We Drove the Insane New BMW M3 CS! THIS is the Ultimate M3

This is the most insane track-ready M3 ever, but is it too hardcore for the street? I think we should find out. Buckle up and let's go for a drive. I'm your host, Brian Maxx, racer, lover of driving fast, fun things, and on this channel you get reviews for drivers from drivers. Now, who doesn't love a car developed and engineered to the extremes of its performance, and that's exactly what we've got with this M3 CS. It is the most extreme version of the M3, and before we get into what it's like to drive, let's have a look at this M3 CS in a little more depth. For all practical purposes, this M3 CS is very much like the M4 CSL, but with the addition of two doors and a back seat, but that doesn't tell the entire story. BMW's M division has not been resting on its laurels. There's a lot of work that's gone into this M3 CS to transform it into what it is from an M3 competition. For starters, they've turned up the boost on the 3-liter inline-six with its two monoscroll turbos, now makes 543 horsepower from 6,250 to 7,200 rpm, and again, that's 40 more horsepower than the M3 competition. Torque is unchanged at 479 pounds from 2,750 to 5,950 rpm. This engine is fixed with more rigid engine mounts. The transmission's still an eight-speed automatic. The all-wheel drive system is rear-biased, and it is tuned by M, and it also has a rear-wheel drive mode, which we'll talk about later. Does have the M active differential, which is an electronically controlled limited slip diff. Variable ratio, variable assist, electric power steering tuned by M. At the front, it's a double-joint spring strut axle, five-link at the rear, adaptive dampers, and all unique suspension settings for this M3 CS, and that goes from spring rates, damping rates, bushings, how the subframes are mounted to the chassis. Six-piston front calipers, single piston at the rear, optional carbon ceramic brakes like this one has. Keep in mind, this is a brake-by-wire car. Wheels and tires are 19s at the front, 20s at the rear, and the tires, of course, are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s. Inside, carbon buckets are standard equipment. This is a 2024 model, so it does have BMW's latest curved display. Love the Alcantara finish on the steering wheel. This does include M-Drive Professional as standard. The traction control is calibrated specifically for this car. There is an M lap timer and an M drift analyzer, if that's your thing. The hood is carbon fiber, of course. There is the distinctive grille similar to what we saw on the M4 CSL. Curb weight of this M3 CS is 3,915 pounds, which is about 75 pounds lighter than an M3 competition. 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I never gave much thought to earbuds until last year when we launched our racing team. Suddenly I'm on endless calls with the team, drivers, partners, you name it. And when I'm filming episodes in the countryside or taking my dog for a walk, my everyday earbuds from Raycon are my co-pilots. With their stellar sound quality, noise isolation, and awareness mode, they've seamlessly integrated into my daily routine. Remember, you can claim 15% off on these game changers by clicking the link in the description box or visiting buyraycon.com slash brianmax. The everyday earbuds from Raycon have turbocharged my daily life. They're so compact and convenient. I simply pocket them when I'm not using them and pop them in whenever I want. And if my phone rings, it's a breeze to take the call and keep my day in high gear. I'm particularly impressed with these custom gel tips for a perfect in-ear fit. No problem for me. Call quality is excellent, and there's eight hours of playtime on these. To get your 15% off, go to the link in the description box below or direct to buyraycon.com slash brianmax. And since you've stuck around, here's that special surprise. Courtesy of Raycon, we're giving away this pair of everyday earbuds. You have to be a subscriber. You have to be following me on Instagram. All you need to do is drop a comment below with a hashtag, Raycon everyday earbuds, and you're in the running. Behind the wheel, the entire experience is dominated by these deeply bolstered buckets with their carved out spaces. These are very innovative seats, and surprisingly, they're extremely comfortable. I've seen plenty of people complain about these seats, but you know what? In this M3 CS, they kind of work. They're actually not that compromised. I don't find this to be too difficult to get in and out of for some reason. I don't know if they're shaped differently or positioned somewhat differently. Even the B pillar here doesn't really intrude on getting in and out of this M3 CS, so I really dig the seats. And on top of that, in this car, they're power adjustable and they're heated. Funny thing is, I've seen some people complain about how low the seat goes, and you know what? It doesn't go low enough for me. If you complain about how low the seat goes and you complain about your visibility, I believe you when you tell me you've never driven a racing car. Genuinely, the seat does get fairly low here, but I am set up perfectly behind the wheel. And what's funny is there is actually an incredible amount of adjustment in the steering column. I actually have too much reach if I need, and I don't need all of that reach when I'm fitted perfectly behind the wheel. I've got a great relationship to the pedals and then a perfect relationship to this perfectly finished steering wheel. The real thing about this seat is how it's shaped and then how it's bolted or fixed to the chassis. It really gives you a lot of feedback, and that's what you should expect in a car like an M3 CS. Ergonomically, this has a lot of BMW's latest tech. So we've got the big curved screen here, which is basically two displays. What's cool is when you are in track mode, this one shuts down completely, and all you've got is the visual information dead ahead in front of you. There are some unique things here inside the M3 CS, including this entire console. Gone are the cup holders. So if you do need cup holders, this is not the car for you. There is wireless charging. There's a little bit of storage here. There are some water bottle holders in the doors, and you can kind of get away with those if you need. And what's cool is there's a little spot for your key right here. Absolutely works perfectly, but I do enjoy how focused this interior is. It's all about the business of driving, and driving fast. The rear seat is standard M3, but when you're back there, you're staring at the carbon facing of these buckets up here. But otherwise, plenty of space in the second row, and that rear seat splits, folds, and has a ski pass through if that's your thing. Well, let's give it a try. Oh, this is ridiculously quick. I cannot believe how well it puts down power, and that speaks to how well all the systems have been massaged and engineered in order to put all that power and all that torque to the ground. It certainly doesn't hurt that it's got those Michelin Cup 2s underneath it. These are an incredibly sticky tire and an incredible performance tire. Yeah, it'll do zero to 60 in the low threes, maybe nearly three flat. Its acceleration doesn't tell the whole story. Yes, this has the M-Drive Professional, so top speed is 188 miles an hour, which is about 300 kilometers an hour. That's a big 300 for my friends who think about cars and metric, but otherwise, this is all about how the drivetrain has been optimized. Yeah, they've dialed up the boost and added 40 more horses to this engine, but it's more about how the all-wheel drive system works and, of course, how the transmission works as well, and it has been wonderfully optimized. We know we like that M Sport differential in the back. The E-Diff is also calibrated wonderfully, but when you are in the more aggressive drive modes, and we'll talk about drive modes, it seems like every single system and component in this car is absolutely optimized for what you're asking it to do, so when you go all extreme, this thing is so incredibly quick and so incredibly responsive, and that is the entire drivetrain, not just the engine, and even though it's got a tremendous amount of torque and it's very flexible, it also is rewarding to run this up to redline to find that peak power. It's smooth in operation, has abundant torque from low in the rev range all the way through the meaty part of the rev range, and then makes peak power right near redline. The transmission is incredibly flexible. When we're driving along, just cruising along as we are now, shifts are smooth up and down the box, barely perceptible, and then when you're hustling, this thing got this thing set up in more aggressive drive modes. It shifts quick and it shifts hard, so you know exactly what it's doing. As well, you can set this up in two-wheel drive mode, and that is just an incredible thing to do. It gives this car much more versatility, especially when you're playing on the track. I had it in two-wheel drive mode, and boy, this thing is very rear-biased when it's in two-wheel drive mode. It is power on, oversteer, all day long, anytime you want it, but the best thing is it's very, very progressive because this chassis communicates to you. The tires work beautifully, the rest of the chassis works beautifully, and you can control the slide. Who knew that BMW M could deliver such a system, but this is incredible in terms of its ability to go from all-wheel drive and its sure-footedness to a rear-wheel-drive maniac. Another setting that you can adjust, because this is a brake-by-wire car, is the amount of brake pedal assist, and basically, you've got a comfort mode and a more sporting mode, and all it does is change the level of assist. It doesn't change feel, doesn't change feedback, and I love the customization that BMW M gives its drivers. I've got M1 and M2 configured completely differently. M1 I've configured to my day-to-day mode, which is a little bit more sporting on the throttle mapping, a little more sporting on the transmission, shifting automatically, of course, and then what I do is I soften the dampers, I lighten the steering assist so it's got a little bit more assist. You don't need that sport steering mode anyway, and the other thing I do is I dial up the level of brake assist, or at least I dial it down so it's a little firmer pedal. No, it doesn't give me better feel or feedback, but it's a little bit firmer, and then my M2 drive mode is completely bananas. It's rear-wheel drive, and I've backed off systems, so it's basically me and this M3 CS playing on the road. We're going to interrupt your regularly scheduled episode for the opportunity to take this on the racetrack, and I often complain about not taking BMWs on the track, but we're going to do that today at the Drive Festival at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Going up against the Ferrari. Let's go, baby. Yeah. BMW versus Ferrari. Here we go. Let's go, Brian. Flat out, buddy. 180. This is a weird, weird corner because in real life, it's like increasing radius, but here it's decreasing radius. Oh, you know what? I'm feeling it. My tires aren't warm. That's a boy, Brian. How's that, buddy? That's a boy. I was being a little careful there. I can see you taking it easy a little bit. A little bit. That was amazing. Enjoyed that. Oh, yeah. So that was pretty awesome. This car is incredibly approachable. Anybody who's fortunate enough to buy one of these is going to have a great time when they take it to the track. Super approachable, super easy to figure out, and of course, it's got all the systems to make you look like a hero. Now back to your regularly scheduled episode. In terms of handling, I don't think there's any room for improvement here. This is a 10 out of 10 for me. It's incredibly well balanced at the limit, whether you're in all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive mode, and yes, it's a little firmer than an M3 competition, but it absolutely suits the character and the intended use of this M3 CS from the tire to the dampers to the spring rates to how they've mounted the subframes to the bushings. The level of control and precise control that I have when I'm behind the wheel is unlike anything else I've driven in a long time. On the Sport Cup 2s, of course, you've got incredible levels of grip as well, and not only that, the tires do a great job of communicating through feel, through chassis feel, as to what they're doing at all four corners. And when I ended up in that inadvertent drift, the tires at the back told me exactly what was going on, so all I needed to do was countersteer a little bit, breathe out of the throttle, and got this M3 CS perfectly under control. The way they've engineered the suspension in this car gives it a much more buttoned-down feel than any M3 or any M4 that I've driven previously, save for the M4 CSL. This just feels like you're directly connected to those four contact patches. Meanwhile, it's almost 4,000 pounds. I'm very, very pleased at how well this handles and how well it communicates to me. I have to talk about these carbon ceramics, and these are just incredible. I need to jump on the brakes right here just to slow this down, and these are incredibly efficient at slowing this M3 CS down, but also one of the side benefits that these carbon ceramics have is that they are lighter than conventional steel rotors, and that means less unsprung weight, and that means the dampers have an easier job controlling wheel movement, and that is just a beautiful thing in terms of keeping the tires in contact with the road. For me, one of the highlights is its balance at the limit, especially in two-wheel drive mode because that's when it's most free, and yes, it will oversteer on throttle if that's what you're asking for, but even in all-wheel drive mode, it is very neutral at the limit, powers out of corners no trouble at all, does exactly what I want it to do, and it tells me exactly what it's doing so that I can adjust my line and adjust the car's attitude. As a dynamic package, however, that is where this M3 CS shines. It is meant to tear up corners like this. Wow, this is just incredible. It is telepathic in terms of its feedback, and it really becomes an extension of me. This is absolutely a driver's car. How do you spec yours? Well, this is a fairly simple question to answer because if you haven't bought your M3 CS by now, you don't have a choice in terms of your color and option, and speaking of options, there's just one, really, and that is the choice between steel and carbon ceramic brakes. Otherwise, your choices are colors as well as wheel color of all things. What you are looking at is signal green paint with the fancy bronze wheels. Base price in the U.S. is $118,700. In Canada, it's $148,000. In terms of spec in yours, there is just the one option to consider. That is the carbon ceramics, and if yours comes with carbon ceramics, well, good on you because this M3 CS is hardcore and it needs the carbon ceramics for lighter unsprung weight as well as better on-track performance. Now, in terms of colors, well, signal green is one thing, and we'll talk about that in a moment. Your other options are a black metallic, Brooklyn gray, which is a full thumbs down because that is far too fashionable, as well as a flat white. I would just go with the black metallic carbon ceramics and be very happy with my M3 CS. My verdict? Well, we do have to answer that question as to whether this M3 CS is just too hardcore for the street, and that is the question of the day. Before we get into that, let's talk about fuel consumption. I'm guessing I'm getting less than 20 miles per gallon. Don't really care because this thing paints a smile on my face every time I'm behind the wheel. There's no question about that. As for this being too hardcore for the street, well, I thought it was going to be, and as it turns out, it's very usable, it's reasonably comfortable, and it's less compromised than I anticipated. Yes, it's a little bit more hardcore than an M3 competition, and if you need your cup holders, well, that's your only choice, but otherwise, if you're looking for a track car that kind of does everything, you have no choice than to look at this M3 CS. It's an incredible machine. Thanks for hanging out with me today and having a look at this 2024 BMW M3 CS. Hope you liked this episode, and if you did, well, you're not new to YouTube, you know what to do. Smash the subscribe button, turn on your notifications, like this video, and as always, sharing is caring, so please share this with your friends, especially on Reddit, because on Reddit, they really need to see reviews for drivers from drivers. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below. I'll get back to you as soon as I can, and if you want to support the channel, please head to our merch store. Links here, links below, lots of great stuff for driving enthusiasts like us, including our very popular line of Save the Manuals merch. Thanks again for watching. We'll see you again next time, and remember, cars don't understeer by themselves, not even BMW M3 CSs. Did you just say, yo, Revit? No.