The BMW M3 GTR Strassenversion can trace its roots back to competition racing in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), where the race car it is based on – of the same name, minus the ‘Strassenversion’ – competed in the GT class.
The conception of the M3 GTR coincided with the introduction of the new of the new E46 generation of the BMW M3 in 2000. It would be assigned with the laser-focused mission of taking on the dominant Porsche 911, which had won 11 out of 12 races that same year in the GT class.
In 2001, the race-appropriated E46 M3 was ready to compete for the start of the 2001 season. While the M3 GTR certainly wasn’t the first M3 to be used by BMW for competition racing, it was remarkably unlike any of the previous iterations in the most notable respects.
BMW knew that if they were going to have any chance of a score over their rivals, they would need to bring some giant-killing arsenal to the game. Their most formidable weapon would come in the form of its engine, with a 4.0L V8 rather than the 3.2L straight-six used in the road-going version.
Simply reimagining the production car powerplant – which was perfectly capable in its own right – was not deemed adequate, so BMW created the 443-horsepower P60B40 engine for the GTR, which by all accounts was engineered with the sole purpose of being used in a race car – and therein lies the issue as to why we don’t see as many on the road as we would have liked.
The M3 GTR competed in a production-based racing class, however its engine wasn’t fitted in any production version of the M3 meaning it fell more into the prototype category than anything else. This meant that it would not satisfy homologation requirements to race in the ALMS GT series unless BMW produced and would go on to sell street legal versions of the car.
At the time, requirements by the ALMS governing bodies stated that a manufacturer must produce a minimum of 10 examples of the road-going version within 12 months of its debut.
BMW would satisfy these requirements – just barely – with a commitment to sell 10 street legal versions of the M3 GTR, thus giving birth to what BMW would dub the M3 GTR ‘Strassenversion’, or ‘Street Version’ when translated from German.
The most requisite detail that the Strassenversion would have to accept was the use of the same V8 engine that was used in the GTR, and by extension, no other production BMW. Rules would allow for it to be detuned to be more usable outside of the race track, though the engine would still end up producing roughly 380-horsepower in its tempered state.
Next to the regular M3, the M3 GTR Strassenversion was lighter, stiffer, and more purpose built for racing duties, borrowing many of its elements directly from the race version. Through its appearance, its augmentations were conspicuously on display with more aggressive bumpers, hood venting and a unique and larger rear wing.
If there was any reason not to believe that BMW was simply going along with the rulebooks, rather than having any true intent on selling the GTR to the masses, then its price should alleviate any doubts – €250,000 was the going rate, which is just about $400,000 USD today.
In spite of being a remarkable car on paper thanks to its link to the GTR race car, and for its distinction of being the first V8 BMW M3 which was road legal, there will always be that underlying notion that the Strassenversion was just a hastily assembled afterthought made at the behest of ALMS officials.
This is primarily because the car is really only a street car in the technical sense, than in the actual sense. The fact that none of the Strassenversions were ever sold – as was intended – also means that none of them were christened for the road. It is almost as if the car doesn’t exist – a car isn’t really road legal, if it’s never been on the road, right?
Nevertheless, the end product is a fascinating one.
| Configuration | P60 90º V8 |
| Location | Front, longitudinally mounted |
| Construction | aluminium block and head |
| Displacement | 3,997 cc / 243.9 cu in |
| Bore / Stroke | 94.0 mm (3.7 in) / 72.0 mm (2.8 in) |
| Valvetrain | 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC |
| Fuel feed | Fuel Injection |
| Lubrication | Dry sump |
| Aspiration | Naturally Aspirated |
| Power | 380 bhp / 283 kW @ 7,000 rpm |
| Torque | 365 Nm / 269 ft lbs @ 5,000 rpm |
| BHP/Liter | 95 bhp / liter |
| Body | carbon fibre composite panels |
| Chassis | unitary steel |
| Front suspension | McPherson struts, adjustable dampers, anti-roll bar |
| Rear suspension | multi-link, adjustable dampers, anti-roll bar |
| Steering | rack-and-pinion, power assisted |
| Brakes (fr/r) | Brembo ventilated discs |
| Gearbox | 6 speed Manual |
| Clutch | Twin disc |
| Drive | Rear wheel drive |
| Weight | 1,350 kilo / 2,976 lbs |
| Length / Width / Height | 4,617 mm (181.8 in) / 1,784 mm (70.2 in) / 1,345 mm (53 in) |
| Wheelbase / Track (fr/r) | 2,731 mm (107.5 in) / N/A / N/A |
