[Jason]

More M4 CSL reviews are now here. This is a compiled list to-date:

ARTICLES

Autocar
Autoexpress
Car and Driver
CAR
EVO
Pistonheads
Top Gear




VIDEOS

[KevinGS]

Thanks for putting them all in one place, Jason.

[ptgltw]

Evo review is interesting.

[HudsonHornett]

This is brutal...

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/...to/first-drive

[ptgltw]

Originally Posted by HudsonHornett

This is brutal...

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/...to/first-drive

quote:

"That’s the thorn in the M4 CSL’s side, the contradiction at its very heart. If it’s so much more impressive on circuit (decked out in semi-slicks) then why didn’t BMW lean into that? Fill it with roll cage scaffolding, nail a wing to the boot and call it a GTS.

The CSL is an improved M4, but it’s also a confused product that’s full of mixed messages. I’m certain if 2022 hadn’t been the 50th anniversary of M, then this thing would never have had the CSL badge. It reeks of being a convenient marketing opportunity from the same tone-deaf product planning department that brought you the XM. Why not keep the CSL powder dry and save it for a more appropriate M2 CSL?"

Ouch but yet another big time automotive magazine asking for an M2 CSL.

Until that car comes, I made my very own M2 CSL. Removed about 200 lbs, now track focused but kept the factory suspension and tune.

[ScullyD]

Originally Posted by ptgltw

Evo review is interesting.

I mean its tough for me to say Jethro got something wrong, i'll wait for the larger review when the issue drops next week cause i believe he did get some track time. He gave 5 stars to the M4 GTS, M2 CS and M5 CS.

[HudsonHornett]

Originally Posted by ScullyD

I mean its tough for me to say Jethro got something wrong, i'll wait for the larger review when the issue drops next week cause i believe he did get some track time. He gave 5 stars to the M4 GTS, M2 CS and M5 CS.

At the end of the day, he is a journo and sometimes they do like a bit of controversy. I still rate Catchpole and Saunders as more up my street - they seem to be a LOT more aligned to my way of thinking. Jethro can be a bit hit and miss for me, sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't. But if the Autocar review is really what the car is like, I'll be one VERY happy chap.

Also, so far it appears that Autocar are the only people who have tested the car on the Cup 2R tyres that the car was designed to operate from. I think that a few reviews will change once they test the car in Cup 2Rs (as long as it isn't wet).

[Jason]

Updated list.

[MadBimmeRad]

"With the powerful brakes underfoot, the CSL is hugely confidence inspiring, carrying speed like a Nissan GT-R with half the driven wheels."

Top Gear

[frank70]

So far i think most reviews have a quite mixed opinion. Not enthousiastic like all reviews are about for instance the M5 CS. So i do really think this car is mainly a collectors item, and not extremely good.

[Tecnniqe]

"No, the engine still lacks charisma, the digital dashboard readouts are a godawful mess and the eight-speed automatic gearbox feels like a saloon car transmission doing its very best karaoke impression of a proper sports car gearbox – downshifts are a particular disappointment, sluggish, soft and delayed. Give us back the old M-DCT twin-clutch any day. But if you can put up with all that, this is a monstrously fast and exploitable track car."

Can't say I'm surprised.

[Kr0m3assass1n]

From Top Gear, on styling:

Its grandchild makes a bit of a hash of paying homage. The ducktail bootlid is a pleasing nod to the M3 CSL's pert tail, and it's carbon fibre too (saving 6.7kg) . So's the bonnet ( -1.2kg) though it blows its own trumpet very loudly with those exposed carbon stripes.
In fact, most of the mods are quite gopping. There's masses of red pinstriping and a family fun pack of CSL logos. Those engorged front nostrils appear to be propped open with the stents used by your dad to stop snoring. The rear laser lights are intricate (and save 400g), as are the forged wheels, but they're like garnishing a piece of parsley atop a flame-grilled whopper.

[KevinGS]

Originally Posted by Tecnniqe

"No, the engine still lacks charisma, the digital dashboard readouts are a godawful mess and the eight-speed automatic gearbox feels like a saloon car transmission doing its very best karaoke impression of a proper sports car gearbox – downshifts are a particular disappointment, sluggish, soft and delayed. Give us back the old M-DCT twin-clutch any day. But if you can put up with all that, this is a monstrously fast and exploitable track car."

Can't say I'm surprised.

Well, for many of us, it's all true.

Most G8X owners want more sound from the exhaust.

Most of us aren't fond of the digital dashboard.

And most of us miss the DCT (if one is a previous M owner).

Nobody said the G8X was perfect.

But it's damn good, as a road car, and occasional fun, track toy.

[Graves]

These reviews get annoying. Complain about road noise. Dafuq you expect, it's a CSL.

[Daaaadadundun]

And then they want to fool you with a 3.0 CSL hommage of this thing costing you more than half a million dollars or some dumb sjit like that.

Jesus BMW fell off so bad it's not funny anymore. It used to be the brand where you were in anticipation of what the geniuses at BMW came up next. Now it doesn't feel special anymore. It's all beancounters milking BMW's history.

[KevinGS]

Originally Posted by Daaaadadundun

Jesus BMW fell off so bad it's not funny anymore. It used to be the brand where you were in anticipation of what the geniuses at BMW came up next. Now it doesn't feel special anymore. It's all beancounters milking BMW's history.

The G8X was clearly designed by some of BMW's best engineers, because for them to get this fairly heavy beast to feel agile and stable, even in RWD, is truly impressive. The chassis development was spot on. And the engine is super strong, and once properly tuned, will be an absolute monster....and the chassis can handle it.

And I still have my E93, which is special in its own right.

But the combination of abilities in the G8X is truly impressive. I've taken week-long, 1000-mile trips in mine (hitting back roads along the way), and have been on the track, and it's been rock solid reliable, comfortable, and loads of fun.

And the car is selling well, so the beancounters are happy too.

[WWM3]

The Top Gear CSL had the non laser headlights - weird.

[HudsonHornett]

(From Autocar) This is the bit I'm hoping for:

For now, what it seems that BMW M has presented on this third application of its most fabled three-letter model suffix is something even more rare than we might have first realised: an M car with a really stirring hardcore soul, but also a genuinely on-road capability; a car ready to be enjoyed in more ways, and on more days, than might so many of its caged up rivals or antecedents.

[beden1]

Originally Posted by Daaaadadundun

And then they want to fool you with a 3.0 CSL hommage of this thing costing you more than half a million dollars or some dumb sjit like that.

Jesus BMW fell off so bad it's not funny anymore. It used to be the brand where you were in anticipation of what the geniuses at BMW came up next. Now it doesn't feel special anymore. It's all beancounters milking BMW's history.

And yet, I love my G82 M4 Comp Xdrive and many others love theirs too. Go figure?

[Jason60051]

Regardless of looks which are 100% subjective can't we all agree that bmw is producing some epic performance cars. I mean let's stop the hatred of looks…and let's look deeper then the outer skin of the vehicle. I understand the controversial design language but things change. What hasn't changed with BMW is their fanatical engineering.

[Jimjamz]

Originally Posted by Jason60051

Regardless of looks which are 100% subjective can't we all agree that bmw is producing some epic performance cars. I mean let's stop the hatred of looks…and let's look deeper then the outer skin of the vehicle. I understand the controversial design language but things change. What hasn't changed with BMW is their fanatical engineering.

Their engineering quality is unquestioned. However, engineering operates within defined parameters. On these cars M's engineering obsession for weight control and even transmission experience has changed from previous generations - and both of these deliberately engineered factors have been pinged in these reviews. It's not surprising then that some find their personal preferences outside the intentionally engineered envelope. That said, I feel the M engineers seem uncannily capable of hitting their briefs.

I do feel however the current exterior design lets their great engineering down. I'm sure M engineers must be frustrated after they engineer these great cars only for the exterior design to distract and grab the headlines. If M engineers weren't as good as they are, M would be in a world of hurt right now.

[HudsonHornett]

So I've been thinking about the reviews and this car a lot. It reminds me of the reviews we saw back in 2011 for the Cayman R. The weight of expectation because the car carried the R badge was ridiculous but the car itself was sweet. A sensational bit of kit, that for me was a great road car and brilliant on track.

This car is suffering from being named CSL, but if you read all of the reviews so far, it's clear that this is a genuinely brilliant car. It doesn't break your back while getting to the track, you can enjoy it on the track and it's everyday usable.

The hate this car gets for looks is bizarre. It really looks fine IRL. The new 992 GT3 looks like it's try to puke a smaller car out of the front of it but nobody mentions that and to be fair I think it's more than bearable too!