Rumors about the M4 CSL setting a record-breaking lap around the Nürburgring for a street-legal BMW have been swirling around the Internet for a few weeks. We are happy to confirm the reports were true as the Coupe Sport Lightweight is now the fastest production model from your favorite brand to lap the challenging Nordschleife.

It completed the course in 7 minutes and 15.677 seconds if we’re talking about the 20.6-kilometer layout, which excludes the short straight at the T13 grandstand. BMW says the M4 CSL needed 7 minutes and 20.207 seconds to cover the full 20.8-kilometer configuration of the Green Hell. Interestingly, the timed lap was done while the sporty coupe was still being tested to make any necessary last-minute tweaks.

How does the M4 CSL stack up against its predecessor, the M4 GTS? In fall 2015, M engineer Joerg Weidinger achieved a lap time of 7 minutes and 27.88 seconds on the slightly shorter configuration of the famous race track in Germany.

Sport Auto’s test driver Christian Gebhardt has taken various BMWs to the ‘Ring over the years:

  • M4 Competition (7:28.5)
  • M5 CS (7:29.57)
  • ALPINA B3 (7:53.26)
  • M8 Competition (7:32.79)
  • M5 Competition (7:35.9)
  • M2 Competition (7:52.36)
  • Z4 M40i (7:55.41)
  • M5 (7:38.92)

His predecessor at the same German magazine Sport Auto, Horst von Saurma, lapped the Nordschleife in 7:48 behind the wheel of the M3 GTS Coupe in 2011. Going back in time, he drove the iconic M3 CSL E46 to a 7:50 lap in 2003.

What comes after the M4 CSL? The modern-day equivalent of the 3.0 CSL. As previously reported, it will take everything that’s great about the CSL and add more power in a retro body to echo the 2015 Hommage concept. We’ve heard it will have somewhere in the region of 600 horsepower, channeled to the rear wheels exclusively via a manual gearbox. As a refresher, the CSL comes only with two pedals.

There’s going to be a huge price gap between the two as the 3.0 CSL will reportedly cost about 750,000 euros, thus making the M4 CSL a bargain (well, sort of) at 165,000 euros.

Source: BMW