BMW Makes Need for Speed’s Iconic M3 GTR to Celebrate Series’ 30th Anniversary

[Famine]

This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

BMW Makes Need for Speed’s Iconic M3 GTR to Celebrate Series’ 30th Anniversary​

A special collaboration between BMW and EA to mark the 30th anniversary of the Need for Speed series has seen the marque produce and exhibit a one-off BMW M3 GTR...

 

[05XR8]

It'd also be interesting to know how many "game" cars carme to life. Such as the real Gr.3 Beetle.

 

[McLaren]

Homologation rules of the time required that any car running in the series must be available as a road model on two continents, so BMW set about making the M3 GTR Strassenversion — a street-legal version of the car. Only produced in a run of ten cars, it combined a slightly detuned version of the engine with a six-speed manual instead of the sequential.

I didn't know they built 10 of them. Over the years, I've only seen 2 examples that BMW retains ownership of.

 

[PJTierney]

This is awesome, now the replica makers have the perfect reference.

 

[brockie]

Beast!

 

[-Fred-]

The article's title is a bit misleading, and I'm going to be very pedantic about it, but...

BMW itself has now embraced this connection by taking a genuine M3 GTR race car — which appears to be the ALMS-winning 2001 car of Jyrki Juhani Jarvilehto and Jorg Muller — and giving it the Need for Speed treatment, featuring a blue-on-chrome wrap to match the player car.

They didn't build the car to celebrate NFS' anniversary, they built the car 23 years ago to race in ALMS and other GT series around the world and annoy Porsche who ultimately got the thing banned. They just took it out of the museum and put a fresh wrap on it to make it look like the Most Wanted car.

 

[Famine]

The article's title is a bit misleading, and I'm going to be very pedantic about it, but...

They didn't build the car to celebrate NFS' anniversary, they built the car 23 years ago to race in ALMS and other GT series around the world and annoy Porsche who ultimately got the thing banned. They just took it out of the museum and put a fresh wrap on it to make it look like the Most Wanted car.

 

[Mafio]

Confession: I was never into that car. I always thought the graphics were corny.

 

[DK]

This is awesome, now the replica makers have the perfect reference.

BRB, I'm going to find a 2-series GT and give it this livery.

 

[Strittan]

For a second I was certain that the thumbnail picture was from a game. Says something about how far we've come I guess, lol!

 

[Sum1s2pid]

Iconic. 😑

 

[MisterWaffles]

Confession: I was never into that car. I always thought the graphics were corny.

Yeah, tbh this livery is imbued with all corny mid-2000s energy of Slim Shady, Linkin Park and Tribal Tattoos. I've always disliked it a bit too. Especially with how overused it is on online racing games.

 

[Mafio]

Yeah, tbh this livery is imbued with all corny mid-2000s energy of Slim Shady, Linkin Park and Tribal Tattoos. I've always disliked it a bit too. Especially with how overused it is on online racing games.

NAILED it.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

Corny or not, I do think it’s genuinely cool BMW has acknowledged and embraced that most people recognise the car thanks to NFS and was willing to do this.

I will say though, an actual M3 GTR really doesn’t suit the livery. I’m guessing it’s down to the modelling in Most Wanted / Carbon not being 100% accurate, but it just looks ‘off’ compared to how it does in the games. It’s not the wrap itself of course, just the whole thing put together if that makes sense.

 

[Nexus]

Only produced in a run of ten cars, it combined a slightly detuned version of the engine with a six-speed manual instead of the sequential.

Slight correction: the race car had a H-pattern with straight-cut gears - Source

 

[Famine]

Slight correction: the race car had a H-pattern with straight-cut gears - Source

BMW M says it was sequential:

https://www.bmw-m.com/en/topics/magazine-article-pool/bmw-m3-gtr-strassenversion.html

In contrast to the race version with sequential transmission, the M3 GTR “Street” had a 6-gear manual gearbox with a two-disc motorsport clutch and a variable limited slip differential.

I'm not familiar enough with the race car to contradict BMW M.

 

[GTboyz]

Corny or not, that ride is hot