BMW M Motorsport BMW M Motorsport presents the BMW M4 GT3 at the Nürburgring: First test race just around the corner.

Munich. The curtain is raised on the BMW M4 GT3 in its new BMW M Motorsport design: ahead of the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER), BMW’s new GT flagship was revealed in its new livery, heralding the final phase of testing. The BMW M4 GT3 will contest its first race on 26th June at round four of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS). The purchase price for the car, which has undergone significant improvements in the areas of driveability, cost efficiency and operation, will be € 415,000 net. You can find our Media Guide with detailed data and facts on the development of the BMW M4 GT3 attached to this press release and in the BMW Group Pressclub.



“The development work on the BMW M4 GT3 is now on the finishing straight, and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring is the perfect stage on which to present the car in its BMW M Motorsport design and thus to herald the final phase leading up to the first race outings,” said Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M GmbH. “The new BMW M4 Competition (fuel consumption combined: 10.2 – 9.9 l/100 km acc. WLTP, 10.2 l/100 km acc. NEDC; CO2 emissions combined: 233 – 227 g/km acc. WLTP, 234 g/km acc. NEDC) provides the perfect basis for the BMW M4 GT3, whose engine was designed from the outset for use at the racetrack. This underlines how road car and race car development always go hand in hand at BMW M GmbH. The new car offers state-of-the-art technology, thanks to our technology partners. They are among the best in their respective fields, and we are delighted to have them supporting us on the development of the BMW M4 GT3 with their specific know-how and areas of expertise. That is the perfect basis for a successful new race car.”



Since the start of 2020, the BMW M4 GT3 has undergone many stages of development. This began virtually with CAD and CFD simulations, and continued with the use of an engine on the test bench, the assembly of the test chassis and work in the wind tunnel. One milestone was the roll-out on 18th July 2020. This was followed by many tests at various racetracks, at which many BMW works drivers made valuable contributions. In December 2020, at the BMW SIM Live Event, Philipp Eng (AUT) demonstrated the steering wheel for the BMW M4 GT3, which was developed together with FANATEC. It is the first steering wheel in the world that can be used in both a real race car and a simulator without modifications.



In 2021, the test work continued in Monteblanco (ESP), Almeria (ESP) and on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER). The car currently has more than 14,000 test kilometres under its belt – that is the equivalent of more than 70 hours of track time. Throughout this phase, the BMW M Motorsport engineers worked hard to improve the driveability and reliability of the car on its way to being race-ready. The goal: to significantly reduce lifecycle costs and maintenance expenditure compared to its predecessor. Following the launch and race debut in June, the BMW M4 GT3 will undergo more tests and race outings before it is delivered to the first customers, who will compete with the car all over the world in 2022.



The biggest improvements compared to its predecessor, the BMW M6 GT3, are in three areas: driveability, cost efficiency and operation. The BMW M4 GT3’s handling and cockpit equipment are more comfortable for amateur drivers, while the car is easier on the tyres and offers greater consistency. Far lower lifecycle costs and longer maintenance intervals for the engine and transmission are vital economic factors. Operating the car has been made far easier by the fact that many basic settings can be configured directly via the steering wheel, without having to connect an external laptop.



The purchase price of the BMW M4 GT3 starts at € 415,000 net – € 4,000 less than the price of its predecessor, the BMW M6 GT3, and roughly the same as its competitors. The ‘Competition Package’ is available as an option ex factory for an additional charge. This includes useful optional features, integrated and tested specifically for use in endurance races. As a special extra, the package includes an exclusive training day in an in-house BMW M4 GT3 simulator.



Comparison of the BMW M4 GT3 and BMW M6 GT3:



Dimensions:

	BMW M4 GT3	BMW M6 GT3
Length	5,020mm	4,975mm
Width	2,040mm	2,046mm
Height	1,308mm (variable)	1,308mm (variable)
Wheelbase	2,917mm	2,901mm
Wheel size	12.5 x 18 inch, front 13 x 18 inch, rear	13 x 18 inch, front 13 x 18 inch, rear

Technical data:

	BMW M4 GT3	BMW M6 GT3
Engine	P58 3.0l straight six M TwinPower Turbo	P63 4.4l V8 engine M TwinPower Turbo
Capacity	2,993cm3	4,399cm3
Output	up to 590 hp	up to 580 hp
Specific Output	197 hp/l	132 hp/l
Transmission	Xtrac 6-speed gearbox	Ricardo 6-speed gearbox
Clutch	Electro-hydraulic	Hydraulic

BMW Group PressClub Global

 

[Matski]

I really hope it's more competitive, and more popular than the M6 was. Interesting that they're claiming lower operational costs with longer service intervals, even though the specific out put has jumped by 50% compared to the M6.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

I really hope it's more competitive, and more popular than the M6 was. Interesting that they're claiming lower operational costs with longer service intervals, even though the specific out put has jumped by 50% compared to the M6.

AFAIK the M6 has a transaxle transmission, do you know if this is the case also for this M4?

 

[Matski]

AFAIK the M6 has a transaxle transmission, do you know if this is the case also for this M4?

I believe you are correct about the M6's 'box being a transaxle, my gut feeling is that the M4 will have the similar (albeit Xtrac rather than Ricardo), but at this stage, this press release is all I know so your guess is as good as mine.

 

[martinbo]

Weird how the nostril-kidney grille works so much better in full-on racecar guise. Actually looks flipping good.

 

[M.N.D]

I really hope it's more competitive, and more popular than the M6 was. Interesting that they're claiming lower operational costs with longer service intervals, even though the specific out put has jumped by 50% compared to the M6.

I'm also hoping the same... more competitive and more popular. I remember some of the comments about the M6 GT3 talked about the platform being a bit harsh on the tyres, which didn't help to sustain a consistent performance.

The M4 GT3 is supposed to debut in NLS this month, but I'm not sure if it'll be this weekend or not

AFAIK the M6 has a transaxle transmission, do you know if this is the case also for this M4?

Just like @Matski said, I guess the M4 will be the same, as GT3 regulations allow for such platform changes, usually.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

Just like @Matski said, I guess the M4 will be the same, as GT3 regulations allo

But what will be the benefit? It can have a better weight distribution but is treated as a front/mid engined car with a transaxle when calculating the BoP. So all the benefits are deleted by the BoP. Better keep it closer to the production car, making it cheaper, and enjoy more favourable conditions in the BoP.

 

[M.N.D]

But what will be the benefit? It can have a better weight distribution but is treated as a front/mid engined car with a transaxle when calculating the BoP. So all the benefits are deleted by the BoP. Better keep it closer to the production car, making it cheaper, and enjoy more favourable conditions in the BoP.

That's a good point, but as you know, GT3 is a platform that is present in multiple championships worldwide, and BoP rules differ from a championship to another. I once tried to search for some documentation on GT3 BoP to understand it a bit better but I couldn't find much, and it is already a controversial subject among motorsports community. I've watched the M6 GT3 racing in SRO GTWC (formerly the Blancpain GT), GT Masters, GT Open, IMSA WSC (the GTD Class, which is essentially a slightly de-powered GT3), and Super GT, and the performance of the car was noticeably different between these championships. Some championships had the M6 performing very well, while performing rather poorly in others.

My point is that I assume that BMW optimizes the race car as much as possible, and then sells the car to their customers, who will then set up the car to the best of their abilities based on what BoP rules are present.

As for the cheaper part, the claimed price of 415,000 Euros is considered among the affordable offers, compared to cars such as the McLaren and the Ferrari, both of which cost near 500,000 Euros if I'm not mistaken. GT3 class has already reached light prototype status, so for a closer to a regular production version race car, there's the GT4 as an entry level, and the new GT2 as a step above. I hope the latter one gets more platform options to become more popular.

 

[Matski]

How BoP is calculated varies from series to series and many of the algorithms and calculations are not published. The goal is to get all cars within a fairly small lap time window based on their optimum performance. A point I've made before is how important it is (especially in endurance racing), to be able to keep the car on, or as close to those optimum lap times as possible throughout a race. If the weight distribution is beneficial to the cars driveability based on simple handling chararcteristics, or is beneficial to tyre management for example, this may help over a 2 -24 hour race, but not necessarily be reflected in the BoP testing or simulations.

I did an analysis back in 2018 after the M8 raced at Daytona for the 24 from the GTLM class lap data.

Effectively what it demonstrates, is that not only were the M8's the slowest cars anyway (the black time in the centre of the bar is the cars fastest race lap), but they we're also not managing to get close to those best times as consistently as the Fords or the Corvettes.... 26-34% of the laps the 'Vettes did where with 1 second of their fastest. The Ford's were between 32-37% within 1 second. The best Porsche was 30%.... the best M8 was only 18%.

BoP might have helped the M8's at least get into the 1:44 laptimes, but Ford still crushed it by being close to their fastest more of the time... and that's were driveability and consistency help, and they're not necessarily fully represented in the BoP (though things like success ballast may eventually have an effect). Put this in the context of Gentleman drivers, 'silver' drivers, AM's and the like, and predictable repeatable performance perhaps becomes even more important than raw pace.

But what will be the benefit? It can have a better weight distribution but is treated as a front/mid engined car with a transaxle when calculating the BoP. So all the benefits are deleted by the BoP. Better keep it closer to the production car, making it cheaper, and enjoy more favourable conditions in the BoP.

I think simply, it's not this black and white. Certainly BoP will seek to offset the benefits, but it's unlikely to be directly 1:1 with the cars ultimate pace, or off-set one specific characteristic without also changing another. As an example, BoP might achieve an identical lap time in a BoP test or simulation, but, over a stint or race, a less balanced car might still be suffering elevated tyre wear, for example.... or perhaps it could make it faster on a piece of track that's harder to overtake on (or vice versa), negating the BoP effects in a race scenario.