BMW M3 GTR (E46)

2001 BMW M3 GTR (E46) (GT Class)
BMW 2001 Race Car Germany
Engine
4.0L V8 (P60B40)
444 bhp (331 kW) @ 7500 rpm
354 lb⋅ft (480 N·m) @ 5500 rpm
Performance
Top Speed	152 mph (245 km/h)
Top Speed	152 mph (245 km/h)
0-60 mph	3.4 secs.
0-60 mph	3.4 secs.
Transmission	6-speed Manual
Transmission	6-speed Manual
Kerb Weight	1,120 kg (2,469 lbs)
Kerb Weight	1,120 kg (2,469 lbs)
Layout
Front-Engine, Rear-wheel drive

For the homologation road car, see BMW M3 GTR (E46)

For the road car, see BMW M3 (E46)

The 2001 BMW M3 GTR (E46) is a GT class race car developed by BMW based on their M3 E46.

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.

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.

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

Exotic Tier 3 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.

	Classic Sports		3600	2100	2850	518
	x40 Legendary Blueprints		7724	6540	7132	822
	Stage Upgrades  x25 Legendary Blueprints  x30 Legendary Blueprints  x35 Legendary Blueprints  x50 Legendary Blueprints

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 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 202,000.

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  174 202,000 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
Customisation (Rating: 0/10) This vehicle can not be visually altered
Engine Swaps (10 Available) 345 bhp 4.0L V8 131,500, REP LVL 27 [bhp] 345 / 1,009 276 bhp 1.3L Wankel 66,000, REP LVL 19 [bhp] 276 / 725 338 bhp 3.2L I6 105,500, REP LVL 23 [bhp] 338 / 861 493 bhp 3.0L I6 184,000, REP LVL 31 [bhp] 493 / 884 456 bhp 4.0L V8 191,000, REP LVL 31 [bhp] 456 / 1,014 503 bhp 2.9L V6 192,500, REP LVL 31 [bhp] 503 / 905 567 bhp 4.4L V8 281,500, REP LVL 31 [bhp] 567 / 1,096 591 bhp 3.8L V8 254,000, REP LVL 35 [bhp] 591 / 1,048 570 bhp 4.5L V8 289,000, REP LVL 35 [bhp] 570 / 1,118 591 bhp 4.4L V8 324,500, REP LVL 35 [bhp] 591 / 1,120

Need for Speed: Unbound

The M3 GTR (2005) appears in Need for Speed: Unbound as part of Volume 1 following a car list article published on October 6, 2022 to the official Need for Speed website.

Custom - "NFS Legends"

The M3 GTR - "NFS Legends" is an epic rated custom vehicle included as part of an EA Play subscription.

It can be purchased from the "Buy Custom" section of the "Buy and Sell" menu in the garage for $210,000 and has a Tier S+ 352 performance rating.

Story & Lakeshore Online

It is gifted to the player in the Story mode and Lakeshore Online mode as part of an EA Play subscription, as well as being unlocked for purchase.

It is also gifted to the player in Lakeshore Online mode, without an EA Play subscription, once the player has successfully extracted all 15 Blacklist inspired Hot Cars from Lockdown mode.

Upon being gifted to the player, it is added to both their Story mode and Lakeshore Online mode garages, as well as being made available for purchase from the "Buy Custom" section of the "Buy and Sell" menu in the garage.

Custom - "NFS 30th Anniversary"

The custom M3 GTR "NFS 30th Anniversary" is a legendary rated modified car that can be purchased from the "Buy Custom" section of the "Buy and Sell" menu in the garage and has a Tier S+ 352 performance rating.

Its design incorporates elements of four character's cars in the Need for Speed series:

• Eddie's Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R34) from Need for Speed: Underground
• Rachel's Nissan 350Z from Need for Speed: Underground 2
• The player's BMW M3 GTR from Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
• A$AP Rocky's Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 from Need for Speed: Unbound

Lakeshore Online

It is gifted, and also unlocked for purchase, upon the player reaching level 70 of the Speed Pass during Volume 9.

Custom - "Razor's"

Razor's M3 GTR is an epic rated custom vehicle that can be extracted by a player in the multiplayer Lockdown mode and added to their Lakeshore Online garage. It has a Tier S+ 352 performance rating.

It is based on the player's BMW M3 GTR featured in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005), although with a thick layer of dirt, visible damage, and a mismatched body decal referencing an earlier livery concept.

Lakeshore Online

It is gifted to the player through the multiplayer Lockdown mode if they can find an example at a Lockup, gain access to that Lockup, jack the Hot Ride, and successfully extract with the car at a claimed truck.

Upon being gifted to the player, it is added to both their Lakeshore Online mode garages, but is not made available for purchase from the "Buy Custom" section of the "Buy and Sell" menu in the garage.

Need for Speed: Mobile

The M3 GTR appears in Need for Speed: Mobile.

Trivia

• The M3 GTR GT appears on the box art of Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005).
• In Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005), its livery has a Platinum Silver body with Le Mans Blue stripes.
• 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 (2005), he acquires it from the player during the opening of the career mode by sabotaging it ahead of a pink slip race against his custom 2005 Ford Mustang GT.
• In Need for Speed: ProStreet, Need for Speed: Undercover, Need for Speed: World, Need for Speed (2015), Need for Speed: Payback, Need for Speed: Heat, and Need for Speed: Unbound, the BMW M3 (E46) can be equipped with a body kit that resembles the M3 GTR GT.
• In Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0, the M3 GTR GT is equipped with a set of stock rims that are fitted to the M3 (E46).
• 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: Most Wanted (2012), the main sponsor of the "Race" livery is "24-Seven", a fictitious retail convenience store chain found across Fairhaven; which in itself is a play on 7-Eleven, a retail convenience store chain prominent in the United States of America.
• 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 producing 345 bhp and 365 Nm of torque, which is the power and torque produced by the detuned road-legal GTR manufactured for homologation.
• In Need for Speed: Heat and Need for Speed: Unbound, the M3 GTR is incorrectly listed as a 2006 and a 2005 model year respectively, and features components of the car from the 2001 season race car as well later year revisions.
• 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.
• To celebrate the Need for Speed series' 30th anniversary, BMW wrapped the 2001 ALMS GT Series winning #42 Team BMW Motorsport M3 GTR raced by Jörg Müller and J.J. Lehto with the livery of the hero car in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005). It was on display at the BMW Welt exhibition centre in Munich, Germany from November 27, 2024 to January 6, 2025.

Development - Main article: Need for Speed: Most Wanted/Development.

• The M3 hero car for Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) went through various concepts and iterations as it transitioned from a road car M3 to the M3 GTR race car, including promotional materials for magazine and the game's box art.
  • 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.
• An unused vinyl for the M3 GTR in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) 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.

Gallery

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
Stock

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
Stock
(Pre-release)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
Unused Vinyl
(Unused)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0
Stock
(PlayStation Portable)

Need for Speed: Carbon
Custom

Need for Speed: World
Stock
(Unreleased)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
"Hero"

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
"Urban"

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
"Street"

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
"Race"

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
"Abstract"

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
Stock
(Android/iOS/Kindle Fire)

Need for Speed: No Limits
Stock
(Android/iOS)

Need for Speed: Edge
Stock

Need for Speed: Edge
Stock
(Promotional Image)

Need for Speed: Heat
Legends Edition

Need for Speed: Unbound
Custom - "NFS Legends"

Need for Speed: Mobile
Stock
(Android/iOS)