BMW Asia has confirmed that the new, limited edition, 550 horsepower M4 CSL will be sold in Singapore, set to arrive at the tail end of 2022

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UPDATE 6 December 2022 : The M4 CSL has landed in Singapore, read about or check out our photos of the actual car.

SINGAPORE

The three letters CSL stand for something very special in BMW-speak. Competition, Sport, Lightweight. It’s an acronym reserved for special editions of the fastest, most ferocious BMW M cars and the latest to get such a tune up is the M4 coupe.

It gets a 40hp power boost over the already very fast M4 Competition coupe to a maximum power output of 550hp from its twin-turbo 3.0-litre, straight six-cylinder engine, and only 1,000 of them will be built worldwide. 

BMW Asia has confirmed that Singapore will be getting just one unit. We do know that the car will arrive before the end of 2022, and we have suspicions that there may be something special planned as well, because 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the BMW M brand and the M4 CSL seems to be a car that’s perfectly placed for a serious promotional tie-up. UPDATE: That’s the even more special and more expensive BMW M 3.0 CSL homage.

The M4 CSL isn’t just another, even faster rear-wheel driven M4 coupe though. Like the CSL cars before it, there’s a whole heap of modifications to the car aimed at making it more circuit-focused and less of a family grand tourer. For starters, the rear seats have been jettisoned completely, making this a strict two-seater. Carbon-fibre reinforced plastics are used in many places, including the bonnet, roof, and bootlid, to reduce weight. 

Additional bodywork for aerodynamic efficiency, and chassis changes such as the use of M Carbon ceramic brakes, light-alloy wheels, springs and struts save a further 21kg. Ulltra-lightweight sound insulation saves 15kg of weight, but makes the car louder inside the cabin. A titanium rear silencer cuts more than 4kg, and BMW claims that further fettling with the materials used in the kidney grille, rear lights, floor mats and climate control save another 4kg.

Lightweight M Carbon full bucket seats keep the driver and passenger solidly in place while the car rockets around race tracks, but don’t expect much in the way of plush comfort. The seats have a fixed backrest angle, while the seat height can only be adjusted in a workshop using a three-stage screw linkage. The fore and aft adjustments must be made manually using a lever on the front edge of the seat. Also, the head restraints can be disassembled for track use to avoid interfering with a helmet.

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At 1,625kg, the M4 CSL is 100kg lighter than the M4 Competition.  It blasts from 0 to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds, and the usual performance car one-upmanship at Nürburgring’s Nordschleife 20.8km-track, the M4 CSL achieved a 7:15.677 lap time, the best-ever figure for a BMW road car to date.  

BMW Laserlight headlights are standard fit, and in a case of what’s old is new again, they shine in old-school yellow rather than LED white. BMW claims that this brings to mind the look of successful GT racing cars.

The car is likely to be the first big product to arrive in time for the opening of the new Eurokars Auto BMW dealership. The big question is how will BMW Asia allocate the very limited sales numbers between it and the existing BMW M car dealership,  Performance Munich Autos? Official pricing of the M4 CSL has also not yet been confirmed, though at current COE prices it is likely to sell in the S$600k range, with COE. 

It would still be cheaper than a properly-specced Porsche 911 Carrera 4S. The big news is not its price tag though, but the fact that only 1,000 of the BMW M4 CSL will ever be made. Singapore is a small segment so it’s likely that we will not get any extra cars here. We expect however, that more than a few trigger-happy Porsche 911 owners will already be lining up to score the new BMW before everyone else.  

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