As a part of a special collaboration between BMW and EA to rejoice the thirtieth anniversary of the Need for Speed series, the brand produced and exhibited a one-of-a-kind BMW M3 GTR.
The E46 generation M3 GTR is considered one of the rarest models in BMW history. Its genesis, as with many small-sized cars, was the race track where BMW sought success in GT racing on each side of the Atlantic.
Although the already excellent M3 was mostly ready, BMW needed more power for various endurance racing series and developed the P60B40 V8 specifically for this application. This 444 hp V8 was the primary and only V8 installed within the E46 M3.
Homologation rules on the time required that every automobile entered within the series be available as a road-going model on two continents, so BMW set about creating the M3 GTR Strassenversion, a street-legal version of the automobile. Only produced in a series of ten cars, it combined a rather tuned version of the engine with a six-speed manual as a substitute of a sequential one.
In addition to its success on the race track within the ALMS – after which the regulations were modified to require minimum production numbers – the M3 GTR gained fame amongst gamers in Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
The GTR played a key role within the story, starting out because the player's automobile before being taken in nefarious fashion by the evil NPC Clarence “Razor” Callahan – often resulting in it being nicknamed “Razor's M3 GTR”. If you haven't played the 2005 title before, spoiler alert: you'll get it back at the tip.
It has turn into one of the crucial beloved cars throughout the brand's 30-year history and appears in other media – and its livery reflects the countless modified E46 320i models on public roads all over the world.
BMW itself has now capitalized on this connection, taking an actual M3 GTR race automobile – which appears to be the 2001 ALMS winning automobile of Jyrki Juhani Jarvilehto and Jorg Muller – and giving it the Need for Speed treatment with a blue and chrome finish wrap to match the automobile player.
You'll have the opportunity to see this M3 GTR up close for those who visit BMW's special exhibition space, BMW Welt, in Munich over the subsequent few months. It might be on view from Wednesday, November 27, to Monday, January 6, 2025, when BMW Welt might be closed for a month for renovation. We're unsure if BMW or EA could have any further promotional plans for this automobile later.
The unveiling of the vehicle coincides with the premiere Need for Speed without limitsVol.9 update which brings the automobile itself back to the series. It also includes the primary playable motorcycle within the series' history, which, you guessed it, can be a BMW.
