• BMW showed off a modified M3 GTR race car based on the Halo car in the 2005 game Need for Speed: Most Wanted. 
  • The E46-era M3 features a stripped interior with a single racing seat, a full roll cage, and a side-exit exhaust.
  • The one-of-a-kind car will be on show at the BMW Welt Museum in Munich until January 6.

If you liked cars as a kid in the 1990s or early 2000s, you may remember playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted. The racing computer game, especially the famous 2005 BMW M3 GTR hero car, had a big effect on many people. Does anyone remember how it fits into the frame of the box cover? Many private users have been building their own E46 M3s for years, but now BMW has finally made its own. 

BMW M3 GTR Brings The Legendary 'Need For Speed' Car To Life

The 2005 video game car has the same blue-and-silver paint job as the modified M3 GTR race car, making it easy to spot. Jörg Müller and J.J. are based on the #42 Team BMW Motorsport E46 M3 GTR. Lehto competed in the 2001 ALMS GT Series race, and this car is authentic. Müller won the driver’s title and the team title after winning seven of the ten races. 

The car’s past in races has not been forgotten. Everything inside that wasn’t needed has been taken out. It features a single race seat and a full roll cage. The outside has very wide fenders, wheels that lock in the middle, a huge fixed rear wing, and an exhaust that comes out of the side. 

BMW didn’t make the tribute because they were bored; they did it to honor two upcoming birthdays. In 2025, the first Need for Speed: Most Wanted game will be 20 years old, and the first Need for Speed game came out 30 years before that. The original car will be on display at the BMW Welt Museum in Munich until January 6, 2025. 

In 2003, Invoice Pricing looked at an M3 GTR that was built for racing. The big change for BMW was switching from a 3.2-liter straight-six to a 4.0-liter V-8 engine, which led to the titles listed above in 2001. The engine swap improved the M3 race car’s success in the GT class by giving it more power and displacement. The V-8 engine produced 444 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque. It was much more expensive than the six-cylinder M3 GTR and did better than the Porsche 911 GT3s. Unfortunately, Bimmer’s success didn’t last long because the company couldn’t keep up with new production needs. After all, it was so popular in 2002.

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