LONDON: All eyes will be on BMW M GmbH at the June 23-26 Goodwood Festival of Speed, as BMW’s legendary Motorsport division celebrates five decades of success.
Festivalgoers will witness the world premiere of the first-ever M3 Touring and the UK premiere of the new M4 CSL, as both take to the hill throughout the world-famous four-day event.
All this against the backdrop of a striking central feature sculpture on the lawn of Goodwood House, designed as a homage to 50 years of motorsport excellence as it showcases some of the most iconic models from M.
Elsewhere, visitors will be able to see – and in some cases, drive – the latest models from BMW’s range, including the new iX1, i7, i4 and iX M60.
For the first time in its history, the M range will be complemented by a M3 Touring which is a distillation of the technological prowess and know-how from the M3 and M4 family, combined with the practicality of a five-door touring model.
This latest M model will be unveiled at BMW M at Trackside on June 23, alongside a high-performance M3 Touring with Performance Parts, and can then be seen on the Hillclimb in the "First Glance" category every day of the festival.
The first M3 Touring has been whetting public appetite by setting a record for the fastest wagon at the Nürburgring Nordschleife last week. It beat the previous record holder, the Mercedes-AMG E63 S, by 10s with a notarised lap time of 7 minutes and 35.060 seconds.
The M3 Touring is likely to share the same twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight-six engine as the sedan, producing 503hp and 650Nm of torque. A manual transmission is unlikely to be offered.
Alongside the M3 Touring and M3 Touring MotoGP Safety Car on the hill will be the new M4 CSL, celebrating its UK premiere.
This ultimate, track-honed, two-seater coupe is defined by a 40hp power hike over the current M4 Competition Coupé to 550hp, while weight-saving measures – including the use of carbon-fibre for the roof, bonnet and boot lid – achieve a 100kg reduction in overall weight (in standard specification in the German market).
As a result, the new M4 CSL has recorded the best-ever lap-time for a BMW road car at the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit.
With M GmbH as the honoured marque, the Central Feature in front of Goodwood House will present an eye-catching display of M cars past, present and future.
BMW UK will add its legendary 3.0 CSL to the Central Feature, while BMW Group Classic is providing three further examples: the M1 Procar from the late 1970s; a WTCC 3 Series E90; the Le Mans winning 1999 V12 LMR.
The display is completed by the BMW M LMDh racecar, that will debut next year.
Besides providing historic BMW M cars for the Central Feature, BMW Group Classic will bring four additional famous race cars to Goodwood’s Hillclimb. Pedro Piquet (BRA), son of three-time F1 World Champion Nelson Piquet, will drive the world’s first turbo-charged F1 World Champion car, the 1983 Brabham BMW BT52.
