BMW M4 CS – more and less 

Seems we can’t have enough M variants these days with BMW releasing its new M4 CS. Think of it as a halfway solution between the M4 Competition coupe and the limited edition CSL. It’s kind of something for those that missed out on the latter.

Naturally, it’s a little lighter, more powerful and faster than the Competition version. At a claimed 1615kg, it’s 20kg less than the M4 Comp xDrive, weight removed by the use of carbon fibre for the roof, bonnet and those aerodynamic splitters and spoilers. 

This is nowhere near as hardcore as the CSL, which was stripped of more than 100 kilos by removing things like the backseat. The CS has a similarly angry look as the CSL with lots of additional aero about the body. The CS however still has a rear seat and its sound insulation intact. 

Power comes from the 3.0-litre S58 turbocharged six, here making 405kW and 650Nm, which is on from 2750 to 5950rpm. The slight bump in power over the regular Competition engine comes from raising boost pressure for the two mono scroll turbochargers to 2.1 bar.

With an M-optimised eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive, BMW says it can do 0 to 100 in 3.4 seconds. It’s also good for a 7-minute 21.9 second lap of the Nürburgring. Interesting BMW fact, they reckon the engine response is improved thanks to the more rigid engine mounting between the power unit and the chassis which ‘enables direct transmission of its power to the drive train every time the driver presses the accelerator’.

There are the usual drive modes and M specific settings to shorten up the shifts and alter steering weight. Also the all-wheel drive system can be configured to forget about sending drive to the front when you want to do some skids. There’s a fully variable M differential at the rear axle. Adaptive suspension gets a specific CS tune, so too the electromechanical power steering which gets a variable ratio. 

No pricing just yet but expect it to turn up here later in the year.