Saving the best for last, BMW will end the 50 years of M festivities with the 3.0 CSL, a direct successor of the namesake homologation special from the early 1970s. Before its big debut by the end of the year, the stripped-out coupe has been spotted at the Nürburgring wearing the now familiar colorful M livery. It’ll be everything you like about the M4 CSL, but with a manual gearbox and arguably a better kidney grille design.

Previous spy shots of the 3.0 CSL showed a prototype with a roof-mounted wing, but curiously, this one didn’t have it. We do notice the big wing mounted on the trunk lid, harkening back to the original aero piece that was illegal back in the day to fit onto the car. The workaround found by BMW was to simply sell the car with the wing placed inside the trunk. Needless to say, that shouldn’t be the case with its modern-day equivalent.

Even though BMW has been awfully tight-lipped about the car, those stickers plastered all over the body due reveal some juicy tidbits. It’ll definitely have a manual gearbox judging by the “6MT FTW” decal, along with a rear-wheel-drive layout based on the “I donut care” and “drift happens” labels. As for the “too powerful” sign, it could be Bavaria’s not-so-subtle way of telling us the 3.0 CSL will pack a greater punch than the 550 hp available in the M4 CSL.

Continuing to decipher those black stickers, “I like it rare” is a hint the car is going to be a lot more exclusive than the M4 CSL of which 1,000 are going to be made. Sources close to the German automaker have told us only 50 cars will be produced at roughly €750,000 apiece. Provided the price is accurate, it’s going to be the most expensive new BMW ever by a significant margin, reaching deep into Rolls-Royce territory.

Before BMW lets loose of the 3.0 CSL, the M2 G87 is going to be out first as the very last series production M car with a pure ICE. This second half of 2022 will also bring us the production version of the XM plug-in hybrid SUV, the firm’s first dedicated M car since the M1.

Source: CarSpyMedia / YouTube