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2023 BMW M4 CSL Gets Virtual “Nose Job,” 3-Series LCI Face Now Seems Too Bland

With the BMW M GmbH 50th anniversary celebrations ready to “gather steam” (and it’s not hard to, with those humongous kidney grilles), the Bavarian automaker just revealed its greatest M4 asset: the “very special limited edition CSL model.
2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle 15 photos
Photo: theottle / YouTube
2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle
Standing for “coupe, sports, and lightweight,” the CSL moniker is the pinnacle of two-door 4-Series BMWs. So, this “reborn legend (…) fuses old-school racing passion with innovative technology” to jump ahead of the current M4 Competition with another 40 hp to a total of 543 ponies while also dropping some 240 pounds (109 kg). The only problem, aside from the massive MSRP and limited availability, is that controversial design trait.

So, the all-new 2023 BMW M4 CSL costs no less than $139,900 plus $995 destination for the U.S. market, and global production (which kicks off in July) is limited to just 1,000 units. But is anyone going to frown about that? Not at all, since there is something else to bully. Call it nostrils, double coffins, a beaver nose, or whatever. The kidney grille has changed forever with the advent of the second-generation 4 Series, and on the G82/83 BMW M4 Coupe or Cabriolet, it feels like it can never be unseen again.

At least that is the impression left over by the virtual artist better known as Theottle on social media, who has decided to tempt BMW's imagination by rekindling our passion for smaller kidney grilles. Naturally, it was not that hard to do it. In the pixel master’s latest behind-the-scenes making-of video (embedded below), the Bavarian automaker just subjected the seventh-generation 3 Series to the traditional LCI (Life Cycle Impulse, aka a facelift) procedure in less than three minutes.

2023 BMW M4 CSL to 3\-Series LCI face swap rendering by Theottle
Photo: Theottle / YouTube
Now, the CGI expert decided to do a digital 2023 M4 CSL nose job by shrinking the 4-Series “beaver grille” to more manageable 3-Series levels. This was a fast one and the artist did not even come out too satisfied with the result: “(I) must say, the small grille could have been better executed. It looks a little off here.” Well, we are inclined to agree, as the resulting virtual face now seems way too bland!

Thus, as incredible as it may seem, I think we are better off with the official 2023 BMW M4 CSL and its humongous air-suction cups. Because unless you have already ordered a unit in advance it may be just as ephemeral as this digital project is wishful thinking, let us dream of the M4 CSL a bit and speak a little more of the official goodies.

Those include neat perks such as the remastered chassis with “unique enhancements,” space for just a driver and a co-pilot during the upcoming corner-carving adventures, plus track-ready M Carbon bucket seats. Of course, all that Green Hell testing also yielded the best-ever Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of any production-specification BMW car: 7:20.2!

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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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