Ok, for the record, they aren’t officially-sanctioned police cruisers making a routine check at the Nurburgring.
But they sure look believable, don’t they?
A pair of vehicles – a BMW M3 Coupe and an Audi S3, to be exact – was recently spotted at the ‘Ring sporting some pretty intimidating police wraps. From what we’ve heard, these two cars are owned by civilians that are part of a group called the ‘Ring-Police’.
We don’t know a good deal about these guys, but judging from the website stickered on the two cars’ rear bumpers, it looks the Ring-Police is a group of custom tuners that have been getting quite the following in Germany.
To most auto enthusiasts, the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife track is known as the Green Hell. Why you may be asking, because even if the stretch of pavement is only 21 kilometers long, the number of accidents that take place at the ’Ring are beyond your imagination, it is said that everyday the track is open for public use that at least one sports car owner walks away with a heap of scrap metal.
The latest victim of the Nordschleife is a BMW M3, and from the looks of things, the German sports coupe is a total loss. Believe it or not the M3 was being driven by an experienced pilot, but even for a knowledgeable Ringmeister negotiating all 100 corners of the Green Hell can be a bit tricky. The other problem with high speed lapping sessions around the Nurburgring is that you have lots of traffic to contend with. As a result, the M3 driver entered into a blind curve where he hit a Mini Cooper that was keeping a slower pace and ended both racing enthusiasts day. After the impact the BMW M3 caught fire and as you can see it is completely destroyed, not to mention that the Mini didn’t fare to well either.
When BMW released the M3 GTS, you would have expected that there would be drivers from all over the world drooling at the chance to take the almighty car out for a spin.
Well, drivers, drool with envy. MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi already has first dibs.
The Italian motorbike superstar earned the privilege after being awarded the BMW M award prize for being this year’s Best Qualifier. As part of this prize, Rossi was given a chance to run the M3 GTS around the Ricardo Tormo circuit for a few laps.
After his much-enviable run around with the M3 GTs, MotoGP found Rossi and asked about his comments on the car. “It was amazing in the GTS, just amazing,” he said. “It was great, especially under braking with the light weight that it has.”
Rossi was so taken by the M3 GTS that he even managed to convince BMW to trade in his BMW M Award prize for a brand-new M3 GTS, making him one of the very first owners of BMW’s new superduper sports car.
If looks were deceiving, then the newly-released ‘candy orange’-clad BMW M3 GTS is a car that is far more powerful than what those eyesore colors indicate. As the latest tricked-out version of the M3 Coupe, the GTS – thanks to a 4.4-litre V8 engine that produces as much as 450 horsepower – is a beast on wheels.
And if you’re one to find truth in that assertion, we invite you to check out these two videos that BMW released of the M3 GTS showing off its muscle on a race track.
BMW revealed today the official details on the M3 GTS. The car features a orange exterior color with numerous matte black applications.
The car is fitted with a 7-speed M dual clutch transmission with adapted shift characteristics. But an absolute highlight is to be found under the bonnet. Exclusively for the BMW M3 GTS, the engine builders of BMW M - recent winners of the Engine of the Year Award once again - have developed a power unit based on the M high-performance engine of the current BMW M3: with a capacity of 4.4 litres and an output of some 450 bhp, it will catapult the light BMW M3 GTS into a whole new sphere.
The M3 GTS sits on 19-inch wheels with ample 225/35 tires at the front and 285/30 at the rear. The car only weights 1490 kilos thanks to the use of lightweight parts in the interior, the use of Macrolon for the car’s windows in the back, the lack of air conditioning, navigation and radio and the entire rear seat also gets the scales the down.
You know those moments in life when you simply have to say: "This is everything I have ever dreamed of, and more?" Well, this is pretty much the case with this BMW M3 movie. Or at least for us!
Called "Living in the Lights," the movie was produced by Mouse McCoy as part of a new advertising campaign.
A cool car put under extreme situations, a beautiful girl next to you? What else can you wish for? Oh, yes... to actually be you behind the wheel! But, until then enjoy the video and start dreaming!
One of the things that makes the new BMW M3 coupe such an irresistible buy is that aside from the high revving 420 HP V8 under the hood, the two door sports car from Bavaria has an appealing panel of carbon fiber stretched across the top to replace the would be metal roof. This not only lowers the coupe’s center of gravity, but it also makes the M3 one of the sexiest sports cars on the road today. Unfortunately one of the biggest drawbacks of the more practical four door BMW M3 is that the oversized sheet of lightweight carbon fiber is not an option. So in the spirit of Günter Manhart who wanted an M3 style wagon but couldn’t buy one, so instead he created the Manhart Racing BMW M3 TV10 the tuners at IND have taken this four door V8 powered sedan and transformed it into the Individual Atlantis E90 M3 you see before you. The Atlantis Blue color comes from the car’s paint scheme that can vary from Estoril blue to Avus Green dependning on the angle that the light hits the car.
The goal of the tuners was not an over the top wild ride, but instead a tasteful creation that when completed would look as if it came off the assembly line in Regensburg. So aside from the hand crafted carbon fiber roof, the E90 received a subtle RD Sport front bumper, Challenge rear diffuser, a Dinan carbon fiber air intake, Rogue Engineering power pulleys, Active Autowerke engine software to make it all work together and an Akrapovic titanium exhaust system to finish off the almost factory looking power upgrades. The Neez Model 15 wheels are the only touch that could give this car away to the untrained eye, however as radical as the design may be they work extremely well with the car’s color scheme. Hidden behind the new rollers are a set of beefy Brembo brakes and a full KW coil over suspension to ensure that this M3 has no problem running circles around the one time sportier coupe.
When it comes to tuning cars, Günter Manhart knows a thing or two about turning factory tuned BMWs into engine transplanted fire breathing beasts. Now we have seen the Manhart Racing BMW M3 TV10 before, but it has taken them until just now to send out the call to all sporting family men. Solving the never ending dilemma of having to trade performance for practicality, Günter has officially declared his SMG shifted V10 powered 3-Series estate to be the quintessential Family Racer. It is not very often that you see a modified avant, and that is downright astounding. Besides the quirky name, wagons offer a tremendous amount of practical storage space, like a crossover, but aren’t top heavy like a CUV meaning that it is still possible for an estate to handle well. The other benefit of a modified wagon is that due to the vehicle’s already conservative appearance you won’t be tempted to go over the top with tacky decals and gaudy chrome trim.
Now Günter Manhart is a man who prides himself on going above and beyond the extraordinary when it comes to his work and that is why everything from the suede headliner and carbon fiber trim, to the 5.0 Liter BMW M5 sourced V10 under the hood it all looks like it could have come that way from the factory. Bolted to a seven speed SMG gearbox one end and a new free flowing HJS stainless steel exhaust on the other, the 550 HP power package is able to propel this five door BMW 3-Series with blistered arches and a power dome on the hood from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.3 seconds and reach a very Autobahn ready top speed of 207.5 MPH. Combine all that performance with the look of a black on black BMW M3 estate wearing a radical set of deep dished RAD Forged wheels and massive Stoptech brakes is another reason why the Manhart Racing E91 BMW M3 TV10 would be the perfect gift for your significant other that is secretly for you.
High-powered BMWs racing down an open airfield is a joy to watch, although it would’ve been a tad better if the two cars were racing on an even playing field.
That’s where this video takes us after two BMWs – one is a standard M3 V8 while the other is a tricked-out M-Division S85 M3 V10 – decide that it would make for great viewing to see the S85 lay complete waste to the – by comparison – pedestrian M3 V8.
And that’s exactly what happens here. The monster V10 engine clearly overpowered its competitor, blazing off into the distance while the poor M3 was left to eat its dust. It’s all in good fun, though and we bet the video was created solely for the purpose of pimping up the power of the V10 engine.
Suffice to say, the message was heard loud and clear.
If you’ve always wanted to drive your own BMW M3 but have no financial flexibility to even get as much as a sniff of the car, then here’s your chance to win a BMW M3, courtesy of Need for Speed.
The oldest and most successful racing game franchise is giving you – yes, you! – a chance to win a BMW M3 through their Need for Speed M3 Missions Sweepstakes.
The competition is, of course, free and you’ll only have to use Twitter and follow NFS’s @NeedforSpeed account to participate. All you have to do is continuously monitor their account where they’ll be posting five daily missions for you to join. The more missions you accomplish, the better odds you get in winning the M3.
Sounds simple, right?
Click after the jump to check out the rules and guidelines for the contest.
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