BMW: M3 CSL Overshadows xActivity

BMW showed the Europeans its xActivity small SUV, which made its debut in Detroit and which is the forerunner of the X3, but performance car enthusiasts only had eyes for the M3 CSL, a special lightweight version of what many consider to be among the ultimate road cars, the M3. The engineers developing the car had only one target in mind — to get the car round the Nürburgring, the classic German race circuit, in under eight minutes, making it the first production car to break that barrier. To achieve their aim, the have lightened the car by 243 lb over the standard M3, mainly by extensive use of carbon-fiber panels, including the roof and the impressive front air dam, in its construction. The CSL weighs in at just 3054 lb, and that weight is set in motion by a 3.2-liter in-line six-cylinder engine that develops 360 hp at 7200 rpm. Gearshifts are made using a Formula 1 type change system, but in addition to a sequential racing-style mode, there is the option of using BMW’s Drivelogic auto-changing system. With an aggressive front end that will certainly let the world know that this is a real performance car, the M3 CSL is likely to jump right to the top of wealthy enthusiasts’ wish lists. In the meantime, before deliveries start and while the weather is improving, for the engineers there’s that little matter of getting round the ‘Ring in under eight minutes….

Speaking at the launch of the M3CSL, Dr. Helmut Panke, Chairman of BMW’s Board of Management, pointed out that the company was expanding. A new Polish subsidiary started operations on January 1, and later in the year an operation will start in Malaysia. In the first two months of the year, BMW sold around 154,000 cars, improving slightly on the same period last year. The driving force behind the company’s growth, Dr Panke said, is the Mini.