Race car auctions on Bring a Trailer are a great place to see a lot of detailed views on special cars, like this M2 CS Racing (CSR) that sold six months ago. The gallery includes three hundred and fifteen photos of the car!

While I know very little about standard production M2 or M2 CS cars, it's easy to pick out some of the trick BMW Motorsport parts on the M2 CSR.

BMW Motorsport makes most of its specialty parts available to the general public as part of the FIA homologation process. There can be some hoops you have to jump through in order to purchase said parts (such as proving you own one of the vehicles or signing a waiver that you are using it for off-road use only), and the production lifespan might be pretty limited, but if it's in stock, you can likely buy it!

For example, in 2021, I bought some new BMW Motorsport Group N spring perches for the E30 M3 application, which probably had not been in production for about 30 years!

Some M2 CSR parts are already NLA (no longer available). Still, given enough budget, you could have come close to converting a production M2 into a CSR. Would this be practical? Definitely not, but if you check the forums, a lot of people bought select CSR parts to upgrade their street and track cars using "factory" race parts, such as the H&R-manufactured M2 CSR sway bars and Alcon-manufactured brake kit.

BMW has a parts catalog for all their Motorsports vehicles, although they can be hard to find. For instance, RealOEM.com only has the M4 GT4, M6 GT3, and M235i Racing listed. However, some dealership parts departments still have the M2 CSR parts catalog online, such as at this link (working as of February 2025).

Let's dive into some of the cool parts seen in this M2 CSR example.

All photos are owned by alecparisphotography and/or Bring a Trailer.

Body Work

The body is very recognizable as an M2 with only subtle differences. The front bumper shape is the same as the M2/M2 CS, except for the two small intakes on either side of the kidney grills (slightly underneath the headlights). The mesh grill inserts are unique to the M2 CSR. The front lower lip seems to be the same part as the M2 CS.

The car has polycarbonate side windows, with an air scoop on one side, and the refueling lid on the other side. There are Aerocatch latches on the hood and the trunk.

The roof skin is a checkerboard weave carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). [BMW part number 41318342950, MSRP: $5,235.99]

The rear spoiler is an M2 CSR-specific part with multiple adjustable positions via the uprights (which also serve as the endplates). [BMW p/n 51628324118]

The car has a Krontec pneumatic air jack system. The airline hook-up is in the center of the trunk lid.

Wheels/Tires/Brakes

The wheels are 18x10.5" ET46. These wheels are widely available for less than $600/ea, and given the price tag, I would wager that they are spun-forged construction. The tire size is 280/660R18.

The monoblock Alcon calipers are 6-piston front and 4-piston rear, both with fully-floating 2-piece rotors.

The part number for the ABS pump is the same as the M2 CS, so this is not a motorsport ABS setup, but perhaps a reflashed MK100 unit?

The M2 CS Racing offers specially tuned ABS and traction control systems to ensure performance, stability and safety for seasoned and new drivers alike. Source: BMW

Interior & Roll Cage

The door cards are CFRP and were a cool upgrade even for a street car. The door cards have a neat-looking X-shaped debossing to conform around the roll cage door bars.

The cage's door bar design is a fairly standard FIA "bent X" style, with a gusseted A-pillar support bar. It is a very nice-looking cage indeed. The stylishly shaped vinyl prevents scratching the paint, which is a cool touch.

BMW's official M2 CSR press photos don't depict a window net. I suspect BMW did not supply this Schroth piece.

The Recaro seat was an almost $10,000 option. [BMW p/n 52008342844] There are two unique seat adapter frames available from BMW.

Unlike an M4 GT4, which has a sliding pedal box assembly (rather than a sliding seat), the M2 CSR has a more traditional fixed pedal assembly with a heel plate that integrates a right-side vertical spacer that ensures your foot always aligns with the throttle pedal [the large black box on the transmission tunnel seen above].

The very trick steering wheel even has its own carrying case, which was included with the sale. The steering column seems like a production telescopic unit. The AiM dashboard has a BMW part number [62148431948].

The steering wheel and center-console mounted button panels are extremely thoughtful, driver-centric pieces with a fit and finish well above a typical "race car" spec. The steering wheel is affixed with a Krontec quick-release and has paddle shifters.

Surprisingly, it looks like the car has a key fob Velcroed into the center console. There is also a red level labeled "Speedy Block," which looks like it would be for an adjustable sway bar, a parking brake, or something similar.

Engine Bay

Besides additional bracing around the strut tower areas, the engine bay looks fairly run-of-the-mill. I am sure there are subtle differences from a standard M2 that I cannot identify.

The turbocharged S55 engine has an air-to-water heat exchanger on top, with a horizontally mounted oil cooler underneath the engine bay.

Driveline

There were two trim options: The CSR Cup making 365hp, and the CSR Clubsport making 450hp. Both sent power through a GS7D36SG 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and a Drexler limited slip differential.

This specific car appears to be equipped with an aftermarket differential oil cooler. I saw no reference to a diff cooler in the official BMW documentation.

Suspension

The suspension arms mix stock and tubular heim joint adjustable arms. The dampers are single-adjustable coilovers produced by ZF-Sachs. The adjustment changes both compression and rebound and is said to be considerably adjustable. The rear is converted from divorced springs to coil-over springs. The swaybars are multi-position adjustable and feature adjustable endlinks.

You'll note in these photos that the front and rear brakes are ducted. The fronts have tubing taken from the front bumper, and the rear has a simple scoop that harvests air from under the car.

Chassis/Underbody/Misc.

The caged shell, p/n 41008438097, has a list price of $37,218.79. The M2 CSR doesn't have a 17-digit VIN and thus cannot be made street-legal. The chassis and roll cage have a few serial number plates identifying the car.

Curiously, the underbody doesn't seem to have any paneling, which I imagine the production cars did. I thought this example might have had the under paneling removed for photos, but I saw photos of another example that didn't have any under paneling, either.

Borrowed from the G82 M4 GT4 is this neat ballast plate system. The mounting bracket alone retails for around $900, with various ballast plates available to attach to it. This system, when used, affixes where the passenger's seat would otherwise be.

Another cool part that crosses over with the M4 GT4 is this passenger's side foot plate [BMW p/n 51718431698]. This would be great for transplanting into another car.

Visible in the photo above is a bulkhead with various wiring connectors. The car's wiring harness looks like a mix of "stock" style wiring paired with some mil-spec race-style wiring. The digital box directly under the dash is a broadcasting device for video streaming, and the driver's communication radio is in a similar spot on the driver's side of the car.

That does it for the cool items that I spotted.

The auction page literally has hundreds of additional photos, so dig in yourself and let me know what other things you noticed!