Could the new BMW M4 CS be the ultimate performance compromise?

CS, originally for Club Sport, dates from the 1960s. In the BMW lexicon these days it stands for a road car that’s at home on the track, rather than a track car you can drive on the road if you must. If that sounds a subtle difference it’s not meant to, for in practice the new M4 CS promises to have its own distinct character – as it should for a £27,000 step-up.

It’s more than a standard M4 Competition Package car, less than the (now sold out) M4 GTS – at least, less in the circuit driving sense. There’s no roll cage or adjustable front and rear spoilers here. Instead, you get seats in the back and, as BMW puts it, all the “unrestricted real-world usability” the standard M4 offers. Plus of course all the mod cons like navi'. 

Here’s a car that’s out to be as happy trundling to work and it is blasting around the Nurburgring Nordschleife where its do-it-all nature is confirmed by a 7minute 38second time, neatly between that of its two stablemates.

So what are the changes for this new £89,130 M4? Aero mods, most notably a new front splitter and a “Gurney” lip spoiler to “significantly” reduce rear lift over the M4 Competition Package car, are among the chief upgrades. The rear diffuser is from the GTS. Underneath, adaptive M suspension, with electronic M locking diff, comes with the familiar Comfort and Sport settings, and there are bespoke CS spring, damper and anti-roll rates. 

Wheels, 19s front and 20s rear, are a new design for the CS, shod with track-ready Michelin Cup boots, at the back in the size 285/30 – less low-profile tyres are an option for those who want the focus more on comfort and wet grip. Also on the options list are carbon ceramic brakes with six-piston front callipers.

As well as providing an effective design update – best looking M4 yet? – the many new body parts are chiefly made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. They include the bonnet, roof, front splitter, rear flap and rear diffuser. The material is also used for the single-piece driveshaft. A pared-back interior – love the simple door-pull loops – takes its inspiration from the GTS and the Competition Package, with sports seats and lots of Alcantara.

It’s all to save weight and help get the centre of gravity down. At 1580kg it is lighter than the standard M4 but it’s not the lightest M4 – the less well equipped M4 Comp Package is listed at 1515kg.

The familiar twin turbo 3.0-litre straight six has been tweaked to deliver 10hp more than the Competition Package M4, peaking now at 454bhp at 6250rpm, backed up by 442 lb-ft of torque, 37 more than standard. There’s no manual gearbox option: it’s paddle-shift only. 

It all adds up to an M4 that can take its place in the sub-4.0 second 0-62mph club, shaving three-tenths off the Competition Package car’s time at 3.9 seconds. Top speed is 174mph.

Cake and eat it? That’s the point here: everything you expect an M4 to deliver with keener circuit abilities. It’s a formula BMW is expecting big things of because we can look forward to CS versions of other M cars in the future.

BMW says the M4 CS is a special rather than limited edition, with no cap on numbers, just a restricted two-year production window. It will be produced between July 2017, when sales begin, and 2019.