BMW & EA Recreate The Iconic M3 GTR from ‘Need for Speed: Most Wanted’

BMW & EA partnered up to recreate the iconic BMW M3 GTR from the ‘Need For Speed: Most Wanted’ video game.

It’s been three decades since Electronic Arts (EA) released the first ‘Need for Speed,’ the one that started the entire series of racing video games beloved by millions worldwide. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of this legendary series, EA has partnered with BMW to recreate the iconic BMW M3 GTR from the critically-acclaimed ‘Need for Speed: Most Wanted.’

Those who grew up from the 1990s to early 2000s would have remembered fondly of this iconic model, as the special M3 GTR makes up one of the two silver and blue-hued special models beloved by this entire generation, with the other one being Brian O’Conner’s famed Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R from the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise.

Unlike the R34, the Most Wanted’s M3 GTR is based on an actual E46-gen M3 GTR race car, specifically the #42 Team BMW Motorsport car that won the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT championship back in 2001, piloted by J.J. Letho and Jorg Muller, according to Speedhunters. Working alongside its BMW Group Classic arm, the German automaker has created a special decal wrap that follows the exact detail from its virtual twin, while its wide bodykit and GT-style wing are retained from the original donor model.

On board, BMW has also managed to keep the interior close to both its virtual twin and the actual racecar, as it still retains the racing buckets and the bare-boned racecar innards, filled with racing parts such as multiple switches, a proper racing steering wheel with a digital metre cluster behind it, a full roll cage, and many more.

And just like the actual racecar, this special tribute model retains the same 4.0-litre nat-asp V8 engine (codenamed P60B40) that was specifically designed for the racecar. Mated to a six-speed sequential manual gearbox, this V8 mill is capable of outputting up to 700 HP and 670 NM without any intake restrictions installed. To meet the homologation needs of these GT series, BMW actually made a road-legal version of this racecar that uses a detuned P60B40 V8 engine. Known as the BMW M3 GTR Strassenversion, BMW only made 10 examples of this road-legal car, making it one of the rarest models ever made by the Bavarian automaker.

While none of us have a slight chance to drive the Most Wanted’s BMW M3 GTR in real life, fortunately you can do so virtually, as this special tribute model will be made available in the Need for Speed Unbound video game as part of the Volume 9: Lockdown update. Alongside the M3 GTR, said update also features other new vehicles such as the Honda Integra Type R (DC2), Subaru Impreza WRX STI, and even the BMW S1000RR superbike.