{"id":36790,"date":"2022-11-24T03:02:26","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T08:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=36790"},"modified":"2022-11-24T03:02:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T08:02:26","slug":"2023-bmw-3-0-csl-50-units","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=36790","title":{"rendered":"2023 BMW 3.0 CSL\u2014The Return of an Icon, Limited to 50 Units"},"content":{"rendered":"

BMW M needed something big for its 50th anniversary<\/a>. It couldn\u2019t just trot out some 50 Jahre editions and head to lunch. No, it needed something jaw-dropping, something to blow the minds of enthusiasts. And what better way to do that than to bring back a beloved icon from the past. And here it is\u2014the BMW 3.0 CSL.<\/p>\n

This new BMW 3.0 CSL shares nothing but its name with the 1970s classic. The original 3.0 CSL was a race car, born in German Touring car racing, and was highly successful. When it debuted as a road car, it shared a ton with the actual race car but it was also civilized, comfortable, and achingly pretty. This new car, though, isn\u2019t that. The 2023 BMW 3.0 CSL revival isn\u2019t based off of a race car like the original was.<\/p>\n

Handmade 50 Units<\/h2>\n

Instead, this new BMW 3.0 CSL revival is a mostly handmade, extremely limited, driver\u2019s car version of a BMW M4. Only 50 of these new CSLs will ever be made, all of them taking about three months total to make. And while it\u2019s built on the BMW M4, it\u2019s a very different car once it hits the road.<\/p>\n

The body of the 3.0 CSL is almost entirely made from carbon fiber. Almost every single body panel is made from CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) and goes through a meticulous painting process by hand, which takes around six days. The paint process has eight steps, including sanding and different coats, and a specialized assembly line was built just for the construction and finishing of the CSL\u2019s carbon body panels. The aero bits, such as the rear wing, are made from fiberglass.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the benefit of that weight savings? A total curb weight of 1,624 kg (3,580 lbs). Which, shockingly, isn\u2019t too much lighter than an M4 CSL, despite having an entirely carbon fiber body.<\/p>\n

One Color \u2013 Alpine White<\/h2>\n

All 3.0 CSLs will be painted in Alpine White with the BMW M stripe livery, to honor the original 3.0 CSL\u2019s racing livery. The big fixed rear wing is also a tribute to the original car.<\/p>\n

Speaking of tributes, it\u2019s clear that the BMW 3.0 CSL\u2019s design was heavily inspired by the 3.0 CSL Hommage concept car from a few years back. Its lovely looking kidney grille sits a bit upright, again to honor the original, its hips are wide, and it sits quite low. It\u2019s the best looking thing BMW M has made in a long time and it\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n

Inside, the BMW 3.0 CSL gets the same hardcore racing bucket seats that are available on the M4 CSL, carbon fiber door panels, more carbon fiber trim, and almost no sound deadening to speak of. So it\u2019s going to be loud inside. The back seats were also replaced with a spot to store helmets, just like the M4 CSL.<\/p>\n

560 HP, RWD and 6-Speed Manual<\/h2>\n

Under the hood of the BMW 3.0 CSL is a slightly tuned version of the M4 CSL\u2019s 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six. For 3.0 CSL-duty, it makes 560 horsepower, which isn\u2019t up too much from the M4 CSL but is enough to make it the most powerful six-cylinder BMW in history. The engine develops a maximum torque of 550 Nm at 7,200 rpm. With its 560 horsepower and relatively low (by modern standards) curb weight, it has a kilogram-to-horsepower ratio of just 2.9, versus the 6.2 of the original car. BMW didn\u2019t release power figures just yet but it\u2019s likely going to be quick.<\/p>\n

However, don\u2019t expect it to be a drag race-monster, dominating cars off the line. Rather than a rapid-shifting dual-clutch gearbox or even the M4 CSL\u2019s eight-speed automatic, the BMW 3.0 CSL has a six-speed manual transmission. It\u2019s slower than a good automatic but it\u2019s more engaging. The manual\u2019s gear knob, interestingly, is white with the manufacturer number on it.<\/p>\n

It also gets re-tuned M Adaptive dampers, revised steering, and tweaked chassis mounts for better feel and feedback through the controls.<\/p>\n

With only 50 models ever being made, it\u2019s unlikely you or I will ever see one in person. However, it\u2019s cool to know it exists and that BMW was willing to build it. On paper, its specs aren\u2019t anything to shout about\u2014it\u2019s only a bit lighter than an M4 Coupe and only a bit more powerful than the CSL\u2014but its carbon fiber body and six-speed manual make it special. Can it live up to the ancestral name? We\u2019ll just have to wait and see.<\/p>\n

BMW has not confirmed yet the price tag, but we\u2019ve talked about it before based on info from sources: 750,000 euros. Most units are destined for Europe, but a couple might end up in garages in North America as collector\u2019s pieces since they are not homologated for this market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BMW M needed something big for its 50th anniversary. It couldn\u2019t just trot out some 50 Jahre editions and head to lunch. No, it needed something jaw-dropping, something to blow the minds of enthusiasts. And what better way to do that than to bring back a beloved icon from the past. And here it is\u2014the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":36791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}