2000 E46 M3 V8
6,150cc S62 V8
Approx. 2,750 lbs.
2000
Blue and Silver
| In 2000, BMW of North America, in conjunction with PTG, built six BMW E46 M3 race cars. Four ran with six-cylinder engines and two used the 4.9-liter M5 S62 V8s, each of them combined with specially developed carbon fiber bodywork. BMW and PTG specifically put these cars together to beat Porsche in the Rolex Grand Am series. This example is the first V8 M3 to race in North America (car 004) and it’s the predecessor to the GTR. Once this car showed up at the 24 hours of Daytona, the racing governing body realized they needed to slow BMW down. Adding weight (100 pounds), mandating even more severe intake air restrictors (down to 29mm), and a host of other changes hampered any chance BMW had of winning the championship.
DRIVER LINEUP Hans-Joachim Stuck, Boris Said, Terry Borcheller, and Toney Jennings debuted this car at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2001, at one point leading the race before a broke piston ring sidelined the car. Stuck said about the V8 M3, “Now it is even more the Ultimate Driving Machine!” The car was very controversial due to homologation issues but it won GT class races at Homestead and Mid-Ohio. It was the overall race winner at Lime Rock. First season: 3 wins, 5 podiums, 9 top 10 finishes. Finished 2nd in point for the 2001 season. Other notable drivers over the next two years was Tim Pappas, Nicolas Jönsson, Richard Valentine, David Murry, and Brian Cunningham. The car continued racing in Grand Am through the 2003 season. This car replaced another E46 M3 GTR in the Heroes of Bavaria exhibition, the Stars and Stripes car. If anyone has additional pictures in this exhibition, please share with us so we can update our photo gallery.
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