BMW quickly sold out of the 1,000 M4 CSL coupes offered last year, but as consolation, it is offering 2,000 of the M4 CS, a slightly tamer rendition of the road/track coupe. It’s got the same 543-hp turbo inline-six engine and eight-speed transmission, but it’s latched to all-wheel drive in this version. The interior is a bit more civilized than the CSL’s but might still not be ideal for some daily commutes. No one should doubt, however, BMW’s claims for a 3.2-second 0-60 time and 188-mph top track speed. This very special M4 starts at about $125,000.
Can a track-focused sports car be too track-focused? That’s what one major auto magazine suggested after testing the BMW M4 CSL, a special lighter, more powerful version of its M4. While the “lesser” BMW M4 Competition xDrive model (which is not a competition car, btw) is quicker in some acceleration tests, the 40-hp more powerful, 240-pound lighter, $58,000 more expensive M4 CSL is the faster car around the kind of private membership tracks whose clients this car is intended. You’ll pay for that capability with reduced comfort in everyday driving, but would you care?
BMW’s Z8 is the kind of car that many wish BMW would build again. Two of those cars – a standard BMW Z8 and the Alpina version, called the BMW Alpina Roadster V8 – recently sold earlier this month at RM Sotheby’s Miami auction. Offered by two different owners, and both with under 23,000 miles, each car sold for exactly the same price: $229,600. Read the backstory on the Z8 and the Alpina Roadster.
On January 16th Bonhams will be returning for their 9th edition of The Scottsdale Auction. Bonhams will lift the gavel on 110 collector cars spanning automotive history from 1901 to 2009 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa.
