The all-new 2023 BMW M4 CSL is a focused track-day special edition that is optimized for those who are willing to give up a chunk of daily-driver livability for substantially enhanced performance. CSL stands for Competition Sports Lightweight, and the specs show this to be more than a mere marketing term. They also show that this car will almost certainly be a brute that won’t appeal to everyone.
On Thursday, the 2023 BMW M4 broke cover. When production begins in July, only 1,000 units will be built, each for a price of $140,895. BMW wouldn’t comment on whether the M4 CSL is already sold out or how many will come to the U.S.
The new M4 CSL is a 543-horsepower track junkie weighing in at 3,640 pounds, after losing a rather heavy passenger’s worth of weight through clever engineering and material upgrades. For those of you who care deeply about Nürburgring times, the new BMW M4 CSL’s 7:20.2 result puts it right between a Ferrari 488 GTB and a 991 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
BMW said the M4 CSL takes 3.6 seconds to sprint from 0-60 mph and hits 120 mph in 10.5 seconds. The top speed is electronically limited to 191 mph, and the M4 CSL is the fastest production BMW in history around the Nürburgring with a 7:20.2 lap time.
The effects of this extra power are magnified by a massive 240 pound weight reduction. Each of the M4 Competition’s horsepower has 7.7 pounds to move around, but the extra power and lighter weight of the CSL drops that significantly to 6.7 pounds per pony. BMW claims that it will get to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, compared with the Competition’s claimed 3.8 seconds, but we think it’ll do better.
The CSL is a two-seater that sheds its rear seat and seatbelts to save 46 pounds right off the top. Beyond that, its one-piece carbon front buckets save 53 pounds, but you can choose to add 32 pounds back if you order adjustable carbon seats. Another 33 pounds in savings comes from the use of lightweight sound insulation—and quite possibly less of it—in certain areas. More carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is used inside and out, including for the center console that saves 9 pounds.
At the tail end of the exhaust, another 9 pound savings comes from the use of a titanium silencer that’s tuned so it “can be fully appreciated inside the cabin where it provides the driver with accurate acoustic feedback in response to movements of the accelerator and clearly conveys the engine’s performance characteristics.” Which is a roundabout way of saying it’s louder.
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