The BMW M3 Touring combines power, practicality, and drift capabilities. It is one of the hottest M cars of the decade. But there is one car with an even better inline-6 and more motorsport parts, the $140,000 M4 CSL, built with lots of carbon fiber components. What if you could combine the two and get an M3 Touring CSL?
Well, that’s what we have here, a brand new M3 Touring “CSL”, made with real M4 CSL parts from BMW. Of course, not everything is as it should be, but I think M3 Touring owners are going to want these mods on their cars as well. BMW only put this badge on two other cars, and they are iconic.
Although the initial response was quite bad, the new M3/M4 is now being celebrated as one of the greatest German performance cars ever made. This is partly because BMW came out swinging with radical upgrades such as the carbon fiber seat package, xDrive that lets you drift, and a manual option that almost nobody has.
It is an expensive car that influencers and specialist shops are racing to modify. Tj Hunt, for example, is installing the full carbon fiber widebody kit from the actual M4 GT3 race cars. By comparison, this is a little more tasteful. However, no matter what you add to your car, it’s never going to be as rare or cool as a real M4 CSL.
Evolvo Automotive, one of the most famous BMW tuners in Europe, has just taken delivery of their G81 M3 Touring and in just a couple of days has modified it to “M4 CSL” spec.
The main changes are at the front. Thankfully, the M3 wagon and M4 coupe now have the same front end, so Evolve was able to retrofit the CSL grille to the wagon. It’s also got the carbon intakes, the red stripes, and a carbon chin spoiler, all official BMW parts. The LED headlight halos have been switched from white to yellow.
Putting the Coupe Sport Leichtbau in the M3 Wagon
Official M4 CSL wheels were also added at a cost of about $5,000. These are 9.5×19-inch at the front with 275/35 ZR19 at the front and 10.5×20-inch at the back with 285/30 ZR20 Cup 2 R tires. Evolve also did some work under the hood at the cost of another $4,000. This includes the official 11-point strut tower brace, saving 3 lbs, and a custom-made carbon fiber air intake. And while the M3 Touring misses out on the official CSL titanium exhaust, it does have a rare Remus titanium exhaust system, of which only 31 have been made. So the 3.0-liter turbo engine might come pretty close to the CSL’s 543 horsepower output.
Of course, there are things that are “missing” or rather not missing from the M3 Touring CSL. The $140,000 M4 CSL comes with very specific carbon fiber bucket seats which save 53 lbs (25 kg) compared to the regular non-CSL buckets. They are track seats, essentially fixed into place unless you have tools. I think the Touring should have those and maybe even the rear seat deleted.
The CSL also has a specific carbon hood, which could be transferred to the M3, a carbon roof, and a carbon trunk with a built-in spoiler. Obviously, the last two won’t transfer over from a coupe to a wagon.
