunk and rear-seat delete.
Related: 543-HP 2024 BMW M3 CS Is An Even Faster M4 CSL For The Family Guy
One advantage the new CS will have over the CSL is that it will feature BMW’s latest curved dashboard screen. The M3 CS got this too, but the tech hadn’t arrived in time for the start of CSL production. Another advantage will be its xDrive transmission’s ability to turn all-wheel drive traction into super-quick acceleration times. While the two-wheel drive, manual CSL needed 3.8 seconds to reach 62 mph (100 km/h) the M3 CS does the job in 3.2 seconds, and we’d expect the M4 CS to at least match that time.
BMW says the M4 CS will be on sale in the middle of next year, probably a few months after the launch of the facelifted 4-Series line, which could mean it arrives as a 2025 model. There’s no official word on prices, but it should be close to the $119,695 BMW wants for the M3 CS. That would represent a significant premium over a stock M4 Competition xDrive (currently $87k including destination), but it’s also far less than the $141k BMW charged for the 1,000-unit run of CSLs.
