BMW M is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and with that milestone comes the esteem of the CSL monicker that made its debut a year after the M division's birth.
And while there were four BMW M CSL prototypes that never made the cut, the third one was just unveiled this year in the form of the BMW M4 CSL. It's the fastest series-production BMW ever to lap the Nürburgring's Nordschleife circuit, taking just 7:20.2 to complete a lap. This is all thanks to the performance improvements applied by the iconic motorsports division, giving us the most hardcore M car yet.
Gallery: 2023 BMW M4 CSL
With weight savings employed, the 2023 BMW M4 CSL should hit 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 3.6 seconds; 10.5 seconds if it continues and tries to hit 120 mph (193 km/h). Credit that to the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine, reworked to churn out up to 543 horsepower (404 kilowatts) – 40 hp more than the M4 Competition.
Torque is rated at 479 pound-feet (649 Newton-meters) from 2,750 to 5,950 rpm. BMW also improved the boost pressure to 30.5 psi in the M4 CSL, an increase over the 24.7 psi in the M4 Competition.
In the video above, Motorsport Magazine did an acceleration run for the M4 CSL. The sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h) was complete in 3.7 seconds, while 124 mph (200 km/h) was reached in 10.9 seconds. Both are on par with the claimed numbers.
Meanwhile, the run let up after 0.62 mi (1 km), so the electronically limited top speed of 191 mph (307 kph) wasn't achieved. Regardless, the M4 CSL here reached 168 mph (271 km/h) within the said distance and made the feat look easy.
