To climb to the top of the engineering ladder at BMW is no mean feat. To be at the top of M GmbH, the subsidiary focused exclusively on the demanding needs of sports drivers, takes not only supreme engineering competence and a higher than average blood petrol content, it calls for that extra dose of black magic possessed only by those who are truly passionate about kicking automotive ass.
And it takes somebody like Gerhard Richter to follow in the footsteps of hallowed names like Alex von Falkenhausen and Paul Rosche, and to produce a vehicle "big" enough to carry the CSL (Coupe Sport Lightweight) addendum.
"It's like a drug," he continued. "You get hooked on this level of responsiveness and contact with the road." Richter is absolutely clear that the driving experience offered up by this car is in no way comparable to that of the "normal" M3.
And I can believe it. We're driving through the Bavarian countryside in search of suitably quiet country roads on which to get a feel for what this car is capable of.
Perhaps the raw enthusiasm of the man in the driving seat has something to do with it, but even sliding into the Alcantara bucket seats and running a hand over the carbon-fiber trim is enough to kick-start the tingle of expectation that tells me this is something special.
The M3 CSL is basically the crowning glory on the 3 Series, reviving a BMW badge that hasn't been seen for nearly 30 years, although it continues to command a considerable aura of respect. The company hasn't put a cap on production volume at its Regensburg plant, which has the capacity to build around 10 CSLs per day. It will keep churning them out until a) people stop buying them or b) the new 3 Series is introduced. Do I have any takers for a)? No? Then I guess it'll have to be b) then. But, despite the fact that the CSL name was instrumental in establishing the BMW brand in the U.S. through the IMSA series in the '70s, the M3 CSL won't make it over the Atlantic. The thousands of road test miles necessary to meet U.S. homologation laws can take anywhere between a year and 18 months to complete, and M simply didn't have the patience for that. So-tough luck, guys!
On paper the difference between the standard M3 and the CSL may not look like much. It boasts only 17 bhp and 5.0Nm (3.7 lb-ft) more, and is nominally 110kg (242.5 lb) lighter, so how can such apparently "minor" mods make for such a significantly different car?
According to Richter, the answer is "intelligent lightweight design."
"Agility is defined by power-to-weight ratio," he said, but goes on to point out that it's not simply a question of taking weight out, but how and where you do it, in order to lower the center of gravity, concentrate the mass in the center of the vehicle and maintain perfect front/rear weight distribution.
"It's a whole lot easier to take weight out of the back of a vehicle than from the front," he explained. This is one of the reasons that the M3 CSL may appear to be something of a mish-mash of advanced materials. The basic steel body is complemented by an aluminum hood (as in the regular M3), a carbon-fiber roof, an SMC (Sheet Molding Compound) trunk lid, carbon-fiber composites for the front air dam, rear diffuser and front bumper support, continuous GRP for the rear bumper support and a paper honeycomb under the luggage compartment and rear seat, while a massive carbon-fiber air collector dominates the space under the hood. But getting the weight down on the CSL was only one of the reasons for this mix.