BMW may say the M3 CS is a track-focused performance sedan but in reality, few owners will ever actually take the spicy G80 variant to a circuit. In most cases, only journalists are going to put the pedal to the metal, as is the case here with the folks from Motorsport Magazine. They drove the Signal Green four-door beast around Magny-Cours located in central France.
Fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires that are offered by BMW as optional equipment, the M3 CS needed 1 minute and 20.78 seconds to complete a lap of the 63-year-old track. We should point out there are several configurations of this circuit, including this Club layout that spans 1.07 miles (1.72 kilometers) and has 11 turns.
How did it stack up against other BMW M cars tested by the same peeps at Motorsport Magazine? Pretty good, actually. It was predictably faster than the M3 Competition xDrive upon which it’s based as the lesser version lapped Magny-Cours in 1:21.63, virtually on par with the new M2 and its lap time of 1:21.68. However, the coupe had stickier Michelin Cup 2 R tires. Perhaps more impressive is that BMW’s latest super sedan was about two seconds faster than the M5 CS (with Pilot Sport 4 S tires), which took 1:22.72 to cross the finish line.
However, the M3 CS is not the fastest BMW tested at this track as the M4 GTS completed the lap in 1:20.40 while the M4 CSL (with Cup 2 R tires) took 1:20.10. Speaking of the old M4 and Magny-Cours, BMW France launched a special edition of the F82 in 2017 that carried the track’s name and came bundled with a 1000 RR motorcycle as well as a fancy watch.
Earlier this year, the M3 CS was pushed hard on another French circuit where Sport Auto’s test driver lapped the Anneau du Rhin circuit in 1:19.1, making it 1.1 seconds faster than the M2 G87.
Source: Motorsport Magazine / YouTube