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By Charl Bosch

Motoring Journalist


Could BMW be planning an M4 CSL to join the M3 next year?

Reports are that the S58 engine could produce as much as 405 kW.


With CS versions of the M2 and M5 already out in limited numbers, a new claim has alleged that the rumoured return of the CSL moniker would be expanded from the M3 to the M4 by next year.

According to an entry on the bimmerpost online forum, the reported M4 CSL could bow in July 2022 with production poised to be limited in a move similar to the E46 M3 CSL that lasted from 2003 to early 2004 after 1 383 units left the factory.

The latest rumour comes on the back of a report two years ago alleging that the CS and CSL versions of the then still unseen M3 would become a reality with claimed outputs of 390 kW and 405 kW from the S58 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six engine. When subsequently asked months later by US publication Road & Track, M boss Markus Flasch jokingly replied, “we haven’t brought [the engine] to the point of exploding it”.

If approved though, expect the M4 CSL to follow or perhaps debut at the same time M3, however, it remains open to speculation whether both would spawn CSL versions or possibly reserve the moniker for one or the other in order to avoid price clashing as well as exclusivity.

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