The 2023 BMW M3 CS may not be one of the prettiest sedans out there, but it’s certainly among the fastest. In fact, few other four-door cars dare to go up against Bavaria’s latest Clubsport model, at least when it comes to straight-line acceleration. An unmodified example of the sporty saloon was taken to an unrestricted section of the Autobahn where it delivered supercar-like performance. In typical M fashion, it was faster than claimed.
BMW may say the M3 CS does 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.4 seconds, but in reality, the limited-run super sedan will do the job in just 3.2 seconds. It needed 10.37 seconds to go from 0 to 124 mph (200 km/h), thus beating the official 11.1-second sprint time provided by the German luxury brand. It went on to complete the quarter mile in 10.86 seconds after doing 62 to 124 mph (100 to 200 km/h) in 10.37 seconds.
Remarkably, it’s not even the fastest BMW sedan out there since the larger and more powerful M5 CS was tested a couple of years ago by the same folks at AutoTopNL and it delivered even better numbers. It hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in an amazing 2.98 seconds and completed the 0-124 mph (0-200 km/h) sprint in 9.67 seconds. The quarter-mile run took 10.64 seconds.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the M5 CS is a lot heavier than the M3 CS, but it actually isn’t. The difference between the BMW M’s high-performance sedans is just 60 kilograms (132 pounds), with the bigger of the two vehicles weighing 1,825 kg (4,023 lbs).
The adjacent video is also a good opportunity to see the M3 CS at full tilt, hitting 193 mph (311 km/h) on the German highway. The GPS-verified velocity was slightly lower, at 190 mph (306 km/h), which is still slightly higher than what BMW claims.
As was the case with the M5 CS, the new M3 CS will be available for only a year, and is expected to have a production run of anywhere between 1,700 to 2,000 cars.