BMW Is Planning Even More Fast, Exciting Cars... But The Manual M-Car Is Doomed

BMW is reportedly planning more of its hardcore GTS and CSL models. The company has apparently spotted a growing market for more Car Throttle-appropriate cars. This is good news.

The company is on a bit of a roll right now. The M2 is one of our favourite cars on sale at any price, and with a CS version incoming next year, we don’t expect that to change. The carbonfibre-hosed M4 CS is a mighty thing, too.

Now, Autocar is reporting that BMW could be testing an M2 CSL off the back of M2 sales that are posting 40-50 per cent higher than expected. It would use the twin-turbo S55 straight-six from the M3 and M4, just like the expected M2 CS, but it would pack even more fight than the CS – and be lighter. A manual gearbox will still be standard (hallelujah!).

Speaking to the magazine, BMW M’s vice president Dirk Hacker said:

“The M2 is tracking at 40-50 per cent above our expectation in terms of sales, with almost half of buyers specifying a manual.

“Demand for cars like the M2, which is probably our purest M product today, has surprised us, and that opens opportunities for building more extreme cars, in the vein of GTS and CSL heritage models.

“Any car that has true heritage to motorsport is an opportunity for us. New markets are always opening for those cars and that will increase, so long as we keep building cars that are sufficiently special.”

While the rumoured CS is due to hit the shelves next year, when the (ever-so-slightly) facelifted 2-Series goes on sale, the CSL would be a run-out special. It wouldn’t be launched until the last year of the model’s life, and numbers would be limited.

To stoke the hype train even more, the M2 will also be the last M-car to have a manual gearbox, so a CSL halo model will be hugely, zealously sought-after. The speed advantages and marketing benefits that come with them mean that the manual M-car is officially facing its last hurrah. Damn.

Source: Autocar