The BMW 3.0 CSL Story: #2 The design.

The breath-taking design comes from the pen of Viktor Bär. When asked to design the new BMW 3.0 CSL, the Project Lead Exterior Design BMW M agreed enthusiastically. "To create a vehicle like the 3.0 CSL is the dream of every designer, because you can really go flat out – in fact you almost have to," he says. In doing so, justice has to be done to the forefather, which was fashioned without compromise.

At first, various designs were created: some completely free and others which stuck very closely to the original legendary automobile of the 1970s – so that Bär and his team could better understand the vehicle and its proportions. "In the end we found a kind of symbiosis. A new interpretation with many quotes from the historic 3.0 CSL," says the designer. The widening features for example, which are functionally necessary, but should at the same time do justice to modern vehicle geometry. The original vehicle was fitted with "boxes" in the side walls to accommodate the wider wheels. On the new version of the car, these have been integrated more subtly: the widening elements run from the side walls through to the bonnet. At the rear, the elements form the attractive rear wing.

In this car, the focus was on the aesthetics – and elements which might compromise the car’s overall look were either omitted or subordinated to the demands of the aesthetics. To underline the vehicle’s puristic character, the parking sensors on the bumpers have been left out. In order to achieve a more harmonious overall look, the emblem is located in the main cooling area and not on the kidneys. At the back, the emblem is placed below the boot lid to create the effect of greater width.

Five decades lie between the historic vehicle and the new version. What unites both is the rigorous lightweight construction – as the name CSL implies: coupé, sport, lightweight construction. Viktor Bär, however, had completely different materials at his disposal than his predecessors in the 1970s and this gave him more latitude regarding the design.

"While many of the components of the historic vehicle were of aluminium, which at the time was a high-tech material, the bodywork of the modern CSL is largely made of CFRP, carbon-fibre reinforced plastic," says the designer. "This material, which is widely used in motorsports and aerospace, is very light and stiff and allows much more exact contours." The special roof spoiler is an exception, which along with excellent aerodynamics and design has a third task to fulfil: it houses the aerial, whose signal could be compromised by other materials. That’s the reason that the spoiler is made of glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GRP).

Alongside the artfully fashioned elements mentioned, there are new, specially developed highlights. These include the exclusive golden wheels with Y-shaped spokes and central locking. "The whole vehicle is studded with special features," says Viktor Bär. There are the fins on the front side walls, another echo of the historic vehicle. Then there’s the fact that the 3.0 CSL can be race-ready without the need for additional setting changes immediately after starting the engine, as shown by the modern design of the speedometer and rev counter. The overall impression is rounded off off by an exclusive 3.0 CSL graphic in the instrument display. "That was only finished at the last moment," reveals Bär. Just one of the achievements of the highly committed team that designed and realized the 3.0 CSL. "Every single team member was on fire from the first day to the last – the whole team put their heart and soul into it. When I saw the finished vehicle for the first time, I was over the moon. It’s an honour for any designer to work on a project like this."