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Originally Posted by lucid
The E46 CSL did not have significantly more power, but it did have a lighter chassis and better intake/throttle response and camshaft and valve modifications (probably aimed at better performance at the high rpm range, but I don't know the specifics). Something about optimizing a system to make it as "lean" and "dedicated" as possible rather than simply increasing displacement. One could probably make similar changes to a stock E9X M3, but the image of the CSL stands out as a "less-comprimised" performance car (I won't call it a race car), which is a concept that is appealing to many. (Don't we all secretly want "less comprimised lives"?) But "appealing" does not mean that those folks will actually put their money where their mouths are and purchase a CSL and commute in it if it were to be avaliable.
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lucid, as usual, you've hit the nail on the proverbial head. I don't have the money to buy the CSL, whether it is produced or not, and even if I did, I wouldn't spend it on a CSL. That said, as an M3 purchaser, I do want to see what BMW can do with this chassis and this iteration of the M3. Everyone knows that their respective car manufacturers leave something in reserve, even when building performance versions of their cars. The M3, for example, is an incredible machine, but think about what it could do if BMW wasn't concerned with its day-to-day behavior. Even if we wouldn't want to live with such cars on a day to day basis, we want to see what a few more hp or pound-feet of torque squeezed out of an engine or a ligher and more rigid chassis can accomplish. And when that uncompromising, no-excuses car is produced, we'll want to associate our cars with it.
I personally want to see a car like the CSL purely out of intellectual curiousity. As amazing as our M3's are, what coulld could the CSL accomplish?
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Originally Posted by lucid
I think this is the main issue. Some people are concerned that the //M "Motorsport" tradition is at risk. I personally do not think so, but significant reduction in the R&D budget and M engineers possibly spending time on not so relevant projects--"dilution" of focus internally--might indeed to be problematic in the long run. We'll see...
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I agree that I don't think it'll be a problem. Personally, as much of a worthy challenge as it may be to get an X5 to handle like an E46 M3, I don't think that the M-division will lose its way.