The centerpiece of BMW M’s 50th anniversary celebrations last year was the 3.0 CSL, a stunning retro-infused homage to the original CSL built up from the current M4 but with a price that would net you any number of supercars.
Only 50 M fans will get the chance to become the first owners of the limited edition coupes, but thanks to a new photo dump by BMW the rest of us can at least see how the $700,000+ cars are put together over by a team of 30 technicians.
Production happens in the main, not at M’s Garching facility, but at BMW’s Dingolfing plant where the M5 and M8 family, plus the regular M4 coupe and cabrios, are assembled. Dingolfing produced 50,000 of those different M cars last year, but due to the tiny volumes and specialist nature of the 3.0 CSL, including its wider wheel arches, the body is assembled in a small area of the plant where BMW creates the M4 GT4 racers.
Related: New BMW 3.0 CSL Is A Re-Bodied M4 With 553 HP And A Manual Gearbox
In the paint shop workers use stencils to manually apply the classic three-color M stripes before the body is moved to another site close to the main Dingolfing plant for final assembly. Over the course of almost two weeks, the cars are fitted with special axle components modified to accommodate racing-style center-lock hubs before receiving their unique carbon side panels and hood, and the very-retro tail section with integral hoop spoiler.
Some of those non-metal bolt-on pieces, including the hood, roof, side panels, and bumpers are painted by plastic specialists at BMW’s Landshut plant. And because the stripes are painted, and not stickers, the Landshut technicians needed to make sure their stripes on the side panels would line up with those applied to the main body in Dingolfing. The solution was to project the livery onto each panel using lasers, providing a template to make it easier for the Bavarian artisans to add the stripes by hand.
Once everything is in place and the 3.0 CSL is looking the part, engineers make sure it also performs like it should. Each car is bench tested before heading out to the test track where M staff give the 553 hp (560 PS) 3.0-liter inline six and manual transmission drivetrain a final shakedown before the CLS is handed over to its lucky owner.
