BMW to offer customer race cars

Do you find your new e92 M3 getting passed too often at track days in Barcelona?

Tired of Porsche Super Cup cars blowing by your old factory M3 GTR at the Ring?

Does your ex-works WTCC 325 not provide enough thrills at Silverstone?

Well if you have $156K,  BMW Motorsport may have your answer.  According to Brian Morgan at Roundel, you can now buy your very own factory race-prepped M3, although with a much more pedestrian motor.

Now I know that many folks will say that this is another example of ///M standing for Marketing instead of Motorsports.  I'd say that this a far better deal for US track addicts than any M3 CSL, so let's hope BMW brings it stateside 

BMW Motorsport has announced that it will offer an out-of-the-box M3 race car—called the M3 GT4—to private teams for €120,000, about $156,000 at current exchange rates. 

In the press release on the new car, BMW Motorsport director Dr. Mario Theissen says, “In 2009, we will witness the BMW M3 racing not only for the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the American Le Mans series. The new BMW M3 GT4 now also provides private teams with numerous opportunities. For over 50 years, customer racing has been a cornerstone of BMW’s motorsport programs. After all, what better global ambassador for the performance pedigree of BMW cars than a privateer who is competing for victory in a BMW vehicle?”

While the new car will resemble the ALMS M3 in some respects, it is not the same vehicle. The ALMS car’s engine is designated P65, while the engine in the customer car is an S65—the same designation as the street M3 V8. But it is fitted with a single-mass flywheel, a racing clutch and release bearing, and what BMW calls an “optimized race exhaust system.”

Specific information on the engine-management system is not provided in the information now available on the car, and output figures have not been released. The customer-car transmission is a six-speed H-pattern gearbox, while the ALMS car runs a six-speed sequential box. Brake diameters differ slightly between the two cars. 

Other customer-car specs include a 3.85:1 final-drive ratio, a suspension with adjustable Ohlins race shocks, and stiffer anti-roll bars and suspension mounts than those on the production E92 M3. The car runs forged BBS wheels, 9.5X18" front and 10.0X18" rear—and, like the ALMS car, it is fitted with Dunlop tires.

The car is available for the 2009 racing season. But well-heeled BMW CCA Club racers should not get their hopes up; the car is not being offered for sale in the USA.—Brian S. Morgan, motorsports editor, bmwcca.org

The BMWCCA

While reading through some back issues of Roundel magazine I noticed that many of the letters addressed to the editor were negative and some were truly nasty. Most of the negative ones were complaints about the cars themselves, i.e., the look of the cars, the feel of the cars, how the cars had grown to be too big, or how some models were too small inside. Some folks complained about the transmission, or squeaks behind the dashboard, or uneven tire wear, the list seemed to go on forever. Still others complained about the club itself. How it didn't provide enough of one thing or another

I was saddened by their comments, not only because their grew boring quickly, but because my experiences as a BMWCCA member have been completely different from theirs. In the short three years that I have been with the BMWCCA I have had the opportunity to,

• Meet Steve Dinan and have him show me downloads from their Grand-Am program as well as invite me to Morgan Hill to drive a M5 prototype
  
• Have Sabine Schmitz as a driving instructor at Road America with the Badger Bimmers (thanks again to Jeff Joy)
• Tour the Team PTG paddock with Tom Milner and meet Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Justin Marks, and Tom Milner Jr.
• Meet the Bimmerworld team, James Clay and Seth Thomas,
  
• Learn car control and become a better driver
• Meet a bunch of non-famous, but really decent people.

I hope that the folks that take to the time complain about the club experience end up finding something to like about the club. I know I have. It's not that hard to find something you like, and I was able to do all of these things without a lot of effort on my part.

And in the interest of providing some example of the things that make the BMWCCA a blast I thought that I would post a couple of clips of drivers that I have had the opportunity to meet and chat with. One from Bill Auberlen, factory BMW pilot, and another from James Clay, who started his career as a BMW Club Racer and progressed from there.

Here's Bill Auberlen at Road America




Here is James Clay at Sebring