Where did we take a wrong turn?
Of course, such a BMW M3 CS is a very, very rough machine. Another 40 hp more than in the “normal” M3, i.e. 550. And 650 Nm of maximum torque. That gets the limited special model from 0 to 100 in just 3.4 seconds and makes the all-wheel-drive, four-door five-seater 302 km/h fast. And what’s also really good: the BMW M3 CS costs “only” 188,200 Swiss francs in Switzerland. Sure, that’s a lot, a lot of money, but it’s significantly less than the BMW M4 CSL, which is listed at 214,900 francs.
But then we also read something about: Lightweight construction. The new titanium muffler alone is said to add four kilos. There is a carbon roof as well as plenty of CFRP, bonnet, exterior mirror caps, this somewhat adolescent rear spoiler. All in all, the CS is supposed to be 20 kilos lighter than the M3. And then we pause, have to swallow empty: 1840 kilos.
Of course, the current BMW 3-series is 4.8 metres long, almost as long as the first 7-series (E23), 12 centimetres wider and one centimetre higher. And it is also 300 kilos heavier than a 728, which already had a six-cylinder engine. Of course, the comparison is pointless, because at that time there were no 176 assistance systems and safety was approached differently. But still: over 1.8 tonnes for a vehicle that is extremely sporty, looks like it and costs a lot of money. Somewhere in history we took a wrong turn, it’s amazing that it could have come to this. And of course it’s not just BMW that’s affected, all new cars have a severe obesity, but with the BMW M3 CS it’s just that little bit more noticeable.
But the question is: what could the industry do about it? We have more sporty vehicles in our archive.
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