M3 GTR E46, The Unicorn among the M3 E46 Models | BMW

5 POWERFUL FACTS:
01 Max. output: 258 kW (350 hp)
02 Max. torque: 365 Nm at 5,000 rpm
03 Displacement: 3,997 cm3
04 Curb weight: 1,350 kg
05 Vmax: 295 km/h

Hot air shimmers over the asphalt. After the Bavarian fireball has passed the last bend before the start-finish line, we hear the unmistakeable roar of the V8 engine. Tension in the pit lane. Then, finally, certainty: at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 2001, the BMW M3 GTR, helmed by JJ Lehto and Jörg Müller, finishes on the podium in its first race. The team embrace. They all know: This is the start of a new era in American motorsport. From now on, this vehicle owns the racetracks of the American Le Mans Series. Victories in this series were the highest accolade for the US market. But the way there was hard and the effort required enormous. The extraordinary story of the BMW M3 GTR.
THE WAY TO SUPERSPORT STATUS.
With the launch of the BMW M3 E46 in 2000, BMW M had already sent a strong signal to the sportscar market. Besides the deployment in European race series, the vehicle was also supposed to make an impression on US motorsport. An anything but easy task, as the competition in the GT class was strong and experienced. The engine development engineers at BMW motorsport soon agreed that a more potent power unit than the straight six of the series version would have to be used. The solution was the development of a compact, especially light V8 engine.
A RACING CAR WITHOUT A PERMIT.
For the 2001 season, the race-capable BMW M3, officially called the BMW M3 GTR, was ready to roll. The team’s trump card was the 4.0-litre V8 high-performance engine with 330 kW (460 hp). A full aluminium, naturally aspirated engine with 90-degree bank angle, four valves per cylinder, four overhead camshafts, chain drive and mechanical bucket tappets. With this special high-performance power unit under the bonnet, the vehicle was intended to compete in a series-based racing category. There was just one problem: The new engine wasn’t standard in any series version of the M3. Strictly speaking, the M3 GTR was a prototype and so didn’t fulfil the homologation regulations for the ALMS GT series. Thus, production and sales of a small series of street-legal M3 GTRs had to be undertaken.

THE NATIVITY OF THE BMW M3 GTR STRASSENVERSION.
The time window according to the regulations was just 12 months. A tight schedule to get at least ten homologation vehicles finished after the presentation of the racing car. But the plan worked: BMW furnished proof of production just in time. Ten road-legal cars were produced. The debut of the M3 GTR Street followed at the Petit Le Mans event in Braselton, Georgia, in 2001.