In the pantheon of video game icons, you have Pac-Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, and of course—the BMW M3 GTR.
In 2005, the car took the racing video game by storm when it was plastered on the cover “Need for Speed: Most Wanted”. Since then, the M3 GTR has earned a near-mythical status from both car and video game enthusiasts, with many dubbing it a “unicorn” car. This is due in large part because the car is so rare, that the closest you can get to owning one is in video games that haven’t been published in over 10 years.
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A Unicorn Among the BMW M3s
Let’s be clear, this is absolutely a real car. It was introduced in 2001 to compete in the American Le Mans Series.
Developed by the company’s Motorsport Division, it came with a 4.0 liter V8 under the hood, and it cranked out around 444 horsepower and 354 lb.-ft. of torque. It made its mark on the asphalt by winning seven of the 10 races it entered in this category. The M3 GTR’s pilot, Jörg Müller, won the drivers’ championship in the GT class, according to BMW. This led to the company winning the manufacturer’s title in 2001.
It was a much-needed kick to the rear for BMW. At the time another beloved German manufacturer, Porsche, essentially had a stranglehold on GT (short for Gran Turismo) class racing. At the time, they had 19 Le Mans wins and there was a stretch where Porsche won seven straight races.
Of course, to qualify for these races, the company needed to follow homologation rules, which required the car to be available to the masses. However, the catch here was that “available to the masses” at the time only meant 10 cars needed to be made, so BMW decided to exploit this and made exactly 10 street-legal versions of this car.
See more race-bred monsters here: Our Top 10 Favorite Race Homologation Special Models
While the car dubbed the Strassenversion (German for Street version) didn’t quite match the racing version, it still put out an impressive 350 horsepower and 269 lb.-ft. of torque. What wasn’t so impressive is that they were set to be sold for $215,000 in early 2000s money (almost $400,000 by today’s standards).
Despite going into production, there wouldn’t be any way to get your hands on one of these bad boys—even if you had the cash in hand. That’s because the year after the M3 GTR started bullying others on the track, the ALMS changed the homologation rules, requiring the number of cars to be produced from 10 to 100. Since the car was never meant to go through an actual production cycle, it was shelved.
Side Note: After the M3 GTR was shelved, BMW made a comeback in 2004 and 2005 when they won the 24 Hours at Le Mans back-to-back.
The only known versions of the street-legal car are three display models that BMW has in its vault. At the time, it felt like this would be the end to the magical power and style of the M3 GTR unicorn.
A Legend is (Digitally) Reborn
It wasn’t until the release of the “Need for Speed: Most Wanted” video game, that the M3 GTR’s fame skyrocketed into a different galaxy. Driven by the game’s main antagonist, “Razor”, the car also found a home on the game case’s cover art.
The twist? It’s actually the player’s first car until it’s stolen from you—your mission is to get it back.
This version of the BMW came in grey with aggressive blue livery and a side exhaust that growled at you as you drove it in the game. Not to mention the amount of power it put out made players feel like they could outrun anything, even Sonic the Hedgehog.
The car was so popular that it was carried over into “Need for Speed: Carbon”; “Need for Speed: No Limits”; “Need for Speed: Heat”; and “Need for Speed: Unbound”. It’s also been reported that nearly 75% of internet searches for this car take you to Need for Speed-related content.
In 2024, to honor of the 20th anniversary of the game that launched the M3 GTR into cult status, BMW brought out one of the three production models it had built, and modified it with the same livery and styling as the one featured in the games. The car was on display at the BMW Welt in Munich until early 2025.
While you can’t officially own one, that hasn’t stopped car enthusiasts from paying homage with their own projects. There are several videos on YouTube of people showing off their version of the M3 GTR based on the 330Ci or the 540i with custom body kits derived from the video game—feel free to use them for inspiration if you’re building your own video game legend.
If you need some extra help, Summit Racing has a good selection of parts for your BMW. This includes suspension and wheels that match your style.
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What could have been a flash in the pan for BMW turned out to be a legacy car for the brand. The M3 GTR not only introduced millions of people to the culture but also sparked the imagination of enthusiasts looking to replicate the look and feel of one of the most successful, albeit short-lived, racing cars to hit the pavement—both in the real world and the pixelated one.
Our Top 10 Racing Video Games (Video)
While the “Need for Speed” series narrowly missed getting on our Top 10 list here, you’ll see plenty of other games that helped inspire it. Check out the video below:
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