BMW 3.0 CSL reborn

-         Last of 50th-anniversary celebration model

-         Only 50 units will be made

The original 1971 BMW 3.0 CSL was a homologation specially built for the European Touring Car Championship. Now, almost 50 years after the original, BMW has taken the wraps off a new 3.0 CSL based on the new-gen M3/M4. 

Wearing a similar livery as the original, the new CSL has added fenders on the wheel arch and a newly designed grille for the M3/M4 it is based on. The 3.0 CSL wears a white paint job with M-Division’s characteristic colour strip. And the new grille is still large but not as ungainly or controversial as on the standard M3/M4. 

Moreover, the LED headlamps have a yellow illumination as you’d see on the M5 CS. Also, at the back, the LED tail lamp is unlike anything seen on a BMW. Added at the back is a subtle wing which is another nod to the original. Even the aero strip on top of the roof is similar to the one seen on the original Batmobile. As BMW cars of that era had the logo placed on the C-pillar, the new one does that too, right on the Hofmeister kink.

It rides on 20-inch front and 21-inch rear forged light-weight alloy wheels done up in gold. Just like the original race car, these also have centre-locking and are wrapped with specially developed Michelin tyres. On the inside, the Alcantara swathed cabin has full carbon fibre seats. The highlight here is the white-coloured circular gearlever with 50 lettering on it. It’s a two-seater, just like the original, while the rest of the cabin is barely any different than the new M4. 

Powering the new 3.0 CSL is the most powerful straight-six engine ever featured on a road-legal M car. This is akin to the 1971 CSO which was the most powerful BMW at the time with over 203bhp. The new one makes 552bhp sent to the rear wheels only channelled through the six-speed manual gearbox. The engine has a slightly higher displacement at 3,153cc and the whole car tips the scale at just 1270 kilograms. Even the suspensions have undergone heavy rework for the CSL apart from other weight-saving measures. 

With specific production technic used for the new 3.0 CSL, each one spends almost 10 days on the production line, says BMW. It’s the last of the celebratory model of this year’s 50th-anniversary celebration of the M-Division and is limited to just 50 units.