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The M4 CSL’s twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six makes 543 horsepower, some 40 hp more than the M4 Competition, and the car is also lighter than its counterpart by 240 pounds.The handling is more track-day focused thanks to a lower stance, standard high-performance tires and carbon brakes, and more aggressive suspension tuning. This special-edition M4 CSL will be limited to 1000 units worldwide and costs $140,895.BMW’s new 2023 M4 CSL is a focused track-day special edition that is optimized for those who are willing to give up a chunk of daily-driver livability for substantially enhanced performance. CSL stands for Competition Sports Lightweight, and the specs show this to be more than a mere marketing term. They also show that this car will almost certainly be a brute that won’t appeal to everyone.It’s powered by the same twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six that powers the M4 Competition, but the CSL’s peak turbo boost has been raised from 24.7 psi to 30.5 psi, a 24 percent increase. The dual-circuit cooling system has been upgraded to suit not merely the extra power, but also the rigors of track use. The result is 543 horsepower, some 40 hp more than the Competition, with the same power peak of 6250 rpm. Maximum torque is also unchanged at 479 pound-feet, which means the eight-speed automatic transmission and driveline from the Competition can be used as before, right down to the automatic’s internal ratios and the final-drive ratio inside the M Sport differential. The shift points have been performance-optimized, however, and the engine and transmission mounts have been substantially stiffened. There should be far less slack and windup in the power delivery, but an increase in cabin vibration is almost certain to be a side effect.

The effects of this extra power are magnified by a massive 240 pound weight reduction. Each of the M4 Competition’s horsepower has 7.7 pounds to move around, but the extra power and lighter weight of the CSL drops that significantly to 6.7 pounds per pony. BMW claims that it will get to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, compared with the Competition’s claimed 3.8 seconds, but we think it’ll do better. The CSL is a two-seater that sheds its rear seat and seatbelts to save 46 pounds right off the top. Beyond that, its one-piece carbon front buckets save 53 pounds, but you can choose to add 32 pounds back if you order adjustable carbon seats. Another 33 pounds in savings comes from the use of lightweight sound insulation—and quite possibly less of it—in certain areas. More carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is used inside and out, including for the center console that saves 9 pounds. At the tail end of the exhaust, another 9 pound savings comes from the use of a titanium silencer that’s tuned so it “can be fully appreciated inside the cabin where it provides the driver with accurate acoustic feedback in response to movements of the accelerator and clearly conveys the engine’s performance characteristics.” Which is a roundabout way of saying it’s louder.
The CSL comes standard with the 275/35ZR-19 front and 285/30ZR-20 rear high-performance tire combination that’s optional on the Competition, but the wheels are mounted on CSL-exclusive forged alloys with slender spokes that shave off more weight. Carbon-ceramic brakes that are optional on other M4s are standard here, and the wheels, brakes, and certain lightweight suspension components add up to another 46 pounds saved, with much of this being unsprung weight.The suspension squats some 0.3 inch lower than the Competition, and it has been recalibrated with CSL-optimized springs, adaptive damper valving and software, and altered stabilizer-bar tuning. Also notable is the use of additional monoball joints in certain rear suspension links instead of rubber bushings in the interest of more precision when on the track. This last tidbit reminds us of similar suspension changes made to the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS, which delivered stellar handling as a result, as well as questionable livability.All signs point to a much more capable and raw BMW M4 that will indeed be a more potent track-day weapon. There’s a single-minded approach at work here, and it should absolutely appeal to those who want to put their M4 on the track. How many BMW fans are looking for what the M4 CSL has to offer? We’ll see once we know how long it takes the 1000 units—each priced at $140,895—to sell out.
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Mercedes only ever built two copies of the 300SLR, and they became known as the Uhlenhaut coupes because of their association with legendary engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut.The two vehicles have sat in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Collection for over half a century, and the sale was so secret and exclusive that the automaker is only announcing that it happened now, two weeks after an auction was held in Stuttgart.The bidding topped out at $143 million, which more than doubles the previous record holder for most valuable car.A little spring cleaning over at Mercedes-Benz has resulted in a new record for most valuable car in the world. The automaker has confirmed that it has sold one of its two incredibly rare 300SLR Uhlenhaut coupes to a private collector for a whopping $143 million (135 million euros) at a private auction run by RM Sotheby’s at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on May 5.
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The previous record holder for most expensive car was a 1963 Ferrari 250GTO that was purchased for a reported $70 million in 2018 by WeatherTech founder and CEO David MacNeil. Only a small number of wealthy individuals were invited to participate in the auction for the hardtop version of Mercedes’s mighty Silver Arrow, and Mercedes is not revealing the name of the purchaser of the 300SLR, but Hagerty reports that the buyer is “a well-known figure from Britain’s automotive industry and a longstanding collector of specialist cars.” Mercedes did say that the buyer agreed to make the car available to the public on special occasions.

With chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut.
Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

When rumors of this sale first started circulating earlier this month, one of the big questions was why Mercedes-Benz would sell an irreplaceable car from its Classic Collection with a deep history for just a small portion of the company’s annual budget. In today’s announcement about the sale, Mercedes said the money would be used to establish the “Mercedes-Benz Fund,” which will be used to “provide educational and research scholarships in the areas of environmental science and decarbonization for young people” around the world. The Mercedes-Benz Fund will support college students working on environmental science projects as well as younger pupils focused on local environmental projects in their communities. Mercedes will announce more details on the fund later this year.

Mercedes-Benz

“The 300SLR Uhlenhaut coupes are milestones in sports-car development and key historical elements that have shaped our brand,” Mercedes-Benz Group CEO Ola Källenius said in a statement. “The decision to sell one of these two unique sports cars was taken with very sound reasoning—to benefit a good cause . . . With the Mercedes-Benz Fund we would like to encourage a new generation to follow in Rudolf Uhlenhaut’s innovative footsteps and develop amazing new technologies, particularly those that support the critical goal of decarbonization and resource preservation. At the same time, achieving the highest price ever paid for a vehicle is extraordinary and humbling.”

The two 300SLR Uhlenhaut coupe prototypes in the Mercedes collection were both built by and named after their creator and chief engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut. The company only built two hardtop versions of the 300SLR racer, and the cars, from 1955, were used by Uhlenhaut and other Mercedes engineers to push racing technology forward. Mercedes-Benz’s Classic still has more than 1100 automobiles in its collection, including the second original 300SLR coupe, going all the way back to the invention of the automobile in 1886 and up through today.
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Mercedes has presented the Vision AMG, a concept that signals its performance brand’s desire to shift towards electric propulsion in the coming decade.The sleek body is draped across a long wheelbase, providing dramatic proportions.The headlights echo the Mercedes three-pointed star logo while the taillights look like the afterburners on a fighter jet.Mercedes-AMG, the German brand’s performance-focused arm, has begun a drastic transformation, shifting away from the large-displacement engines that solidified its reputation for face-melting driving shenanigans towards downsized powertrains and hybridization. The next C63 AMG is set to trade its predecessor’s turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 for a turbo 2.0-liter inline-four hybrid. But before too long, AMG will begin to transition away from gas engines entirely, and the Vision AMG concept unveiled today provides a glimpse at AMG’s all-electric future, which Mercedes says will start in 2025.

Mercedes-AMG

The Vision AMG features an elegant body, with smooth, aerodynamic surfaces and a long wheelbase. The rear and side windows have been painted the same Alubeam silver color as the rest of the car, emphasizing the sleek look while reducing the windows ability to be, well, windows. The overall shape follows in the footsteps of the EQXX concept and Mercedes says there is an active rear spoiler, although none of the photos show it raised. Mercedes revealed very little about what propels the Vision AMG, other than that it is electric, rides on a new platform called AMG.EA, and has a high-performance, high-voltage battery and the compact and lightweight axial flux motors also found in the EQXX.

Mercedes-AMG

While the Vision AMG’s body looks like a polished stone, the graphical elements add plenty of pizzazz. The nose features a panel that mimics that traditional AMG Panamericana grille, with LED light strips echoing the vertical slats from the gas-powered models. A thin light bar connects the main headlight units, styled to recall the iconic Mercedes three-pointed star logo. The taillights, meanwhile, feature three cylindrical tubes that looks like the glowing afterburners of a fighter jet and sit below an aggressive rear diffuser.

Mercedes linked the Vision AMG concept to its successful Formula 1 team with the silver paint, aqua accents, and faint star pattern on the rear half of the car reminiscent of the race car’s livery. The concept’s 22-inch wheels also feature a closed-off, aerodynamic design, similar to the wheel covers introduced for the 2022 Formula 1 season. Mercedes hasn’t confirmed that the concept directly previews a future AMG model, but we expect to see many of the design cues carry over when AMG starts to go electric in 2025.
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