There’s uncommon, after which there’s the M3 GTR Strassenversion. For years, we believed BMW constructed 10 of those at €250,000 apiece. In reality, the one E46 3 Collection ever fitted with a V8 from the manufacturing facility is even rarer than that. Certainly, simply three are on the market, and BMW owns all of them.
A type of vehicles has now been taken out of BMW’s storage for a spin across the firm’s Munich headquarters. Curiously, the German automaker selected to blur the license plate of its M3 powered by a race automobile’s engine. Frustratingly, somebody thought it clever to overlay music as a substitute of letting the P60B40’s soundtrack shine by means of.
Nonetheless, we do get a quick style of the naturally aspirated 4.0-liter V8. The high-revving engine was derived from the namesake race automobile however detuned to 351 hp and 365 Nm (269 lb-ft). The Strassenversion additionally swapped the sequential gearbox for a six-speed guide with a twin-disc clutch and variable limited-slip differential.
If you realize your M3s, a number of visible cues distinguish the GTR from the usual E46. BMW tailored the race automobile’s entrance skirt, reworked the rear bumper, and added a towering carbon rear wing above a trunk lid spoiler. The hood vents are one other apparent giveaway.
Past the three surviving examples, BMW constructed seven growth prototypes, however all had been scrapped. That makes the M3 GTR one of many rarest vehicles ever to put on the roundel, much more unique than the mid-engined M1, of which 460 had been made. All three had been completed in Titan Silver and had their rear seats eliminated to shave weight.
The M3 GTR will perpetually be remembered because the hero automobile from Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and we are able to solely hope BMW provides probably the most particular E46 extra time within the highlight. There hasn’t been a lot protection of this elusive M3 within the 25 years since its debut.
Just like the M1 earlier than it, the M3 GTR was a homologation particular, basically a race automobile for the street. With no air con or radio, it provided a uncooked, unfiltered expertise solely a handful of BMW insiders ever obtained to get pleasure from. The remainder of us should make do with a controller in hand or movies like this one on repeat.
Video: BMW Traditional / Instagram
