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You can go to your local BMW dealership and buy the new M4 coupe — 473 horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline 6 and 6-speed manual — for $71,800 (base price).
Opt for the M4 Competition Coupe and for $74,700 you get 503 horsepower, an 8-speed M Steptronic automatic gearbox, and a 3.8-second 0-to-60 sprint time.
Or… for $530,000, BMW Motorsport will sell you a turn-key BMW M4 GT3 customer race car with as much as 590 horsepower and eligible for IMSA and SRO GT series. Cough up another $55,000 and you also get the Competition Package with extra headlights, extra wheels, backlit door numbers, rearview camera and radar, special equipment that monitors tire pressure, spring and brake-pedal travel, and “one day of training on the BMW M Motorsport M4 GT3 simulator.”
The turn-key customer race car carries the P58 M TwinPower Turbo engine based on the S58 in the Comp Coupe but with a dry-sump lubrication and other motorsports alterations. The car also has a revised 8-speed gearbox.
According to Ulrich Schulz, head of drivetrain design for BMW Motorsport, the P58 is “the most powerful straight-six engine BMW has installed in a racing car since the days of the BMW M1 Group 5.”
The air-conditioned cockpit features the latest FIA BMW M safety seat, as well as adjustable steering wheel and pedals. Speaking of the steering wheel, BMW notes that it was created in a technology transfer between real and virtual racing, developed by BMW Motorsport and sim hardware producer Fanatec and can be used both in the car and on a simulator.
The turn-key customer race car is scheduled to make its debut June 26 in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in Germany.
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