BMW M4 CS

BMW M4 CS

BMW ON A DIET

Text and Photos: Reinis Babrovskis

Performance sports cars have become more expensive, more sophisticated, complicated and confusing than ever before; take the BMW M4 CS for an example: for an equivalent of what used to be a simple middle class affordable BMW sports car (BMW M3), one nowadays would expect to pay up to a jaw dropping £90K. It is an overly complicated, manic, untameable animal, yet unexplainably outstanding car that somehow makes it worth it and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. That is if you can afford it and have the balls to drive it.

We all clearly know by now that the German automotive manufacturer BMW knows how to build proper performance cars; be it the lightweight, adrenaline filled 3 series, the sporty family 5 series or the extreme granddad 7 series. Somehow though with the introduction of 4 series it all suddenly became too complicated. 3 series were now 4 door cars, 4 series were 2, then 4 doors again. Just STOP! We just want a sports car that does its job and luckily the M4 CS does it outstandingly.

#SowhatsCS

In few words - an action packed 4 seater on a diet. With the 3 series suddenly having been transformed into a more tamed, family oriented sport-ish car, the BMW market lacked a true sports car and this was their answer - the BMW M4. It was offered in various packages – M4, CS and GTS. Whilst undoubtedly the standard M4 was a great car it lacked the "wow factor"; the GTS certainly had it but also had the price factor, so the CS was the perfect middle option. The limited production run 2 door BMW M4 CS is a four seat coupé that retained the dynamic M (for Motorsport) gene, so it truly was a sports car once again. The CS completed the notorious green hell of “Nordschleife” in impressive 7:38.

Club Sport (CS) is a lightweight version, and whilst not as mad as the GTS, it shares a lot of parts with it, including the lightweight bonnet and carbon fibre roof. The lack of interior door handles and the exposed carbon-fibre reinforced plastic door panels indicate this car meant business regarding losing the weight. The CS of course also offered an improved performance, grip and dynamic handling superior to that of the standard M4 model.

#Exterior

The BMW M4 CS is a very dynamic sports car and has the looks to match its performance; furthermore, all of the parts were cleverly designed to enhance the car’s performance with the help of lightweight parts. The distinctive front end of the BMW includes the usual double kidney grille with aggressive looking LED headlights, accompanied by the all new front splitter that is made from the light-exposed carbon fibre and aids the front axle. 

The CS treatment began with the CFRP bonnet that weighed in at 25% less than that of a standard M4, the diet continued with the the roof; it was replaced with a lightened CFRP roof (resulting a weight loss of 6kg to be exact) and continued to rear spoiler and diffuser that acted as aid for rear axle. 

The muscular and mean looking rear of the CS is made up from a beautiful gurney flap spoiler, M Sport diffuser and an eye catching quad exhaust system. Just like the crazy GTS model the BMW M4 CS is equipped with the futuristic lighting technology: OLED (organic light emiting diodes) taillights (£4k extra for M4 in case you wondered) that give the CS a distinctive look. I must admit the car does look better from the rear.

#Interior

The styling of the CS interior caused a bit of confusion for me – BMW advertised it as sporty, yet somehow I believe they went too safe on it - it still looks like a very "normal" and typical BMW interior that is very luxurious and welcoming, yet now having some bonkers elements now added to it. So it is a bit of mixture, neither fully sport, neither really normal. I would have loved to see them go more hardcore; don’t get me wrong though, it is a beautiful interior for sure

Interior is very driver oriented and everything screams weight saving. The CS comes equipped with lightweight M Sport seats that are covered with leather and alcantara ensuring a “snug” experience yet retaining a very comfy ride. This CS was equipped with the optional extra alcantara wheel with coloured 12’o clock marker that looked great. All the instrument panels and gauges are well placed and driver oriented.

The best looking part of the interior are the beautiful CFRP door panels and pull string and bits like these are the ones it lacks inside. I applaud the idea of making the CS look like a race car for the road, more of that please, don’t be afraid to offend the business men.

#Engine

BMW M4 CS is powered by the S55B30 engine (found in the latest M3 and M4 models); it was specifically designed for the latest M3/M4 generation models, and according to the German manufacturer these engines are completely different to the N55 series found in the 335 models. The 3 litre straight (inline) six engine is boosted with the help of two mono-scroll turbochargers with a peak boost of 1 bar. It produces 460hp and 600Nm torque and can accelerate the CS from 0 to 62mph just under 4 seconds (3.9) and reaches a top speed of 174mph.

The S55B30 engine makes a glorious noise; however, it is further more enhanced with the help of the quad exhaust system that gladly “farts” on every throttle pedal movment, be it accelerating or decelerating. I know some may say it’s not as glorious as the previous V8; however, I will strongly disagree on that and stay by that this sounds way better.

#Transmission

The engine is attached to a The 7-speed M-DCT transmission that can be manually controlled via the paddle shifts on the steering wheel. With redline of 7,600rpm the CS engine begs to be revved and the gearbox to be worked hard, therefore, providing a more driver-involved experience.

#Wheelsandbrakes

From factory the BMW M4 CS came equipped with a 19” ten spoke light alloy wheel; however, this particular model is equipped with the Quantum44 forged ZF-1 wheels finished in brushed titanium. The 20” 9.5J front and 11J rear ultra-concave ZF-1 wheels gave plenty of space for the super large ceramic brakes (optional extra) on this CS allowing it to stop in no time.

 BONUS IMAGES: