The BMW E46 M3 GTR is one of those cars that many automotive fans know and love, but have never seen aside from on the screen while playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Now, Young Timers Garage has got its hands on one of the two race cars ever made with a V8.
Served up in a stock shade of gloss silver-gray without any racing liveries, this M3 comes fully specced for the race track. Unlike its roadgoing sibling which features an inline six-cylinder engine, this GTR is offered with an M5-sourced 4.9-liter V8 that’s mated to a six-speed manual transmission, driving the rear wheels.
Three other GTR iterations were made but were fitted with a six-cylinder race engine — just #004 and #005 came with the V8. It was completely overhauled for racing, featuring a double row timing chain, hollow camshafts, and “a semi-dry-sump oil system consisting of two additional scavenging pumps that activate for hard cornering,” as per the listing.
As for styling, that too is also fully racing spec. The widebody kit is further accentuated with a huge carbon fiber rear wing on the boot deck, while at the front you’ll find a deep grille and a louvered front hood. Side-exit exhausts hit up the skirts, while the rear has been smoothed for better aerodynamics.
Take a look at the seasoned BMW E46 M3 GTR above, and find out more about the car on Young Timers Garage’s website. The price is on appointment, so we imagine it costs a considerable amount.
It competed during the 2001 racing season under both the BMW Motorsport and Team Schnitzer teams, with the car being entered in the GT class of The American Le Mans Championship and the European Le Mans Series.[1][2][3]
It was originally fitted with a 3.2L inline-six engine based on the engine of the standard E46 M3. The car first entered the GT class of the American Le Mans Series in 2000, in which it only took a single victory and was beaten on several occasions by the Porsche 911 GT3-R.
A newly developed P60B40 V8 engine was quickly placed into the race car before the beginning of the racing 2001 season. It was developed alongside the BMW V10 engine that was used to power Williams Formula 1 cars during the 2001 F1 season. The old engine was ditched as BMW's engineers couldn't squeeze any more horsepower out of it.
The new engine gave the M3 GTR GT a competitive edge over the Porsche 911 GT3-R and allowed it to win seven out of the ten events in the GT category for the 2001 season. Porsche claimed during the 2001 ALMS season that BMW had violated the ALMS entry rules and the spirit of Gran Turismo through protesting the V8 engine in the M3 GTR GT was not available in any road legal BMW M3.
BMW produced 10 road going GTR models, which went on sale after the 2001 ALMS season ended as the rules required that the entered cars must be placed on sale on two continents within twelve months of the season beginning, but the ALMS rules were changed for the GT class heading into the 2002 season, and required that at least 100 units as well as 1,000 engines be built for a car to qualify. The revised rules forced BMW to pull the M3 GTR from the following American Le Mans Series season.
However, it made its return to motorsport when the BMW-backed Schnitzer Motorsport team entered two M3 GTRs for the 2003 24 Hours of Nürburgring endurance race. The M3 GTR participated in the race for the following two years and scored a 1-2 victory for the team in 2004 and 2005.
Contents
- 1 Games
- 1.1 Need for Speed: Most Wanted
- 1.1.1 Player's
- 1.2 Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0
- 1.3 Need for Speed: Carbon
- 1.3.1 Custom
- 1.4 Need for Speed: World
- 1.5 Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
- 1.6 Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) (Mobile)
- 1.7 Need for Speed: No Limits
- 1.7.1 Stock
- 1.8 Need for Speed: Edge
- 1.9 Need for Speed: Heat
- 1.9.1 Legends Edition
- 1.10 Need for Speed: Unbound
- 1.1 Need for Speed: Most Wanted
- 2 Trivia
- 3 Gallery
- 4 References
Games
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
The BMW M3 GTR appears in Need for Speed: Most Wanted and is available from the beginning of the career mode.
The career partially revolves around the M3 GTR as it is the player's car at the beginning of the game until it is sabotaged. The car will be returned to the player after defeating Blacklist racer #1 - Razor - which also unlocks it for Quick Race play.
It has strong handling, acceleration and top speed capabilities, however, it receives a mediocre speed boost from its nitrous injection.
Player's
The player's personal M3 GTR is made available during the Career prologue, but is unlocked in the Career mode upon the player defeating Blacklist Rival #1: Clarence "Razor" Callahan, and fleeing Rockport to escape Sergeant Cross' pursuit.
Upon being unlocked, it is added to the player's garage in Career mode, and is also made available as a Bonus car for use in Quick Race or multiplayer. It can not be selected for customisation in My Cars.
Defeat Blacklist #1: "Razor"
Bonus
Blacklist Rival's vehicle
Top Speed 9.5
Acceleration 9.5
Handling 6.1
Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0
The BMW M3 GTR appears in Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0 and is unlocked upon defeating Blacklist Racer #1 - Clarence "Razor" Callahan. It comes with a unique livery not featured in other releases meaning visual customisation and performance upgrade options are not available for the car.
The M3 GTR has the most powerful acceleration of all the cars in the game along with a high top speed and handling rating.
Need for Speed: Carbon
The M3 GTR appears in Need for Speed: Carbon as a tier 3 exotic class car.
It can be unlocked through gameplay, but can be unlocked early through purchasing a downloadable content pack; the Custom Car Bundle 2 pack.
The start of the Career mode sees the player attempting to escape from Cross through one of the canyon routes. Before they can reach Palmont City, they drive into a construction area at the base of the canyon, and total the M3 GTR.
It has a lower top speed and worse acceleration than other tier 3 exotic cars, but makes up for it with great handling.
Custom
The custom M3 GTR is unlocked for use in Quick Race upon the player completing the "BMW M3 GTR" Reward Card:
- Most Wanted: Raise the Heat on your car to Level 5 while in Career Freeroam
- Fast Wheels: Cause 200,000 Cost to State in a single pursuit while in Career Freeroam
- Collector: Unlock 33 cars
- Conqueror: Conquer all the tracks in Career mode
Custom
Top Speed 6.8
Acceleration 9.2
Handling 9.3
Need for Speed: World
Development - Some content may have altered during development.
The BMW M3 GTR appeared in the closed alpha release of Need for Speed: World. In beta builds of the game, the vehicle was replaced with a custom BMW M3 (E46) featuring a body kit and spoiler that resemble the BMW M3 GTR.
The files for the BMW M3 GTR were later re-added near the end of 2010, and could be found in the directory of the game, but Its mesh and texture files were removed in later builds of the game.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
Stub - This article section needs expanding with relevant information.
The M3 GTR appears in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) as a Race class vehicle included in the Need for Speed Heroes Pack for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
Purchasing the Need for Speed Heroes Pack will unlock a Most Wanted racer within single player that will reward the player with the M3 GTR upon completion. It is unlocked in multiplayer upon the player completing 24 SpeedList events in Sports cars.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) (Mobile)
The M3 GTR appears as an Exotic class car in the iOS and Android releases. It is unlocked and given to the player for free upon completing the #1 Most Wanted event. Its best trait is depicted as acceleration, although speed and handling are also rated high.
Need for Speed: No Limits
The M3 GTR appears in Need for Speed: No Limits as part of 3.2.2 update and featured in the "Need for Speed: Urban Legend" special event that took place from December 12, 2018 to December 19, 2018. The starting performance rating is 518.
Stock
The stock M3 GTR is a classic sports class car that requires 40 legendary blueprints to unlock. The blueprints required to unlock the vehicle can be found from various sources;
- "Need for Speed: Urban Legend" special event
- Black Market
Receive 400 mechanic level XP by building up and 1400 mechanic level XP by fully staging up this car.
Stage Upgrades
Need for Speed: Edge
The M3 GTR (E46) 2001 appears in Need for Speed: Edge with an S class performance rating.
S 701
Requires 500 blueprints to produce
Top Speed 709
Acceleration 694
Nitro Capacity 702
Strength 409
Durability 400
Need for Speed: Heat
The M3 GTR '06 appears in Need for Speed: Heat following an article published[4][5] on August 19, 2019 revealing it to be part of the game's official car list.
Its appearance is foreshadowed during the cutscene at the end of the mission "Follow The Law", a dark blue M3 GTR can be seen on the back of a flatbed truck in the Task Force's chop shop. As the player and Ana sneak around the chop shop, two officers can be overheard recounting how they acquired it; "You should've seen his face last night when I loaded it on the truck, thought he was gonna cry", to which another replies, "Ah, Frank would've loved that".
It is later driven by Frank Mercer during the mission "Breaking The Law", in which he attempts to flee from the Palm City Police Department discovering his Task Force's shipment of cars. As the player and Ana's chase down Mercer, Lucas remarks that the PCPD will never be able to catch him and police chatter acknowledges that they've lost him whilst apprehending members of his Task Force.
Legends Edition
The M3 GTR Legends Edition '06 is added to the player's garage upon completing the campaign story alongside being unlocked for purchase from the car dealer for
It has a customisation rating of zero and can not be visually customised in any manner, but can be equipped with performance parts.
Unlocked after completing the Main Campaign Story
POWER 1.3
HIGH SPEED 2.3
ACCELERATION 2.6
NITROUS 2.0
HORSEPOWER [bhp] 345
0-60 MPH [s] 4.60
MAX TORQUE [ft-lb] 269
TOP SPEED [mph] 177
Engine Swaps (10 Available)
345 bhp 4.0L V8
[bhp] 345 / 1,009
276 bhp 1.3L Wankel
[bhp] 276 / 725
338 bhp 3.2L I6
[bhp] 338 / 861
493 bhp 3.0L I6
[bhp] 493 / 884
456 bhp 4.0L V8
[bhp] 456 / 1,014
503 bhp 2.9L V6
[bhp] 503 / 905
567 bhp 4.4L V8
[bhp] 567 / 1,096
591 bhp 3.8L V8
[bhp] 591 / 1,048
570 bhp 4.5L V8
[bhp] 570 / 1,118
591 bhp 4.4L V8
[bhp] 591 / 1,120
Need for Speed: Unbound
The M3 GTR 2006 appears in Need for Speed: Unbound.
Trivia
- The M3 GTR GT appears on the box art of Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
- In all of the its appearances in the Need for Speed series, the M3 GTR GT is fitted with a racing body kit only used in various 2001 racing series, and is likely an oversight from the hero car design's numerous iterations from a road car with a racing body kit[6][7] into a race car.[8]
- It features LED rear lights that were not introduced to the E46 model range until April 2003.
- It is missing an air intake and tow hook in place of the washer jet cover below the passenger side headlight.
- It is missing its wing mirror air vents.
- Portrayed in the box art, it is fitted with ADR M Sport wheels, instead of BBS Motorsport RE594 / RE595 wheels.
- The M3 GTR GT is often erroneously associated to be Razor's car. Although it appears in his possession throughout the career of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, he acquires it from the player by sabotaging it ahead of a pink slip race against his 2005 Ford Mustang.
- In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, following the ending of the career, the player can keep the M3 GTR at heat level 6 as long as they do not modify any of its visual attributes and use other cars for race events.
- In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, its livery has a Platinum Silver body with Le Mans Blue stripes.[9]
- In Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Need for Speed: Carbon, the M3 GTR GT has reduced performance during the prologue sections of each career mode to provide an easier introductory driving experience.
- In Need for Speed: Carbon, the player races against an M3 GTR GT in a Gold Ranked Canyon Duel Challenge Series event.
- In Need for Speed: Carbon, the M3 GTR GT is seen in the Gold Ranked Canyon Checkpoint Challenge Series event.
- In Need for Speed: ProStreet, Need for Speed: Undercover, Need for Speed: World, Need for Speed (2015), Need for Speed: Payback, and Need for Speed: Heat, the BMW M3 (E46) can be equipped with a body kit that resembles the M3 GTR GT.
- In Need for Speed (2015), a unique "Deluxe" M3 E46 based on the M3 GTR can be unlocked with purchase of the game's Deluxe Edition.
- In Need for Speed: Payback, a unique "Most Wanted" M3 E46 based on the M3 GTR GT could be unlocked when it was available as an abandoned car.
- In Need for Speed: Heat, the M3 GTR Legends Edition is incorrectly listed as a 2006 model year despite the specification appearing in all prior games to have only competed during the 2001 American, European, and Petit Le Mans Series.
- In Need for Speed: Heat, the M3 GTR Legends Edition is incorrectly listed as producing 345 bhp and 365 Nm of torque, which is the power and torque produced by the detuned road-legal GTR manufactured for homologation.
- The TV show Tuner Transformation created a replica of the M3 GTR GT featured in Need for Speed: Most Wanted based on an E46 330Ci.
Development - Main article: Need for Speed: Most Wanted/Development.
- An unused vinyl for the M3 GTR in Need for Speed: Most Wanted resembles the 2004 Schnitzer Motorsport M3 GTR livery, which won the 24 Hours Nürburgring endurance race that year.
Development - Some content may have altered during development.
- The M3 GTR was the first car produced and shown for internal presentations of Criterion Games' Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012), but was not included as part of the release car line-up.[10]
Gallery
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
(Early Development)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
(Unused Vinyl)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0
Need for Speed: Carbon
(Custom)
Need for Speed: World
(Unreleased)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
("Hero" Livery)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
("Urban" Livery)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
("Street" Livery)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
("Race" Livery)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
("Abstract" Livery)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) (Mobile)
Need for Speed: No Limits
Need for Speed: Edge
Need for Speed: Edge
(Promotional Image)
Need for Speed: Heat
(Legends Edition)
References
- ↑ Website: //www.racingsportscars.com/ (2004) Complete Archive of Chassis 001/2001Available at: //www.racingsportscars.com/chassis/archive/001__2001.html
- ↑ Website: //www.racingsportscars.com/ (2004) Complete Archive of Chassis 003/2001Available at: //www.racingsportscars.com/chassis/archive/003__2001.html
- ↑ Website: //www.racingsportscars.com/ (2004) Complete Archive of Chassis 004/2001Available at: //www.racingsportscars.com/chassis/archive/004__2001.html
- ↑ Article: ea.com (2019) Under the Hood: Need for Speed Heat Car List. Available at: //www.ea.com/games/need-for-speed/need-for-speed-heat/news/nfs-heat-car-list
- ↑ Article: gtplanet.net (2019) Need for Speed Heat Full Car List Revealed. Available at: //www.gtplanet.net/need-for-speed-heat-car-list/
- ↑ Artwork: Promotional artwork 1, Promotional artwork 2
- ↑ Instagram post: @habibzargarpour "In the spirit of bringing countries together here are three Magazine Covers for #needforspeedmostwanted 05 with the UK, Italy, and Hungary covers. Of course they have to cover a lot of it with text but each with their own style." Available at: //www.instagram.com/p/CCNa0kbg6qq/
- ↑ Screenshot: Promotional screenshot 1
- ↑ Video: Hoonigan AutoFocus (2021) Need For Speed M3, In Real Life! Powered BMW M3 GTR Tribute. Available at: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhdcxalpjmU
What BMW is in Most Wanted 2005?
The BMW E46 M3 GTR is one of those cars that many automotive fans know and love, but have never seen aside from on the screen while playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted.What is the BMW in Need for Speed: Most Wanted?
The M3 GTR GT appears on the box art of Need for Speed: Most Wanted.Is BMW M3 GTR real?
The M3 GTR was a surprise when it was released in 2001. Designed to race in American Le Mans under the GT category, this car won 7 out of the 10 events of the 2001 season, significantly beating the Porsche 911 GT3-R. After that season because of the change in the rules, it was removed from the competition.Why is the BMW M3 GTR so iconic?
The M3 GTR is NFS' most iconic car. The M3 GTR featured in the Carbon, Most Wanted, No Limit, Edge, Heat, and Legends Edition series. Unlike some cars in the video game, you can race the GTR about four times. You also get to win it back after it's been stolen and then finish the game by escaping in your GTR.