Super-rare BMW M4 CS limited edition pays homage to race ace Valentino Rossi
Price on application
BMW has presented its works driver and former motorcycle race ace Valentino Rossi with the ultimate birthday gift – a limited-edition run of its mighty M4 CS coupé.
The Italian legend turned 46 on February 16, 2025, and as the nine-time world champion on bikes always raced with the number 46 on his bikes throughout his stellar career, it seemed an apposite time for BMW to honour him with the special M4 CS.
But the giving doesn’t stop there, especially for well-heeled BMW fans who can afford one of these machines. Rossi, also known as “Il Dottore” – The Doctor – for his brilliance on racing bikes, has been involved in the development and look of the M4 CS Edition VR46, to give the car its new name.
He’s a BMW M works driver nowadays, competing in an M4 GT3 in top-level global series (including the championship that features Le Mans), and the VR46 will be sold in two main specifications called Sport and Style, with just 46 examples of each made available.
Buy either one and the lucky owner will get an astonishing two-day experience in Italy that includes track time at the Misano Circuit and a chance to meet Rossi himself at his VR46 Motor Ranch in Tavullia.
Limited edition with striking looks
Underneath the Rossi-specific detailing of the Edition VR46 is an M4 CS, complete with its 542bhp twin-turbo straight-six engine and lots of carbon-fibre exterior detailing. With an eight-speed M Steptronic paddle-shift auto and M xDrive all-wheel drive, the VR46 can achieve 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds and will run on to a top speed of 187mph.
The VR46-specific details relate to Rossi’s own preferred colour palettes and visual style, which he has overseen here.
The Sport model is finished in Marina Bay Blue metallic with a huge “46” decal on each side in darker Tanzanite Blue metallic, while the Style has the inverse look in a matte effect – so Frozen Tanzanite Blue bodywork with Frozen Marina Bay Blue graphics.
Then it’s all about the yellow. The surrounds for the M4 CS’s front kidney grilles are finished in the colour, as is the stripe which runs up over the A-pillars and above the side windows (on the Sport version only), as is the huge “VR46” logo on the carbon-fibre roof, which is replete with Valentino’s signature.
Yellow also picks out one of the V-spokes on each of the light-alloy wheels of the M4 CS Edition VR46, which is not only Rossi’s first initial but also a motor sport technique which highlights immediately where the air valve for the tyre is positioned, making for quicker pit stops. Handy, if you’re grubbing around at an Esso inflator, trying to pump up your BMW’s Michelins.
The brake callipers are also yellow and M-emblemed, while there’s “VR46” lettering on the M4’s bootlid.
More yellow in the cabin
The interior of the M4 CS Edition VR46 is predominantly Night Blue, which is used for the upholstery along with black leather, but then of course there are lots of yellow highlights to echo the exterior.
These are deployed on the Alcantara shoulders of the seats and also used for the big “VR46” logos on both the head restraints of the bucket chairs and the door-sill trims. The three-spoke M Alcantara steering wheel is also finished with yellow stitching and a yellow 12 o’clock marker, while the final flourish in this limited edition is a “1/46” plaque on the centre console to identify the limited-production status of the BMW.
Why did Rossi love 46 so much?
Rossi’s racing number has become more of a trademark for the Italian than his Doctor nickname. He used #46 all throughout his career, even in the years when – as reigning MotoGP champion – he could have legitimately run with the #1.
But there’s a sentimental link to 46 for Rossi, as it is the number his father Graziano raced with when Valentino was little and watched his dad compete on motorcycles.
With respect to Graziano, Valentino was another level completely on bikes. He won his first world title in 1997 in the 125cc class, before stepping up to the 250cc category and beating the field there in 1999.
He then went to the ultimate 500cc class, picking up the first of seven championships at this level in 2001. It was renamed MotoGP in 2002, but that didn’t faze Rossi, who was unstoppable as he was crowned king every season from 2002 to 2005 inclusive. He added his sixth and seventh 500cc/MotoGP titles, and ultimately his eighth and ninth championships overall, in 2008 and 2009, before migrating to car racing from 2021 onwards.
As (at the time of writing) the only rider to have competed in more than 400 Grands Prix (432) in his career, winning 115 races and achieving 235 podiums across all three categories, Rossi is one of the three most-successful competitors in motorcycle-racing history – and through it all, VR46 was his identity.
So much so, that his hometown of Tavullia has lowered its speed limit from 50km/h, as is the norm in Italian built-up areas, to 46km/h in his honour.
And it is at Tavullia where the M4 CS Edition VR46 buyers will meet Rossi himself, enjoying a barbecue and a chance to “talk shop” with Valentino on day one of their trip to Italy, while on day two they will head to Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for a chance to drive a host of BMW M models. The Rossi-BMW links continue here because Valentino won GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races at his home circuit, when at the wheel of his M4 GT3, in both 2023 and 2024.
The price of the BMW M4 CS Edition VR46 for the UK has not been confirmed, nor has how many of the global allocation of 46 Sport or 46 Style versions will make it here, but expect the few that do make it to cost quite a lot more than the £120,345 a regular M4 CS would set you back.
Related articles
- If you were interested in the new special-edition BMW M4 CS, you may like to know that there’s also a CS version of the BMW M3 Touring available
- You might also like to read our review of the ‘regular’ BMW M3 Touring
- Have you seen the next-generation BMW M2?
Latest articles
- Super-rare BMW M4 CS limited edition pays homage to race ace Valentino Rossi
- 5 of the best seven-seat cars to buy in 2025
- Vauxhall Mokka 2025 review: The compact Mokka SUV hasn’t changed all that much, and we’d still have an Astra
- Spectre Black Badge is most powerful Rolls-Royce yet
- The 7 best compact SUVs and crossovers to buy in 2025
- Young Driver training firm replaces ‘woefully unreliable’ Vauxhalls with Suzuki Swifts
- Subaru Forester 2025 review: Improved, but still hard to recommend
- Polestar 4 second look: The sleek antidote to toxic Tesla
- Five best electric cars to buy in 2025
