BMW M4 CSL Drags and Rolls BMW M3 CS 4-Door Twin, Surprises Can Still Occur

There is a conundrum that parents use to trick their kids into a philosophical debate – they ask the age-old question of "What came first: the egg or the hen?" Well, you could almost apply this to the video embedded below – albeit you would get slightly different responses from a knowledgeable audience.

If you ask a regular BMW enthusiast about who came first – the M3 or M4, the definitive answer is simple. So, the first generation of the high-performance variant of the BMW 3 Series was the E30 iteration as a homologation special for DTM and Group A Touring, presented to the public in 1985 and in production from 1986 as a two-door 2+2 coupe (or convertible).

Meanwhile, the BMW M4 has been around for much less time – since 2014, and the current G82/83 iteration is only the second generation. Thus, the M3 came first, but it was just like an M4 – a coupe or convertible model back then. Now, there's more choice with the G80/81/82/83 series, as the M3 can be had in sedan or Touring form and the M4 in coupe and Convertible format.

But for today's video, Mat brought the sedan and coupe to the brawl. However, there's a second 'who was first' question to be asked – the M4 CSL or M3 CS? Well, BMW debuted the returning M4 CSL nameplate at the 2022 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este with additional weight reduction, better aero, and more power than the M4 Competition. Then, this year, M3 fans also got their equivalent M3 CS with the same 550 ps/650 Nm (542 hp and 479 lb-ft) 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six mill under the hood.

They're like twins – but not identical, as the M4 CSL has two fewer doors and only RWD. Meanwhile, the M3 CS is heavier and can mimic RWD for some nifty drifting – a quick session was staged by Mat around Yanni to make sure he bothered him even before the races started. But wait, he concocted a second ruse – for the first two out of five drag races, he didn't use the included launch control function and left the M3 in RWD with all assistance systems switched off.

That way, Yanni took home two wins, which made him ecstatic before Mat dropped the bomb and washed the floor with his M4 CSL during the other three. However, the roles quickly reversed once again during the roll races, which the M3 CS shamefully lost. In the end, the decider came to the brake test, and the two cars did a synchronized ballet until they came to a halt within inches of each other. Now, if you want to know the overall winner, please also watch the video embedded below and do excuse Mat's squeaky voice from some segments – he clearly doesn't know he is annoying. Or does he?

Anyway, it's pretty interesting to note that BMW somehow gave two sports cars that are incredibly close on paper and, in terms of visuals (at least from the front), a different personality. The M4 CSL is like a rascal that won't be the quickest at the quarter-mile dragstrip but will compensate for that on the interstate or the Autobahn – while the M3 CS is like a monster in family/business sedan clothes. Cool, right?