1973 BMW 3.0 CSL
The letters stood for Coupé Sport Leicht (lightweight), and weight reduction was the governing principle behind everything.
To qualify the 3.0 CS for Group 2 competition in the European Touring Car Championship, BMW (working initially with Alpina) replaced the doors, hood, and trunk lid with aluminum, substituted Perspex for the side windows, and used thinner-gauge steel throughout the bodyshell.
The result was a saving of approximately 440 lbs (200 kg). Chrome wheel arch extensions accommodated wider alloy wheels, giving the CSL a visually broader stance than the standard CS coupe.
The mid-production aero package (known informally as the “Batmobile”) added a front air dam, rear wing, and additional aerodynamic elements. Because the rear wing was not street-legal in Germany, it was supplied in the trunk and fitted at the owner’s discretion, an arrangement that only added to the car’s character.
Under the hood, 1973 cars received a stroked version of the M30 straight-six displacing 3,153 cc (3.2 liters). In road trim, output was rated at 206 horsepower (DIN); fully prepared Group 2 race versions produced well over 300 horsepower. A four-speed Getrag manual was standard, with a five-speed available.
UK-delivered examples (the so-called “City Package” cars) retained soundproofing, power windows, and more conventional trim, making them rather less spartan than their continental counterparts.
Toine Hezemans took the 1973 European Touring Car Championship at the wheel of a Batmobile-specification CSL, and the model went on to win the championship again in every year from 1975 to 1979. A total of 1,265 BMW 3.0 CSLs were built across all variants between 1972 and 1975.
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