The good news is the #savethemauals campaign seems to be working. The maybe-less-good news is the price of entry for some of these saved manuals – well, specifically the new and ultra-rare BMW 3.0 CSL (Competition, Sport, Lightweight) with rear-wheel-drive and a row-your-own gearbox – is nearly a million dollars.
A recent Instagram post from Frank van Meel, the CEO of BMW’s M division, shows him in front of the just-announced new performance Bimmer, complete with an intentionally modern paint job that includes images of previous M cars, and the words “I LIKE IT RARE” and “READY” above the grille — which helps deflect attention from the controversial design shift BMW has implemented. Cleverly, “6MT FTW” is printed on the rear, too.
This appears to be the grand finale of the BMW M division’s 50th anniversary festivities this year, and if you’re going out with a bang, this is the machine to do it with.
The team over at BMWBlog says there’ll be 50 (yep, just fifty) examples made, at a price of about €750,000 (CDN$1 million) per; and notes the alleged 600-horsepower output, some 57 more than the monstrously powerful M4 CSL it’s based on, despite likely running the same 3.0-liter inline-six engine.
As much as we love manuals, that’s a tonne of cash for a BMW. Consider: you could have 66.6 per cent of one average Toronto house in 2022; or you could have this.
Keyword: BMW teases new, wild-looking 3.0 CSL with reported 600 hp