What started as an April Fool's Day prank has turned into a serious racing project that will attack the 24 Hours of Nürburgring this May.
BMW admitted that the social media response completely surprised them, as their “joke” reached more than a million users and garnered over 1,6 million views. This viral wave of enthusiasm encouraged the company to realize plans for a unique M3 Touring 24H race car, based on studies from 2022, in a record eight months.
Technically, it is a brutal M4 GT3 EVO, “dressed” in a station wagon body, which is 200 mm longer and 32 mm higher than the coupe due to its design. To overcome the aerodynamic challenges of the larger silhouette, engineers developed a special swan-neck rear wing mount and optimized its position. The body is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), and the exterior is complemented by 18-inch wheels with a powerful braking system and a safety cage, which has made the rear door a mere aesthetic element.
At the heart of the machine is a 3,0-liter M TwinPower Turbo six-cylinder engine that develops a raw 440 kW (598 hp) and 700 Nm of torque, and the power is transmitted to the wheels via a six-speed X-Trac transmission. The car will be driven by a top-class driver line-up under the auspices of the Schubert Motorsport team in the SPX class, including Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen. According to Klingmann, the project demonstrates BMW’s close connection with its community and passion for motorsport, and their goal in the “green hell” is clear: a top result.
